Review: J's Racing 4-2-1 Header

[squish85]

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!


Aim: Review the J's Racing Header
Required: J's racing header, High flow cat, exhaust manifold gasket, 2.5" JDM flange + Good workshop
Steps: N/A



Hi all, Just took some photos of my newly installed J's racing extractors and I thought I'll start a review of how it went.

Picture of the header sitting nicely in my engine bay:






Installation:
The header was installed together with a 2.25 inch high flow carsound cat convertor (Thanks Bowzer). All work was done VERY professionally at a well known workshop in perth.. very impressed with their work.. (pm me if you want to know). All work was done in less than a day.. (dropped off at 10am.. picked up at 4pm)

Pros: Overall, I could definitely feel an increased torque feel at low revs.. below 3000 rpms. I would'nt mention massive gains.. but uphill acceleration improved tremendously... There was also much more punch in the acceleration.. It gives me the confidence to accelerate even more..

Cons: I only had one thing to pick on this header.. which is the clearance of it down at the primary section. It now scraps over every hump and I drove over. However, this could be due to the low ride high at the front of the car; I would expect a stock dc2/dc2r to have ZERO scrapping..

Conclusion: Overall.. I am very satisfied with this product as it certainly made me feel my car again.. I had gotten so used to the car.. now it feels just like when i first drove it 1year ago.. Not to mention the ultimate blingness in the engine bay.. Fortunately.. David aka Scyth7e was able to solve my scrapping issue by providing me with a header shield from password JDM which worked very well taking all the punishment on the humps.

I would certainly recommend this product to anyone looking for a lower priced alternative to Mugen or Toda.. GRAB them before the price hikes guys !!!

I will try and post up the dyno results by this week to provide some emprical evidence of gain..

Hope you guys enjoy the review..Cheers !!!

[RtN]

Ouch.. scraping brand new Js racing headers!!

Very nice tho.

[unicorn]

I'm planning to get a high flow cat as well..just wanna know will it be too loud?

[vteccoupe]

header looking good

[squish85]

Thanks guys.. Trying to find a good place to dyno tune my VAFC2.. lol ..

Unicorn.. I don't think the high flow cat has a bearing on how loud the exhaust will sound.. well to say the least.. the new cat made my vtec scream sound cleaner.. (used to be throaty... )

Unless u're talking about a "metal cat" or off road racing cat.. which u have to be careful about who u purchase from... (most of them claiming to be Metal cats actually don't meet EPA requirements...) which means that you're in deep s**it if u do get a yellow sticker for something on your car.. contact www.metal.com.au to confirm before purchasing..

[jords]

nice headers... look awesome, shame the colour wont last!

[squish85]

That's why I'm taking pictures now..

[connorling]

how much did that header cost?????

where did u get it in perth?????

[55EXX]

new mufflers take a little bit to settle in. they get quieter after a little while. throaty? as it sounds less deeper now?

how about higher in the rpm range? much differnce?

[Gio]

Nice headers

Keen to see the dyno results.

[squish85]

Got these headers off a fellow wahonda member in perth.. David's friend.. I think JDM concept has them for 895 delivered..

Overall the higher end sounds louder and feels strong, although I could feel the majority of the difference in the lower end. I would'nt do much WOT unless i'm sure its a clear road... (the sound at 7krpm WILL attract cops and attention...)

[MM89]

Sorry to revive such an old thread, but since I've installed these headers for a couple of weeks, I thought I would also provide some feedback and maybe points for discussion.

Fortunately for comparison's sake, my setup is relatively similar to squish85's.

JDM B18C SiR
Injen CAI
J's Racing header
JDM DC2R cat
Buddy Club Spec 2 back pipe (2.5")
Greddy SP2 muffler + custom 2.5" mandrel bends to fit back pipe

Originally had a 2.5" Outlaw 200CPI cat with the stock headers. The flanges were an issue so they were not considered for the installation, hence the use of the DC2R cat.

My thoughts:

Right after installing it and turning the car on for the first time, I noticed that it was much much more quiet. Some may say that after exhausts wear in, they will be a little bit louder. It has been more than 2 weeks and this has not yet occured,　so I predict this may have something to do with the cat.

There has been a change in the tone throughout the entire rev range. I would classify it to be a deeper, stronger sound. Since the header was installed with the cat, I cannot determine which part has caused the difference, perhaps someone could provide some input on this. The highlight of this header would be the change in the sound of vtec. The sound really changes to become a fuller sound. Really pleased with this aspect. I assume this is similar with all other stainless headers.

Performance wise, I must admit that low end torque has suffered. It's funny because squish85 has experienced a gain in torque below 3000rpm. I need to accelerate a little bit more, but horsepower seems to have increased the slightest bit. So in low end, drop in torque, similar or rise in hp. I'm not sure what catback squish85 used at the time, however I would expect a 60mm or 2.25" or stock catback to perform better in the low end as squish85 has mentioned.

Mid range is marginally better; there is better response when you put your foot down slightly above 3,000rpm, leading to vtec engaging. I would say the transition time between that rpm and vtec has noticeably decreased, which I am quite pleased with. Once vtec is engaged, there are solid gains. I wouldn't rely on my butt dyno to tell me how much is gained, but the end result is satisfying and I would recommend this header ($930 shipped from JDM Concept) for those seeking a header with gains focused on high end for under $1000. Obviously more is to be had after tuning. Toda is known to have more gains, but I wasn't sure on spending anywhere between $1600 - $1800 due to the fluctuations of the exchange rate.

Stock header: 11kg*
J's Racing header: 5kg*

*=within 1kg

Hope this will assist someone in some way.