Quote:
Originally Posted by industrial
I don't think there is any precedent of any significant reliability differences between EL and UEL in the EJ2xx world. Lots of stock stis came with EL twin scroll setups in japan and lots of stock stis came with extremely UEL single scroll setups.
Keep in mind that the stock header setup we have is pretty terrible and it is UEL. It seems to me that it was designed purely for packaging and pricepoint. I imagine it was intended by the designers for most serious enthusiasts to replace the entire exhaust system. The gains from the longtube designs thus car seem to attest to this.
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I would second this.
Even going back to the "old school" V-8s the original cast iron manifolds were seldom Equal Length. Equal Length, long-tube headers have always been the upgrade for those looking to take more advantage of low-end torque. Back then, sound wasn't even much of a consideration since most of them were so loud anyway when piped through early Flowmasters or Glass Packs.
Moving forward to modern, smaller import engines, I'm still hard pressed to find many examples of manufacturers installing EL headers or manifolds from the factory so I severely doubt that there would be an issue with longevity.
I have always looked at setting up the right intake and exhaust, header combinations for engines like tuning a musical instrument. Unless the engine starts off with just abysmal parts from the factory, changing them out only "fine tunes" the instrument to what you want out of it.
Obviously I'm a dinosaur and there is a LOT more to it now with EMS and all but the original idea still holds true.
And for the record... I am with you on (@FRS-S Matt) the sound of the UEL! Pure sex and I am likely to go with one for that reason. I also HATE the "Honda-ish" rasp of EL headers and some systems. Too much like the fart cannons of the 90's.
Scott