Do all catless header sound like complete garbage?

[hpanju]

I feel like there’s a hatred towards UEL headers here I’m running an FT86SF catted UEL header with a Perrin catback and it’s deep and rumbly, no tinnyness or raspiness. I love it lol.

[Muskoka800]

Granted, for maximum power an Equal Length Header is the way to go (eg. Ace etc.).
That said, I recently installed a Gruppe-S UEL with a JDL Quiet Front Pipe. Continuing to use the stock mid-pipe and axle-back components.
This combined with an OFT Stage II+ tune has brought the car to life.
Sounds great IMO (from the drivers seat) without waking the neighbours.
Will get more impressions in the spring once onto the track (TMP) again.

[Wil]

It seems to attenuate when the car is warm.
Exhaust leak, then?

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

Unequal length is literally the sound of poor design. With that said, a catted UEL header gets the lumpiness without the bark

The FT86SF catted header is pretty subtle in terms of its UEL design. It seems closer to stock than some others like JDL. It has a kind of hybrid UEL/EL sound up top and a bit of rumble down low.

Sounds pretty good to me, and I'm not overly fond of most UEL on these cars.

[NARFALICIOUS]

Originally Posted by Wil

Hi everyone,
I recently installed an OFH 2 UEL catless header on my 2013 GT86 and it sounds like crap.
I mean, almost like there's a leak. Except there's none! It sounds like my exhaust is made of coke cans. Sounds like a helicopter, almost. Do you see what I mean?

Here's what I've done:

1. I installed the header with 3 new gaskets - sounded bad
2. I retorqued everything to be absolutely sure everything was perfectly installed - still sounded bad
3. I unmounted the header, noticed a very very small crack (it's second hand) - rewelded it and rebolted the header after polishing the block, header and overpipe flanges and applied some Holts Firegum on the header to overpipe section - still, no improvement
4. Retorqued everything again after driving just to be sure.
Still bad

I already had that problem with a gutted stock header but assumed it was the empty cat that was creating some resonance.

So, simple question:
Do all catless header sound "tiny" like described above?
Can't even say it's because of the thinner stainless steel, it does it with a the gutted stock header as well.

Thank you for your inputs

When I installed a used JDL UEL catless header on my completely stock 2016 FR-S (stock OP, stock FP, OEM non-TRD exhaust), it sounded fine. In fact when not on the throttle and just cruising, a non car-person would not be able to tell it was modified. You could hear it when on the throttle.


Have you checked the O2 Sensors to see if there is any leak there?
Have you checked any of the other exhaust sections downstream for leaks?

You could try seeing if anyone with a stock one lying around can lend it to you for a few days to test that?

[G-awesome]

I have the JDL UEL with the TRD catback exhaust for 5ish years now. I feel like I should tone it down now I'm in my early 30s now. I do miss the exhaust note without the amped up subbie rumble when I was watching some youtube videos the other day. Musing whether I should go equal length or back to stock with the TRD catback so it's a bit more refined, tamer and mature as I get older.

This adulting thing changes your perspective and maturity as you get older. What have I become as a car guy? Even that Camry TRD is looking pretty good right about now...

[Wil]

Originally Posted by NARFALICIOUS

When I installed a used JDL UEL catless header on my completely stock 2016 FR-S (stock OP, stock FP, OEM non-TRD exhaust), it sounded fine. In fact when not on the throttle and just cruising, a non car-person would not be able to tell it was modified. You could hear it when on the throttle.


Have you checked the O2 Sensors to see if there is any leak there?
Have you checked any of the other exhaust sections downstream for leaks?

You could try seeing if anyone with a stock one lying around can lend it to you for a few days to test that?

It definitely sounds like a collector leak.

O2 sensors could be a good culprit... I'm scared at putting some sealant/grease on sensors threads by fear of ruining them (just bought a primary O2 sensor at Toyota for a friend... was 275€ !).

Well, I'll try this ultimately. If it doesn't work then... back to the stock header!
Thanks.

[Icecreamtruk]

Sound is very subjective, as you have already noticed in many posts here. But what I found in my few cases of meeting other twins at the track, is that the metal and shape of the header do affect how it sounds, and so do whats after it (FP and catback). They all have an effect and will produce very unique sounds. You may think my car sounds like rice, I think it sounds like a racecar, its all subjective (fly-by at the track from another video, its not streetable and my camera's mic gets overloaded so onboards sound like crap. 3:10 or so for the part with the sound, the golf right next to me is on stock exhaust and produces no sound basically, this is at a 92db limit track):

[Icecreamtruk]

Double post, ignore.

[ROFL it's Waffle]

Don't shoot the messenger (or pull the trigger, DILLIGAF? ). I thought this scenario would've existed in the forum already in the the general exhaust thread https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6064

[Wil]

Thank you for your inputs.
I actually think the sound at the back is pretty decent for a 4-banger.
But at the front... it doesn't neither good or right.

The two times I installed catless headers (whether it was EL or UEL), it was the same thing: It sounded like there's a exhaust leak at the front. The stock header doesn't make that noise (which ultimately prooves I can install a header properly for those maybe wondering).

And it's more noticeable when cold.
Could the thin stainless steal provoke that? Problem is, with an UEL and its irregular pulses, it does sound like a leak which is very embarrassing unless you're driving an old rusty pickup and such sound is kind of expected.

[Chamaco]

Originally Posted by Wil

Thank you for your inputs.
I actually think the sound at the back is pretty decent for a 4-banger.
But at the front... it doesn't neither good or right.

The two times I installed catless headers (whether it was EL or UEL), it was the same thing: It sounded like there's a exhaust leak at the front. The stock header doesn't make that noise (which ultimately prooves I can install a header properly for those maybe wondering).

And it's more noticeable when cold.
Could the thin stainless steal provoke that? Problem is, with an UEL and its irregular pulses, it does sound like a leak which is very embarrassing unless you're driving an old rusty pickup and such sound is kind of expected.

that sound happened to me right after installing my Ace 350. It had me going crazy looking for leaks and didn't find any. Then I started looking in the web and read (don't remember where) somewhere that is the sound of the valves "clapping". You could hear them now because of the thin wall of the stainless header and since is a boxer engine with the header pointing down (close to the road) it creates a louder (echo) sound similar to an exhaust leak. Some when on saying that wrapping the header mitigates the sounds, but not completely though. After reading that, I just live with it at this point.

[Wil]

Originally Posted by Chamaco

that sound happened to me right after installing my Ace 350. It had me going crazy looking for leaks and didn't find any. Then I started looking in the web and read (don't remember where) somewhere that is the sound of the valves "clapping". You could hear them now because of the thin wall of the stainless header and since is a boxer engine with the header pointing down (close to the road) it creates a louder (echo) sound similar to an exhaust leak. Some when on saying that wrapping the header mitigates the sounds, but not completely though. After reading that, I just live with it at this point.

Sounds exactly like what I'm experiencing...
I'm considering header wrapping but it seems like the best way to quickly destroy a header...
Btw, what do you think of your ACE350 header? Worth the $$$?
Have you had the chance to compare to something else?

I'm currently running a OFH Header and enjoy the added power but expected a bit more against a gutted stocked header tbh...

[churchx]

Wil: imho no other catless header is worth it's price to replace another catless aftermarket header one already has. Yes, ace very probably will perform better, but it won't double the gains. Nice gains vs stock, imho worth getting as initial purchase, but like in other cases of "upgrading", relatively slight gains over other aftermarket headers, but you still pay same .. aaand probably extra, as you may need to invest in ace specific ecutek tune to go along, over OFT you probably have now with OFH ... aaand you'll waste current investment of purchasing OFH.
If you want more, think of forced induction.