Hey Guys

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by JG

Ok cool so it is a header. I was confused. So i don't even have to buy the whole exhaust system. Just the header and tips

Maybe it would help you to see some diagrams of how this is put together. These are from the factory service manual.



Above is the stock header (exhaust manifold). It looks fat in the diagram because the heat shielding is hiding a catalytic converter. Without the shielding on it, it looks like this:


I borrowed this pic from Jeff Perrin's excellent writeup about the car at Perrin Performance. Read it!

One thing you'll notice if you look at the pics of the Open Flash Header is that it doesn't have a catalytic converter. On the product page it actually states that it's for competition use only. Can you get away with running a car with a cat removed in California? (I phrased it as a question because I really don't know.)

The exhaust system continues toward the back of the car:



There you'll see the second catalytic converter. Neither the front nor rear cats are "flow through" cats, so there's a possibility of added performance by replacing them with freer flowing cats.

Finally, here's the rear:



So now you can see some of your choices. There are replacement parts available for almost every part in that system. There are louder mufflers. There are bolt-on muffler delete kits available for people who track their cars. There are replacement pipes that remove the cats altogether. There are replacement cats that are less restrictive, including headers with better flowing cats built in. There are all sorts of replacement tips that can make the car look cool or stupid depending on how bad your taste is.

As for the header, you have a number of choices there also. There are two major types of headers available, equal-length (EL) and unequal-length (UEL). The type you choose will depend on what you want the car to do and how you want it to sound. UEL headers are designed for torque, whereas EL headers are designed for flow. General consensus is that the UEL headers retain the boxer rumble, while EL headers can make the exhaust sound like loud farts. On the other hand, EL headers are required with some forced induction setups because the matched flow from each exhaust port is necessary to make them work.

OpenFlash seems to be a very popular catless UEL, especially since the price of the header + tune appears to be a great deal. However, they're not the only manufacturer making headers for this car. This is a thread listing the known headers, with prices, performance, features and discussion:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31555

You will probably want to read it and check out what all is available before dropping the money on exhaust upgrades. For that matter, you'll probably want to get the car and drive it for a while stock to get a feel for it before making changes.

Hope that helps.

[JG]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Maybe it would help you to see some diagrams of how this is put together. These are from the factory service manual.

As for the header, you have a number of choices there also. There are two major types of headers available, equal-length (EL) and unequal-length (UEL). The type you choose will depend on what you want the car to do and how you want it to sound. UEL headers are designed for torque, whereas EL headers are designed for flow. General consensus is that the UEL headers retain the boxer rumble, while EL headers can make the exhaust sound like loud farts. On the other hand, EL headers are required with some forced induction setups because the matched flow from each exhaust port is necessary to make them work.

You will probably want to read it and check out what all is available before dropping the money on exhaust upgrades. For that matter, you'll probably want to get the car and drive it for a while stock to get a feel for it before making changes.

Hope that helps.

Wow, Yes that does help a lot! Thanks a lot man i really appreciate the post. Seeing the pictures of it really does help in understanding it a little more. I put in bold what you said about some forced induction setups because I am really looking into the ESC setup that was linked here, but i like the idea of a UEL header better. I know that ESC doesn't create as much of a boost as a full blown turbo system or supercharger would produce so i'm wondering if I would still be able to get the UEL header. Thanks a lot guys