OFH 3 vs Gruppe-S Headers..
 

Hey guys,

I'm 100% certain on getting a UEL header, as I already have a OFT and loving the stage 1 93 tune. Can't wait till I upgrade to Stage 2.

I narrowed down the header choice down to either OFH or Gruppe-S. They are in my budget range and offer great value for their mid-tier price. From what I understand they are both high quality headers and can't go wrong with eiither of them. But I need one, not two, so I need some opinions on this comparison.

Some things to consider:

Price
-> Gruppe-S + Overpipe will cost around $623.92 cad. $100 for overpipe. Total $723.92
-> OFH v2 $786. Overpipe $183. Essentially a OFH , $969.02 cad.
Will be saving $245 if going with Gruppe-S.

Performance
-> If running Gruppe-S, I will be on OTS Stage 2 UEL tune. From my understanding, they are less optimized as it is meant to run on a whole range of UEL's safely.
-> Recently found out that there is an OFH specific tune that is slightly more aggressive than OTS tunes, thus making a bit more power. (around 7whp).

Sound
-> From various youtube clips that don't do justice for me to accurately determine how they would sound like in real life, I have determined that the Gruppe-S is slightly louder than OFH. Please correct me if I'm wrong, any owners input is greatly appreciated.
->I sold my N1 because it was too loud, and opted for a $450 locally made prototype catback by Yonaka that honestly sounds 10000000x better and doesn't deafen me at any engine speed. Sounds great at WOT. I understand aftermarket catless headers will make the car louder. Considering my catback is quiet, I am hoping for a non-droney setup with the beautiful rumble.

----------
From these points I can conclude that:

Going for Gruppe-S:
-$245 more in my wallet
-a louder exhaust note
-conservative power gains.

Going for OFH 3:
-$245 less in my wallet
-a quieter exhaust note
-slightly more power and a specifically optimized tune for this header.

Sorry for the long post but I genuinely am asking for opinions. Any feedback is appreciated :D

Save yourself even more money, and don't bother with the OP when you buy the Gruppe-S.

I've been second guessing my OFH3 header since I cant get any reply from Shiv or anyone at Openflash with questions I have about the OFH specific tune... No answers in a couple days now.

It is a VERY nice piece of hardware, nicely made and easy to install but still alot more money than a Gruppe-S.

Sorry mate, we are a couple days behind on emails. What's your question so I can answer you here?

Indeed, from what I've read both headers are very high quality offering similar power gains.
The OFH3 specific tune is making me want to spend the extra, but with the money I save I can get a pro tune or money for other mods...

DECISIONS DECISIONS

Here, thanks.

When going up to Stage 2 I was going to go for 93 tune this time (with Petrocanada 94). Figured it would be a slightly higher jump from the Stage 1 91 I am currently running. I wonder if canadian 94 is alright..

Description and reports are saying it's more aggressive than the 91 STG2 UEL map so I sort of have the same question.

Around here it's either 91(Ethanol free) or Petro 94(with ethanol and full bore crickets) and also 10-12c a liter more than 91. Goes up fast.

We'll await for his reply. Good thing I posted this, we're both getting something out of it. :)

Petro 94 should be just fine to run the Stage 2 OFH maps. It's very similar to the 93oct (US) that we used for calibration.

Good to know, it does not mention 91 or 93 anywhere in the description, should be in there IMHO.

Thanks.

I'm having pretty much the same debate, though I'm really forcing myself to keep the car stock/Stage 1 until the spring to really understand what the car is on its (mostly) own merits. I look forward to seeing what you end up choosing!

Is there much difference between OFH2 and OFH3 other than the inclusion of the overpipe? It would still give you access to the tweaked Stage 2 tunes for OFH headers, but cost more in line with the Gruppe-S.

I think OFH 2 and 3 are the same.. OFH3 just has an overpipe.
Whatever post I read theres mixed opinions depating the effectiveness of an aftermarket overpipe. Some say OEM is restrictive, others say it isn't. Some say save money on a useless part, some say might as well go for it while buying headers.
IDK

I've also seen people run the OFH specific tunes on a different UEL header and be fine.. and others not so fine running into knock issues.

I have the gruppe s header/overpipe combo on a stock catback. On startup it's not too loud, once it's warmed up its only loud if I get on it and even then it's not even loud. You get a nice boxer rumble also. I'm still running untuned at the moment and even untuned got rid of the torque dip between 4-5k rpm. I'm happy with my choice and would make the same choice again. The install was easy and pretty straight forward. Only issue I really ran into was removing the stock overpipe to put on the gruppe s over pipe. Just took some finaggling but once everything was on bolted up beautifully.