Any CARB legal headers out there? (California)
 

I've looked far and wide, but haven't seen or heard of a single header that is legal in California. Am I just looking in the wrong places, or do they really not exist?

SC/turbo is too expensive, the nearest e85 pump is an hour's drive from my house, and I don't want to have to swap headers every time smog comes up or deal with the hassle when I eventually sell the car.

If you live in CA, what have you found that smooths the torque dip that's still street legal? Thanks, I really don't know what to do

There are not. However, you could get an OFT and use their stage 1 tune.

There is one CARB legal header produced. You can buy it at any Subaru or Toyota dealer.

Will they just fail visual? Or do you need a tune to get cel clear from O2 sensors?

IMO just headers and the ensuing smog hassle every 2 years isn't worth it for the small gain. I did a good tune, mapped for both 91 and 95 octane and JDL 421 headers and the car is just transformed. I'll need to re install the stock headers in 2 years however it's worth it to me

Ha, I’ve had to do a stage zero on my Volvo every two years. That’s the reason I got this car to not have to tear down for inspection.

Have you tried going stage 1 first? It may only flatten the torque dip a small amount, but there are many other benefits of having an OFT or EcuTek stage 1 tune.

Try E85 if it’s available. Pretty much the same power as stage 2.

If you're worried about getting pulled over because your exhaust is too loud, get a catted header and a resonated exhaust.

If you're worried about getting spotted when you do a smog check, keep your stock one and swap it out before you get it done. It's not that difficult. Just make sure you don't throw a code.

Okay, strictly speaking what I am about to suggest does not change the torque dip in any way at all...

... but changing the differential gear ratio does give a torque multiplier.

I love my 4.56 gears and in retrospect probably should have gone 4.88.

The torque dip is still there, but I have more low end grunt and accelerate through the dip faster.

Just a thought. Works for me, YMMV.

If you have to accelerate through the torque dip, your driving it wrong. If you’re trying to go fast you should never be in the torque dip.

Whereas some may daily drive constantly above 4K, I rarely do. Frankly I spend far more time casually driving around town than driving fast, and that is when I constantly find myself crossing the dip... and liking a bit more low end torque.

Still think I'm driving it wrong? Come school me on a closed course (you probably will! I seldom track my car) but I, for one, don't encourage "going fast" on the types of streets my car spends the majority of its time on.

But enough about me... what is the OP trying to achieve? Is it a daily driver? Does he ever go on the track? I have no idea...

Move to a different state.

There are no CARB legal headers for our cars like others have mentioned. It is possible, but there would be little improvement, so no manufactures try it. With that said, your car isn't due for its first smog until 2024 or something, so you have time if you wanted to run a header. You can also run a custom tune. You might want to consider other mods for performance.