EL vs UEL
 

I've always been taught that EL headers give you better performance,while UEL will give you that boxer rumble. But I'm curious just how much performance you are sacrificing with UEL. Does a UEL header still eliminate the infamous torque dip? Also, besides price, are there any drawbacks to EL? Sorry if this has been explained, but I couldn't find anything comparing the two.

Basically it is up to you. ELs will give you more power up top but the generally don't give as much torque throughout the rev range. UELs are the opposite, they have a bit more power through the band but loose out up top. If you aren't going turbocharged(in which case ELs will be the best choice no questions asked) then either one will work fine, you probably won't feel a difference.

I personally enjoy UELs, just cause it sounds great! Pick which one you like, and then see which company makes the best headers. I would check out Nameless for EL, and JDL for UEL(or EL both are nice).

Thanks For the response. Is there one that is better for supercharging?

I wouldn't be able to answer your question about which is better for supercharging but a tune with either EL or UEL will really WAKE this car up..You'll see ;).

Most ELs out still have a little bend to them, so you don't completely lose the boxer rumble. UEL still sounds better to the majority. I simply went with EL because the company that made my amazing MXP Exhaust made MXP EL headers. I'll put up a video later today.

As far as UEL headers, STAY AWAY FROM BORLA, and you'll be fine:)

I went with a JDL UEL for my NA build 3" exhaust. When I go turbo, I'll most likely be going EL pending on how much I love my UEL rumble.

The difference in horsepower is negligible sub 300 whp. You start seeing larger differences the higher you go. If sound is your thing, go UEL and don't look back.

This is a local guy's fr-s exhaust setup with UEL headers. He has borla, which is good when it works without leaks, but you'd probably get a leak sometime in the future honestly..

Regardless, a really nice setup.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K3jfu_17os"]PhastekSport.com - Borla UEL Header 17284 for the Scion FR-S / Subaru BRZ - YouTube[/ame]

http://images.wikia.com/mlp/images/0...e_go_again.jpg

:search:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30928
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36530
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http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37877
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36855
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49012


I agree with most of this but I must throw this monkey wrench in here per the bolded part of your quote:

http://ft86speedfactory.com/images/frsborlauelvsel.jpg

UEL FTW!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmbv14nXE1w"]Subaru BRZ stationary revs with JDL Auto Design UEL header - YouTube[/ame]

Great advice!

The dyno you showed is my favorite one to show to all the people that say UELs are more sound then performance. My ass if they are! :thumbup:

That's only because the Borla EL is a huge POS.

A properly designed EL will outperform a properly designed UEL across the whole RPM range, period.

Agree; same as their UEL.

I've yet to see that on this platform by any significant margin.

I wouldn't say the whole rev range but up top power, they are definitely the best.

I'll put JDL's UEL against the best made EL's out there. It's producing outstanding numbers so far. Like I said, the sound is what does it for me.

As far as turbo engines go, the stock UEL manifolds on the EJ25 cause an imbalance between banks.