Quote:
Originally Posted by 86MLR
About a well designed header, yes, the ACE header is well designed, vs a poor design, the UEL header.
I was asking about how well the ACE holds up against other headers that have a typical design.
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I wouldn’t even say UEL is a poor design; it is a different design. Most exhaust components are about sound, which is where the UEL shines on a boxer motor. It is also cheaper to design if someone doesn’t care about maximum gains, but just wants a cattless header that sounds good, and removing the cat is where much of the gains come from. Many companies offer EL and UEL for these very reasons, and some offer catted and uncatted.
Reproducing the design of the Ace with a 4-2 header and a 2-1 overpipe for much cheaper wouldn’t be hard, as any Chinese $60 header demonstrates. We could also look at the fact that Ace has a 4-1 header for $2k to see that their prices are high. I’m not saying there isn’t quality in the header, but the price per gain in horsepower isn’t there, and like you have said, it could be replicated for far less money.
Considering the Speed Academy put down 312whp on pump gas with a UEL header, pitching this header seems cool for anyone with a built motor looking to maximize their setup, but hitting 350whp (the safe limit on the stock motor) can be achieved without dropping $2300 for the Ace header and overpipe.