Drift-Office : UEL Shootout! (Borla vs JDL vs RWorks)

[XanRules]

That Borla collector looks like trash.

The JDL one looks better, but also not what I'd expect for nearly $1000 and a multi-month wait time.

[415FRS]

After i saw the numbers, I purchased the Borla header right the way. Lol. Its not visible, so i dont really care how it looks. Thanks for the review.

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[Jesse@JDLAutodesign]

Originally Posted by XanRules

That Borla collector looks like trash.

The JDL one looks better, but also not what I'd expect for nearly $1000 and a multi-month wait time.

I touched on it in another thread but i'll post here too. That center part of the collector is very thin. The collectors are welded up on the outside then ground smooth on the inside before the header is built. Sometimes during assembly when welding the runner to the merge collector the metal will pull a bit like pictured. It would become even more thin if it were ground down more and to be honest with how much stainless expands and contracts it more than likely will close back over after heat cycles.

FYI they have been on sale for $859 for some time now and while i will admit to extremely long lead times in the past we will be stocking inventory starting this week.

Jesse

[StormTrooper]

Keep in mind the stock exhaust on the JDL.... I think there is more mid/top end to be had. I've seen other well respected dynos of the JDL and the top end was better.

[IAmNotTheDriftKing]

I am not really surprised by the results(besides actually looking at the older threads beforehand). Larger runners will give more power up top, but you will lose a little down low(but still gain over stock obviously). NA mods are give and take like that. Although, with a merge collector I bet with a supercharger their flow is excellent! Plus, when you take them off, you can do fun things like this!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DobKco8UEnU&feature=player_detailpage#t=52 "]Header Mods by MTS - YouTube[/ame]

I wonder how they would do with a full exhaust. I have seen some people get about 200whp on 93 octane! Or maybe I was just delusional.

EDIT: Never mind I found it! It was on 91 octane! Thank god, it was in the last few pages of the old thread, otherwise I would have been searching for years.

[Drift-Office]

Just remember, different strokes for different votes yeah?

IMHO, I feel that the JDL offering is the better of the two, since it does give me to top end performance I'm looking for. Love the looks and quality that I've seen, and really, worth every penny to me. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it to you.

Again, this is if all things were equal, including who you pick as your tuner and how the calibration was performed - via the dyno or "e-tune".

My 2 cents!


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by transition

That's only if you consider peak horsepower mostly above 6,000 rpm. If we're talking about which header delivers more power in normal daily driving mode i think the Borla makes a pretty compelling product especially considering the price point.

Daily driving mode does reach 6k rpm for me sometimes. I would always take top end power over low end. Besides, this is one dyno. You're also comparing it against a car running stock exhaust. Still willing to put my money on JDL's collector beating Borla's with the same exhaust setup and tune.

[transition]

Originally Posted by FR-S Matt

Daily driving mode does reach 6k rpm for me sometimes. I would always take top end power over low end. Besides, this is one dyno. You're also comparing it against a car running stock exhaust. Still willing to put my money on JDL's collector beating Borla's with the same exhaust setup and tune.

Daily driving mode would have to exceed 6,000 rpm to see any advantage of the JDL. This is where the headers with higher peak horsepower make little sense. In essence JDL's header delivers more power for only 1,500 RPM of the power band. The other 6,000 RPM's or 80% of the power band is better served by the Borla. So saying you want a header that functions better for 20% of the power band for peak-power bragging right is silly.

And i'm only comparing the data provided by the OP.

[transition]

Originally Posted by Drift-Office

Just remember, different strokes for different votes yeah?

IMHO, I feel that the JDL offering is the better of the two, since it does give me to top end performance I'm looking for. Love the looks and quality that I've seen, and really, worth every penny to me. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it to you.

Again, this is if all things were equal, including who you pick as your tuner and how the calibration was performed - via the dyno or "e-tune".

My 2 cents!


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

And i'd respectfully disagree. That's unless this is a beauty contest the Borla delivers more usable power from 3-5k RPM's and the JDL only really shows any advantage over 6,000 RPM's. This is coming from someone who has JDL headers! I'd say save yourself some money and buy the value-header which delivers more usable power and don't wait 50 days to be shipped defective product from JDL.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by transition

And i'd respectfully disagree. That's unless this is a beauty contest the Borla delivers more usable power from 3-5k RPM's and the JDL only really shows any advantage over 6,000 RPM's. This is coming from someone who has JDL headers! I'd say save yourself some money and buy the value-header which delivers more usable power and don't wait 50 days to be shipped defective product from JDL.

Once again, you're comparing a car that's restricted by stock exhaust versus one that has full exhaust. You do realize the JDL header is the only UEL to even come close to the 200 whp mark on pumpgas, right? There's a few dynos out there to prove that. There's a reason JDL spent a lot of time focusing on the merge collector and choosing their runners.

Sure, the Borla is worth its price point, but its still a total piece of shit in my book after seeing their quality control, and the way they just treat everything as "Oh eventually the machine will crank out one that doesn't rattle". The collector is also welded by a 5 year old kid and that bugs me. Difference between a small shop and a large corporation that only cares about profits and numbers.

My header had 0 defects, and so have all the ones going out past mine. They corrected their early flex joint rattling issues, and skid pan rattling. Borla on the other hand just throws out warrantied headers till you find one that doesn't rattle on the flex joints. Not to mention offering coating options from JDL is a very nice addition. To say the JDL header doesn't have low end usable power is absurd.


I'm sure Bob has also tuned more than just 1 JDL header equipped car as well..... Just saying.

[jpit]

The Borla doesn't have a coating option. It is delivered with one saving even more money.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by jpit

The Borla doesn't have a coating option. It is delivered with one saving even more money.

And I'm sure it works amazingly well at reducing temperatures since its done in house.... Would love to see a temp difference in what I have versus theirs. Another reason I question theirs is the header discoloration after use. My chrome coating hasn't changed in almost a year of owning this header on my JDL.

[transition]

I thought we were comparing the data provided.

Originally Posted by FR-S Matt

To say the JDL header doesn't have low end usable power is absurd.

... and now you're just making things up nobody said.

[WolfsFang]

Glad i got a borla header, also the best sounding UEL header in my opinion.