What is the difference in quality and flow from brand to brand. I understand the merge collector, most headers from various brands seem to be almost identical, 304 stainless steel, equal length etc., so whats makes one better than the other?

There also seems to be a big difference in price from one brand to another.

I am looking at:
fabspeed
Dansk
Schnell
B&B

Any insight or first hand experiences would be great. I have a 2002 C2 996 Cab.

thanks in advance for the feedback. Ted


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I'm gonna leave this one alone, ask Steven at Imagine Auto.

 

ok how do i get some comments from steven???

 

Headers on an NA 996 aren't really going to add any power no matter which brand you choose.....

 

i have heard so many mixed reviews on this, i know there is nothing big to gain from it that is why it was last on my list, but i am at the end of the list now....as i mentioned one of the tuner shops that builds porsche race cars for teams and corporate sponsors said this is one of the few things that will give it a better response and some small gains....but nothing too much....looking for some actual converters to see how they feel....HELP!

 

and by the way he suggested staying away from the evo cold air intake, virtually nothing to gain except a check engine light....so for a few hundred more i was thinking of the headers....

 

the B&B headers do give the claimed gain. I have them and noticed the difference to be about what the advertised. 15/15 seems to be about how it improved.

 

How did you measure this? If you're getting 15 HP/ 15 TQ out of your headers, then you must be doing something different than every other 996 owner on the planet.

 

sun coast has a set of headers with some dyno testing that shows an increase of approx. 12 if you go to their website, the tech guy at my local porsche dealership who is into racing also suggested the exhaust header combo as the extra airflow does do something for the engine.....

 

understatement of the year...
A good header design promotes cylinder scavenging, which is a good thing, o.k.
Generally with a header on an otherwise unmodified engine you will notice improved throttle response where you need it most, off idle through part throttle (assuming there is little restriction downstream such as catalytics, or too much muffler). Headers will allways yield improvement, how much gains depends on many factors, but the largest factor, is just how good was the manifold you replaced. In the case of n/a Porsches, there are some gains depending on the car, the 997/997S for example appears to have a bit of room for improvement, more on this later...I am not too crazy about the suppliers you mentioned....If you need to talk to Steven, the phone works.

 

S-Car-Go Headers # 1 I forget why lol I beleive these are the only ones with any real gain but the price is very high. As far as intake Fabspeeds little airbox upgrade actually(Ididnt beleive it either) gives you 4 to 5 horse to the rear wheels! This was tested on Powertech's Dynopak dyno in NJ. The Dyno bolts up to the hubs for the most accurate measure.

 

Before my SC install I did the FVD headers and Fabspeed airbox. Very little seat of the pants differance and just a little sound. Then I did the Cargraphic exhaust and loved the sound, big big differance. On my C4S the headers had to be modified slightly with my grinder to fit flush. Thank goodness I only torqued the header bolts to 18 ft/lbs at first or I would have stripped out the aluminum block (bad) if I had tried to tighten them flush. I talked to FVD about the bad fit and they simply said it had never happened before. Maybe it was the C4S being so new at the time (Feb 2002). They sold me the headers with the story that only headers make a differance on the exhaust system in HP (10 hp). I still believe only the SC really makes a noticable differance in power but if you don"t have sport exhaust get something louder than stock and you will love it. Will.

 

thanks for the input, i have a GHL exhasut and I am very happy with it, just ordered some headers as well....they will be installed by the dealer next week...i will let you guys know if i feel anything at all....cheers

 

I had the B&B headers & mufflers on my old 996. Nice sound, but no noticeable power gains.

Headers are a waste of money.

 

I have the B&B headers w/ Remus mufflers on my car, the sounds is great compare to stock.

Headers are a waste of money, but if you had an older 996 it wouldn’t be a bad idea if you changed them for newer headers.