How much does all this stuff actually work?

[jamieburke]

Hi all

Need opinions on manifolds and decat, in terms of proven power increases.

I'm having a bit of bother believing that every aspect of honda's supercar can be bettered by the aftermarket, just like a base model civic.

I've seen the pics of the standard manifolds and they do look restrictive, but does the fitment of tubular items add to every aspect of the rev range, or does the mid to high end benefit while the low end response and torque falls?
I'm aware its not a b16 engine that has little torque anyway, the engine has a terrific flexibility and low down response i would not like to lose.

think the costs are quite high also, I did consider 3.2 manifolds, but have heard that they both a), fit with adaptors and b), don;t fit at all. what is the case?

I have also looked at air intakes- do these actually work? I really want a little more induction note, but i don't want to lose power?

I'll get to wheels, suspension and brakes another time.....

Most people here don't seem to modify much, where the americans seem to go mad- what is that?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jamie

[AR]

Jamie,

As you know my current c ar has the Taitec headers, and I can tell you they make a lot of difference on a 3.0, not so much but still enough on a 3.2.

Decats, might or might not add power. I think they must do something, as they are less restrictive than cats. They also save you a lot of weight.

Exhaust, well there is another area where you get more horses and less weight. As an example my Titanium backbox is around 32.5 lbs lighter than OEM. That is over two stones!

As for the Air Intake, I believe that the OEM box is the best for the money. If you have the cash, get the Mugen or the Gruppe M ( loud ) but I doubt they will make more than 5 BHP and some of the cheap ones will a ctually decrease power.

Whatever you do, make sure that you take good care of all the basic stuff first.

Cheers,

AR

[Senninha]

Hi Jamie,

As Ary says, manifold improvements are more noticeable for the 3.0 models. A few have updated with the 3.2 manifold, most recent I think was Silver Surfer so may be worth a pm to get first hand info.

Decats - I've been thinking about these myself but recently have been advised that there is (very) little or no gain other then loosing weight.

Cat back exhaust are more common than they used to be for the UK owners. Theres a large selection offering different levels of sound / noise / boom / drone and of course performance. Check out the September 30th rolling road thread, post #2 IIRC for sound check videos.

FYI, I am running on my 3.2 with Haywood & Scott catback exhaust, OEM cats and headers, Procar AIS and airbox with Apexi. The result is 289bhp :D

HTH, Regards, Paul

[NSXGB]

Decats - I've been thinking about these myself but recently have been advised that there is (very) little or no gain other then loosing weight.


Found mine did not increase noise too much but you can appreciate the engine revving better.

Weight loss is around 10Kg ish from memory.

[Senninha]

Found mine did not increase noise too much but you can appreciate the engine revving better.

Weight loss is around 10Kg ish from memory.

INterested to know more ... what make are you running with and for how long please?

regards, Paul

[NSXGB]

I got Taitec ones sourced from Dirk. Been installed for about 6 months...I can get away with them at MOT time as well because of the year of my car and an understanding inspector too. :)