Headers make a difference?, Headers? "High Flow" cats? some one help! 94 ST Options

[mgnt232]

I Have a 1994 Toyota Celica ST 1.8L 7A-FE
I recently had a Magnaflow "catback" installed.

I was looking into getting headers when i came across something interesting.
I saw that in order for the headers to give you car the extra power, you need to have a high flow catalytic converter. I am not sure if this is true, but i believe it is because the extra flow, from the headers would be slowed by the restrictive stock cat? am i correct? (the cat back is not restricted any more, with my new magnaflow exhaust system)
And if this is correct, would these two things match up?

The cat i am looking at ( http://www.planetmagnaflow.com/mfcatsearch...catmodel=CELICA ) !*The first direct fit one*!

The headers i am looking at ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...alenotsupported )

Are headers worth it? do i need the new cat? would it be better? with the new cat, is it worth it at all? ive never seen the difference, but im assuming alot of you have, so any one with any info, please give me some answers. thanks!-

[match220]

headers do make a difference in more areas than sound..just to kind of give you an easy technical explanation..stock headers are designed to basically just put the exhaust out of the engine with no science behind it, aftermarket headers do it in a more organized way so it gives you more performance, factoring in exhaust pulse width, thermodynamics and flow equalization. I could type paragraphs on this that would probably bore you with explanations on the science behind it, plus I don't want to type all of it out, but that's the basics. Just stay away from stainless steel aftermarket headers, people usually make a mistake getting those and they don't even know. Stainless steel dissipates too much heat, and when the exhaust cools down, the molecules slow down, which makes them harder to push out of the exhaust system, so it's basically the same thing as having pipes with smaller diameter. This is why people get titanuim exhaust kits, or ceramic coated kits, (cast iron is probably the best thing to get for your money though, it is full of air bubbles that hold in heat in the system) these kits hold the heat in so the exhaust stays hot to the end of the pipes, that makes it easier to push out of the pipes, the faster it gets out, the easier the pistons move up in the engine and the less backpressure you have on your engine. A well designed exhaust system will free up a lot of power in a stock engine, and give a sweet sounding engine, also don't go too large on the exhaust piping. I'm not going to get into that, but it's another mistake people make on N/A 4 cyls, they don't need 3 inch diameter piping!

This post has been edited by match220: Jul 27, 2009 - 2:27 AM

[presure2]

headers do make a difference in more areas than sound..just to kind of give you an easy technical explanation..stock headers are designed to basically just put the exhaust out of the engine with no science behind it, aftermarket headers do it in a more organized way so it gives you more performance, factoring in exhaust pulse width, thermodynamics and flow equalization. I could type paragraphs on this that would probably bore you with explanations on the science behind it, plus I don't want to type all of it out, but that's the basics. Just stay away from stainless steel aftermarket headers, people usually make a mistake getting those and they don't even know. Stainless steel dissipates too much heat, and when the exhaust cools down, the molecules slow down, which makes them harder to push out of the exhaust system, so it's basically the same thing as having pipes with smaller diameter. This is why people get titanuim exhaust kits, or ceramic coated kits, (cast iron is probably the best thing to get for your money though, it is full of air bubbles that hold in heat in the system) these kits hold the heat in so the exhaust stays hot to the end of the pipes, that makes it easier to push out of the pipes, the faster it gets out, the easier the pistons move up in the engine and the less backpressure you have on your engine. A well designed exhaust system will free up a lot of power in a stock engine, and give a sweet sounding engine, also don't go too large on the exhaust piping. I'm not going to get into that, but it's another mistake people make on N/A 4 cyls, they don't need 3 inch diameter piping!

stay away from stainless for headers?
are you serious?
LMAO
burns stainless, who supplies some of the best racing teams out there says otherwise.
http://www.burnsstainless.com/TechArticles...ory/theory.html

[match220]

stay away from stainless for headers?
are you serious?
LMAO
burns stainless, who supplies some of the best racing teams out there says otherwise.
http://www.burnsstainless.com/TechArticles...ory/theory.html

Yes I'm serious, aside from Burns Stainless, most performance headers and exhausts systems you see will be fully titanium, ceramic coated, or even sometimes cast iron. Then you have one company making stainless headers ? Seriously man, think about the science behind this, don't look at what a company is making so that they can sell to people. If I thought that way then I would think, "yeah, Dodge makes amazing cars because they make them for the American public and the most of the cars and trucks that the military uses are Dodge, so they have to make a quality product". No, Dodge sucks, the government has bailed them out 4 times and continues to use their vehicles, they are cheap, electrical nightmares, that depreciate very fast and most people don't buy after it's been used for 5 years even though they are 5 times cheaper than a Toyota with the same miles and wear. Anyway, my point is, don't look at a company and base your answer on what they make and who they make it for and try to prove me wrong, nothing on that page disproved what I was saying earlier, in some ways it complimented it. Now maybe I exaggerated a little bit in saying "never use stainless", it's decent at holding heat, I was just trying to stress that there are other better options than stainless: titanium, ceramic coating...etc. Besides, for stainless to be better at retaining heat it has to be thicker. So honestly, I don't care if burnsstainless makes headers for John Force, I know what happens in an exhaust system. Maybe they use thicker stainless steel. I can talk exhaust flow dynamics all day. But just a quick explanation of what I'm saying is what I've already said that makes sense, and frankly I don't understand why you don't see it the same way I do. Stainless releases heat through the walls more than titanium and the other options out there, because of this, the molecules slow down, become more dense, and get harder to push out of the exhaust system. The cylinder can only push exhaust out of the pipes as fast as how much restriction it has. That's all I'm saying, I don't want to argue, I just want to clarify my point.