AWR header re-make

[tonkabui]

make me #2 on the list if we buy in august. i won't have the funds till then.

if memory serves me right, it'll take a good long while before we can get 8-9. it took about a month and a half for people to sign up for the injen gb that wannabemp3 was putting together.

yeah... august... i'm there.

 

[blackpro5]

The header is without a doubt the best performance upgrade so far to the pro5. I have a injen cai and the exhaust is done to 21/4 to a ractive muffler. The car pulls nicely throughout the power band. I used to have problems with throttle response but now the car just goes and goes. I haven't dynoed the car but the header makes one hell of a difference. Overall if anyone is looking for a perfoemance upgrade and wants to stay n/a the headers are a must i am still waiting to her from perfurmworks( i think that is his handle) about a tb and intake manifold. The header gives me a little more hope in staying n/a. The design is very nice, the welds are nicely done by AWR, who must commend for a great product and interest in making parts for the pro5(which many companies ignore) and the install was not very hard (suggest doing after the car has been off for a couple of hours) I removed the radiator, i had a lot more room to work with. I have had no problems with check engine lights, and the header sounds great to me, the sound is fuller than before and can get a little loud but if you are worrying about making noise performance may not be the best way to go. That is my review of the headers i will hopefully be getting a dyno and some track work, hope this helps anyone who is considering the headers.

 

[twilightprotege]

has anyone removed the pre-cat and just made a dumper pipe from the stock exhaust header to the main cat?

 

[mrpopnfresh]

Hey, make me #3!!

 

[Equinox]

are the headers chrome... ceramic coat, what? =p

 

[perfworks]

has anyone removed the pre-cat and just made a dumper pipe from the stock exhaust header to the main cat?

the main cat is the precat.
the major problem is not the cat its the midpipe between the two cats.
thanks to tonkabui i have made a couple of midpipes if anyone is interested in increasing the diameter and stay legal.
personally i live in NJ and dont have a problem like the guys in california but im sure we can work around for some performance.

 

[tonkabui]

how much is this midpipe you made for our cars? i'm getting a relatively cheap header for my car, but won't mind running both cats when i move back to california. thanks for making it for me!

 

[pr5owner]

NVM im out of the GB im going with the mazda race header

 

[twilightprotege]

the main cat is the pre-cat? I was under the impression the first cat was designed for while the engine was cold and became almost redundant when the engine and exhaust temperature heated up, and the 2nd cat (under the car) is the main cat.

i'm a little confused (as per normal)

 

[tonkabui]

i'm gonna have to go with ditto on twilightprotege's post. isn't the precat the first cat? and the primary cat is the second cat? oh well... someone who is more knowledgeable, please tell.

 

[Equinox]

the hotter the cat the better it works, the main cat is the one that works the best, which happens to be in our exhaust manifold.

the cat bolted on the midpipe is a secondary

 

[twilightprotege]

fairy nuff den. a further question to that then, why do we have (or need) to cats? my ride gets enough pussy as it is

later

 

[mrpopnfresh]

We need two cats because of current laws. This is also why we have the OBD-II instead of OBD-I. Some government agencies now require most newer cars to have at least 2 cats in order to stay within legal parameters.

 

[Equinox]

that and mazda is trying to get points for making an ULEV car, as opposed to a single cat vehicle like fords that are LEV.

 

[twilightprotege]

so which would be the most benefitial to remove????? here in australia we dont give a hoot about exhaust emisions (sorta) so 1 cat is enough.

 

[Equinox]

I will find out soon enough, I ordered the AWR headers.

 

[perfworks]

how much is this midpipe you made for our cars? i'm getting a relatively cheap header for my car, but won't mind running both cats when i move back to california. thanks for making it for me!

$175 shipped

 

[perfworks]

i'm gonna have to go with ditto on twilightprotege's post. isn't the precat the first cat? and the primary cat is the second cat? oh well... someone who is more knowledgeable, please tell.

precat and primary cat are the first cat. it is installed first and that close to the manifold for two reasons. First for proper lite off to collect and control coldstart CO emmisions. Second to maintain the proper A/F ratio the PCM gets a reading before and after the main cat (first cat) with the (2) O2 sensors. The second O2 is used to see how efficiently the primary cat is working since it is at an advantagous spot by the manifold. The second cat is there to clean things up when the system gets overloaded like it extended open loop operation where A/F ratios have been seen to reach 10:1

 

[perfworks]

We need two cats because of current laws. This is also why we have the OBD-II instead of OBD-I. Some government agencies now require most newer cars to have at least 2 cats in order to stay within legal parameters.

true.
to add the problem is in the programming of the PCM. there are too many variables to account for so the system uses a generic map for the car. It does not know what type of fuel or quality you will use. Instaed of spending millions on testing in different climates and control chambers for accuracy the cheap way out is to add a couple of "afterburners"

 

[twilightprotege]

precat and primary cat are the first cat. it is installed first and that close to the manifold for two reasons. First for proper lite off to collect and control coldstart CO emmisions. Second to maintain the proper A/F ratio the PCM gets a reading before and after the main cat (first cat) with the (2) O2 sensors. The second O2 is used to see how efficiently the primary cat is working since it is at an advantagous spot by the manifold. The second cat is there to clean things up when the system gets overloaded like it extended open loop operation where A/F ratios have been seen to reach 10:1

so we just have to have an O2 sensor before a cat and one after? so in theory we can still remove the first cat and put the O2 sensors around the 2nd cat? would moving the O2 sensors back make the burn richer or leaner?

later