Just thought I'd make a thread with fit's header infos to help people to choose what they want.

Most of my info came from this forum, and I will try to keep this thread updated, so if you have anything to add, just leave me a reply.
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Updated on Mar.11.08 10:19AM

* Header Installation Thread
* Header does not throw a CEL

1. Megan Racing header:
Good: Price, fitments, quality, noticeable/dyno proven gain pass 4500RPM
Bad: leak with the first batch, seems to be fixed. no low-mid gain, not practical for daily driving. power loss when under load(a fit load of people).

Megan's header is a good choice if you want something thats under 200 bucks, well made, and have noticeable HP gain at upper end. Which is what you want, if you want to drive a Honda fast.

2. Weapon R Street header:
Good: Price, quality, noticeable/dyno proven torque gain more streetable.
Bad: Many complaints fitments. its shorter then stock header, so everything rise up higher, it's not aliened with the bracket, but despite all the fitments issues, it dose not leak.

Weapon R Street header is a good header for someone wants more torque. If the fitments issue doesn't bother you, then there is no reason not to think about it, for under 200 bucks, it's a great header.



3. Weapon R Racing header:

-- needs more info --
(dynoed with cat-back)


4. DC header:
Good: Price, Noticeable gain through out the power band, well made.
Bad: Ceramic Coating is a very debatable topic...but some argue that it will rust sooner then SS headers.

DC header has a good reputation, for under 250, it's a great header, but the fact that it's not SS might bother some people. no dyno info so far.


5. T1R response header:
Good: Very well made, one of the best headers you can buy for the fit, noticeable/dyno proven gain through out the power band. Large piping size will be good for boost down the road.
Bad: Price.

T1R header is the one buy if you have a 400 - 500 budget for you header.


6. Spoon header:

-- needs more info --

7. J's Racing header:

-- needs more info --
It's J's, if you can afford it, you should just go for it.




8. DME header:

-- needs more info --
note: appears to cause power loss from bad collector design.

8. Mugen header:

-- needs more info --
note: Extremely well made header, one of the best for the fit, looks wise. Lack dyno info, but being Mugen, which lacks reputation for having the best performance parts.

9. OBX header:

Comes with a cat-delete as a set. Needs to be modified to make it fit/work.

personal note: stay away from this!!!

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Fit Exhaust Tuning Theories : (pure my personal opinion...feel free to correct me as well)

1. Just want a nice DD with a little more power for when getting one the highway, or passing. not looking to spend too much money on mods.
-You want torque; 4-2-1 design(tri-Y). Weapon R Street will be your choice. It uses the tri-y design which offers better low-mid range gain then 4-1 headers.
-It's relatively cheap, so you don't have to shell out a lot of money, will be a nice trade off.
-Rumor has it that with the extra torque, you won't be pressing down on the gas as hard, in turn, better MPG....can't verify that myself...


2. Extreme Honda Racer.
-If you want to drive a Honda fast, you need to be constantly banging off the rev limiter.
-The L15 in our fit(alone with most honda engines) makes most power in the higher RPMs, so in order to drive the fit fast, you need to stay in the sweet spot(>4500) at all time. So for all the die hard Honda racers, you want the most higher gains you can get, so forget about 4-2-1 headers, as they will never make more top hp then a 4-1 header. In this case, DC, or Megan will be a good fit for you.

-No, only high end power is not practical for street driving, but if you are worried about this, you don't belong to this category.

-If you can afford the T1R, it will be better. From the dyno graph, it appears to provide a more liner gain, and it has bigger piping size, which will result in even more gain when boosted. Being made by T1R, you won't have to worry about the quality.

-If you can afford J's.....enough said.
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-Weapon R Racing header is an odd one. As I said before, 4-2-1 < 4-1 when it comes to make more HP, and I stand by that. Even when it's only within 1, or 2 hp difference. With that said, because of the 4-2-1 design, the WRR header traded that few hp for quite a bit of torque gain. Being the only racing header here also makes it not street legal.
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(leaving out Spoon, and Mugan due to insufficient data)

3. If you are in between those two, then you need to find your own balance, as with everything in life, sometimes not knowing is a blessing...

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hope i didn't forget anything, well, feel free to correct me.

as you can see, I also don't have enough info, so send me more!!!!

Hope this will help more new fit owners to choose which header to buy.

 

Awesome! Great compilation!
It makes me realize how frantic the Aftermarket industry is about the FIT!

I just ordered a Weapon R because of what you stated: torque for city driving. Once i got it installed, my 1 year old Megan will be up for sale.

 

Nice write up. I have a Megan header and the fitment is great. There are no leaks that i have found but it has started to change color a bit which im not a big fan of. The gains are as stated pretty much top end. It does give a bit of a different tone aswell. Im currently not running any other exhaust but the header but that will soon change. Hopefully others will post there finds with there headers and we can keep this going.

 

im curious as to how well the Mugen header performs.....its awfully pricey though. im kinda eye-balling the T1R after reading your write-up.

 

Nice, I was looking at the spoon header the other day and after seeing the price I started rethinking getting that header. It will be nice to have this thread to reference.

 

How hard is it to install a header? What's entailed? Does it throw a check engine light?

 

installing a header is a simple bolt-on affair, its getting in there with adequate space to get everything unbolted and re-bolted that can be the problem. i installed mine (Hotshot header) on my 98 Sentra GXE and it was really easy.....how it is installing one on the Fit, i have no idea but like you im curious on what its like. i havent had a chance to really tinker with the motor very much but the motor looks really snug in there.

 

i have the megan headers loved it and ur right about the power gain around 4500 rpm you feel the gain... nice write up +1

 

Great write up I like the dynos and all I think WR posted their dynos on the race header now. I'd like to see the spoon dyno and fit. I see pics of the spoon but, can't see a o2 bung. My vote WR street (bang for the buck).

 

The header itself is pretty straight forward to remove and instal. I did have a bit of a problem getting the megan header to line up though. I needed a friend on the top moving the header around while i was pulling downt the rest of the exhaust so i could get it to line up. I cut myself up pretty good but thats cause i wasnt paying any attention. It really wasnt that bad though just me not thinking straight and making it harder myself. I dont know about the other headers but the megan did not flag a CEL. Her is a link to the thread i used to instal it if your interested https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-engine-modifications-motor-swaps-ecu-tuning/15645-megan-header-install.html. Hope that helps.

 

no Mugen???

 

----==UPDATE==----

 

You will not trip a CEL if the set of headers you buy has an O2 bung in it for the O2 sensor. I highly suggest T1R's header as it is a great unit with excellent quality! I have mine sitting in my basement for the time being, but will be installing within the next few weeks (damn winter ) Give Ben @ AJ Racing a shout and he will hook you up with one. Tell him Illusive sent you

 

Did plans change? I thought you were gonna get a turbo. Cant wait for pics of all your goodies installed since you have a pile of things waiting to be installed.

Back on topic. Diedwater i repped you for this great thread. Maybe we can get some members to post pics of there headers installed. I know its kind of a pain to do with the little room to work with tho. I will take pics of mine in a couple weeks when i get back to my car.

 

crap.....the Mugen header at jhpusa.com is $715.00 and does not include shipping.....so im guessing a little over $800 or more when all is said and done. suddenly the T1R is looking REALLY good whenever i decide to get a header.

 

I have the T1R header, it rocks

 

I've flip flopped on my plans many times now, but I think I've found the right path for me haha. Involves the header, but not the intake

 

I agree with everything the OP said... except the part about the L15 making most of its power at high RPM (like most Honda engines). In stock trim, it pulls better at lower RPM's (very strange for a Honda)...pushing it towards redline yields diminishing returns. I assume that's mostly a function of valve lift/duration, and fuel maps, so a 4:1 header may counter that slightly... but it's still a low RPM motor (as Honda's go).

 

maybe it feels like it pulls more in low RPM, but if you just take a look at all the dyno graphs I have posted, it's pretty clear that the L15 makes the most tq and hp after 4k RPM, but like most other honda motors, once it gets close to redline, the power starts to drop. So I would say that the L15 is a pretty typical honda engine.

 

Ohh damn,
So you decided on the Supercharger huh? I pre-ordered the supercharger too, welcome to the club.