ok, so right now, i have an 02 neon sxt with vibrant dual exhaust and aem cai. im looking for a little more horsepower. right now i have an idea of what i want to do, but first i want to put out there if anyone has any ideas of what else i should get, keeping in mind i dont want to go towards a catback or turbo.

with that said, right now i'm looking at some headers. iv done some reading on them, and found that the OBX are probably gonna be the best bet. i found two different kinds, long tube headers, and normal ones that come with a downpipe. i would like to know people's thoughts on these on how they would affect horsepower and sound. here are the links for them. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!


HEADERS W/ DOWNPIPE:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-01...spagenameZWDVW

and i found the same thing here

http://www.modernperformance.com/dcx...k_header.shtml

LONGTUBE HEADERS:
http://www.modernperformance.com/dcx...g_header.shtml

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBX-S...spagenameZWDVW


i really appreciate this. i just wanna have something a little faster than all those honda's w/ their little vtecs



02 Dodge Neon SXT
AEM CAI
Vibrant Exhaust
KYB Struts
25% tint??
Pioneer Sound
American Racing Casino
Toyo Proxes 4

 

The regular short tube headers like the obx will give u a gain all around the rpm range. The OBX header doesn't have the best quality though.

Long tube headers have the best gains. With the long tube header, it wont have much hp in the lower rpm range but from the mid-high rpm range it offers the best gains in performance out of any header. I have the MPX long tube header and the quality is great. Gotta love stainless steel.

As far as your next mod, I'd say that u are looking in the right direction by looking at a header.

 

alright thank you very much. for the long tube headers, around what rpm does it really kick in?? i could tell with my intake it really kicks in around 4000. also, any idea about the hp gains from either the normal or long tube headers?? with the shorter headers you can get a boost in low rpms too??

 

The LTH sill deffenitly give you more than the short tube. I have a short tube on mine only because i have a cat welded in my downpipe. The lngtube headers will take a little away from your torque on the bottom end but youll notice more torque at the top end, probably about the same as your cai.

 

Ok, overall, a short tube header will give minimal gains (maybe 1-2whp at most) regardless of which brand you choose to purchase. If you go with the OBX, do not install the downpipe, it does nothing for performance and only makes your exhaust sound worse. The stock R/T header (Magnum header) is the same as an aftermarket Borla STH and is very cheap since its a used part.

As far as longtube headers go, MPx, AFx, Kirk, and FastFabs are your major brands, with MPx and FF as the two best IMO. You will see a much larger ibncrase in power with as LTH compared to a STH, but without other supposrting mods your still not going to reach its full potential. Also, if you choose to purchase a LTH, i would recommend having the cat welded in after the header, because without the cat the exhaust tone will be very raspy.

 

ok well it looks like the best thing to get is the lth, so would that just hook right into the stock cat? also is it just a bolt on mod or is it more invovled?

 

The LTH completely replaces the cat. If your in a state that does emissions testing, its a good possibility that youll fail. Also, the downstream O2 sensor(the second one) will probably set off your check engine light because its used to reading your cat and andjusting fuel to air ratios. With out the cat there, its not going to know how to adjust ratios. The best thing to do is to go to an auto parts store and get some saprk plug foulers and screw them into your O2 sensor and then into your header. It may keep yourchech engine light from coming on. IhaveSTH and it gets set off sometimes, even with the foulers. And you may need to modify your existing exhaust to get it hooked up.

 

You'll have to take your car to a muffler shop and ahve them weld in a cat after the header if you still want one and/or need one isntalled. I would suggest having a cat installed either way, becaus it reduces the raspy exhaust tone that you'll be getting from the LTH.

 

The MPX lth bolts right up. Like stated earlier, it replaces the downpipe and cat. I'm sure you've seen the pictures of the MPX Lth; if u want a cat u can modify the exhaust system and put the cat right after the pipe that comes with the MPX. I almost did that but I changed my mind. I had the Vibrant ultra high flow cat but I sent it back.