GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Are they any good? How long to put in headers anyways?http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW

The exhaust manifold on the Vibe GT is excellent and so very little improvement in power is achieved by installing a header. The base Vibe however would see a greater increase in power. It's not a big job once you crack the bolts on the manifold free. Heat and time tend to seize them on pretty tight.

First: "8 -15 HP" is a huge spread -which is it supposed to be?Second: No way! A good set of headers on a 350 HP Corvette is only worth ~15 HP.Third: As Sunny says, the GT/XRS header is a very nice piece. Unless the engine was heavily modified, thus changing exhaust requirements, I can't see more than a 5 HP gain, maybe even zero or minus.Fourth: Although the quality of this unit appears very good, the design doesn't look to be anything special. Apart from the apparently larger tubes which may or may not help power, it has a short stumpy collector and no internal divider that I can see.Would definitely want to see independent dyno data confirming the gains, keeping in mind that it's possible to build a header with a narrow gain at peak power but worse performance overall.(Mr. Negativity steps down from his soap box and wanders off mumbling to himself...)

Thanks guys. I guess I'll pass on them.

Quote, originally posted by MadBill »First: "8 -15 HP" is a huge spread -which is it supposed to be?Second: No way! A good set of headers on a 350 HP Corvette is only worth ~15 HP.Third: As Sunny says, the GT/XRS header is a very nice piece. Unless the engine was heavily modified, thus changing exhaust requirements, I can't see more than a 5 HP gain, maybe even zero or minus.Fourth: Although the quality of this unit appears very good, the design doesn't look to be anything special. Apart from the apparently larger tubes which may or may not help power, it has a short stumpy collector and no internal divider that I can see.Would definitely want to see independent dyno data confirming the gains, keeping in mind that it's possible to build a header with a narrow gain at peak power but worse performance overall.(Mr. Negativity steps down from his soap box and wanders off mumbling to himself...)I just recently received ptuning's email announcing DC Sport's header for the XRS/GT. It's just under $300, and according to DC Sports themselves (I called them the same day), they gaurantee HP gains worthy of the pricetag (5-8HP?). They claim to dynoprove every single product, and based on the fact that AEM recently acquired them, I believe it. However, I'm still going to wait until they release they dyno sheet.Here's a link: http://www.ptuning.com/html/It...=VibeEDIT: Well, looks like it's out of stock again

I reccomend the DC header. I have one on my base Matrix and it's amazing. My current I/H/E setup has me putting out 137 to the wheels

Quote, originally posted by DocHolliday »I reccomend the DC header. I have one on my base Matrix and it's amazing. My current I/H/E setup has me putting out 137 to the wheelsthe problem is that the stock and GT exhaust headers are totally different. According to many GTS/XRS/GT owners, the stock 2zz header is already as finely tuned as possible (or damn close to it). I guess the only way to know is to take the $300 leap until DC Sports releases their dyno sheet(s).

Before anyone rushes out to buy a DC Sport header for either a base or GT, there is a discrepancy in the P.N.s between PT Tuning: http://www.ptuning.com/html/It...=Vibe and DC Sports own site: http://www.dcsports.com/product_headers_app.asp . PT lists the base P.N. as (PT)THC 4402 and available, while DC says it's THC 4404 and coming soon. The GT numbers are also in disagreement. Ordinarily I'd assume the factory was correct, but DocHolliday already has a set on his base Vibe, so obviously they at least had a part in the past. Maybe they're re-tooling to make it also fit '04s and '05s? Can you post the part number you used, Doc?

UPDATE!Reply below from PT Tuning:(I said I had a Matrix just to forestall any "won't fit" discussions)Dear Bill,Thank you for your inquiry. Initially, DC Sports listed the THC4404 as a new part number, but when they recently brought a Matrix/Vibe base model in for testing, they realized that the Celica GT header fits perfectly. So to make a long story short, the PTTHC4402 is the correct part number for your '03 Matrix XR.Please contact us if you have any further questions.Sincerely,Performance Tuninghttp://www.ptuning.com"Low Price Guarantee"

Here is the link. Not bad 12-14hp increasehttp://www.ptuning.com/html/It...atrix

Unfortunately, that "12 to 14 HP" seems to be a generic claim! The same gains are listed for both the Matrix/Vibe base and GT, as well as for several Honda models, even for three different designs (4-1, 4-2-1 one piece and 4-2-1 two piece) for the same application. In one case, PTAHC6515, for an '02 -'04 Civic Si HB, this caption:"Dyno testing shows an additional 9.4 HP & 7.4 TQ to the wheels!"is shown below the header picture and above the paragraph citing 12 -14 HP gain.I would expect that Honda does as good a job as Toyota with their exhausts, so a similar gain for a 1ZZ Vibe would not be unreasonable, but actual numbers for our toys would be nice. (Unless DocHolliday has a breakdown of his power gains, piece by piece?)