(upbeat music)
- These headers cost 400 bucks,
they should take about half a day to install
and they're gonna look super sick in the engine bay.
But none of that really matters if they don't even make
- [Deep Supernatural Voice] More power baby!
- So today we're gonna find out if aftermarket headers
are even worth it.
I'm Zach and this is "Money Pit".
(lightning striking) (snake screaming)
(upbeat music)
(funky music)
Big 'ole thanks to Vincero Watches for sponsoring
this week's episode.
You know here on "Money Pit" we like quality and deals.
Well, Vincero makes high quality watches
and accessories at an affordable price.
I like this sleek black on black one
but they come in a variety of bold colors
and they're water resistant up to a hundred meters.
And I mean look at this thing,
you're not gonna find a better watch for under 200 bucks
that looks and feels this good.
There's a tachymeter on the outer bezel.
And it's got these sick sub-dials.
If you're looking for that real quality,
go read their comments,
all 22,000 five star reviews,
you'll see what I'm talking about.
Go on,
head on over to vincerowatches.com/donutmedia
they're having a huge sale so you can get 20% off
and free shipping.
So please support the brands that support Donut
and treat yourself to a good 'ole time piece.
(gentle music) (care engine humming)
(curious music)
We made it, let's see how much this puppy makes.
So with a naturally aspirated engine,
one of the quickest
and easiest ways to make some extra power,
of course, after you've done an intake and an exhaust,
which we've already done on the Miata.
One of the next easiest and cheapest ways
to make some power is a set of headers.
So today we drove down to my old buddies
at EF1 Motorsports in Long Beach
to strap the Miata to the Dyno and see what it makes.
(drill buzzing)
- [Eddie] What are you thinking?
- Honestly 115 I think is my guess.
120 would make me really happy.
As long as we're in the three number range.
(upbeat music)
(engine revving)
Triple digits.
102.8 we'll round that up to 103.
It's triple digits.
We're also gonna wanna pay attention to our torque curve,
'cause it might change a little bit with our new headers.
We might lose a little torque down low with the new headers
and we might gain some in the middle.
So we're gonna pay attention to that too.
All right so this is the last poll,
we're gonna rev it to 7,000, we were only doing 68 hundred.
We're gonna see if those extra 10 or 15 horsepower
are living in those last 200 RPMs.
(engine revving)
It didn't live there.
But we tried.
104.4, you know what, it's triple digits.
It's not the 115 I was hoping for but I'll take it.
Honestly, I'll take it.
Maybe we can make 115 with the new header,
that would be sweet.
I think if we make five horsepower with the header
that makes it worth it.
But if we make 10 horsepower with the header
that makes it pretty sweet.
If I just make one horsepower with the header
(Zach farting) Not worth it.
So with that it's time to drive my 104 horsepower turd home,
strap a header to it and see how much more power
if any we can make in about half a day.
Then we'll come back here and do this all over again.
Shall we pull?
- [Eddie] Yes.
(upbeat music)
- Woo okay!
Big numbers, we got our baseline, 104 horsepower.
So that makes our target 109 horsepower.
But before we tearing into this thing
trying to make them buff horses,
let's take a listen and see how things sound right now
so we can prepare for new headers.
(engine revving)
All right now that we got it nice and hot
let's go touch it.
(drill grinding)
(upbeat music)
Ah!
Heat shield out the way.
There's a factory manifold.
Not too shabby.
Now let's get it out.
(chill music)
(drill whirring)
(wrench cranking)
(drill whirring) (chill music)
So this thing's been coming apart pretty easy.
Which is awesome.
But if you're fighting your hardware,
it can be really helpful to let 'em soak over night.
And like DB blaster or some sort of penetrating oil
and then if that's not enough you gotta bust out the torch.
Okay, that's the last one.
(metal clanking) (cat meowing)
Now the real test,
let's see if we can get this thing out
in one big piece.
If we can that's great.
That means we can probably definitely get the new one in.
(metal clinking)
Oh shit!
(metal clinking)
(chill music)
(Zach laughing)
No problem.
New one's gonna go in like buttah!
You know what?
Not bad Mazda, not bad.
Done good for 25 years it's time to go.
(chill music)
My hose!
So while we're in here I figured we might as well
replace all of our exhaust studs.
To do that it's pretty easy,
you can use two nuts to jam against each other
so you can remove the stud
and then you can install your new stud just the same way.
Jam two nuts on there and then you can
tighten in your studs.
Time to see if we can slam this puppy in.
(metal clanking)
- [Eddie] You think it's gonna go in?
- Yeah.
If I can get that stock one out
there's no reason this shouldn't fit.
Yo.
I love it when a plan comes together.
(upbeat music) That looks cool too.
So a high quality header like this one
from Roadster Sport is made out of quality materials,
the welds are gorgeous,
they don't look like they're gonna crack,
and the flanges are really thick and perfectly flat.
So that's where you'll find the differences really
in quality.
But how are these things supposed to bring us up
to that 109 horsepower number that we're targeting?
Or hopefully higher.
It is just like how an exhaust gives you power.
Headers are supposed to flow a little better.
And they help scavenge the exhaust
out of the combustion chamber.
We talked about that in our exhaust video.
Go check that out if you wanna know more about scavenging.
Basically it's like sucking the exhaust
out of the combustion chamber which is helpful.
So in theory, that's how these make power.
It doesn't matter if it's a four cylinder,
a six cylinder, an eight cylinder,
as long as it's naturally aspirated,
headers can be a good way to make some power.
So if you're shopping for headers for yourself,
you might come across a couple different styles.
What we've got here from Roadster Sport,
this is called a "Four into One".
It's pretty simple all four primaries collect into one
and then keep going.
Or you might see a "four into two into one"
or what's called a tri-y 'cause there are three Y's
in the header.
(bell dinging)
A four into one is generally gonna be the best
for scavenging and flow at high RPM.
So these are the best for making peak horsepower.
But you can lose a little bit of low end
and mid range torque which can make it feel a little worse.
But a tri-y is generally pretty good all around
where you can gain mid range torque
but you might sacrifice some top end power.
And so since a four into one style header
is the best for making peak horse power,
that's what we went with 'cause we're chasing
that 109 number.
- [Eddie] And you think it's going to make that five power?
- Dude it's making five for sure.
Six, maybe.
Seven, who knows dude.
You don't know.
I'm gonna put these nuts on.
We'll tighten them down and then that's about it.
Pretty easy install.
A-okay with that.
(upbeat music)
(metal clanking) Golden hour, bro.
(upbeat music)
(deep exhale)
Okay that's everything.
Let's put it on the ground,
see how it sounds.
Moment of truth.
(upbeat music)
(door slamming)
(upbeat music)
(keys clicking) I disconnected the battery.
(laughs)
Are you ready?
(engine revving) (upbeat music)
Sounds pretty similar.
Added a little quick rev
now let's see what she sounds like under load on the road.
That's what really counts, you know.
(engine revving)
It sounds great.
It only took about a half a day to install
and it looks sick.
So,
now it's time to see if there's any proof in this pudding.
So we gotta go back to the Dyno and see if we're making
that 109 horsepower.
(upbeat synthesizer music)
All right so me and all my hair made it back down
to EF1 Tuning inside of EF1 Motorsports with the Miata
with the new header on to see if this thing is worth it.
Remember, we came down here before we installed the header
and we made 104 horsepower.
And I was saying that if we make five extra horsepower
with the header then it's worth it.
And if we make 10 then it's very worth it.
But if make less than that five
I'm not sure if it's so worth it.
- [Eddie] What do you think you're gonna land on?
(drill grinding)
- Honestly I kind of feel like 109's gonna be it.
What do you think?
- [Eddie] I'm going to say 111.
- 111?
Nice, optimistic.
Cool.
All right, well, there's only one thing left to do.
(upbeat music)
(engine revving)
(upbeat music)
(metal grinding) (upbeat music)
Okay so we've only gained around a horsepower
in terms of peak power.
But we have gained a little bit of mid range power.
Where we had a bit of a dip in our power graph.
Now it stays a lot flatter so,
you get a little more airy under the curve
which is really important.
So, peak power, not quite there yet.
Let's give it another run.
Maybe we'll hit that 109.
But I'm starting to doubt it.
(engine revving)
Woo hoo hoo!
All right, two horsepower.
We're talking 106 now!
It ain't no five but eh, you know, what are you gonna do?
That's why we gotta turbo this thing.
You can see the headers basically changing color
in front of your eyes.
They're a lot bluer now.
That looks sick.
- Yeah I'm kinda worried
we're gonna max out the Dyno on this one.
- All right, last run, last chance for 109.
(engine revving)
(celestial music)
Oh!
Closer!
107 and a half.
We've made about four horsepower.
Which I,
I mean that's on the cusp of what we were talking about.
It's in the ballpark and if we say
that how good they look is worth one horsepower,
then baby we're right on track.
Right?
Kind of.
These are the mental hoops you're gonna have to jump through
if you really wanna get into cars.
Okay?
You gotta justify this stuff somehow.
Yeah, we didn't hit our magical five horsepower
but we did add a lot of mid range and upper range torque.
We added some cool looks,
it sounds awesome,
it wasn't very expensive,
and it was easy to install.
So, okay, we didn't hit five horsepower
but I'm still gonna say it was worth it.
Sorry.
Droppin' bombs, baby.
Still worth it, didn't hit the horsepower, doesn't matter.
- [Eddie] Light him up!
- Light him up, light me up in the comments.
(laughs)
No you guys agree, it's worth it.
It doesn't matter.
It's not about four or five horsepower.
It's about the fun you have installing it,
driving it, and coming down to your buddy's shop to Dyno it.
So, we had fun.
It looks cool,
sounds great,
worth it.
On that bombshell that's gonna do it for us this week.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
Follow me on Instagram @ZachJobe
follow Donut @DonutMedia and we'll see you guys next week.