The main goal of headers is to make it easier for the engine to shove exhaust gases out of the cylinders.
It is an exhaust manifold tuned to improve efficiency and improve exhaust Scavenging performance.
The header is fitted to the cylinder heads. In vehicles with an exhaust manifold, exhaust gases from all the cylinders reach the exhaust system through a single exhaust manifold, resulting in the build-up of back pressure. To overcome this, each cylinder is equipped with its exhaust pipe.
An exhaust header would slightly improve the sound of your car. The exhaust headers are wider and thinner when compared to the stock system.
These features allow the sound vibrations to flow better and exit the car, allowing for a louder voice.
Different Types of Headers for Cars
There are four main types of Headers.
- Exhaust Manifolds
- Shorty Headers
- Mid-length headers
- Full-length headers
1. Cast Exhaust Manifolds
Why is cast iron used for exhaust manifolds?
Cast iron manifolds are available for some select vehicles. While cast iron is heavier than other materials, it soaks up heat better, which is a plus for emissions, and prevents unwanted heat from radiating onto other nearby components.
Performance cast manifolds are different from OE by offering smooth flow and better design.
Being cast iron means they will provide years of leak-free performance with less under-hood noise than traditional headers.
2. Shorty Headers
The port pipes merge into a single exhaust pipe at a far shorter distance. Because of this, each design influences back pressure in the exhaust system in a different way.
Longer port tubes result in lower exhaust backpressure, which means improved oxygen consumption and a boost in horsepower.
3. Mid-length Headers
Mid-length headers are shorter than full-length headers. The tubes typically curve back and down at a 45-degree angle to the ground.
The shorter primary tubes will make lower low-end torque than a full-length header. However, they are still much better than a stock manifold.
4. Full-length Headers
Use primary tubes longer than the primaries on your stock exhaust manifold. These four primary tubes are usually empty into one collector pipe and form a {4-1}design.
Full-length headers help produce more overall power with good power in the low- and mid-rpm ranges, right where most street-powered vehicles can use it most!
The longer primitives also reduce the chance of escaping gases getting drawn back into another pipe.
5. Side Mount Headers
These are built from lightweight 18-gauge tubing. Side tubes slip directly into the collector for a leak-free seal.
The ceramic coating is the most common type of header. A good set of headers will build up sufficient exhaust flow velocity.
Head gasket
A head gasket provides the seal between the engine block and the cylinder head in an internal combustion engine. Its purpose is to seal the combustion gases inside the cylinders and avoid leaking coolant or engine oil into them. Leaks in the head gasket could cause poor engine running and overheating. The header gaskets match the headers perfectly, and the exhaust manifold gaskets match the stock heads’ exhaust ports exactly.
Why are headers a better option than an exhaust manifold?
As mentioned above, exhaust manifolds create backpressure, which lowers performance. Because every cylinder of the engine is given its tube, the headers eliminate this issue, thus allowing the gases to exist without the creation of back pressure. Headers are generally made from thin-walled stainless steel tubing.
Benefits of Headers on a Car
Headers boost engine performance. A turbo or supercharger investing in high-performance headers can increase the engine’s torque and the car’s horsepower.
Based on your car type and the exhaust system, upgrading the headers can result in a 5% increase in horsepower.
This is not a small improvement, and it can even be more pronounced in racing cars and cars with already powerful engines.
Well-designed vehicle headers can produce what is called the scavenging effect.
In other words, when an exhaust gas pulse flows out of the header tube and into the collector, this creates a negative pressure wave that travels back up the header tube to the exhaust port during valve lap over.
As a result, this helps remove any remaining exhaust gas from the cylinder and also helps draw the incoming consumption charge.
This is very beneficial for the engine’s performance as the back pressure is reduced and doesn’t stifle its work.
