headers

anyone get headers for their 3 yet? if so, are they worth it?

from the performance and price it looks like my next performance upgrade

headers are definitely going to be worth the money, bill. the only reason i dont have a set though is because they cause the check engine light to come on. there are 'fixes' for the 2.0 liter mazda3 engine and the proteges that prevent the header from throwing a CEL, but for the 2.3 liter mazda3 engine, the fix hasnt been working for some reason...

what brand of headers do you think youll be getting? i know Draxas and Thunder offer headers, but thats all as far as i know.

well i have been looking at vibrant other then that i wouldn't know what brand to get, i'll probley hold off a while too research it, i don't want the cel to pop on and then having to take it to the gararge to get it off. do you know any mods that give the car the same performance specs as headers?

FYI...You can typically borrow a code reader from Murray's autoparts (or similar) to reset your codes without going into the shop. I've done it many times on numerous vehicles. (Or pick one up for ~$130)

i didnt even know they have headers for the 3 yet, ill have to look into this also

yea its like 15 extra hp :)

i looked at the Draxas website in school and i found alot more then i thought i would, id go with them

draxas has had a lot of fitment issues...but they might have taken care of all that.



heres a list of the headers available for the mazda3 thus far...

-DRAXAS HEADER
-VIBRANT HEADERS
-THUNDER HEADERS--there was a group buy for these on the protege forums...im sure they will have another really soon.

cool thanx for the links

Hey I was just wondering if anybody has actually gotten a header yet, also any feedback on the OBX header?
 

I'd love to consider a header, probably one of the best values in hp. I worry about emissions in MD though.
 

yeah I have headers on my car 04 2.0L they are about $250 and you WILL run into a few problems, However there is good news and bad news. 1.) There is a definite performance gain and you will feel it. This is because: (1.a.) there is a warm up cat at in the middle of your stock manifold and you are eliminating that restriction. The bad news, (1.b.) with that is its going to sound ricey as hell regardless of what exhaust system you have as long as its not stock. Along with that, you will backfire way more than usual as well. Don't get all bummed out just yet cuz theres more. You WILL throw a check engine with the header because you eliminated the cat so you will need a simulator and NOT the plug type you need the ones that splice into the heated circuit because otherwise you will occasionally throw a p04XX (Warm Up Catalyst Below Threshold) or if you get the plug in type you will still throw a CEL p04XX (O2 sensor slow response Bank 1 Sensor 2). On to the next problem, OBX is the only company, that I know of, that makes a header for our car. Going with OBX is kind of a crap shoot as well with headers because OBX kinda rides the Grey line as far as quality products. People that I've talked to with OBX headers say that they are crap. The welds start to break, piping bends, warp. However, those were from honda owners. I have talked to some Mitsibushi and Nissan owners who have them and never had a problem. SO I took the chance anyway...still no problems with the actually header itself. The Problem with the OBX header is that they probably did NO research into making this one because the header is about 6 inches short from where the original header bolts to the cat. OBX pretty much cut that in half and put a flange there. So, that leads us to the next problem. So, you have to take off the entire stock header which includes all the following: Two O2 Sensors, flex pipe, and a warm up cat. Basically you keep the flex pipe where its at (for obvious reasons) and you keep the second O2 sensor where its at. You cut right before the second O2 sensor and slab on a flange that will match up with the obx and then you are pretty much good to go. You can see the pictures below about what I am talking about so.

Well I can show you the pictures right now but if you want send me an email asking about them and i will email them back to you...Guitarndrums2005@charter.net

Oh I forgot to add as well I also have this custom exhasut work done too minus the header.. I have no resonators at all basically the only restirictions I have are a muffler which is straight thru anyway which i bought some junk muffler off ebay and the main cat. I am running 2.5 inches from the block back and I'd bet there is about 15-20HP with the FULL exhaust so what stock comes 150HP for the 04 2.0L that would put me at 165HP at the least and Ill give 5Hp or at least thats what K&N dyno'ed for the car so i bet i'm running about 170HP