Mind Your Head'er Part 1

Most cars have used cast-iron exhaust manifolds to expel gasses from the engine's cylinder heads. The rationale: Cast iron has good thermal properties, so such items such as spark plug wires can be routed closer to it than to other materials which expel more heat. Also, cast-iron manifolds are cheap to produce in mass quantities. While a lot of peeps keep on saying that OEM Mivec manifold is the best so-called 'performance' part given from Mitsi right from factory, I didn't quite agree with it. This is because :

1. It is made from cast iron; it's heavy, rust-prone and hideous

2. Its' inner surface is no better than the late Planet Krypton's surface; no go for the flow

3. Although the manifold inner passage were bigger than any N/A 4G9X family motor, a good build tube-header is always much better.

So I met this fella in Setapak who which claimed that he's able to custom made me a header, spesifically; for a MIVEC. Using galvanized steel as the base material, he then measures the length and the angle of the pipe needed to bend according to his formula. I left my car as the header making process will take one whole day. I came back the day after. After a brief inspection (well, at least I thought so), I found that it is basically a 4-2-1 design but, the 2-1 pipe is in horizontal (the pipe sits up and down) instead of in vertical order (side-by-side). The fella claimed this design will yeild more top end power like a 4-1 header, but still maintain good low end torque of 4-2-1 header (?). Anyway, the primaries are long but they were badly length'ed. The exhaust note sounded boxer'ish at lower rpm. The weld quality is a joke. I didn't expect a world class weld quality, but please don't claim yourself a specialist if you can't weld like one. It is just wrong, very wrong. Nevertheless, the throttle respond was good, at least better than the stock factory manifold. The O2 sensor was located on the 2.3" collector (the 1-pipe) right before the flange. The big drawback is the header hung lower than the oil sump. Getting pass a speed hump is a big task. Too fast and I'm going to hit the hump, too slow and the driver in the car behind will keep on honking and cursing me. Is the performance gained justify the price I've paid? I have to admit, I didn't regret neither did satisfied that much. Maybe I should've top up a bit and get on with R3 stainless 4-1 header.