Ebay headers...updates?
 

So I have seen some threads in the past asking about the cheap 100$ ebay headers... so here is one for anyone who has them and has an update on the performance and quality/longevity.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Boxster-986-97-98-99-2-5L-6-2-1-Exhaust-Header-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aBoxsterQQhashZitem 2c593e64f7QQitemZ190475822327QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fT ruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

that one there is like 85 shipped and for that price it seems so cheap why not try.
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however, what are some of the things that need to be done to the car? does it have to be flashed for ROW in order to not throw codes? what would i need to do to get these into my car and go completely cat-less?

Maybe move to Nevada. You live in the great state of Commiefornia, land of the smog Nazis. Cars with intentionally modified emission controls may be subject to impound. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. About 20 cars were towed from a Euro car meet not far from my house a few years ago. Periodic roadside inspection stations also scoop up cars deemed to be "not street legal in California".

well, lucky for me I am not bound to those emission rules. So does anyone have a clue as to if these are good for the job? And after that what needs to be done to the ECU or whatever else to make it run?

What year is your car? 2.5L cars don't require anything extra when switching to headers. If you have a 2.5L then it's a piece of cake. If it's a 2000 or newer good luck.

no unfortunately it is a 2.7 2001. would it require me to just flash it to ROW?

That's one option, but who will do it? The dealer wont. You're not required to do anything....you'll just have a solid CEL on all the time. I've even heard of some people putting tape over the light. Outa sight, outa mind kinda thing.

hmmm... any suggestions? Also what are the benefits and disadvantages for the ROW what does that flash entail.

My suggestion is don't put headers on the car if things like CEL's bother you. You can try messing around with 02 simulaters, relocation of 02 sensors, or ROW flash. The first two options don't work most of the time. The 3rd option is the ROW flash. Don't know much about that because nobody outside of Porsche dealerships that I know of has access to this uber expensive tool and if they do they are not advertising ROW flashes.

thanks for the help. I guess ill start looking for ROW flash solutions.

No problem, sorry it wasn't the answer you were wanting to hear. As far as I'm concerned there is no easy way around this "problem." If you find anybody selling ROW flashes let us know about it.

You don't absolutely need to have the dealer do it. There are indies and private individuals that have access to a PIWIS tester. You should ask Loren over at Renntech, he is very sharp on this stuff and may know who can do this. May be a little bit of a drive from the 831 but its an excuse to go beat on the car a little.

Adam is correct. Unlike the 2.7 and 3.2 engines that utilize four cats (two of which are incorporated into the headers), the 2.5 variant only uses one set that are located further down stream. Therefore, you could conceivably change headers and still have the vehicle remain OBD II compliant. Whether or not a set of $85.00 headers found on on Ebay is the appropriate choice is another question.

Addendum: Now that I see that your vehicle is a 2.7, that raises two immediate concerns. First, by eliminating the oem header/pre-cat set up, your vehicle will no longer be OBD II compliant. Secondly, it was my experience that "going catless" resulted in a significant loss of low end and mid range torque. This has been commented upon in numerous threads.

OK really don't know if this applies, but....I have 04 S I bought the $80 ebay headers over a year ago. put them on - no warning lights- no flash - no loss of power. I also put them previously on my 97 2.5 same results , well actually better because the car ran noticebly better. Still have the same headers on my 04 working perfectly. I did use the ports and put the o2 sensors in. Since then I installed softronic flash and eliminated the cats altogether. no problems. runs great. lots of power.

You're headed down a slippery, somewhat expensive slope, but there are power gains to be had. I've got an 00 S and I've had the Chinese headers on there for 4 years and 60,000 miles. I got CEL's and it took a Softronic reflash last year to eliminate that. The reflash also corrected a lean condition that I got, but only knew about because of taking the car for a dyno test. When I dyno'ed the car, I had the headers, gutted cats, and an EVO intake: 225 HP at the wheels, which put me around 265 flywheel. 15 HP gain isn't too bad, especially for under $400 in parts. Too bad it takes another $750 for the reflash to get things running properly.

What did your power/torque curve look like from low to mid range ?

FWIW, I have a set of the chinese headers sitting on the shelf. All the posts about broken header bolts & minimal power gains dissuaded me from installing them.

THat is a real shame, when I installed it on my 97, I had neither of those problems, if you decide to do it, make sure the engine is cold, sitting overnight, the bolts should come right out. unless someone over torqued them before. the worst thing you might have to do is adjust the holes with a dremel but that's a maybe, I have installed several now and 1 was spot on, 2 needed a slight adjustment and 1 needed more than slight adjustment. You will feel a slight difference in power and it will sound better as well, but only if you take it off your shelf and give it a shot.
Happy Holidays

Did install these on your '97 or '04 ?

I have them on my 97 and my mechanic had no problem installing them. They did give me a nice bump in HP and torque (15 or so) and the Chinese twin chamber exhaust is more throaty than normal.

It was a good mod for me.

see that right there is the reason why. with the 97 as you know has no cats on the headers so no re-flash is needed or aftermarket software. Im glad you are happy with em.. I want to go catless (right now I have only 2 cats headers only) but that software thing will make it tough on me.