EL HEADERS VS. UEL HEADERS

War_Panda04

STill Plays With Toys!
this debate has probably been posted before but i want to hear everyone's opinion on this. Equal Length Headers VS. Un-Equal Length Headers. which do you like and why?

me personally. i prefer UEL. keeps the classic Subaru throb in the exhaust and sounds way better. i know its safer for the motor and you can make more power with EL but im not going for the most power i want something i will enjoy driving and listening to. plus if UEL were that bad for the motor Subaru would have stopped using them a long time ago.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
The shitty pistons they put in are bad for the motor too, but they've continued that practice for over a decade. Never underestimate the power the bean counters hold over the engineers.

EL headers are the standard in Japan, while we get the UELs. I must say, I'm partial to the UEL because of the exhaust note. That and the fact that in most applications, a good quality, aftermarket EL header doesn't really make that much more power than a good quality, aftermarket UEL header. Though there is more power to be made with an EL header, the difference is minimal. The biggest performance increase you will notice is spooling a few hundred RPMS sooner.

Personally, I'd only run an EL header if I was running a twin-scroll turbo (also something that the JDM gets, versus the single scroll we receive here in the USDM).

I'd say that if you want a better answer, [MENTION=9]HolyCrapItsFast[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION] will need to chime in here.
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
That's just about the answer I would have given :D :tup:

If you are considering EL headers alone then it is probably not worth it, but EL headers combined with a slew of other mods and it makes for a great package.
 

Grinder34

Track Monkey
I have a set of ceramic coated EL headers I've been meaning to put on for...4 years now! So I prefer EL from a nerdy perspective of how they're "better" for spool, pressure, etc... To me the UEL sound is one of compromise by subaru engineers.
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
Here's what I know about EL and UEL headers... The EL header will allow even spacing of exhaust pulses at any RPM, boost level and exhaust pressure and allow for lower exhaust pressure over all. This makes for more consistent turbo dynamics and consistent over all power and performance and doesn't make your head spin thinking about it. In a UEL header the exhaust pulses can overlap each other causing uneven spacing of exhaust pulses at varying RPMs and pressures, and cause unwanted pressure variations and harmonics. In most cases the EL header is going to be the advantage, BUT in cases where manufacturers actually tune their UEL header, they can make the exhaust pulses combine to create a high forward pressure wave there by increasing the flow rate and at specific RPMs and thereby increase turbo spool . In these cases the UEL header will out perform a EL header in specific driving situations and I wouldn't mind spending the kind of money they are asking for.

However who is doing this kind of product development? I haven't seen any tests by any manufactures that outline this kind of development. If you are building a car for power and performance and don't care about the sound then I would say go EL.
 

War_Panda04

STill Plays With Toys!
[MENTION=5560]Taranto217[/MENTION] this is an old post i started about EL vs UEL headers and there is some good info on them. if you want to really know your car and modify it. spend some time browsing the forum for information about the car. i know there is a post about the SI-DRIVE on here somewhere to learn about that for an example
 
thanks buddy!! yes I'm down for all the info I can and have been reading on the forum but I only have 20 minute lunch. and sleep during the day so reading up is hard for me!
 
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