stout

John (and anyone else), quick question:

Are catalysts failing in track use limited to cheap catalysts–or maybe certain tracks (Daytona, Sebring, maybe Road America?) with long WOT runs? Or is this something seen everywhere? I am genuinely curious.

Have to say the Cargraphic 2.0 setup is very appealing...

BGB Motorsports

Afternoon everyone! As I had mentioned prior, we have now reached 10 buyers to secure group buy pricing. I have sent emails to all those who expressed interest, and will continue to accept orders at this pricing until the end of next week, January 13th.

The sport manifolds will come standard with cats as previously, however the new 2 piece version just allows for those cats to be removed at the track, and replaced with a "delete" section. The cat-delete pipes are an additional upgrade, and add $325 to the manifold cost.

This creates the best of both worlds for those who still street drive their cars, to remain 50 state emissions compliant, but easily remove the cats on track without the need for a different set of manifolds!

Alex@PE

Such a great collective effort amongst Cargraphic, BGB, and the GT4 family! This is a great opportunity to get awesome headers at a stellar price!

My intention isn't to detract from the group buy or derail the group buy conversation, but we did want to mention to those that are interest in the single piece Cargraphic Race Headers that we have one set left over on our shelf! If anyone is interested, definitely shoot us a PM! These headers are such a great design and well proven thanks to the co-development between Cargraphic and BGB. The 981 community wouldn't be the same without you guys!

Thanks everyone and Happy New Year.

CarAholic

Anyone run the race headers for awhile then added a tune later. Interested in hearing if there was a noticeable difference once the tune was added. Can't wait to install my headers I am hoping it livens the car up a bit.

Beantown Kman

I have CG sport headers as well as the IPD plenum and GT3 throttle body. I am using the Cobb tune and I have used their device a couple of times to remove their tune and revert back to the stock ECU file. The difference was dramatic. I was very surprised to see how much of a difference the tune makes.

CarAholic

For those of you who installed the race headers what did you do with the post O2 sensor? Did you disconnect it and remove it entirely or zip tie it up somewhere?

CarAholic

Anyone reuse there existing gaskets or has everyone replaced them?

jmartpr

They are not expensive but you should be OK re-using them, I did it on my car a long time ago and so far no problems as they are the thin metal kind.

DrPhil Gandini

I have done both with the OEM gaskets. Recently I reused a set that had about 1000 miles on them, and they were fine for the 2000 miles I used them. But I then used new OEM gaskets for the header re-install, just to be sure that everything was "perfect." The OEM gaskets do compress, as there's a small raised section that rings each port, and this compresses slightly when installed and torqued correctly. But my experience suggests they can be reused.

CarAholic

Did anyone completely remove the post 02 sensor when they put on the race headers?

BGB Motorsports

For those of you going on the track and purchasing the race headers for off-road usage, if you want to avoid the CEL when using any kind of tuning, people have had luck removing the post-cat O2 sensor. AGAIN, please understand that this is for off-road / race car use only. Leaving it installed and tied up and on the car will not get rid of the CEL if you're trying to do so using any programming. Sorry for the delay!

CarAholic

Well I installed my headers that came in today. First off I hate that Porsche didn't put studs in the block as I was nervous the whole time of cross threading the block. Install was really simple though one bolt wouldn't go in for the life of me. Going to go to a friends shop and put her on a lift for better access.

Installation = simple anyone with relative background in working on cars can complete this. Easiest header installation I have done other then civics.

Power:
I cant tell a huge bump in power, not like a strapped a turbo to this thing at all. It did however smooth out the power band. There is no longer that giant kick in the *** at 5k instead it's just a constant pull to red line. I haven't had a whole lot of time to really drive her but so far I am very happy. CEL light kicked on after 20 miles, not sure if the ecu adapts timing for this but so far haven't felt a drop in power.

Quality:
Very nice craftsmanship with high quality materials. Absolutely no complaints here. Every bolt logged directly up and no modifications were necessary.

Sound:
Now others have commented on this but I will give my description of it. It is absolutely stock sound levels from 3.5k and under, zero drone. Even cold start is barely any louder then factory. However once you put the pedal to the floor it sounds like space time is being chainsawed wide open. It's a very porsche race car high pitch sound, almost Ferrari ish. The videos online do not do it justice. I truthfully can't tell the difference between exhaust flaps open or closed, she may be a hair louder under light throttle application with it on. Very pleased with the sound. For reference I had a straight pipe exhaust from the headers back prior to this.

Price:
I think the price is fair especially during the group buy. I however feel that for this expense gaskets and hardware should be included.

Conclusion
Overall I am very pleased with my purchase and look forward to seeing if there are any adaptations that will take place over the next 100 miles to increase performance even more. Now I am really wanting to get a tune to see how big of a difference the combination makes.

I will break down my plus and minus for each set up below.

Stock Headers w/ Straight Pipes
Pros
1. Large increase in overrun
2. Nice and deep bassy exhaust note (V8ish)
3. Cheap
4. No CEL

Cons
1. Non Adjustable Sound levels
2. Power decrease (torque) very slight but noticeable
3. Had some annoying drone, not horrible but it was there
4. Impossible to leave the house without waking the neighbors

Caragraphics race headers w/ stock PSE
Pros
1. Flattening of power curve
2. Slight bump in overall power
3. Easy install
4. Very slight increase in daily driver and cold start sound levels
5. No drone
6. High pitch race car tone
7. Still have sound adjustability

Cons:
1. Price (relative to comparison)
2. Small increase in overrun
3. CEL

jmartpr

I agree, some of the bolts are a real PITA to get in place since the tubes on all aftermarket headers are bigger and take away some of the space needed to get the bolt aligned into the head...you have to do it by hand and very carefully. It helps to do these first and never fully tighten all of them all the way. just screw them some so they hold the header. Once you have all of them in place make sure they screw in freely before using any kind of tool with leverage......using anti-seize paste also is a good idea. Another thing for those doing it themselves...while a 10mm socket works it's much better to have the E-Type sockets which are the correct ones to use on these bolts.....

CarAholic

Oh yea everything was finger tightened before attaching a tool. The funny thing is the bolt I can't get to go in is one that is easily accessible.

Beantown Kman

CarAholic-- Get a tune! As I've said previously, I was very surprised to see the difference the tune made. You will be pleasantly surprised. Money well spent.