Best Exhaust Setups

[JP912]

My Exhaust system is 100% Bone Stock and im looking for any advice out there to help gain any power.

Starting with the headers... From what i heard the Mugen Headers Add about 4 HP and the DC Headers add about 2 HP and the Spoon Headers actually make u loose power. Are there any headers out there that will increase more then 4HP... It doesnt seem practical to pay 200+ dollars Per 1 HP.

Will Replacing the Catalytic Converter with a Strait test pipe increase Horsepower? Or will there not be enough back pressure?

My Main Concern is not having enough back pressure and looseing power

Im not sure i want to Change the catback... The exhaust is loud enough and aftermarket Catbacks in my experiance have never made the car more Quiter but if anyone knows of any catbacks that have a nice tone and will increase Power any information is appreciated.
Thanks, JP

[8695Beaters]

First of all get rid of the myth that backpressure increases power. It doesn't more backpressure just makes more backpresure. If you want, I can explain, but I don't have the time right now.

Don't swap the cat converter. There's no reason to. It has plenty of flow and keeps your car clean and smelling nice (I have a Silvia that runs rich and has a dying cat converter. Not fun). Also you will fail emissions without one. We all have a duty to help keep our environment clean. I think even race cars should have cats.

My HKS Hi-Power exhaust is huge, but very quiet for around town driving. The turbo is louder than the exhaust (as is the BOV). But again, Mugen will probably have something better.

No, there aren't any headers that will gain more than that. Realize that Honda has put their best foot forward on the S2K and any gains on any parts will be minimal. It's just the nature of the beast and you're going to have to live with it. Most cars today are coming up with less and less potential as the OEMs work harder to make more power from the factory.

[dre5491]

I love the sound of Inividia catbacks on the S2k. They have a deep non-ricey tone to them, they actually sound mean as hell.

Heres some sound clips of some I found on youtube

YouTube - Honda S2000 Invidia Exhaust
YouTube - S2000 Invidia Exhaust Sound
Its loud but I love they way they sound.

[8695Beaters]

My piping is 3.5" (I think, the car's kinda low for me to crawl under and measure) and my exhaust tip is 4.5". And it's still quiet. The trick is finding one that has the resonators installed in the right spot. If the distance betwen the two is right, then most of the noise is cancelled out, but flow is not reduced at all. And if it's made form titanium, THAT'S a quality part.

[TJ213]

The one thing about backpressure is that decreasing it can cause a decrease in low end torque, even though you gain top end horsepower.

The s2k isn't going to gain too much from bolt ons. Saving up for a S/C would probably be the best route to take.

[8695Beaters]

^^^Nope, completely wrong. It's the velocity of the exhaust gas that creates the extra torque (the exhaust creates a vaccuum in the piping and creates better exhaust scavenging). This might sound like backpressure, but remember backpressure is just air that is trying to go up the exhaust pipe, not down it. In this case, all the air is moving in the same direction. An exhaust with good flow will always create more power than one with any amount of backpressure. The trick is with NA cars, high velocity at low RPM means lots of backpressure at higher RPM. On forced induction cars, the piping should always be large, since there is a hell of a lot more air going through it.

[JP912]

thanks guys for all the info..
On my Prelude i had put so much money into the exhaust headers /test pipe / Catback.. so basically it was a strait exhaust and i almost felt like i was loosing power at low rpm's i want to get something that will have a constant gain through the entire powerband with the s2000 if possible..

The invidia exhaust sounds good.. not ricey but a little loud for me.. A red s2000 is just asking to be pulled over.. i dont want to attract more attention to myself. or i should say the wrong attention... Any catbacks out there that increase power and are quiet? That do not require a silencer?

[jembr325]

As an update -- I was just researching this and the best looking to fit an s2k with an eye on performance would be anything 70mm or bigger. If you want the highest hp output -- go with a 70mm or larger single (gets you an extra 1-3 at the wheel over a dual. TR and Buddy club make decent singles. Invidia makes a great dual for ap1s. If you want to keep the stock look, mate Invidia catback piping with supersprint mufflers.