Thanks to Bras_33 I am headed down to CA on Monday to Megan Racing for them to install a set of headers on my 06 ES. I will post pics (while installing if they will let me) and when its completed. Yes I did say that I am going to turbo, but since money is real tight NA mods are the order of the day. Thanks to Megan Racing for this opportunity!
I think that it's a new header design from Megan. I looks like they are trying to expand their 4G94 line some. I'll post some updates when I can get some access to the site from there.
I went down to Megan Racing yesterday for the header prototype install. I have to thank the Megan guys for letting me hang out with them for the day, it was fun. So on with the show... Old exhaust... stock... Eww... naked exhuast :lol: Out with the old! In with the goodies! This is going well... Almost done... This is where thing got sticky. A couple of things were noted for changes, first a bung need to be added to the header pipe for the primary O2 sensor. Second the 06 ES has the second CAT welded to the downtube, so a test pipe was needed to complete the install. Then when we were trying to remove the sendary O2 sensor, we found out that it was cross-threaded to the CAT. BIG BUMMER! So off to the muffler shop we went. Since the header was open at the end of the downtube, the car was extra LOUD. We grinned and laughed the whole way to the shop. Mod were made... Mod 1, a bung was added to the header for the primary O2 sensor. Note that this will not be the location for the production model, just so we didn't have to take the header back off for welding. Mod 2, there were 2 bungs welded into the downpipe (we are not sure why), one of them needed to be welded shut to clear the frame. This will be changed in production also. Mod 3, the test pipe was built to spec., and the muffle shop cut the old O2 sensor off the old CAT and welded the parts to the test pipe. I could explain more, but just know that it worked, no CEL. We picked up the car later in the day, cleared the CEL from driving over the the shop with no O2 sensors. Driving back to Megan was fun, new sounds and more power. Since I still have the stock CAT back section of exhuast, I haven't lost all of my low end torque. I have gained more power after 4200 RPM to redline. The car now pulls harder than before in the upper RPM range. Since I am not one to count horses, overall I see a gain from installing this mod in looks, sound, and performance (yes I know it's a NA lancer). I drove home from SoCal and was happy that the car did pull the hills better than before, so I didn't have to floor it in 5th or downshift to maintain speed. One thing we did forget to do is to make the ECU re-learn, so my gas mileage going home was only about 30 MPG. I reset it today, annd will see what has happened to my MPG, if I can keep from playing around. My thoughts: When Megan completes this unit for sale, it will be worth the money to install (and hopefully cheaper than some of the others). The parts are good quality with strong welds and perfect fit (save the prototype changes). I look forward to seeing a production unit. If you don't want to run with a test pipe, take the stock downtube with the secondary CAT and have the CAT cut off and a flange welded on (I will be doing that later on down the road). Other than that, its easy to change out with simple tools. UPDATE: So after driving around for a while, my MPG has not decreased after resetting my ECU and it is fun driving around with a bit more power. The skeptics would say that there wasn't a big change in HP and while that may be true the car is still more fun to drive with better performance than stock. Overall, I would not pass this upgrade up. Hope this helps.
could you use a highflow cat to replace the one on the down tube, so you don't have to run either a test pipe nor the stock cat?
Yes, but you will need to have the bolt on adapters welded on to take the place of the test pipe. Also, keep in mind that the secondary O2 sensor is actually connected to the cat, so that will need to be welded on (the wire harness on the O2 sensor is not long enough to reach the headers themselves. ** Of course I have not seem the production version of the headers so it might have changed.** UPDATE: I just wanted to post an update to let everyone know that these headers have been great. I have had no problems with leaks or cracking & it even passes smog (no CAT) here in NV.
