Take another look at the oem header. The head pipes are crush bent and crushed even more where they enter the restrictive cat/collector. Independent dyno testing of TC headers showed gains of 7-9whp and 5-6 ft/lbs torque. I'd love to see a scuba tank replacement yield the same results but I doubt I'll ever see that.

 

I forgot to add this in a previous post.

For what it's worth, I'm glad you've got the guts to try out a product that most people normally would not get. In a way, you're an innovator

 

You may be right but I have a hard time believing that CXR is selling these headers in large quantities. There are very few google hits for 'CX Racing header'. My guess is cheap labor, cheap materials and the hope of climbing out of obscurity the way Strup and W-R did. According to some, Strup got their start by copying DC Sports and W-R stuff used to be crap.

Thank you. My intentions really were twofold on this cheapo header purchase. If it worked out okay I saved ~$200 for other mods, if not, I only lost $135 and could probably recoup ~$100 on ebay. I enjoy tinkering with cars so the time involved was never a concern. So far it's working out fine. It's not a great header but it's not that bad either.

 

No, at first I thought you said you got a WR header for $110, then re-read your post and realized that was not what you stated. lol

 

Good point about Strup and Weapon-R, haha. Everyone's gotta start somewhere.

And I'm with you on the liking to tinker with cars and stuff. But I like things to be nice and perfect, which is why a CXR header wouldn't be good for me. If I ever got something like that, I'd have it coated and cleaned up immediately

 

I went ahead and also ordered me up one of these CXR headers. Looks identical to what was already posted on this forum on page 1 so there is no need for pics. Since I didn't care what kind of finish the pipes had when I was looking into headers for the xb, this one did fit the bill and also had that "plain" stainless finish that I believe helps keeps the cost down as well. I've had polished headers before and the shine lasts for about 3 days so the finish was not an issue. So I ordered some HP color wrap to match my "red" trd theme going on with my car and also to cover the plain dirty metal finish along with the ugly welds. I'm going to be installing the header tomorrow on my xb and will post some pics when its all done.

 

Sweet!

 

Cool! I hope you like it as much as I liked mine. It took some bending to get the bottom brackets to mount up but at least it has them, unlike Strup and W-R. The seat of my pants agrees with CXR's dyno claim of +5-7whp. Not as good as the ~10whp from Strup or W-R but for only $135, I'd buy them again.

 

Ok. So after a long days work and really looking forward to my header install I decided to it on a school night (last night). Everything went very smoothly except for one thing.....those darn mounting brackets I spent an hour and a half on the two mounting studs and still only came with one in...they were a pain in the **** since the metal was at least a 1/4" thick and it was strong. But besides that it ended up looking great. My dual exhaust is noticebly louder and it does have more power but nothing that will throw you back in your seat . Enjoy the pics!!

dirty stock engine bay with manifold, weapon r short ram intake, & trd strut bar



manifold v.s. CXR header w/hp color wrap



clean engine bay with header install after 3.5hrs of work......stupid bolts.

 

Looks good! Better add some engine coolant.

 

so i'm real late on this. but after installing my catback and some heavy ___ rims. i want some more oohph to make up for that. Im assuming that this will kill my MPG as well since adding rims and exhaust took me down to about 22 from 27. Where did you get that color wrap? and to fred i think i PM ed you about this header any final reviews on it??

 

I sold my header but IMO it was decent enough for the money. CXR claims 5-7 whp and I see no reason to doubt that. Strup and W-R headers probably add about 10 whp but cost 2-3x as much and unless you get them ceramic coated, they all look the same after some miles.

As for fuel economy, a header and cat-back shouldn't reduce mpg but bigger heavier rims and tires will.

 

fred you got a link to where i could get that same header and maybe an S pipe as well. if im gonna do the header might as well change that too. and to what o2 sensor thing you did. so i dont trip any CEL or emssion test type things.