DC Sports vs Chikara Hedman

Well my exhaust started leaking really bad the other night and I found a nice hole right on the header. I put a patch on it but I doubt it'll hold out that long. I'm most likely gong to buy a new header but I wanted to see what you guys think about which one to get. I found a Chikara Header for $140 and a DC Sports Header for $210. Is it really worth the extra $70 to get the DC Header over the Chikara Header?

i have heard good things about the DC header from the US guys but bad things from the UK guys, however we get hit real bad for the prices so that maybe why ,

IMO i would go for the DC as its a more reputable company thank chikara

yes! The DC SPORTS has been proven time and time again. Also, I've owned 2 chikara headers over the period of my tuning career. Those things rust super fast. I think those things arrive to your door all rusted...they begin to rust on the ups truck they arrive in! LOL. A DC sports will give you better gains because it has smoother bends and a better design, and it wont rust. Get the ceramic. What engine do you have? If you have a sohc, a zc, or an ls, get a 4-2-1. If you have a b20, b16, or any other dohc vtec, then get the 4-1.

i had a chikara not bad. DC is a rip off.

I'm either shelling out for a bismoto or maybe getting ITR header.

well there you go...two opposite opinions. The ITR is nice...I had it on my B20...but gained more with a JDM DC Sports 4-1 with the 2.5' collector.

As far as power gains go, i highly doubt theres much difference between the two. I'm on my 2nd chikara now, and i've never had a problem with either.

as far as appearances go, stainless non coated or ceramic....they all end up looking the same after about 6 months. If you dont want to see the rust, use thermal tape to wrap up the header. IMO, its not worth $210+ to see shiny pipes, especially when they all look the same after a while.

The 4-1 is a different story. I've heard of some guys with 4g's having problems with ground clearance with the 4-1 headers on b motors. plus, i dont think any of these headers have 2 o2 bungs. so far as i know, hasport is the only company that makes the correct style header for a b motor in a 4g.

Thanks for the input guys! I will be putting it on a 1st gen JDM ZC engine. I'll probably go with DC Sports. I went to a few performance places around my area and they all said Chikara is good if your looking for budget but if you got the $$$ go with DC Sports. Thanks again guys!

i had a chikara not bad. DC is a rip off.

I'm either shelling out for a bismoto or maybe getting ITR header.
Now I have your chikara. I like it. Even though the paint came off the first time i took it down the road.

well there you go...two opposite opinions. The ITR is nice...I had it on my B20...but gained more with a JDM DC Sports 4-1 with the 2.5' collector.
hmm well happy it worked out for you i dealt with DC once never again though.

i guess i'll save for hytech or probbly bismoto so sexy.

BTW for all you old skool pushrod guys Headman =Chikara

Go with the Chikara, those are made by Heddman(sp*?) Headers which have been around a lot longer than DC. Just my opinion

Go with the Chikara, those are made by Heddman(sp*?) Headers which have been around a lot longer than DC

That doesn't mean its better does it? :eek7:

my chikara header was every bit as good as my dc sports on the dyno....this was on a mildy built b18 with a jrsc (jrsc is ripoff, just go turbo...cheaper and better in the long run...)

but anyway, will all the work i had done, the dc sports header gave 2 ft.lbs. tq and ONE hp increase over the chikara...totally not worth the extra money in my opinion..


oh, and i did have a clearance problem with the dc sports 4-1 on my 4 door, but my chikara was a 4-2-1 so i dont know if is any better there....

I had the chikara on my 1st Si with the Dohc Zc....it worked great. Like I said, put thermal wrap on it, it serves a purpose and looks half decent. I have one now on my stock a6, and its great too. I just can't justify almost an extra $70 or so for shiny metal that will corrode in a year. Shiny things don't make your car faster or run better. :rolleyes: That extra $70 can go towards something else performance oriented, like say a set of good plug wires or something.

If youre looking for something a little more expensive, chikara has a torque step model header, that has some sort of bypass where the header goes to 2 runners. Its supposed to give the motor more torque down in lower rpm's. Im not sure if this one delivers what it promises, but theres no header on earth thats gonna give you huge gains on a honda. So IMO, just keep it simple and save yourself some money. Hedman is a good company, and has good products. The best advice i can give is dont buy crap like the shit they sell on ebay...lol

The only guys I knew that had problems with ground clearance were the guys who were running the 4-1 header on a b motor. The bottom 2 exhaust runners would tap every bump in the road, and eventually be either crushed closed or have a hole in them from scraping.

I had ss chikara wrapped in thermotec on all motor d16a6 and was nice minus the long cracks on the bottom runners and cracks where the port runners met at the flange. I bought it that way, but once I noticed the leak I replaced it with a DC ceramic unit and even though I noticed a seemingly slight lack in power in the butt dyno, the lighter ceramic unit has been tough and even sustained an exhaust fire! I believe the gasket is still in good shape too.... oh, and I've had it on for like 2 years now...

I had ss chikara wrapped in thermotec on all motor d16a6


Are you sure that was a chikara? Because Hedman/Chikara doesn't offer a stainless steel model for the 4g civic / 2g Crx.

heres the link
http://www.hedman.com/pages/hedmanmain.html

Are you sure that was a chikara? Because Hedman/Chikara doesn't offer a stainless steel model for the 4g civic / 2g Crx.

heres the link
http://www.hedman.com/pages/hedmanmain.html

I know it was Chikara but not sure if SS. I was told that by some mechanic dude. All I know is it was colored white, somewhat rusted and wrapped in thermotec. Personally, I like the DC header.

Well, I ran into another problem I just thought about. Since I have the DOHC ZC swap in my crx. The exhaust header ports are smaller than the ones on the ZC. Could I buy a Header setup for a 89-91 teg and use the teg header and just connect it into my exsisting exhaust? Or should I just try and port a 91 crx si 1.6 header.

get the dc ceramic and port match it. put on the metal gasket from your zc and match the ports with a grinder going as far down the tubes as you can.


BTW: I did have problems with the DC Sports 4-1 scraping when i had the car lowered two inches. I raised it to stock height and now i don't have problems with it scraping...
although it does SUCK to have a crx riding at stock height! lol

i prefer dc sports...i had this header for over 5 years now and there no sign of rust and almost looks like new besides where oil just started coming out of my valve cover and turned it to a darker color by the head....i take a pic show you what the header looks like when i put on my new gaskets to fix the oil leak the occured in the past couple weeks

DC sports is one of the best out there. Just a FEW ppl complained about them.