Here is the write-up for these new headers on another site:

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...

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...ing_stock1.jpg
Old exhaust... stock...

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...ked_header.jpg
Eww... naked exhuast

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...th_the_old.jpg
Out with the old!

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...dies_part1.jpg
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...dies_part2.jpg
In with the goodies!

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...mmm_shiney.jpg
This is going well...

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...lmost_done.jpg
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...

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...od1_header.jpg
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.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...ung_capped.jpg
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.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...4_testpipe.jpg
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.

 

cool header