Tracy Sports commissioned a 3rd party independant header test, here are the details. I have included first the page of information followed by the important details(I am hoping my translation was on point). Note that this test was not done by anyone affiliated with Tracy Sports.



1. The test was done at the Super Autobacs, Kashiwanuma Minami Branch.
2. The dyno used was built by a company called Sakura. Each dyno run was 5250 yen
3. 5 headers are being tested:
OEM
Mugen
J's Racing
Tracy Sports TS-02
Tracy Sports new prototype
4. Vehicle details are:
AP1
F20C
72192km
Using Sunoco 5w-40 Full Synthetic
Only modification is HKS Hi Power dual exhaust with 60mm-->50mm piping.


This is basically the amount of time it took to install each component. The Mugen took the longest due to the removal of the factory exhaust manifold. They complained about the tight fitment of the J's due to it's larger piping diamter . They had to tilt the engine by standing on it (interesting procedure) to get it fitted properly. They said the Tracy Sports fit well due to its thinner size. The Tracy Sports prototype had a few difficulties due to its larger piping size but not like the J's.



In an effort to keep all the variables consistent Autobacs went to great measures to make sure that temperatures and testing procedure were the same for each run. Unfortunately for the final run with the prototype header, a different person did the dyno run.

The Mugen performed well with an increase in low speed torque. At Vtec the acceleration came nicely. Overall very smooth and responsive.

The J's performed disappointingly. The general idea is that it seemed to perform much like the oem but louder giving the idea of increased power. The feeling is that the exhaust may possibly be restricting the header but they obviously did not have the ability to determine it.

The Tracy Sports TS-02 seemed to smooth out the vtec point and make peak power between 7500-8000. It seemed to breathe much easier as well.

The Tracy Sports prototype made big power from 5000 to redline, but was a little sluggish beneath the 5k mark. They would liked to have seen the low-mid of the TS-02 balanced with the high end of the prototype...who wouldn't?


The Rankings as follows by the testers at Autobacs, the ones that weren't tested are well known enough to include:
1. Mugen-Best reputation and branding. Makes power and is of high quality.
2. Toda-Great brand and reputation, it's price makes it a good choice.
3. Tracy Sports-best value overall, but is relatively unkown outside of well informed consumers.
4. ASM- good quality but overpriced.
5. J's-Very well known brand but not a good reputation for quality.
6. Spoon-Decent quality but way too overpriced.

In conclusion the Mugen and Toda will get all the notoriety and attention but the Tracy Sports should not be overlooked due to its pricing, performance, and quality. Due to their experience with building NSX and S2000 race cars they should not be overlooked; it is also curious to see how Tracy Sports would be in the market had they started developing products for retail earlier on.

Uncorrected charts



Corrected charts

 

please don't ask me anything about the dyno results...i guess they use some hella good gas over there

 

So when will the Tracy Sports new prototype be available?

 

This is interesting news. I have dynoed my car with J's Racing header vs Mugen header (same day, same dyno) and I made 10whp over the Mugen so if I have the Tracy Sports header then I should make another 10+whp ? If anyone can confirm this, I will buy one immediately.

 

when does the prototype come out?

 

I'm with AJ, skeptical. I don't see how J's Racing has poor quality (per TS's report), everything I've seen from them has excellent quality. It seems likely to me that they confused the Mugen and J's headers, the Mugen has been known to make good midrange power but nothing up top, and they gained like 20whp on the top end with a Mugen header. This test seems unrealistic.....

 

I agree, I thought the J's header was great quality? Something seems odd here regarding how J's made almost no power....

 

yeah and i recall the dyno testing you guys did on that too. hmm thats interesting.

 

wow thats strange

 

But its intresting to see some diffret results.
Gives some new ideas.