X13A

I have pretty much the same mods you do, minus a few.

AP1 2.0L

Ballade Headers
Ballade Intake Arm w/ Velocity stack w/ K&N Filter
Ballade 70MM TB
Ballade 70MM HFC
Invidial Q300 / HKS Hi-Power single OTW.
ID1000's
Walboro 255 / Injectors and FP are SC prep (not a fan of grams)
91OCT
AEM EMS V2

Before I got tuned pre injectors and FP my car felt great, I noticed I had a lot more power before Vtec (stock setting) was this mostly due to the header? probably not, but with a combination of the mods yes. Although I can say i do feel a difference in how my car performs in at ACH/Malibu... and also at Buttonwillow and Streets of Willow.

after I got tuned everything started to work better (of course...) Had a lot more mid range power, again was it because of the header? I'm not sure as my Vtec engagement was lowered to 5800.

I DO love the way my car sounds though. would love it even more with the HKS single.... SOON TM.

I wish i could give you more feed back, as I need to spend more time with this car at the track than at the canyons. although I do enjoy how much faster my car gets up and goes at a stop light. lol

AP2SSM

awesome info. Yeah I think it's a combo of all the mods but the header is a major contributor I think. I don't think my vtec is lowered just yet. And dude. You'll love the HKS. it was one of the best things I've done to the car. Sounds great. It's not too loud on the highway either.

siik_ap2

How much power is your car making currently? Have you tuned it mid after mid to see what's working and how much gains everything is giivng? Also curious in your header findings.

AP2SSM

originally 260 with the mods I listed above but at the time had the ballade bored oem manifold (2005 ap2), RDX injectors, 70mm tb, tanabe medallion, 60mm tp and password intake on pump gas.

Second time around 250ish....changed to e85 compatibility, HKS single and a 70mm tp that's it. Should note the car ran out of air and ran out of fuel injectors.

Third times the charm. (I hope)...lol

X13A

Yeah i just checked up on the next HKS Shipment. hopefully SoonTM

snitm

I have the Unicorn stroker header. It has proven very solid for my 2.4L NA build. I also have the Urge midpipe and T1R dual exhaust (from urge, but Urge no longer offers T1R).
The sound from the Unicorn header is amazing. I never isolated the performance associated with the Unicorn upgrade but it is a very solid header that I'm very happy with -- I think my upgrade to the K-series skunk2 ultra race IM enabled my 2.4L to breath much better, and I think the Unicorn header had a lot to do with that. The combination resulted in significant gains when I upgraded from a 74mm ported stock AP1 IM to the K-series skunk2 ultra race IM. See here for before vs after:
2002 Honda S2000 - 273whp/201tq - AEM Infinity - Dyno Graph

AP2SSM

dang man you did awesome with that torque how does that feel?. Good job. I still feel somewhat reluctant about buying the header. It's pissing me off haha..not really but.... Maybe if I can find a buyer for my Megapower. Not sure. I still want to do a back to back just for curiosity. But that's a lot work to do on the dyno. I don't think my tuner has a lift right now. Maybe if I had some back to back testing results with a reputable exhaust manifold. Thanks dude.

liquid_helix136

Have you looked at Urge products at all?

I've been following your Youtube build and am curious how every thing turns out!

But I can't help but to think you haven't done all the research yet for an NA build if you aren't considering the Urge scavenger exhaust (Gernzhaust) or the Unicorn header (until this thread).

The Unicorn header was bench tested at Endyn in Fort Worth, TX, and the design was perfected with countless models and ideas over a couple of years. Endyn has an in-house engine dyno and their "bitch" motor, which all their cams, headers, ITBs etc are all tested on, is a ~340-375 BHP N/A monster engine. The header made gains even on this highly tuned engine, and there's quite a few people on this forum providing third party results of this header as well.

However if you're looking for power in the exhaust department, and want to increase scavenging (pulling air through the head via sound waves from the exhaust) to really let that 4Piston head of yours shine, you should look into the Scavenger exhaust, as it has substantial data and evidence showing gains across the powerband, even over a test pipe / single exhaust set up.

Urge designs by far and away has the most transparent and thorough R&D I've seen of any company on this site, and that is why I sing their praises. There are countless threads on this site from Gernby (patenter of the scavenger exhaust) and Patrick (owner of Urge) showing results of what has been tried, failed and what has worked. And all of their results are true, tuned vs tuned dynos.

I looked up some dynos on the Skunk2 header and laughed out loud when I found Blacktrax site. Stock dyno vs Skunk2 header + HONDATA TUNED dyno. Claiming 25whp in the midrange due to the header is a bold faced lie, anyone who has the smallest amount of s2k tuning knows freeing up the exhaust and tuning for a lower vtec engagement yields large mid-range gains.

AP2SSM

You're actually right....I have done a bunch of research for NA but just not really on the exhaust side of things. Until now...to tell you the truth I haven't heard of Urge. Seen the name, but I did not know the extent of R and D they provided. I looked up the unicorn header after it was mentioned on this thread immediately. I then talked with Patrick (slowly emailing back and forth) about my set up and he pretty much said I was maxed out on mods (other than bumping up the compression ratio which I already knew). He said the header will help but of course it's all speculation on how much mid range it'll net my engine. You gave me great info as did everyone else. I am going to look into their header/scavenger system again tonight. Esp. the scavenging system. On a side note, thanks for watching my YouTube channel!! I am trying to hurry and get those videos out quickly. It's been so hard lately with work. For example, right now I've been like 3 hrs away from home on a big job and can't do anything but work and wait. I've been here all week.

AP2SSM

So I've looked up the gern. I have to say I think I am hooked. I am calling Patrick first thing in the morning. I have my questions already. One being the catalyst. I know it performs better with the catalyst in there. But will it be better without? I don't have an option to omit the hfc (I don't think). But if it performs as good as they say then I just may very well get one coming. As for the header....not too sure yet.