Quickly Clarified - Equal Length vs Unequal Length Headers (with Sound Comparison) 

Don't forget the sound is also shaped by what you put after the headers too. You can get smooth and mellow or loud and raspy and combinations in btwn. That EL w/the Fujitsobo sounds nice. So, sound or power...if you want sound, change the turbo/cat/axle-back. For power, change the headers...

I perfer the equal length for the power and torque, but also love the rumble sounding EJ's.

Even with equal length headers, you still can hear a bit of the Subaru rumble!

UEL header sounds so sexy. I'll sacrifice a few hp/torque for that sweet sweet rumble.

wow this finally explains why the WRX and STI sound so different.

Love the tone of the unequal header.. but that equal perrin sounds pretty nice 2.

Oh wow! I always thought the rumble was made specifically from Subaru engine, I don’t own one but it’s my favourite vehicle of all time!

Never thought I would hear a civic sound like a Subaru

I’ll trade rumble over torque ANY DAY, with the bolt one you can do to these, you’ll reach or exceed stock torque, depending on ferocity of your build

I'll never get tired of the sound of uel with my tomei ti exhaust and will keep it that way even though you can get more power from el just dont like the honda-esk sound at all

I prefer the rumble sound and don't care that I'm not making as much power and torque I just want my car to sound rumbly because..... idk it sounds cool to me

Great explanation. I knew about the sound qualities but now I know about tuning as well. Either way the EJ family of engines sound great. (:

Unequal length headers were common on Fox body Mustangs 5.0s, so I don't understand why people associate the rumble with boxer engines. That's why oldheads like the sound of WRXs compared with the exhaust notes of other hot hatches.

Life goal, make every car rumble

Cool.. i agreed Equal header is less rumble, but it has good torque characteristic

uel EJ is just fire :) no question... I can live with less power, because the Subi Rumble is just too good

Great video with the dyno graphs...My car has EL but I love the sound of UEL, I have a set in the garage ready to fit but I really don't want to mess with the engine performance..

An exhaust manifold is not the same as a header. A there are two headers on a v8 that then connect later down the exhaust. There is one exhaust manifold on an i4 that collects all the exhaust from all the cylinders and combines them immediately, usually before entering a turbo. Not the same thing because one does not combine all of the exhaust while the other one does.

2:56 Sound Clips.

Mostly correct, but not. Buying an equal length header off the shelf is a good choice for a street/ strip application but not if you are trying to squeeze out every last hp. Ignoring tube diameter, the length of tubes and the collector can also be tuned for maximum efficiency. This all makes a difference and not engineered into off the shelf brands. A race engineered- custom header designed for the engine and turbo application is much better and turns out to be unequal in length. There are two reasons for this. First is, where the collector is located in relation to the exhaust ports and second, the firing order of the engine. Equal length tubes will cause sonic pulses that conflict at the collector destroying scavenging. Off the shelf models are designed primarily for fitment and not performance. A more thorough explanation may be found on RU-vid channel Powertech10 featuring David Vizard, veteran race builder/driver/engineer.

Dont forget there are some really good uel headers that make way better low down torque than EL headers I'm in uk and there are people running nearly 700whp with uel headers and no problems in decreased engine performance

hello am john from Africa Kenya and I love your content thanks for he great knowledge

I finished the video and unless the car is at a low rpm/ idle you can't really notice the rumble.

Unexpected final fantasy fan in the video. Right here with you brother.

People say equal is the way, but in reality with flat plane engines where you have cylinders firing in pairs the ideal is to have a slightly unequal header so for example the gases from 1-4 don't collide in the pipe at the same time but instead make one tightly follow the previous one and create maximum flow, so instead of having 2 explosions fighting with each other which one will pass the pipe first at the same time and be depended on the vacuum of the previous pair's gases ending up creating back pressure, you get 4 guys following as 1-4-2-3 chest to back. With equal 4-2-1 headers the thing is a little better as it is due to the usually bigger size of pipe merging into one but still i'd rather have maxinum theoretical flow and rumbly sound. With unequal headers you can gain more than you lose, you only lose if the gas travel is unecessary long and not because it's unequal.

Unequal length headers mean the exhaust is not scavenging properly which reduces efficiency and is what creates that “rumble” you describe. It doesn’t hurt the engine, but it does make things somewhat less efficient, so you are leaving some potential power untapped.

At some points in his life, a man has to choose between efficiency and style, there is no right or wrong, just what you empathise more.

Intoxicating sounds of Subaru unequal length header

Actually, unequal length headers may have a "Scavenging" effect, which may help efficiency

that Perrin EL sounded great. i just hate when it has no throat or deep sound.

Yeah I’m definitely gonna get some custom UEL headers for my 2015 lifted Scion xB, with dual exhaust. 🤤🤤🤤🤤 I’ve seen on Toyota altis/corolla and it sounds beautiful

I like the UEL Sound but I will but EL. Because of the Performance benefits.

3:02 OMG that pull sounded really good

Thanks for the content bro... Subbed! 👍

I like the equal length sound

Would you say it’s smarter to not run the wrap on the headers

That civic sounds like a subie!

EL if you wanna sound like a Honda Civic prowling the streets at 3 AM with a loud exhaust. UEL if you wanna sound like a more fortified racecar

David Vizard says equal length headers are not optimized since every cylinder should be tuned appropriately.

I can hear on unequal a gargle sound / were a equal is smooth and free flowing sound

I have EJ204 NA engine on SG Facelift Forester streetcar . For NA engine which header is better for performance / fuel efficiency ? EL stock header or UEL header ?

I’m starting to grow on the way equal-length headers sound on a Subaru Flat-4.

What set-up was the last WRX?

I’m torn.. My 03 Bugeye is ready for a clutch due to a failed slave cylinder, as the piston was binding in the bore, causing half engagement. It takes 45 minutes to yank the engine, Vs 2-3 hours on my back to pull the trans. So decisions on Headers… My concern with my decision is Heat on the right bank.. I have a buddy that works at the dealer, and he said bore wear on the right rear cylinder is always more than the rest due to heat.

Today I learned that it's not boxer engines that I dislike, it's unequal exhausts. You have a new subscriber 😁

Solution: unequal length headers but dual exhaust so that pulses from the right bank do not have to mix (and collide) with the left.

so im confused, whats better for performence? uel or el? also i heard that on the brz you need an uel to fix the torque dip at high rpms. is that true and will it be even better with el?

Thanks for the information overlay on Evan Shanks' videos. The rest were just noise to me. 🙂

What would it sound like if you put unequal length headers with the Nissan VR30DDTT engine? Would it sound more like an Alfa Quadrifoglion V6TT?

equal sounds better to me. Less dramatic, I know, but smoother.

Great sound clips brother. So does my base model WRX/ STI have equal length or unequal length headers?

Unequal length gives you more power over a wider power band, equal length give you peek power in a very narrow power band. Typically road cars want unequal length and drag cars want equal length.

hey is it better for me to get a equal or unequal? in terms of performance i got a impreza 2001 NA with a cat back exhaust from xforce

Unequal length or bust. What's the point of dealing with the massive pitfalls of Subaru ownership if you miss out on the best part?

Unequal length headers make your Subaru sound like a riced up Honda Civic with a dead misfire on one cylinder. Apparently some people like that sound.

Should it work on a 4 cylinder camaro ?

Idk what i want to do just yet. Car is tuned now im deciding what set of headers i want. I do want the power of EL but i dont want to lose the rumble

Literally the only con with equal length headers is the losing the rumble other than that it's better in everyway

ZACH JOBE AT 0:42 !

The german word is "Krümmer" which translates to "bend" or "bending" or "manifold". So I wonder where the word header comes from?

Subscibed!!!

What catback on the red hatch?

Twin scrolls are not good for hill climb attacks with equal lengths headers. Single scroll are alot better. Listen to Flatiron tuning. They explain it better.

Unequal all the way! Equal wrecks the sound.

Is this true for exhaust manifolds for turbos too

Why don't SUBARU owners convert to "Equal Lenghth Headers" as they could gain better MPGs...

Do that make unequal length headers for the 03 2.5 legacy outback na ?

*Is there any benefits to using UEL besides the rumble sound?*

That civic sounds like a lot like Subaru👀

i want unequal in my vr6 engine. i wonder what the heck that would sound like, idk if anyone did it yet..

You didn't specify that even length helps inline engine, but not v. Scavenging is a myth in equal length v8s.

Does anyone remember Mesa headers they were unequal length tuned headers utilizing three maybe four different primary tube diameters. The original owner of Mesa headers is an old friend of mine I'm trying to find haven't seen him in years his name is Mike. If anyone who reads this knows him please leave a reply here for me I would really appreciate it thanks

new sub!

Reached the 1:35 time stamp. I jizzed my pants. Oops🤭🤭🤭

Somehow i wonder if a header per cilinder output is possible. Essentially creating one exhaust per cilinder. I would like to know how that would sound like. Just food for thought. 🤔

Would much rather have greater torque and performance over a certain sound.

kalau di indo bikin dmn lh tu mas? equal atau unequal ? pasti pesen di luar ya?

Am I the only one who gets very annoyed by exhaust sound clips where they just sit in place and don't rev past 3k rpm?

One sounds better the other performs better

It's like a lion with a stuffy nose and the other one doesn't.

I think I speak for everyone here... Unequal is what we want🤣

How to make any 4 cylinder on earth sound like a Subaru= Unequal length headers. Your shit box honda can sound like a subaru with unequal length headers.

Unequal sounds better

Equal length with EWG sounds best from an Ej.

Is UEL headers bad for the engine overtime?

Is UEL headers bad for a stock non turbo car?

My 99 Grand Prix with the 3.8 V6 has unequal length headers factory due to it sitting transversal. But it sounds so bad and raspy. Literally sounds like wet farts

All subarus sound exactly the same so what's the difference

My brz is so underpowered already. I wouldn’t put equal lengths on it anyway

All Suby's must have UEL. Subaru = Rumble

3:11 remind me of anime drifting car name ae86 same sound tracks once it get up to 9k rpm it sound like fujitsobo lol i really like sound of rs legacy unequal on my ranger (it have longer rod and sound to it may be off because of it fire so slow)

that civic sound so cursed frroam a subaru guy

Unfortunately 4 poppers all end up in the junk yard prematurely.

Lucky for me I'm located not too far from the "best" subie tuner in the states

Fitting equal length on a scoob is blasphemous

This video was driving me nuts. I understood what you meant but it sounded like you were accidentally contradicting yourself by comparing the performance of unequal-length headers to...unequal-length headers. You were actually saying "on equal-length headers." You really need to avoid phrasing it like that.

the civic sounds more like a subaru than my subaru

Don’t forget sound can also be shaped by having real cars with real engines…

Choose carefully: cool sound but good performance cooler sound but lost performance

Funniest thing, is in n/a engines, especially prone to exhaust changes. You lose 2bhp on header, and get 2,5hp on pipe and muffler xd So the POWER is really crazy xd