Intake & Headers (which to buy)

So I just got my accord the other day, and I began looking almost immediatly for some parts.. First I looked at intakes, and I saw some common cheap one, and a few nicer looking ones. My question is, what is usually the best brand? I was thinking AEM, and OBX appear to be well crafted, just looking for some advice on brand names I can trust.
 
Next, I began looking at headers. I'm don't know a whole GREAT deal about cars, so my question here would be what is the difference between ceramic & stainless steel headers performance wise?
 
An wtf is N1? A cheap brand? or are they repitable?
 
uhg, i feel like such a newb.

well, first off, for the intake. ill tell you first off that any metal piping with a decent filter, such as k&n or AEM will do the job, and a cold air system might do ya one better. ive had a no-name short ram intake, and now ive got my AEM cold air system, just becasue i wanted it to pass smog. (CARB legal). but really, any intake, ebay or big name brand, will help. OBX would do just fine, just throw a K&N filter on there.

now, as far as headers go, OBX are good ones, stainless or ceramic. Greddy, DC, Pacesetter, and all those big names are essentially the same thing, only theyre smog legal, so you should check when you need to get your car smogged next. teh only bad thing about OBX are the gaskets, which should be replaced BEFORE install. stainless or ceramic: caramic is cheaper and will discolor to a  light brown. Stainless, however looks much more 'fashionable' and will turn a blue-purple color near the welds and soon down the rest of the headers.

hope this Helped.

oh and N1 is supposed to be like a JDM 'type' of exhaust or somthin. on ebay, when i bought my skunk2 catback, they called it an 'n1-style' system. so, its just another add-on name that they use.

Also, usually on the N1s the exhaust tip is the same exact shape as the entire muffler. So it's just a big long circular muffler. It's not like an oval shaped muffler with an exhaust coming out of it like your stock one is.

so for the stainless steel do you still need to coper it with the stock header cover? cause i hear that for the stainles steel it not gonna keep the heat down. It is true?

The stock heat shield will not fit.  I don't (yet) have a header but I have been doing a lot of research on this forum and another one.  A stainless header will also oxidize and turn brown/copperish over time.  Here's a pic:



Thumbnail Image


In my research, no one has ever complained of any excessive heat issues with a stainless header.  Do not use heat wrap unless you want to weaken the header and have it crack after a few years. 
If you are concerned with the heat, get ceramic.  Yes, ceramic may be a little weaker, but I have not seen anybody that has experienced any problems with cracking or anything yet.  It's cheaper anyways.  I think I'm gonna go with ceramic.
Now I'm sure someone will get on here and say: "My ceramic header cracked."

The stainless turns into a cooler purplish-bluish hue first though.

Yeah but that doesn't last.  Eventually you are stuck with the color in the pic I posted.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 00AccordLX5spd


Now I'm sure someone will get on here and say: "My ceramic header cracked."

mine rusted really bad on the welds by the head and underneath. im sure cracking was soon to follow.

My DC ceramic header has been through 4 Wisconsin winters, and shows no sign of cracking, rust or discolorization.
 
I have to add that the AEM CAI went on first, and made a dramatic difference.  The header and catback went on next after a year of driving, and was much less noticeable.  Bang for the buck vote goes to the intake.

quote:

ORIGINAL: peter4jc

My DC ceramic header has been through 4 Wisconsin winters, and shows no sign of cracking, rust or discolorization.

I have to add that the AEM CAI went on first, and made a dramatic difference.  The header and catback went on next after a year of driving, and was much less noticeable.  Bang for the buck vote goes to the intake.

ya know thats funny because my car spent almost 8 years in Dallas, TX, in the texas heat. the thing i should have mentioned is that it was a no name header. no name plate anywhere and the owner didnt know either. i too have heard good things from other ceramic headers of name brand. i just had that bad experience and wanted my whole exhaust in reliable stainless steel, which it is :)

so ceramic is better than stainless? Im CALI so which kind you guys think i should get.

I would suggest these 

http://www.cardomain.com/item/DCSHHC5018?vq_id=none


ceramic dc header that is carb exempt...if you don't get these make sure u get one that is carb exempt otherwise u won't pass smog

Ok, Im not completely sure where you guys are getting the whole Ceramic header's arent as good as steel, But from my understanding(Ive been into Domestic's for a long time), Ceramic, Or ceramic coated headers are actually alot better than steel, Due to the ceramic keeping temps down, And Ceramic's are cooked at well over 500 Degree's in order to completely seal and finish molding them, So im pretty sure theyre not going to crack, Even more so because of the fact theyre built to go onto a car and handle those types of temp's

well they do rust since theyre mild steel not stainless and rusting could lead to cracking. the former owner of my car bottomed out at one point and the header (ceramic at the time) got smooshed a bit and scratched. well it rusted like a mother after a mid-east coast winter. like i said it rusted around the head too so, im saying rust could easily lead to further failure of the header completely.