Ceramic vs Stainless Header - Honda Prelude Forum

jsmooney · 06-11-2003, 08:47 PM

Difference? Pro's and Con's?

tastyratz · 06-11-2003, 09:55 PM

performance to show. stainless looks better, and ceramic traps heat to lower underhood temps. thats about it. oh yea, and price.

jsmooney · 06-11-2003, 10:00 PM

so, ceramic is actually better for performance stuff? neato!

cleanLude · 06-11-2003, 10:23 PM

I have thought about this for a while before i came to my decision as well...ceramic is much lighter and cheaper...however, I kinda wonder why most companies that make headers, i.e. Greddy, RS*R, Mugen, only make em in stainless?! If ceramic is so good, then how come these companies didnt make em in ceramic? With that thought, I went ahead and forked out the extra cash for some stainless ones....heres a pic...i didnt that great of a job of cleaning it before i ran the car...

tastyratz · 06-12-2003, 07:14 AM

stainless wont rust and will last longer also, and it looks alot better. ceramics are cheaper also because they are usually made out of regular steel. ceramic is better for performance though, given the same exact header theoretically. it all depends on your needs, go or show. the greddy is better than say the dc ceramic because of the collector size, but if they were the same or you ceramic coated the greddy it ceramic would come out on top. personally i dont think stainless is worth the extra bucks. id rather save for more performance stuff

iamlost · 06-12-2003, 08:13 AM

How difficult is it to put on a new set of headers?

luder94si · 06-12-2003, 08:41 AM

Watch out for DC stainless headers - the flanges are not stainless & will rust on you...

dilligaph · 06-12-2003, 09:44 PM

i put a ceramic dc on my car to replace the rusted out stock pieces. took a lot of work to get the bolts on the stock flanges off since they were REALLY oxidized and such... we had to heat em up with a torch to get a socket over them and turn em off.

i was told the same thing by the lead honda tech of 30 yrs at my dealership--ceramic=better for performance.

jsmooney · 06-13-2003, 03:42 PM

we were taking a motor out of an accord - you just have to use muscle.....scrawny me was the only one that could get them undone! I broke one of his rusted bolts...OOPS! It had 192000 miles on it too!

Phamine · 06-23-2003, 10:31 AM

If i had to do it all over again. I'd get stainless. I have had them for 3 years and they did not rust at the welds. Most of the rust came from the pipes by the studs on the head. Took them off, grinded the rust off and found that it left deep pits that I did not want to go through the trouble of sanding/grinding off. I'm using a duplicolor 1200 deg ceramic paint which is not burning off as I had expected it to. Get a CAI if your concerned about engine temps with the stainless.