Why Doesn't Any Company Make A Header For The 5SFE Options

[CyberCT]

I have been browsing this forum for quite some time and have noticed that NO COMPANY make a header for the 2.2l 5sfe. SSAutochrome was about to but then people backed out (and yes, I have seen claims of their poor quality with some products. Fortunately this header wasn't bad. There was one or two instances where they did crack or break though in the MR2 community, and that's about it).

I had three MK II MR2s with the 5sfe. I also had the SSAC header on one of them. Let me tell you the performance improvement was noticable right away. It was almost like night and day. More pull and it ran quicker through the gears.

When I had to put the stock exhaust manifold back on for inspection, the car ran much slower, easily noticable.

Now, the NA MR2 weighs in at @ 2650 lbs. The 94-99 Celica GT hardtop weighs in at @ 2450 lbs, correct? A good header would probably make it quicker in a line than the MR2, which felt good in a line.

Is there atleast a header in the works from a reputable aftermarket company?


I'm probably going to be buying a 6th gen celica in the near future as my new daily driver. Is there any place where I can see the yearly updates they did to the celica to fix problems from the previous year? Like for example, in 93, the MR2 fixed some electrical problems or quirks, and upgraded the suspension and other things. Is there a list like this for the 6th gen celicas?

[darksecret]

Yeah I know how the ratios work, but last time I checked most large displacement engines were oversquare which means nothing, it's actually better for street use, undersquare revs higher due to the added stability of the longer rods and rod travel, but don't rule undersquare engines out, I remember when I first came to this forum and you told me I came to this looking like a domestic guy, well when you have half a friggin V8 sitting under your hood yeah it's easy to look at it that way. Unfortunatly that half is a crappy half, but you must remember that the block is very strong the crank is strong, and the head is beefy leaving plenty of room for upgrading, it actually doesn't help this car by having DOHC but who'll complain. In most cars you'll run into the domino effect you upgrade this and break that and that is one problem the 5SFE does face, weak internals and valvetrain. If everyone stop trying to make this motor hit 12,000 rpm and take it for what it is we might see a few better mods, oversquare engines never do well with long runners and the 5SFE is nearly 10 inches where the 7A is what 6".

This post has been edited by darksecret: Jun 13, 2005 - 6:37 PM

[Kwanza26]

Yeah I know how the ratios work, but last time I checked most large displacement engines were oversquare which means nothing, it's actually better for street use, undersquare revs higher due to the added stability of the longer rods and rod travel, but don't rule undersquare engines out, I remember when I first came to this forum and you told me I came to this looking like a domestic guy, well when you have half a friggin V8 sitting under your hood yeah it's easy to look at it that way. Unfortunatly that half is a crappy half, but you must remember that the block is very strong the crank is strong, and the head is beefy leaving plenty of room for upgrading, it actually doesn't help this car by having DOHC but who'll complain. In most cars you'll run into the domino effect you upgrade this and break that and that is one problem the 5SFE does face, weak internals and valvetrain. If everyone stop trying to make this motor hit 12,000 rpm and take it for what it is we might see a few better mods, oversquare engines never do well with long runners and the 5SFE is nearly 10 inches where the 7A is what 6".
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If that's your response... you missed the WHOLE point of my explaining rod/stroke ratios and piston dwell. Let me make it easy for you... the 5SFE is not a horsepower engine and even with headwork, cams, intake manifold, etc... That's just the way the engine is, regardless of mods, short of changing the rod/stroke ratio. It's a torque engine... but even in that trim, you can't squeeze additional torque out of the motor without opening it up, or adding forced induction. Notice I only mention small displacement engines (4 bangers more-or-less)? Look at ALL of the 5SFE dynos and just about every single time, the 5SFE makes much more torque than horsepower. You can go on about undersquared motors are more user friendly, which I agree... but this isn't the daily driver forum. This is engine performance... which means to squeeze power. When it comes to squeezing horsepower, the 7AFE has a better rod/stroke ratio for making n/a power.

As for undersquared motors... stroker motor. Nuff said. Like I said before... don't talk torque unless you're gonna have a sh!t load of it. 150 ft lbs or before 4500 rpms is nothing. 300-500 ft lbs... that's a bit better... but not out of an n/a "small displacement engine"...

Seriously now... if you want more power out of the 5SFE... turbo charge it. It's not gonna make great power with bolt-ons... unlike the 7AFE, which still has a chance.