Dyno 4: Six Sigma Racing(4 to 1 street sweaper header)
Peak HP 207.0 / Peak TQ 125.0
* Horsepower Gain
* 3800 to 5800 HP range: 7 to 10
* 5800 to 7800 HP range: 11 to 18
* 7800 to red line HP range: 9 to 13
* Torque Gain
* 3800 to 5800 TQ range: 13 to 9
* 5800 to 7800 TQ range: 7 to 14
* 7800 to red line TQ range: 12 to 11
Pros
One look at this header and you'll be thinking to yourself "that's one sick setup." Six Sigma Race Engineering, based out of Stockton, Calif., has fallen onto the radar within the Honda/ Acura community in the last few years. Specializing in chassis fabricating, custom headers and engine building, Danny Tran, formally of DTR-FAB, fabricated their custom 4-to-1 header, known as the "street sweeper," to the B-series 1.8-liters specifications. SSR Racing's header utilizes CNC-machined flanges for precise fitment, 15-degree true merge slip-fit collectors and aircraft quality bolts to hold the collectors together. Upon request, Six Sigma can fabricate a header, not limited to the B-series, in either 304 stainless or uncoated mild steel.
Cons
Six Sigma representative Derek Parris states, "This model is designed to be used on modified engines and is not compatible with B-Series engines that have power steering or A/C." In all honesty, if you're concerned with vehicle creature comforts, you shouldn't be racing anyway.
Parts
Header, donut gasket, stickers
Tools
10-, 12- and 14- socket, ratchet, extension, 12-combination wrench
Installation Time
45 minutes
Notes
If you noticed the list of parts the Civic had prior to our testing, it shows the B18 was equipped with an Erick's Racing 4-to-1 race header. It should be noted that this particular header design has been popular among many H-badge enthusiasts, as there are some close similarities in design and concept with the popular AN-R 4-to-1 compact version setup. Although not all these headers perform alike, we're just stating the facts. A quick bolt-up to our Buddy Club Circuit Spec II (competition use only) exhaust, along with some tuning, and we were able to increase 6hp and 4 lb-ft of torque over our previous run. Doesn't sound like a lot of horsepower you say? A close analysis of the dyno graphs reveal a gain of 3 to 5hp and 5 lb-ft from 3800 to 6500 while the biggest gains were achieved once VTEC kicked in, as 5 to 7 hp and 4 to 6 lb-ft of torque were increased over the pervious run. It should be noted that we were curious on the header's performance in collaboration with the engine when measuring the Erick's racing side header vs. the SSR street sweeper headers primaries before our run. The SSR header did sport a smaller diameter, but rest assured, Derek from SSR stated that he had full confidence in the performance of their unit. The header performed like a true champ and collected some ponies from 3500 all the way to the 9500 rpm redline with a deliverance of consistent torque numbers of 123 lb-ft torque, this time extending from 6300 to 9000 rpm.