whats the difference? ive seen 4-1 all over, where can i get 4-2-1?
tia

well if you ask me... if your planning turbo first dont spend the money for headers they are to much and the only ones that make a noticable difference is the greddy and they cost 500 bones... and plus you dont need headers for a turbo! lol your already 1/4 there to buying a turbo if you save :D

^^^ you people and your turbo crazy.. can't somebody around here ask a question about a part and not get the "Don't do that.. buy a turbo!" speech? hehe.

there are advantages to both 4-1 and 4-2-1 headers.. it really depends on how each one was designed by the company. many full race applications are 4-1 LONG header designs.. while I've seen dyno's of 4-2-1 long header designs that beat all the comparing 4-1 headers.. the main thing is wether it's a 'long' style header' or a 'short/shorty' style header.. the long styles will give you the best gains if they are designed right.. but they generaly cost more.

what companies make 4-2-1's? all ive seen are greddy & hotshot 4-1's

Pacesetter is 4-2-1

i hear plenty of bad stories about pacesetters, welds busting and stuff. any other companies?

The difference is:

4-2-1 headers will give you better performance gains in the mid rpm ranges. The 4-1 design will allow better flow from mid to higher rpm's.

some people say pacesetter is good, some say it is bad. People just have conflicting experiences. There is always a chance that a weld could break on a header...no matter what the brand.

Bosal Brospeed makes a 4 to 2 to 1 header also. They are a VERY long runner design, and will help the low end but in my experience not the top end.

The difference is a 4 into 1 header will usually tune for more power higher in the rpm range while a 4/2/1 header will usually tune lower int he rpm range (generally speaking, runner length will make a difference).

Also, I would say that a 4 into 1 header tunes more "strongly" than a 4/2/1 header. Here's what I mean. A 4 into 1 header will give a bigger peak gain but it might not give much HP over a wide rpm range and might cost a bit of power at different points in the rpm rang e(again, depending on design of the header and the engine, as the tuning effect of the header is coming into play here). A 4/2/1 header should generally add less peak hp but it would be spread out a bit more, and it might not cost as much at other points in the rpm range as a 4 to 1 header would. This would probably have something to do with the exhaust pulse travelling back up the 1st branch of the design and reducing the tuning effect a bit, but that's just a theory of mine :)