Ok since I have seen that many of you are after performance and I happen to associate with someone who build quality parts I inquired. His name is Charles and he use to work for a well known company but is now on his own. I will leave the name of that company out for now. He has made parts for high end performance cars but I know him for his work he did with the SR20DE.

He built what we call the budget header. It is not cheap like OBX but the quality would be way better and the gains if anything like any of his other work will be phenomenal. The price would be in the $5-600 range theoretically. Now that may go up or down depending on the fluctuating price of materials and choices we make. Such as mild steel vs stainless, or shortening the down-pipe to leave room for a CAT vs eliminating the CAT.

Here is a dyno of an SR20DE powered car comparing the stock header for Charles' header. This was done same day on same car I believe. Only other thing might have been a bump in fuel pressure or timing. But like with any performance mod you can get more out of it by tuning. Luckily we have UpRev that can handle all of that .


So if there is some interest I will keep talking to him. He will need a dyno of a stock MR18 powered Versa/Cube so he can look at the curve. He might also need to have a member stop down at his shop for fitment and such. I am pretty sure he is out in Washington. He is really cool guy and I have known him on the SR20 boards for years now.

If something like this was to actually work out and he made some then it may be the tip of the iceberg. Never know, maybe next would be an intake manifold, or even turbo manifold? You guys wanted options and people taking interest in the V well here we go. He said if we get enough interest he can start actually working on something in about 2 months.

I myself do not have a cube but I'm on another Versa board. I found out the cube/Versa header is interchangeable so I figured I would see if any interest here.

That would be really cool. There should be some good quality parts built for the cube for sure.

will they be ineterested in building a test pipe as well? (straight pipe)
that will be good to be there with obx but header alone i dont know how much can he market it...the obx header/pipe is already cheap at $200 shiping included
someone needs to come out with a full catback since dc performance is the only one who makes one im dying for one with a titanium look end tip

damian666robin wrote:will they be ineterested in building a test pipe as well? (straight pipe)
that will be good to be there with obx but header alone i dont know how much can he market it...the obx header/pipe is already cheap at $200 shiping included
someone needs to come out with a full catback since dc performance is the only one who makes one im dying for one with a titanium look end tip

This header will be more then $200. If cost is your main factor in purchasing a header and not horsepower then the OBX is for you. Alot of Versa people have issues with OBX's quality, fitment and design. This guy is not taking the OBX design and copying it. He will build an all new header with calculated measurements so we can gain performance. I do beleive he wants to make these so you can use either an aftermarket cat with O2 bung or a test pipe. That way the end user can choose if they wish to be emissions compliant or not.

For an exhaust any good muffler shop can make you one. He is not thinking of making exhausts for our cars. If I'm not mistaken didn't someone on here make exhausts for the VERSA? Was it AZhitman? It had nice piping and I think you have to choose your own muffler. I could be wrong though. This guy making the header did say if enough interest in this he is willing to make other things though. Some other things of his that I've seen is exhaust manifolds for turbo as well as intake manifolds. I personally would love an intake manifold as the plastic ones I think are restrictive and I don't like how it covers the engine.

We need some info people. Please post up if you have any information he needs

no problem. i may try to find a doaner car locally and possibly borrow to build the header and dyno, and or just build it and send to whoever can test and compare.

if i did do a set of headers, i could then let that guy keep that header, if not, then i would want it back...

i will see if i can get a header gasket so i can look at getting a flange made to build the first one.

all i would need of the stock stuff is some numbers...
1) stock primary header tube diameter...
2) secondary before cat pipe diameter...
3) after cat pipe diameter...
4) stock exhaust size...
5) available aftermarket exhaust size...

with those things, i can atleast get a partial idea on materials cost and availability and have a good idea of what to order when i build the prototype.

i want to know the stock exhaut size AND aftermarket so i can build the header to perform with both...

most likely, i can make more power with my header and stock exhaust vs obx header and aftermarket exhaust..

I have the 1.6 so I am useless for this . This header is being designed for the MR18 and not the HR16.

personally price is not what i am personally intrigued, half of the stuff i have on the cube i got just to find out if they will fit regardless if is usable or not for me
at some point a header for versa/cube will be the same but down pipe talking it will have to be different...to be able to install some nonfoulers on the sensor and avoid a dash light...but rite now where the obx sensor location there is barely space to install this non fouler on top of the sensor so if he makes the location for the sensor a bit more down that will make it perfect and better than the obx ones..i am aware of the issues a couple versa guys had in the past before with it including superskunk but cube talking it fitted perfectly

i do think the obx is very cheap for what it is, if this guy can bring out a better one for a few more bucks count me in
i know at some point the g coupes and the 350z got on a loss horsepower vine due to much things like intake exhaust headers down pipes even manifold spacers so i hope the same doesnt happen with the cube,versa too much mods with out been turbo kits

i know for sure a better manifold will really benefit the versa/cube and will actually look really nice

You can put the bung for the rear O2 anywhere you want when using a non-fouler. So I'm sure there is s place that will work for both the cube and the versa. I will let him know of this issue so it can be addressed.


He is willing to take an OEM header to look at and measure since we aren't getting any numbers via the net. But the owner of the header needs to ship it to him and will not get it back for a few months while research and development is taking place. It needs to be a complete unmodified OEM header and downpipe.

where is he located?

near seattle, wa

Sounds good but from a sales point $500-600 may be a bit steep for many given most Cube/Versa owners spending habits.. what do you think you will be seeing in the actual whp gains on the Cube/Versa.. the graph on the SR is roughly a 20% gain so a similar output?

If so that look to be a solid performance mod worth getting on board with, can you post some pics when you get a prototype available in the Versa forums as well as the Cube?

Thanks hope this project turns out good

I'm hoping for similar output but every engine is different. Price is always a concern. Some will pay while others will think it's too high. As soon as we have a prototype and dyno charts they will definitely get posted. Someone from the other versa forum is sending him an OEM header to be measured and so charles and start planning the design. This will be a long process and we need to keep showing support or it's not going to happen.