CounterSpace Garage



Join Date: Sep 2012 Drives: Subaru BRZ / Toyota 86 Experts Location: Santa Fe Springs, CA Posts: 984 Thanks: 341 Thanked 869 Times in 373 Posts Mentioned: 148 Post(s) Tagged: 3 Thread(s)

ACE Header Independent Testing Results and Review - 199.6WHP on CA 91 Octane Introduction

It's been quite a while since we've posted a review of any product. While CounterSpace Garage does quite a bit of in-house, independent testing, most of the results, whether positive or negative, are usually not noteworthy, and we file the results away for reference if we ever need it. This test result, is noteworthy.



In fact, the results are so significant, that we're publishing our findings and thoughts, before we've even finished testing. This is highly out of character for CSG, but given our excitement, we hope you understand.



Testing Methodology

As always, all testing conducted by CSG is done independently, at a time, setting, and venue of our choice. Some background information on our testing choices and methodology

- We choose to use a dynapack, because results have less variation. The dyno attaches directly to the hub, and eliminates the variation introduced by the tires. There is no tire slippage, and alignment/tire pressure/wheel weight/tire weight have zero effect on the torque applied from the car's drivetrain to the ground (or rollers in the case of a Dynojet or Mustang dyno). Results are repeatable within a 0.5% window, all day, every day.

- A fresh 2015 FRS was used for testing purposes. Zero drivetrain modifications were made, other than the headers involved, overpipes, and a flex fuel kit.

- The baseline, although not the exact same car, is a 100% stock BRZ, and is in line with the baseline dynos at this facility. A baseline on the 2015 FRS with nothing on it was not run as a cost saving measure, as we believe that a reasonably large sample of data for stock numbers is out there. (Dyno time is not cheap!).

- We do not do "hero" runs. All dyno numbers shown are the numbers generated after repeated back-to-back pulls. These are real world numbers reflecting the output of the engine under a track condition. If we were to let the car cool down completely between runs, we would show higher numbers across the board.

- The tunes performed on the cars are not designed to extract every last bit of power. Rather, they are designed to be safe to run in any condition in any weather, because when we track, it's not unusual to see temperatures as low as 25F to temperatures as high as 120F. Can we extract more power that's safe to use on the street? Absolutely, but that's not how we tune our cars.



The test vehicle:

- 2015 Scion FRS, 6MT

- @ Deli cious Tuning Flex Fuel Kit, OEM connections

- ACN 91 octane aka "pisswater" (Arizona California Nevada)

- Propel E85, mixed with ACN91 to be E70 (time conservation, getting full E85 in the tank would take too long, so we compromised by doing all Ethanol tuning at E70).

- OEM front pipe (yes, OEM secondary cat!)

- OEM midpipe

- OEM catback exhaust

- OEM intake (including sound tube)

- OEM paper filter

- Basically the entire car is stock except for the variables below:



The test candidates:

- Leading brand UEL header and overpipe combination

- ACE 4-2-1 EL Header and overpipe



The Dynographs:



First, here is a graph of the ACE 4-2-1 vs Stock.

- Orange - ACE 4-2-1 E70

- Red - ACE 4-2-1 ACN 91

- Green - Stock



Test notes:

- The torque dip is GONE. GONE GONE GONE. With an EL header.

- There is a gain of 10.8 lb/ft wtq, peak vs peak, on ACN 91

- There is a gain of 28.5 whp, peak vs peak, on ACN91

- There is a gain of 22 lb/ft wtq, peak vs peak, on E70 vs stock

- There is a gain of 39 whp, peak vs peak, on E70 vs stock







Second, here is the same graph of the ACE 4-2-1 vs Stock, but with the peak torque gain (maximum delta) highlighted

- Orange - ACE 4-2-1 E70

- Red - ACE 4-2-1 ACN 91

- Green - Stock



Test Notes:

- There is a peak gain of 30.4 lb/tq, on ACN 91

- There is a peak gain of 22whp at that same RPM, on ACN 91

- E70 gains speak for themselves over Stock.











Third, here is a graph of a leading UEL header + OP combo, vs the ACE 4-2-1 Header + OP. Both setups have been dyno tuned per our methodology. Peak power for ACN 91 is highlighted.

- Orange - ACE 4-2-1 E70

- Red - ACE 4-2-1 ACN 91

- Purple - UEL + OP E70

- Blue - UEL + OP ACN 91



Test notes:

- The UEL makes more power from 2400-3150 on E70

- The UEL makes more power from 2450-2950 on ACN 91

- The ACE header makes more power through the rest of the RPM range on both E70 and ACN 91.









Fourth, the same graph as above, but with E70 peaks highlighted.









Some followup thoughts



- ACN91 is notoriously known as "pisswater", because it is, literally, the worst "premium" octane gasoline commonly available. Despite this, MUCH more timing could be added with the ACE 4-2-1. This indicates to us that the ACE 4-2-1 is evacuating the exhaust gas out of the cylinders faster and more completely than the OEM or UEL headers. Because we are able to add timing, the 91 octane gains are larger compared to the other options.



- However, for the very reason that 91 octane gains are larger, E70 gains are smaller. Ethanol allows you to add more timing, because it is both more knock resistant, and has superior cooling properties, which are compounded by the finer atomization of Direct Injection. Because we can already run so much timing on ACN 91, Ethanol gains are lower.



- Due to time and budget constraints, we elected to test on E70, rather than E85. While E85 would certainly yield higher numbers, purging the system completely enough to have E85 (instead of E84, or E82, etc.) would have been too time consuming. We compromised by testing at E70, which we could verify via our Delicious Tuning Flex Fuel kit. Additionally, we believe these numbers to be reasonably close to E85 numbers, as Ethanol has diminishing returns as the Ethanol content goes up with Naturally Aspirated cars.



- All testing was performed with an otherwise OEM car. We believe an aftermarket front pipe will free up the exhaust flow even more, allowing for more gains. This leads us to more testing next week; the ACE header will be tested with multiple diameter front pipes to see if any of them produce better results.



- We are absolutely certain that even deleting the cat in the OEM front pipe will yield more power. We are also of the belief that a properly matched front pipe will probably flatten out the torque drop between 5000 and 6800 RPMs. This is heavily reinforced by many dynos we've seen on other cars, including the fifth dyno above, that show the 5000-6800 range being flattened out when there are no cats in the exhaust system. Any peak gains are just icing on the cake.





With these results, CounterSpace Garage looks forward to eventually becoming a vendor for the ACE header.



More testing will be conducted in the near future, to see what else this header are capable of. Currently, we believe that these are, hands down, the best header available for the car.



Future testing plans

- Test the header on the JRSC Supercharged BRZ

- Test the header with various catless front pipes



Thank you for reading!



tl;dr: this header is the best header on the market.







**Edit*



[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxuCovNLaak"]CSG Ace 4-2-1 FRS/BRZ/GT86/FA20 header dyno sound clip - YouTube[/ame]



[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e31Ketqj38"]CSG Ace 4-2-1 FRS/BRZ/GT86/FA20 header Laguna Seca Sound Clip with 86CUP - YouTube[/ame]





**edit**



Some pictures as requested









Third party dynos from @ Deli cious tuning





ACN 91









E85





It's been quite a while since we've posted a review of any product. While CounterSpace Garage does quite a bit of in-house, independent testing, most of the results, whether positive or negative, are usually not noteworthy, and we file the results away for reference if we ever need it. This test result, is noteworthy.In fact, the results are so significant, that we're publishing our findings and thoughts, before we've even finished testing. This is highly out of character for CSG, but given our excitement, we hope you understand.As always, all testing conducted by CSG is done independently, at a time, setting, and venue of our choice. Some background information on our testing choices and methodology- We choose to use a dynapack, because results have less variation. The dyno attaches directly to the hub, and eliminates the variation introduced by the tires. There is no tire slippage, and alignment/tire pressure/wheel weight/tire weight have zero effect on the torque applied from the car's drivetrain to the ground (or rollers in the case of a Dynojet or Mustang dyno). Results are repeatable within a 0.5% window, all day, every day.- A fresh 2015 FRS was used for testing purposes. Zero drivetrain modifications were made, other than the headers involved, overpipes, and a flex fuel kit.- The baseline, although not the exact same car, is a 100% stock BRZ, and is in line with the baseline dynos at this facility. A baseline on the 2015 FRS with nothing on it was not run as a cost saving measure, as we believe that a reasonably large sample of data for stock numbers is out there. (Dyno time is not cheap!).- We do not do "hero" runs. All dyno numbers shown are the numbers generated after repeated back-to-back pulls. These are real world numbers reflecting the output of the engine under a track condition. If we were to let the car cool down completely between runs, we would show higher numbers across the board.- The tunes performed on the cars are not designed to extract every last bit of power. Rather, they are designed to be safe to run in any condition in any weather, because when we track, it's not unusual to see temperatures as low as 25F to temperatures as high as 120F. Can we extract more power that's safe to use on the street? Absolutely, but that's not how we tune our cars.- 2015 Scion FRS, 6MT- @cious Tuning Flex Fuel Kit, OEM connections- ACN 91 octane aka "pisswater" (Arizona California Nevada)- Propel E85, mixed with ACN91 to be E70 (time conservation, getting full E85 in the tank would take too long, so we compromised by doing all Ethanol tuning at E70).- OEM front pipe (yes, OEM secondary cat!)- OEM midpipe- OEM catback exhaust- OEM intake (including sound tube)- OEM paper filter- Basically the entire car is stock except for the variables below:- Leading brand UEL header and overpipe combination- ACE 4-2-1 EL Header and overpipe, here is a graph of the ACE 4-2-1 vs Stock.- Orange - ACE 4-2-1 E70- Red - ACE 4-2-1 ACN 91- Green - StockTest notes:- The torque dip is GONE. GONE GONE GONE. With an EL header.- There is a gain of 10.8 lb/ft wtq, peak vs peak, on ACN 91- There is a gain of 28.5 whp, peak vs peak, on ACN91- There is a gain of 22 lb/ft wtq, peak vs peak, on E70 vs stock- There is a gain of 39 whp, peak vs peak, on E70 vs stock, here is the same graph of the ACE 4-2-1 vs Stock, but with the peak torque gain (maximum delta) highlighted- Orange - ACE 4-2-1 E70- Red - ACE 4-2-1 ACN 91- Green - StockTest Notes:- There is a peak gain of 30.4 lb/tq, on ACN 91- There is a peak gain of 22whp at that same RPM, on ACN 91- E70 gains speak for themselves over Stock., here is a graph of a leading UEL header + OP combo, vs the ACE 4-2-1 Header + OP. Both setups have been dyno tuned per our methodology. Peak power for ACN 91 is highlighted.- Orange - ACE 4-2-1 E70- Red - ACE 4-2-1 ACN 91- Purple - UEL + OP E70- Blue - UEL + OP ACN 91Test notes:- The UEL makes more power from 2400-3150 on E70- The UEL makes more power from 2450-2950 on ACN 91- The ACE header makes more power through the rest of the RPM range on both E70 and ACN 91., the same graph as above, but with E70 peaks highlighted.- ACN91 is notoriously known as "pisswater", because it is, literally, the worst "premium" octane gasoline commonly available. Despite this, MUCH more timing could be added with the ACE 4-2-1. This indicates to us that the ACE 4-2-1 is evacuating the exhaust gas out of the cylinders faster and more completely than the OEM or UEL headers. Because we are able to add timing, the 91 octane gains are larger compared to the other options.- However, for the very reason that 91 octane gains are larger, E70 gains are smaller. Ethanol allows you to add more timing, because it is both more knock resistant, and has superior cooling properties, which are compounded by the finer atomization of Direct Injection. Because we can already run so much timing on ACN 91, Ethanol gains are lower.- Due to time and budget constraints, we elected to test on E70, rather than E85. While E85 would certainly yield higher numbers, purging the system completely enough to have E85 (instead of E84, or E82, etc.) would have been too time consuming. We compromised by testing at E70, which we could verify via our Delicious Tuning Flex Fuel kit. Additionally, we believe these numbers to be reasonably close to E85 numbers, as Ethanol has diminishing returns as the Ethanol content goes up with Naturally Aspirated cars.- All testing was performed with an otherwise OEM car. We believe an aftermarket front pipe will free up the exhaust flow even more, allowing for more gains. This leads us to more testing next week; the ACE header will be tested with multiple diameter front pipes to see if any of them produce better results.- We are absolutely certain that even deleting the cat in the OEM front pipe will yield more power. We are also of the belief that a properly matched front pipe will probably flatten out the torque drop between 5000 and 6800 RPMs. This is heavily reinforced by many dynos we've seen on other cars, including the fifth dyno above, that show the 5000-6800 range being flattened out when there are no cats in the exhaust system. Any peak gains are just icing on the cake.With these results, CounterSpace Garage looks forward to eventually becoming a vendor for the ACE header.More testing will be conducted in the near future, to see what else this header are capable of. Currently, we believe that these are, hands down, the best header available for the car.Future testing plans- Test the header on the JRSC Supercharged BRZ- Test the header with various catless front pipesThank you for reading!tl;dr: this header is the best header on the market.**Edit*[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxuCovNLaak"]CSG Ace 4-2-1 FRS/BRZ/GT86/FA20 header dyno sound clip - YouTube[/ame][ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e31Ketqj38"]CSG Ace 4-2-1 FRS/BRZ/GT86/FA20 header Laguna Seca Sound Clip with 86CUP - YouTube[/ame]**edit**Some pictures as requestedThird party dynos from @cious tuningACN 91E85 Last edited by CounterSpace Garage; 08-02-2017 at 05:08 PM .