Headers, intakes, and exhausts how much do they help?
 

Okay so I understand the basic concept of headers, intakes, and exhausts but I was wondering, I drive a 2004 civic 2 dr coupe and I was wondering if adding a new header, intake, and exhaust will help out and how much also what combination of those would be best for my car and finally are they easy to install for a noob?

they do give more power, however the increase is most noticeable when you have all three and they are working together. People have different opinions on how much hp you will gain, some people such as those who are selling the parts suggest about 10hp each(pphphpt) but in my opinion a more accurate estimate is 5ish hp each give or take a couple depending on the part.

They are easy to install, all you need is a socket wrench set(and make sure your parts come with bolts and gaskets. I am not sure about the 7th gens, but 6th gens with a d16y7 have the catalytic converter built into the manifold which will be replaced by the header so you may need to do a cat conversion.

the most fun part is the intake, if you only get one that is the one to get.

imo, realistically, they don't really help in power at all, nothing you can feel at least, i doubt you'd be able to feel a 10 hp increase... you buy them for the sound and looks only... for a stock car without tune

Thanks for the help any suggestions on what kind of each would be good for my car

on a 6th gen sedan 100lb weight reduction equals approx 5hp. so if you gain about 15 hp from intake/header/exhaust the difference before and after would be similar to driving with two 150lb passengers and then removing them as far as power is concerned.

Definitely get K&N or AEM dryflow for your intake. you can buy a generic intake off ebay for cheaper and then put a good filter on it because a metal tube is a metal tube. But the filter itself is 50 dollars(either brand) and the generic ebay tube is 30 so for a little more you could just buy a name brand intake and it would look much nicer.

If you have the money, I would recommend a magnaflow exhaust. It depends on your tastes. When i first got my car i wanted a showy fart can, but now I wish I had gotten an oval muffler, they are quieter and a little more subtle.

DC is well known and reputable affordable header brand, although I got one from AMK racing that was 60 dollars, I've had it for almost 2 years and no problems, Im happy with it.

Does having a manual or auto make any differences in deciding if i should get any of these mods? Also i was looking at the headers on dc's website and i can't find one for my car wondering if you could help me find one?

i didnt find them on the dc site either, thats odd. try typing "dc header 04 civic" into ebay and see if you get anything. at any rate, there are other good brands too. try checking the FAQ in the intake header exhaust section of this forum.

no, auto or standard wont make a difference as far as I/H/E goes.

I have a 7th Gen and i used to have headers on my car. It was really simple to install. and yes there was a catalytic converter built into the manifold.

Would you suggest for me to install header, exhaust, and intake myself or take it somewhere and have someone install it remember that I'm a complete noob when it comes to cars. Also I checked on eBay and all the headers there are for the EX model, but does that make a difference or could I get an EX even though my civic is a VP (value package)...

I thought the VP was a EX, but with a few extra options.

I suggest to do the work yourself. You will learn more about the car, learn how to work on the car, and we will be here to help if needed. Hell, there's a thread around where we basically took someone by the hand and walked him through the process of installing an exhaust kit and every issue that popped up.