EVV - Very amusing and interesting video. There are also some interesting comments posted below the video trying to explain what is happening. One theory is that the area of the tube hasn't really changed, its just gone from round to oval. There are many comments around fluid dynamics which are beyond my knowledge range. The general conclusion seems to be that overall header design does make a difference. This has been proven many times and after market headers are always an improvement on the restrictive systems that come out of the factory.
i also wonder whether scaling up has any effect. This is a very powerful 500bhp engine. Would damaging the pipes in the same way on a 120 bhp engine have the same result?
DW sell two types of headers, one for SUs and one for Webers. The difference is that the manifolds for Webers are straighter when exiting the head. This is because there is more room to do this with Webers installed. This 'straighter' factor is mentioned in the video as being generally beneficial.