[Ecky]

In Mazda's promotional pages for their Skyactiv engines they talk about the advantages of a long 4-2-1 header in reducing/preventing knock in very high compression engines:

In order to lower the temperature at compression TDC, reducing the amount of hot exhaust gas remaining inside the combustion chamber is effective. For example, with a compression ratio of 10:1, a residual gas temperature of 750 deg. C, and an intake air temperature of 25 deg. C, if 10% of the exhaust gas remains, the temperature inside the cylinder before compression increases by roughly 70 deg. C, and the temperature at compression TDC is calculated to increase by roughly 160 deg. C. Therefore, it can be easily inferred that the amount of residual gas has an major impact on knocking.

These calculations are summarized in Fig.2, and as indicated, if the amount of residual gas is halved from 8% to 4%, the temperature at compression TDC is calculated to remain the same even when the compression ratio is increased from 11:1 to 14:1.

This reduction of residual gas was focused on for SKYACTIV-G, enabling the realization of a high compression ratio gasoline engine.

One option to significantly reduce residual gas is the adoption of a 4-2-1 exhaust system. As shown in Fig.3, when the exhaust manifold is short, the high pressure wave from the gas emerging immediately after cylinder No. 3’s exhaust valves open, for example, arrives at cylinder No.1 as it finishes its exhaust stroke and enters its intake stroke. As a result, exhaust gas which has just moved out of the cylinder is forced back inside the combustion chamber, increasing the amount of hot residual gas. With a short exhaust manifold, the high pressure wave arrives at the next cylinder within a short amount of time, causing this adverse effect to continue from low to high engine speeds. However, with a long 4-2-1 exhaust system, since it takes time for the high pressure wave to reach the next cylinder, the effect mentioned is limited to extra-low engine speeds, making the reduction of residual gas at almost all engine speeds possible.

Source= MAZDA: SKYACTIV-G | ENGINE | SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY

They go on to describe challenges with keeping the Cat warm caused by having a long header.