I wonder if it is all hoopla is just a matter of Wire length and connectors.


It is. All about direct fit, the demand for each style, and competition.

You can class all the zirconia narrow-band sensors into 1,3, and 4 wire versions. The 1-wire are unheated. The 3-wire are heated, but the sensor is referred to ground through the exhaust pipes. The 4-wire provides its own ground wire, better than relying on the exhaust pipes.

I agree with Dave's approach - buy the most popular and inexpensive heated sensor and re-use the custom wires. Others disagree or wring their hands over stifling the reference air with their splicing techniques.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Back in the 1800's the Tate's Watch Company of Massachusetts wanted to produce other products, and since they already made the cases for watches, they used them to produce compasses. The new compasses were so bad that people often ended up in Canada or Mexico rather than California . This, of course, is the origin of the expression,..."He who has a Tate's is lost!"