I've got a 99 with off road x-pipe and flowmaster weld-ins, and a few other bolt-ons. Are headers worth the time and money performance wise. I was thinking shorties so they would bolt right up, has anyone noticed a real difference?
Are headers worth it?
- Thread starter MrMustangman69
- Start date
imo i dont think that theyre woth the hassle unless your blown or turbo'd... the gain is minimal and its a headache to install.. but that jmo.. gl
Long Tubes are worth it...shorties not so much.
Personally I wouldn't bother with shorties. Are you going to be installing them yourself? At least then you can save on labor. I went with mid lengths mostly for ground clearance. But to be honest, if I wasn't in the middle of swapping motors I'd still have the stock manifolds on.
I have long tubes that the PO installed on my 99. They sound great, but ground clearance is pretty terrible (running Steeda sport springs). Dunno about the HP gain since they were installed before I got the car, so I never got to feel it before hand.
yeah I was planning on installing them myself but wasen't sure if the gains were worth the pain of putting them on. I appreciate the help
I'd do a k-member swap before messing with headers, I can't imagine trying to install them without the bulky stock unit out of the way. I put a PA Racing k-member on awhile back and will be doing MAC headers and mid-pipe sometime in the future. If you want headers, longtubes or mid-length is the only way to go, I wouldn't waste my time on shorties.
Shorties are a waste of time and money, the gains from them are almost close to nothing. LT's are worth it if you're looking to stay n/a for a while and the install honestly isn't that bad. I did mine myself, took me roughly 7 hours from start to finish, also installed new solid rack and pinion bushings and control arm bushings while it was all apart.
A cheap set of long tubes is worth it in my opinion, I have mac long tubes on mine the only bad thing is pulling the tranny is nearly impossible with them in place. I see you are in greensboro maybe I will see you around sometime!
I am pretty sure your completely wrong, as a matter of fact I believe that when you turbo your vehicle they run a complete new set of pipes, you cant use those lt's with a blown motor. I might be wrong, if so your welcome to tell me so.
I think the approx hp gain is 15-20 with NA motors with LT, shorties are not really worth the time, so either push that money into LT's or a tuner, which will also net you gains, and run cleaner, since your o/r if you havent tuned it your runnin quite rich.
my bad... i mean only supercharged.. not turbo'd.. sorry
Thanks for all the help, I was just looking for some easy power and maybe some sound. Since this is my dd right now in college I'll just stick with what I have and one day in the future when I get it rebuilt Ill get LT's, considering they wont bolt straight up now and I just got the x pipe. If an off road x will make it run rich I may be looking for a tuner in the near future though. Im definitely gonna have to look out for
99BlownVert around gboro, I havent seen you around before.
99BlownVert around gboro, I havent seen you around before.
I have never ran rich with my O/R X :??: Tuner isn't needed to run a O/R anything. Now to shut off the CEL you will need a Tuner or Mil Eliminators :beer:
The only shorties worth a damn are the JBAs. Long tubes will add a lot of tq and mid range power, and a few more HPs up top. They are a mod well worth the expense if you don't go overboard and buy Kooks, stainless works, SLPs, etc.
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For the most part, hand helds offer little tuning capability. The only way to know your a/f is to get an wideband or put it on the dyno. Also, changing the exhaust (removing cats, adding long tubes, etc.) rarely changes the a/f enough to require a tune.
Im sure he has an aftermarket intake, he did say he had bolt ons. Plus handhelds have come a long way, at AM you get free custom tuning when you purchase the new tuners. While its not an exact dyno tune, it still greatly impacts performance.
If a car is built to run as it is stock, you go and change out the intake, exhaust, change wheels, lower the center of gravity, etc, its not going to be properly tuned to maximize performance of the vehicle tuned for basically a different setup.
I stick to saying that the tune will net you ~15 hp, and same with the headers, 15-20. Both are around the 350-500 range. Headers do make you sound pretty nasty too. Id start with a tune, then add headers later so you can have it retuned with those on.
If a car is built to run as it is stock, you go and change out the intake, exhaust, change wheels, lower the center of gravity, etc, its not going to be properly tuned to maximize performance of the vehicle tuned for basically a different setup.
I stick to saying that the tune will net you ~15 hp, and same with the headers, 15-20. Both are around the 350-500 range. Headers do make you sound pretty nasty too. Id start with a tune, then add headers later so you can have it retuned with those on.
unless you have LT's these is zero tunability with exhaust. the gains you see from exhaust are not from afr- they are from removing restriction.
He may have an aftermarket intake tube, but I doubt he has an aftermarket intake manifold. a modded intake manifold will require a tune, the intake tubes do nothing to increase power but they are know to jack up the a/f.
How is lowering the center of gravity going to change the tune requirement? You're joking right?
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