Which headers did you install?
Headers Worth The Money
- Thread starter shb5007
- Start date
Which headers did you install?
Way off!
Whipple 2.3 at 18lbs with stock manifolds made 597/544
Whipple 2.3 at 16.5lbs with Longtubes made 611/556
+14 rwhp and +12rwtq with same timing and a/f
when i said my numbers i was using the bigger end of the spectrum, not the 2.3 blowers. and i think mdrc was one agreeing point for what i said. obviously every car and set up is different and you're not always going to pick up the same amount, and the bigger the blower the more left on the table with stock manifolds. but i've never heard of a cobra putting lt's on and losing horsepower.
At normal cruising, Cobras with stingers are 10x louder than my car with headers. My car is quieter than most other Cobras when driving normally because a ton of people go with aggressive mufflers.
BBK full length ceramics
There's no way your car is 10x quiter than mine, even with the stingers vs your setup. I might agree with you if you were referring to cat less mid pipe with stinger combo.....but with the magn catted xpipe on my car it cruises very quietly. It really won't make much decibel level until WOT. I would suspect an increase in decibel level if I went with long tubes
I think you were probably referring to owners that have stingers and are cat less as well....that would be apples to oranges. Stingers and no cats is a raspy sound I don't care for at all.....but to each their own
Very interesting. I knew they weren't worth a lot....but that's even less than I would have guessed with your ts setup. One had better REALLY appreciate the sound tone long tubes provide because the performance gains are very small. The factory manifolds just flat out work....even if they're ugly and muffle the sound a bit.
A large number of people with stingers have off-road midpipes. I know of another Cobra with the same setup as mine, except with cats, and it's a lot quieter than mine. That would be more comparable to yours.
When my friend had a Cobra with stingers, he got pulled over for exhaust that was too loud when he was right next to me. Cops didn't bother me at all. No one thinks my car has headers until I tell them. I hate exhaust that is too loud at cruising speeds.
If you want to get technical, his numbers probably are not accurate. I'm guessing the timing could probably be bumped up some on his car because the boost went down. He stated that he was running the same AF and timing. Retune the car and then post the real numbers. This is a benefit to the headers so it should be noted. 2 deg's of timing would probably pick up another 10hp. Maybe more.
It was retuned .. i meant same timing and a/f #'s used in the new tune .. hp and tq went up through the entire rpm band
If anyone thinks they are not worth the hp .. you gotta understand I only gained 14 rwhp .. BUT at 1.5lbs less boost .. I bump the boost back up from 16.5 to 18 and probably gain another 20rwhp .. for a total of 35rwhp more from the headers (at the same boost level)
And sound is awesome!
Last edited:
So how good are the stock headers really?
I was wondering this myself cause I seen only minimal gains advertized for aftermarket headers so I was thinking the factory ones must flow pretty good.
I was thinking of getting up to 500RWHP in the future so I am assuming that the stockers would work.
I was wondering this myself cause I seen only minimal gains advertized for aftermarket headers so I was thinking the factory ones must flow pretty good.
I was thinking of getting up to 500RWHP in the future so I am assuming that the stockers would work.
This is exactly what I meant. I would not part with my headers. Everyone thinks they need to dump $1000 on headers. I paid $450 for mine and I am very happy with them. I have spent more money for less gain. Plus, they sound good and look a lot better than the stock manifolds. I am not sure what the downside could be.
These are supercharged cars, so more power can be gained by doing other mods. But, once you do those, headers are the next best thing. Let's just say that the stock manifolds do not flow as bad as they look.
stock manifolds would be fine for a 500whp car depending on how you want to get there. I myself am trying for 500 as well, with mods in my sig and putting on headers and getting a dyno tune this winter i'm hoping for a tad over that. i could also do a lower pulley instead of the headers to surpass the goal, would be a little cheaper and easier to install, but im thinking long term, and i know one day within a year or so i'll put a ts on and the lower pulley wont really be needed then, but headers would compliment the ts nicely. so that's why i'm doing them.
you'll be fine with the stockers. they will support a lot more than 500
the op asked for an opinion and people are giving it. No one is right or wrong here....some can argue 20rwhp and sound tone is worth it for the product cost and difficulty of install/fitment/additional interior noise and fumes. Others will argue the investment of time and money could be used somewhere else.....like a good fuel system and swap to E85. It's a much greater bang for buck (probably worth 5X to 6X the increase headers and retune will provide....with MASSIVE midrange increases). Pump 93 (or cali 91) gasoline tunes are a joke in comparison, headers or not.
but thats just my opinion. others might decide to do both - lol. I say go for it. Fumes will not be an issue with E85, it burns so clean there's really no smell at all, even standing in your garage right behind the tail pipes!!
If you have no access to E85, I'm sorry to hear that :cryying: :-D
i dont think e85 is that big of a gain. even if you consider 15whp gains from long tubes, what you're saying is e85 would yield 75 whp gains, i dont see that happening on anything near what the op has or any eaton car. maybe if you had a 3.4 and tuned it on 93 then made an 85 tune.
it is most deffinitely a good idea to do it tho. I'm a little shakey on whether to make that jump to e85 as there's only one place in my home town that has it and they just reopened a few months ago. nearest station after that is 25 minutes away.
it is most deffinitely a good idea to do it tho. I'm a little shakey on whether to make that jump to e85 as there's only one place in my home town that has it and they just reopened a few months ago. nearest station after that is 25 minutes away.
well, just speaking from my point of view with a 2.3 whipple since some posting are using twin screws as examples. Maybe less for an eaton obviously. My point is E85 creates a real buffer area of safety....93 is razor thin in comparison, especially beyond 15-16 degrees of timing. Your boost is really limited to 17-18 at the most. Case in point....i have an ultra safe 93 tune 560/550 at 15 degrees and 17psi. The E85 setup is 714/650 at 23 degrees and 22psi. The margin for error on E85 is vast. I probably feel safer running the E85 with 154 more rwhp than I do running pump 93 LOL. You won't believe how much better the drivability is on E85. The idle is honda like, the tip in throttle is immediate, the internal intake temps stay low.....every aspect is total win except availability and mpg hit. Cost per gallon is low (3.19 last fill up for me)
So back to my point.....lets say headers yielded a higher end 30 (thats retune and reclaiming lost boost) from my original 560 pump 93 number....but E85 swap got me 154 over the baseline pump number! Got to keep the stealthiness and avoid other header issues... Sounds close to 5 times the increase to me
:beer:
Mine made 9# on the dyno with the stock pulley, JLT RAI, SCT tune, MAC longtubes, MAC o/r pro-chamber, and Steeda cat-back (430hp, 406lbft). My buddy's 03 made 11# with the stock pulley, JLT cold air intake, manifolds, Magnaflow tru-x catted, and Magnapacks (393hp, 352lbft), no tune or was tuned by the previous owner with different setup. It was stock with welded in Magnaflow mufflers when he got it.
I put a catted BBK h-pipe on for a week from a buddy of mine, and the Cobra was louder and sounded better than the o/r pro-chamber. My VRS o/r x will be arriving tomorrow. Then I'll do a rev clip on Saturday, and post a video with all 3 different mid pipes. The first clip I made was with the setup now with the Saleen spoiler, the second clip was a week after getting the Cobra trunklid with spoiler, so I decieded that the third clip will be with the original spoiler delete trunk lid, then put the Cobra one back on.
I put a catted BBK h-pipe on for a week from a buddy of mine, and the Cobra was louder and sounded better than the o/r pro-chamber. My VRS o/r x will be arriving tomorrow. Then I'll do a rev clip on Saturday, and post a video with all 3 different mid pipes. The first clip I made was with the setup now with the Saleen spoiler, the second clip was a week after getting the Cobra trunklid with spoiler, so I decieded that the third clip will be with the original spoiler delete trunk lid, then put the Cobra one back on.
Last edited:
^^ agree ^^
Well put. I like to say it just makes it run more efficient
The most power w the least boost FTW. Plus w lower boost you will have lower IAT's as well. Sounds like a win win. As someone else states above, if you can do it yourself you can do it fairly cheap. I plan to install my Mac ceramics and Lethal ORX this weekend.
Users who are viewing this thread
