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long tube vs short tube header

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Old 07-16-2008, 08:32 AM
  #1  
dh04 red gt
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Default long tube vs short tube header

Well decided to go with headers. Now I'm trying to decide to witch one to go with. I was looking at long tubes they are more expensive and cost more to put in. And I will have to change out my xpipe. But whenI did some searching on the net every site said around 15 to 20 hp gain is this correct. Also read that shorties don't realy give much more than stock. If the hp gain is acurate then it would be worth the expected price of around $1200 installed. If not I wonder how much it would cost to install some stage one cames or even stage two. And no I don't want to go FI.
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Old 07-16-2008, 09:00 AM
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MoKo_04GT
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

if you are going to change the stock manifolds, then go with the LT's. shorties dont provide much of a gain for the several hundred you would spend to get them and have them installed...plus they provide a tad bit bigger gain than the shorties. personally i cant see spending close to $1k for 15hp from longtubes. which is why i dont have them.

i would much rather take that $1k and get a nice nitrous kit and get 100hp out of my $1k instead od 10-15hp.


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Old 07-16-2008, 12:11 PM
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Eagle2000GT
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

You are getting incorrect information. We beat this topic to death on another forum. And its been discussed on this forumas well. What started the discussion was a post where before and after dynos (over a stock exhaust) showed only a 7 rwhp gain. Before and after dyno runs show that long-tube headers, mid-pipe and a tune (all three) will get you 7-20 rwhp depending upon other mods and the tune. You already have a mid-pipe so you will not see that much gain over your current setup. Since I believe that the mid-pipe is most of the gain, you might see a 3-4 rwhp gain for your $1200. Shorty headers are not totally useless. They increase mid-range torque which increases overall performance.
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Old 07-16-2008, 03:37 PM
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Dilireus
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

<personal opinion>

What you should do is establish your goals for your car. (Will use it for drag racing, autocrossing, show, daily driver, other? How much power do you want to make? What route will you take to achieve that power level: N/A, blower, turbo, nitrous? How well do you want it to handle?) Establish an overall budget and think about your cash flow so you can plan your purchases. Once you have your goals and budget defined, choose your parts so that everything is designed to work together. Keep in mind how much power the various parts can handle and identify everything that needs to be upgraded.

A lot of people just start throwing parts on their car to "make it faster" without having an overall vision and end up wasting money when they buy the same parts over again (e.g. - you have to replace the h-pipe because you suddenly decided to go with long tube headers - been there, done that). If you have deep pockets, that's not necessarily a bad thing since other guys with not-so-deep pockets will benefit when you resell your parts cheap because you bought something that you can't use with your new combo.

</personal opinion>
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Old 07-16-2008, 03:59 PM
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whitestang97
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

i've got a set of cermaic coated longtubes that would be perfect for you...i also have a set of percy gaskets and grade 8 locking bolts...

i'll let you have it all for $350
its a hell of deal if you ask me!!
These headers are like knew...they were only used for about 150miles
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Old 07-16-2008, 04:01 PM
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cliffyk
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

LT headers provide most of their benefit between 2500 and 4500 rpm where scavenging is most effective, this makestalking aboutpeak HP only whendiscussing tuned headersmeaningless. [/align][/align]You need to examine the entire torque curve to make any sort meaningful analysis of their benefit, I would gladly trade 10 HP just before I shift for 10 HP at 3k rpm where you canactually use it.[/align]
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Old 07-16-2008, 05:57 PM
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98redstang
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

Lt's you get the power and the sound. Idk know how you are but im big on sound plus why not go all out if your gonna go for the pita header install you might as well get the most out if it.
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Old 07-17-2008, 06:00 AM
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Eagle2000GT
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

ORIGINAL: Dilireus

<personal opinion>

What you should do is establish your goals for your car. (Will use it for drag racing, autocrossing, show, daily driver, other? How much power do you want to make? What route will you take to achieve that power level: N/A, blower, turbo, nitrous? How well do you want it to handle?) Establish an overall budget and think about your cash flow so you can plan your purchases. Once you have your goals and budget defined, choose your parts so that everything is designed to work together. Keep in mind how much power the various parts can handle and identify everything that needs to be upgraded.

A lot of people just start throwing parts on their car to "make it faster" without having an overall vision and end up wasting money when they buy the same parts over again (e.g. - you have to replace the h-pipe because you suddenly decided to go with long tube headers - been there, done that). If you have deep pockets, that's not necessarily a bad thing since other guys with not-so-deep pockets will benefit when you resell your parts cheap because you bought something that you can't use with your new combo.

</personal opinion>
Excellent advice. Make a plan, build to the plan. I read a post once about a guy who put a in a forged stroker kit, heads, and a high performance cam and was very disappointed with the numbers. He didn't realize that the stroker kit was for more for low end torque, the heads he picked were more mid-range, and his cam was for high rpm performance. All were performance enhancing parts that are often discussed on these forums. He just didn't think about how they would perform together.
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Old 07-17-2008, 11:00 AM
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04BlueGT
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

ORIGINAL: Dilireus

<personal opinion>

What you should do is establish your goals for your car. (Will use it for drag racing, autocrossing, show, daily driver, other? How much power do you want to make? What route will you take to achieve that power level: N/A, blower, turbo, nitrous? How well do you want it to handle?) Establish an overall budget and think about your cash flow so you can plan your purchases. Once you have your goals and budget defined, choose your parts so that everything is designed to work together. Keep in mind how much power the various parts can handle and identify everything that needs to be upgraded.

A lot of people just start throwing parts on their car to "make it faster" without having an overall vision and end up wasting money when they buy the same parts over again (e.g. - you have to replace the h-pipe because you suddenly decided to go with long tube headers - been there, done that). If you have deep pockets, that's not necessarily a bad thing since other guys with not-so-deep pockets will benefit when you resell your parts cheap because you bought something that you can't use with your new combo.

</personal opinion>
+1 again. I have an excel spreadsheet with everything I want, prioritized, with price and seller info where possible. I also take into account which items should be purchased in groups (wheels/tires, gears/tuner, tb/plenum) on in a particular order so that it makes sense. I also have planned group installation (heads, cams, headers) to that I save on labor charges unless I do the work myself.
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Old 07-17-2008, 05:59 PM
  #10  
Othic
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Default RE: long tube vs short tube header

Too bad youre not closer to Tampa, I could install them foryou much less than $1200. I was lucky, I have a lift at my disposal when I did mine
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