csmoore88

I love the sound of my darlin. After the o/r x and pypes Muffler delete. Now headers. I will have to back track my x pipe for long tubes. I know long tubes is better but will Shorty be okay? I don't race or even drive her hard. I like a loud stereo so it sounds great at low volume, and I want a powerful car so it feels great at normal speeds. Thanks again from KY.

jdmcbride

I love my JBA shorty headers! They are the equal-length shorties that sound great and give some nice increases in the upper RPMs. Equal-length shorties don't sacrifice low-end torque as bad as long tubes and IMO are better suited for a daily driver that never sees the track.

You will get a lot of "long tubes or nothing" posts... and I agree that long tubes gives a 5 - 8 horsepower advantage over equal-length shorties. That might make a difference at the track, but I think you would notice the low-end torque loss more with long tubes in a daily driver (especially given that you stated that you rarely drive it hard).

HTH

Blacksmoke

Shorties are ok if you do it for sound.
If you want the most out of performance though do long tubes.
Especially if you are going to do cams, etc. later on.

scottybaccus

Just remember, all that increased flow is moving your power badn up where you may not use it without really meaning to. It may be down right sluggish down low, especially without added power mods to match. You are taking a well matched package a reworking parts without keeping others in sync.

jwharton

I have not gone with headers because I think that it is just a sound thing and I like the sound of mine already. This may not be popular but it is worth reading and I believe that Kenn Belle is reputable enough to believe. I think it is a great read for anyone considering headers.
http://www.kennebell.net/techinfo/fo...aust_tests.pdf

csmoore88

What do u mean? What do I need to keep in sync?

Q8 GooGles

This is a complete copy paste off AmeicanMuscle.com. All credits to them:

scottybaccus

Engines are a matched set of components. It starts with the flow potential of the cylinder heads and the design parameters of the car.

The heads are matched to air intake parts, Filter, induction, throttlebody, intake, camshafts, etc., All these are matched to compliment their counter-parts on the exhaust side. Camshafts, exhaust header, catalytic converters, H or X pipe, pipe diameter, mufflers, etc.

An engine is an air pump. What goes in, must come out. The flow capacity on one side needs to match the flow capacity on the other. One of the tuning points on both sides is velocity of flow at the desired operating range. The right velocity on the intake side can naturally fill the cylinders (tunnel rams, velocity stacks and such exploit this). The right velocity on the exhaust side can naturally evacuate the cylinders and exhaust pipes, making room for more from the intake side. It's a team.

Now start swapping parts. Add a CAI, some improved mufflers, and you have minor gains on both sides, you stay in balance. One without the other gets you lesser gains, but not too much imbalance. It works OK.
Add a bigger throttlebody and some cams, you want bigger exhaust and headers, big mufflers or none, to support the intake side. You get big gains.
One without the other, the throttle response goes away because you can't get air into and out of the engine at the same rate. Bad experience, poor performance.

Now, the power band issue. The OE design is modest in size and flow so that it has good manners in traffic and around town. Mash the gas and it reacts right away. That's because it's a small volume and easily changed on both sides. It's kept small to work well at low RPM (low flow) because that's where the customer lives every day.
When you start moving more air, you need more flow, so pipes get bigger on both sides. (at some point cams raise the ante) Larger pipes mean velocity at a given RPM is lower than with smaller pipes. The engine works OK, but it's peak power is at a higher RPM where that velocity comes back and restores the physics that help charge and evacuate the cylinders. Drop RPM below the optimum range and the engine becomes sluggish. So big HP gains are usually accompanied by a shift of the power band upward. Too much of this will move the "Happy Place" in your combo up out of your normal rpm range. You don't drive to school or work at 4500 rpm, so you'll be lumping around wishing you had your old peppy lower HP combo back.

What's all this mean? Choose components that compliment each other and are right for your primary use. You're talking about sound, so my guess is you don't want this car to be all about racing. Keep your changes small and you will enjoy your car. Go big on one side or the other without a matching system and you'll hate it. Go overboard all the way around and you'll have a race car on a rainy day that bites your *** on a slippery cloverleaf or off ramp.

Too wordy? I teach for a living.