Great post, Doc Holiday! I enjoyed reading it. Very well thought out. Thanks.


As for the GTO.....Why do people constantly talk about GM cars by calling them LS2's? The car does have a name. You never hear anyone talk about Mustangs by calling them modulars or strokers. What is so special about the LS2 anyway? More liters? Better design? It's like some Mustang guys are obsessed with one engine, versus being obsessed with a car.

Forget about the engine. GTO's are ugly. In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen one in person because I don't spend much time trying to distinguish all the "mom cars" out there.

You can put a Ferrari engine in a Caravan.....but...that don't make me want one.

 

Why do we call our Mustangs S197's? Or we call our engine the 3V, because it distunguishes our cars from past models. Not all GM engines are LS2's or LS6's,LT1,etc, it's a way of distinguishingdifferent yearsof the same car. It's like my dad said the first time he saw the "New" GTO at the Cleveland Auto show. "right engine wrong car".

 

I used BBK shorties on my car. Reason being, I was not going for all out power and did not want an excessive amount of noise. I alsodidnt want to have to worry about MIL codes. My combo of shorties and 3" Magnaflow Magnapak isa sweet soundto my ears.The BBK's were added after the Magnaflow kit, and they seemd to have lowered the volume a tiny bit, but added a "pulse"to the exhaust note. Hard to explain using a keyboard. Something you have to hear to understand. My wife can hear that pulse through the cell phone.

I had two sets of shorty headers on hand before install. FRPP and BBK. FRPP is really nothing more than a fancier version of the stock manifolds. The BBK are tuned length. The flange is thicker on the BBK, and they seem to be better made overall. The FRPP headers are the easiest to install, and do not require lifting the engine for clearance. The BBK's needed the engine lifted and moved to the left for right side clearance. Left side was no problem.

LT will out perform shorties overall. But the added expense of replacing the midpipe, for the small gain, didnt seem to be worth it to me, for the expected use of the car.

 

JBA makes an equal legnth shorty header that is 50 state emission legal.

 

True, the O/R X pipe is just a pipe but what it replaces is more than just a pipe, it has cats. So when you go to an O/R X you are eliminationg the cats and in my opinion a signifiacant restriction in the exhaust.

 

Ok, thank you for the info. So, I will definately be changing mine. And also. You all with the 05-08 mustang have true duals right? I looked under my car and I have two pipes running from my headers straight back. With two cats. It is the same on all the stangs right?

[IMG]local://upfiles/90468/8DBC42A00A6A4C40AF329B5EC2E859A4.jpg[/IMG]

 

Yeah, stock stang GT's all have a dual exhaust with a factory H-pipe. (unless it's a Shelby GT then it has an X-pipe)

 

On Topic:
Shorties are worth very little. The cast mainofolds are essentially cast iron shorties and very well designed.
Kooks Long Tubes are only worth around 13 rwhp and 8 rwt at peak although they do help more at lower rpm.
However you never see that rpm range at the strip. Shorties are more like 2-3 rwhp.

Off Topic:
6.0 GTO's are not all that fast in stock or mildly modified form at least on street tires.
Scott beats stock ones in his stock 2005 GT (Best ET 13.27 on a 1.89).
I beat the CAI/Tune ones in my CAI/Tune 2007 GT (Best ET 12.95 on a 1.90)
LS1 Camaros are more dangerous in my opinion.

 

Ain't that the truth...[8D]

I like your Dad analogy.

 

This is what everyone is talking about. This is not a fair comparison. Kooks 13hp gain is over STOCK exhaust...cats and H! Hook up an o/r X to shorties, like the Kooks has, and I bet the gains are very similar.

And as others mentioned, the cast manifolds are really not cast iron shorties. Compare a tuned length shorty to the stock manifold and it is really night and day.