idriveamustang

Hey guys, right now im running the american thunder catback and a o/r PC on my 1996 GT. Im thinking about putting Mac Shorty headers on, is it worth it or should i just save up more to put LT's and get another PC to put on for the LT's. IF i did the shortys how would Hp gain be and would it sound better. My friend put shorty headers on his truck and we didnt really notice a diffrence with sound so im kinda iffy on it, Any help would be great, thanks.

Guest

BBK LTs. I don't think there would be a whole lot of gain. From the way I understand it, stock pieces are shorty's.

Chopper

There is no advantage that I know of to installing shortys over long tubes or mid length headers.They are all a PITA.I would just go ahead and get long tubes.Ceramic coated for long life.Figure on paying about $600 for instalation.

Acer2428

LT's won't pass emissions/inspection in states that require it. They also require removal fro most trans/clutch work.

Stock pieces are MANIFOLDS, flat, pinched manifolds... shorties are still a step up.

GodAmGT00

Out of the last 5 months, I've seen TONS of posts regarding shorty/long tube headers, and I've asked a bunch of times about equal length shorties, and no one has tried them..

Theoretically, they should yield almost as much HP/TQ as Long tubes.... They're probably less of a PITA to install as L/T's..... And you could still have a X/H pipe w/ Cats for those of us w/ Emissions testing...

Looks like it's time to buy a set..

JT
95 Eagle Talon TSi AWD - 12.7 @ 103mph (R.I.P.)
00 Mustang GT - Back in Action, still too slow....

Blue70

2 dyno sheets, 2 different magazines, one on a stock motor, one with a few bolt ons, and 2 different brands......same results!

A few months ago in 5.0 Magazine they tested a set of the BBK short tubes and lost horsepower and torque below 4000RPM (where they admitted they can’t afford to lose any) but made more above.

I was wondering if headers would be worth the trouble, but after reading that article I'll wait until I have a few mods that will benefit from the headers, because we all know the 4.6 is can not afford to lose any more torque! I do 99.7% of my driving below 4000RPM, so I would have lost power 99.7% of the time [>:] How often do you cruise at over 4000RPM?

Here is what it did on the dyno after the header install

Peak HP before 237
after 242

Total peak gain 5


Peak TQ before 274
after 276

Total TQ gain 2

Hardly seems worth it on a basicly stock GT
But anyone that knows anything knows peak numbers mean nothing at all
so here is the curve.

RPM HP TQ
2400 -4 +2
2600 -3 +3
2800 -4 +1
3000 -5 +0
3200 -7 -4
3400 -8 -5
3600 -10 -7
3800 -7 -3
4000 -5 -0
4200 -3 +2
4400 -1 +5
4600 +2 +9
4800 +5 +11
5000 +5 +11
5200 +6 +11
5400 +6 +10
5600 +7 +10
5800 +7 +9

That's the problem, the HP is getting moved to were I will not use it, give me something to get some more grunt down low where the 2v needs it and I would be all over it, but you can see it hurt the car below 4000RPM which is where I do 99% of my driving.

All I am saying is I can't see dropping all that cash for headers, and going through the PITA that it is to install them just to lose power where I will use it..Even if I were to gain 10HP across the board, I'm not sure it's worth the hassle and cost ($399 plus labor) to do it, untill there was nothing left to do, 10HP is debatable whether or not it would be felt in the SOTP.

On a car with a few bolt ons I'm sure the numbers would look better, butthe car tested already had an X-pipe, Cat back, and CAI, and it looks like you'll need a bit more than that to get the most out of the headers. If you had some head work, cams, or forced induction, I'm sure it would help a lot. Just not for me at this point in time ...


In a newer Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords they tested a set of Kooks 1-5/8" LT's and gained 11 HP, and gains were from 2500 up. Much better than shorties, but worth the cost and effort, only you can decide.

They also tested a set of FFRP shorty headers and confirmed my thoughts. They only made 3-4 HP over stock headers on a stock 4.6 and about the same results as the modified 4.6 with BBK's, the gains were only from 4000RPM's up to 4800RPM's and again from 5500RPM's to 5700RPM's

Guest

THANK YOU. I sat there with this post open for 5 minutes trying to figure out the name of the stock pieces and still couldn't think of manifolds. lol