Currently I have a true dual exhaust on my 05 v6 with a magnaflow catback system. I have been wanting to put headers on it for sometime, I have only been able to find shortys for it except for Mac makes a set of longtube headers for it. 1) How much increase in HP and TQ are we talking about with longtube or shortys? 2) would it really benefit me that much more to go with the Mac lontubes. 3) if I did go witht he longtube would i need new cats anf new mid piping and everything since the cats are right behing the exhaust manifold right now. Thanks

Brent

 

I don't think you will gain a lot of hp, with one vs the other. But the longtubes will require some changing of mids. You may be able to cut and paste a little, but the right way would be to have some new mids made up to accomidate the longtubes. If you aren't looking for the extra sound than I would say go shorty. I think that the only real difference in long and short will be the sound. long = louder

 

Not true. Its actually the opposite. Long tubes are usually quieter than shortys.

 

so im not going to see any performance difference between the two. which one is actually louder? will it definitely be louder than my current stock exhaust manifold..?

 

Shorty headers won't make the car any louder than it is now. Longtubes might quiet it down a little bit. You might see a small performance gain but not anything significant. Long tube headers usually will give you more power, but on an N/A car the gains are pretty small.

If you are looking for the best bang for your buck perfomance mod, get a cold air intake and tune combo. A CAI and tune will give you a very noticeable difference in power and the car will feel a lot more responsive. The next best mod (with the exception of boost of course) would be gears and a limited slip differential or 8.8 rear end swap.

 

I have the MAC long tubes and dont know how much they helped. To stay emissions compatible and able to pass inspections, I kept cats in the system, but had to put together the setup for it and move them farther back. They didn't help a whole lot, but I mainly got them because I was going F/I. The stock manifolds would otherwise still be on.

 

long tubes will definitely give you a boost in torque. But is a couple foot pounds worth the expense and the hassle of changing your cats ? I'd go with a set of shorty's and add maybe a couple hp and the same torque. If you were doing your heads, making a cam change or super/turbocharging then having or not having headers would make a difference. But with a stock engine you aren't limiting your exhaust flow now. The shorty's will add a little power and add a little sound. Not necessarily louder, just fullness since they're not cast iron you'll hear a different tone.

 

To avoid starting another thread with the same title, can someone post a video of their dual exhaust on a v6 with shorties? When you say it will change the tone will it be a deeper sound because its a little freer flowing or will it sound higher because the sound will bounce more effectively off the SS? Thanks!

 

it won't change the tone. The muffler design does that. You're not affecting the tone out of the heads with headers. It's hard to explain header tone, but it sounds more, hollow maybe, you can hear a little more note outside the exhaust headers coming from the engine area. You'll know it when you hear it, but it won't affect your exhaust out the back any noticable amount.

You'll get more bass note with a straight thru muffler design like w/a Pypes Violator. But you also get the tinny or high notes and quite a bit of boominess and drobe in the cabin. For the V6 a chambered muffler, like a Flowmaster or the Magnaflow design will give you the best overall tone.

 

Thanks! What do you think of a GT take off system?