jterp

I see a lot of talk about the long tube headers, but the shorties don't seem to get much love.. Anyone running short tube headers?

BlackZ51Vett

I'm thinking about running shorties too. The main reason is to keep the car "legal". I dont want to have to be jumping through hoops when it comes time to do the emissions test down the road. I think they're only good for about 10 h.p. but what the hell. 10 more is 10 more no matter how you look at it. The major draw back is the cost of the shorties ($1300 ????).
It will be interesting to hear from some of those who have long tube headers when the time comes to have their car smogged. Here in Az. we're good to go for the first 5 years, then it's yearly inspections. I dont mind wrenching on my car, but I wouldnt want to have to do that every year!!!!
How about some of you California guys chime in here about your experiences with this?

VET4LES

No C6 headers are CARB approved at this time. The shorties are made by Callaway and they claim they will be CARB approved by the time the first C6 needs a California smog inspection. No other header will ever be approved because the cat's must be moved.

Wayne O

You don't hear much about 'shorty' headers because they don't do squat!

jterp

that sums it up i guess.. thanks!

andreas g.

To answer your question is anybody running them?? I would say NO.
Reason; there no better than the exhaust manifolds you have on your car now. No matter what Callaway or JBA say, shorties just lighten your wallet, nothing else. Inorder for a header to improve performance the primary tube length needs to be in the 26-32 inch length. Example, kooks primaries are 26 inches, they have a large long 3 inch collector with a pickle fork in the center to maintain exhaust flow, LG's has true 32 primaries with small merge collectors. They both accomplish the same thing just arrive there using different technologies. Shorties have no length hench no improvement in performance. There's more, but that's it in a nut shell. Save your money for long tubes, or keep what you have.

andreas g.

BlackZ51Vett

Good info. Thanks guys.

0corvette pilot

Fortunately for us in Georgia, the smog check only checks to see if your check engine light is on now, at least thats the last I've heard. I've lived here 10 years now and never had a car that was over 3yrs old, except my 73 Datsun, which is exempt. I will be keeping the C6 past the 3 year point though.

BlackZ51Vett

I was reading entries over in the C5 section. A lot of those guys have a different opinion of shorties.

HITMAN99

Although shorties do not provide nearly the benefit that long-tube headers do, they do provide some benefit. I ran them on a Camaro SS that dynoed at 312 HP bone stock. Using Edelbrock shorties, OEM cats & exhaust, underdrive pulley, ported TB, and an aluminum clutch/flywheel combo, it dynoed at 360 HP. Later I added a 218/224 cam (.550" lift), & got 381 HP. The car ran a 12.58 at 112 MPH, on Michelin Pilots.

Because of the short tube length, I know I left a lot of mid-range TQ on the table. But the headers did help.

FloydSummerOf68

Saying that shorties dont add anything is insane.
Short tube headers on any application will help flow, but not as much as a mid length or longtube.

Wallacefl

before discounting them entirely...lets see the dyno...sure they will not give the low/midrange power a long tube will provide but Katechs Hot Rod article a couple years back revealed even some power left on the table on an LS2 motor by changing out the LS2 exhaust manifold for the LS6!

FloydSummerOf68

Stock manifolds are not a performance piece by any means...they are easily improved upon.

Are the short tubes primaries larger?

And what are the length of the primaries as compared to the stock manifolds?

Wallacefl

Callaway "reports" an 8-10 hp increase on a stock LS2...their primaries are 1.75 inches diameter....I hope they chime in on the discussion.

FloydSummerOf68

What is the diameter of the stockers for comparison? I'm sure they arent that large.

FloydSummerOf68

They claim that hp gain on stock cats too ...if that were true that would actually be not too shabby.

Kenny94945

i RUN THE CALLAWAY SHORTIES. tHEY ARE MUCH LIGHTER THAN THE oem MANIFOLDS AND they do add to the tone of the vehicle. If they added HP, its is not felt in the seat of the pants. They also look fantastic when I open my hood. Installed them my self. No codes, yet ut took a while to figure out the shape of the spark plugs wires (just buy Callaway's to ease the issue) and I added Cool Socks to protect said wires.

mcv

Callaway engineers measured 8 to 10 bhp increase with our headers on stock LS2 cars with stock exhaust. These headers have been discontinued, however. At $1,350.00 per set, Retail, we believed that the horsepower-per-dollar ratio was insufficient to support continuing to offer this product.

FloydSummerOf68

Weight is a huge factor that I forgot about also.

How much lighter are they?

andreas g.

Lets see, 8-10 bhp is 6-8 rwhp for how much $1300.00. Callaway just moved up a few notches in class by admitting that this endever was not worth the gains. Shorties never are. Oh well on to the next project.