KOOKS Headers

Kooks headers and Exhaust has been in the business since 1962. We are three generations of family deep and are still run by the man who founded it all. We can say that we have been through it all; from motorcycle exhaust, to street cars, drag cars and are now the only spec approved header of NASCAR. We have literally taught our competition everything they know about headers and are continually pioneering different header and exhaust combinations to fit and perform the absolute best. We invite anyone to come take a shop tour of our 50,000 square foot facility and see the Kooks Advantage first hand! With our years of experience we have built Tri-Y headers in the past, but based off our experience we do not feel these are the best fit for your average enthusiasts looking to get the most out their application. Kooks Headers are designed to be the best performing, best quality, and best fitting headers on the market.

Tri-Y Headers or 3-collector headers are designed for maximum performance for a specific engine combination, desired engine RPM, race track, etc. For a Tri-Y header to have the proper effect the cylinder firing order must be properly paired so that the next firing cylinder is separated. Sequential pairing is optimum, example the LT-1 firing order is 1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3 so pairing of the 1 & 5 and 3 & 7 cylinders on the passenger side and the 2 & 4 and 6 & 8 cylinders on the driver’s side would be the proper sequence. You also need to have the proper primary size for the engine displacement and application. The collectors also need specific convergent angles (7-20 degrees) for optimum efficiency and cannot be a random bend angle. We have seen horsepower and torque numbers dramatically affected by these angles in Tri-Y headers. In our testing we have found the primary head pipes (First Section) must be between 17” – 21” in length for proper pulse scavenging, anything more than this has shown no increase in performance.

The data we have collected over the years proves the Tri-Y design does have advantages in race applications with the right vehicle and the right engine combination on the right track. Most professional teams will have several sets of headers and engine combinations for different tracks and conditions.

Testing performed by top NASCAR engine builders on a 650hp LS engine in a K & N race car showed that a Tri-Y header versus a 4 into 1 header in a side by side comparison with all factors being the same, proved the horsepower and torque numbers were within 1 hp across the entire RPM range. The reason we went with the Tri-Y on these cars is for packaging in the car and ground clearance. These are not factors in a production street car.

Running a Tri-Y on a SCCA World Challenge car (No cats and side exit exhaust) where the engine stays in the 4500-8000 RPM range constantly, the Tri-Y really shines. Keep in mind these are custom built headers in a race application that are built to exact specs for the engine combination and race track.

Running a Tri-Y on a production street car where the design of the primaries and merges is limited by the restraints of the car is not optimal. Also with a Tri-Y header there is no one size fits all too truly see the benefits of this style header. A street car with modern technologies like cylinder deactivation, catalytic converters and typical driving styles, a 4 into 1 header with the correct size primary tubes and length is the optimal choice.

If anyone wants a custom set of real Tri-Y Headers built around their exact motor specifications, driving or racing style or anything else please contact us. We will be more than happy to accommodate you.

Keep Kookin' with Kooks

123sugey

Great info. My C5Z has Kooks and is one of the quickest (1/4 mile) C5Z's NA

briancb1

So you're telling me a 6L stock auto Vette and a big cam 427 6 speed Vette need different headers?

123sugey

I'm not a header expert but I would say 100% yes if your trying extract the most hp

K B Vettin

i love this sh#!.

I wonder if an engineer or rep from Pfadt will respond?

niphilli2

One thing I did not like about the 4-1 LTs I had on my LS1 trans-am was the sound of each individual exhaust pulse hitting the collector. I have thought to myself that a Tri-y or 4-2-1 style header may give a more refined sound. Any thoughts?

Very best,
-Nick

123sugey

Sound is one thing but the majority are looking for hp IMO. Pfadt makes some really great products too. I have them also

VNAMVET

So running tri y headers on a production street car is not optimal but a 4 into 1
design is much better as our C7s have cyl deactivation and cats..

Is this the reason your headers and catted x-pipe make more power and are slightly more expensive ($2,640 vs $1999 PFadt) than others?

Thanks.

Jefff1

this has the makins of an interesting thread

sammyv

OP Thanks for explaining, I look forward to others chiming in!

spwz06

This post has the opposite affect for me than Kooks intended. The very fact that they felt the need to post this, lets us pretty much know who is currently winning the "Header Wars"

This was already hashed out months ago until the thread got removed. There are two main arguments that both sides took, that involved cost, performance, and some science I didn't really follow.

In the end, every company agreed that the tri-y is the best header for a certain car, engine, and driving scenario. Pfadt also agreed, and said that they designed for certain car(the C7), a certain engine ( LT1 ), and a driving scenario (the street). It was pretty much crickets after that.

Texas Speed is engine dyno testing all of these headers. This is an independent test, and this will be the great equalizer for all. To accurately measure the differences will be difficult, and in the end, they will all pretty much land +-8HP of each other which will be close to the accuracy of a dyno.

Its time to see the bigger picture. Many people have discussed that a Pfadt header is hard to install. That is a valid point. Even if it makes 5 more HP, if it takes 3 more hours to install, it may not be worth it. Or to argue the other side. The Pfadt headers include a tune, for those who do not have a dyno tuner local, this is a huge advantage. They will save on average 400 just on the tune. The other things between all of the companies will be fit. Having a header fitment issue during an install is a PITA.

Longevity, customer service, price, horsepower, fit, install time, warranty, emissions (arh is on top of this ), manufacturing origin, sound, etc should all be considered. In the end, we will all have our own order of importance for these and that will determine who we go with. Just my .02

VIN666

I am quite excited to see the numbers from the independent tests.
For what it's worth, just visually, the craftsmanship on the Pfadts looks second to none.
From the limited browsing I've done in several online stores, it would seem that they are also the "cheapest".

MitchAlsup

I though that top NASCAR motors were making 840-860 HP. !?!

Bill B 1

interesting.....

brokenparts

I used to have a video of a 9 second C5Z (stock cube) in my favorites on youtube. That wouldnt happen to be your car would it?

restoman45

Out of curiosity, how do the 4-2-1 and 4-1 headers compare in weight? If they make practically identical horsepower than the next logical step in factor (besides money) is weight? Would the 4-2-1's not be lighter?

MLFD5C6Z

They don't use LS based engines in the sprint cup or nationwide series the OP is talking about the Nascar K&N series and some Camping world truck series spec engines that are basically built LS2's, the tri-y's are great for Nascar because the motors spend a lot of thier time in a certain RPM and the headers can be tuned for that RPM, and make optimal power in that range. I don't think they are as good as 4-1's for bolt on cars...

Jack Be Quick Racing

Exhaust tuning is a complex science - when done right.

Dyno chart compare across RPM range for HP and TQ between setups is the best way to make an informed decision, IMHO, in terms of realized outcome. There is enough variability in this approach to keep trolls going for days but, it's a tad better then chest thumping and random seat of pants explanations. Quality, brand, service, and trust are all key decision makers also.

phils C5 vette

But when tuned, the AFM is disabled so you always have the fun of being in the V8 mode.

spwz06

One thing I didn't mention, but is worth mentioning, is the manufacturing cost of each system. A 4 to 1 header, even if better for making HP as Kooks claims, is much easier and less expensive to make (fewer bends, cuts, and welds) than a tri-y. So if Pfadt can make a US made tri-y header for $1999, Kooks should be able to do the same with their 4 to 1 for about $1700-1800.

So what is the justification for the extra $1000 4 to 1 Kooks upcharge? You guessed it, its stated above. This "article" is supposed to make that thousand dollar pill easier for us to swallow. ARH has already been proven to make more power and they do it for much cheaper. Money isn't exactly tight at my place, but its definitely going to take more than propaganda for me to open my wallet for anyone