Headers do they really make a difference?
Thread Starter
Original Founding Member!
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 9,037
Likes: 88
From: Granby, MA
Cruise-In 1, 3, 9. 10 & 11 Veteran
Headers do they really make a difference?
I was wondering why on the LS1 do headers make a big difference? or if they really do? I have a corsa catback with Z06 open air lid/K&N filter and a custom made ram air setup similar to the vararam. I was thinking of doing another mod then getting a good tune. Lots of guys mentioned headers, I was going to do this on my 90 and the first step was I bought a bigger front Y pipe and eliminated the pre-cats. I thought just like headers with the more air flowing through it, that I would pick up some horses. Instead it felt like I lost some. I lost a lot of torque with that and the noise level was unbearable. I ended up going back to stock.
So back to my question.
What should my next mod be that will give me a nice horsepower gain?
Like I said: I did the airbox and did the catback exhaust.
What should be a good next mod?
Jeff
So back to my question.
What should my next mod be that will give me a nice horsepower gain?
Like I said: I did the airbox and did the catback exhaust.
What should be a good next mod?
Jeff
Last edited by XtremeVette; Oct 7, 2007 at 04:39 AM.
Pro
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 565
Likes: 0
From: Ft. Bragg, NC
LT's up the scavenging effect for each exhaust port therefore gaining in more hp and tq... your y-pipe on your 90 is usless as it only hurt your exhaust since you are sufficating it by using stock headers... it needs to breath which is all in the headers
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 22,185
Likes: 65
From: NJ
Lots of people have headers and love them, with a tune they deliver modest power gains.
With L98 C4's the worst thing you could do is change back pressure, they were not high revving engines by any stretch of the imagination and relied on back pressure to maintain their torque curve. By 4500-5000 in stock form their power was gone.
With L98 C4's the worst thing you could do is change back pressure, they were not high revving engines by any stretch of the imagination and relied on back pressure to maintain their torque curve. By 4500-5000 in stock form their power was gone.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
LT headers, High Flow Cats, ( or no cats) great X-pipe flow and low resistant exhaust, along with CAI and tune, your car will pick up quite a few ponies, run much smoother and quicker. The downside ( or may be not) it will BE LOUDER.
Free flowing exhaust produces more hp and noise.
Free flowing exhaust produces more hp and noise.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,269
Likes: 50
From: Dallas Texas
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'09-'10
LT headers, High Flow Cats, ( or no cats) great X-pipe flow and low resistant exhaust, along with CAI and tune, your car will pick up quite a few ponies, run much smoother and quicker. The downside ( or may be not) it will BE LOUDER.
Free flowing exhaust produces more hp and noise.
Free flowing exhaust produces more hp and noise.
The LS1 loves to breathe. With the above noted mods, I went from 302 to 327rwhp on my 2k A4 Vert. You do have to like the sound of power. 
Racer
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 316
Likes: 4
I am thinking about LG headers as well. My coupe is stock, and I want a better sounding exhaust, but I don't want to loose low end TQ which frequently happens when going with a freer exhaust.
So I'm thinking about headers with my stock exhaust, or maybe headers and a Z06 Ti exhaust. I figure it will sound better (no too loud, just better) and I'll pick up some grunt. What do you think?
So I'm thinking about headers with my stock exhaust, or maybe headers and a Z06 Ti exhaust. I figure it will sound better (no too loud, just better) and I'll pick up some grunt. What do you think?
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
LTs dont loose low end tq too much, the wrong cam and tune will.
LG LTs will have lots of low down tq. Keeping the stock exhuast will defeat the purpose of putting on LTs.
The T1 exhaust is OK, but still not unleash your cars potential and still restrict the LG or any other LTs.
Do a full exhaust with High flow cats - x-pipe and Borla mufflers.
The challenge many ppl find is they want the HP of the LTs, but not the sound. Or then they complain about the throttle lag.
IMO dont put on LTs, without doing a FULL free flowing exhaust.
Now a compromise would be stock headers and cats. Then free flowing x-pipe and Borla, Corsa or GHL ( there are others too) mufflers system.
LG LTs will have lots of low down tq. Keeping the stock exhuast will defeat the purpose of putting on LTs.
The T1 exhaust is OK, but still not unleash your cars potential and still restrict the LG or any other LTs.
Do a full exhaust with High flow cats - x-pipe and Borla mufflers.
The challenge many ppl find is they want the HP of the LTs, but not the sound. Or then they complain about the throttle lag.
IMO dont put on LTs, without doing a FULL free flowing exhaust.
Now a compromise would be stock headers and cats. Then free flowing x-pipe and Borla, Corsa or GHL ( there are others too) mufflers system.
Pro
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 513
Likes: 0
From: Hotlanta GA
I'm going to respectfully disagree with the above poster about having to tolerate a loud muffler setup to see gains with a full longtubes/x pipe setup.
On my car, I initially had the GHL's on with the stock manifolds and x-pipe. (The GHL's are basically a straight-through glass-pack design.) When I installed the full kooks system with high flow cats, I picked up a real nice boost at all rpms. It sounded great, but for my own tastes, there was just a little more cabin noise than I care for. I swapped in the Z06 Ti cans and found those to work very well. It's a lot closer to stock muffler volume levels at low rpms, but still flows very well and makes great noises when you get on it. A bonus is that they are very light.
Hope that helps! IMO, long tube headers should be the first mod any vette gets. The improvement in low end torque really helps in daily driving and any other flow mods you do will just be that much better.
Dan
On my car, I initially had the GHL's on with the stock manifolds and x-pipe. (The GHL's are basically a straight-through glass-pack design.) When I installed the full kooks system with high flow cats, I picked up a real nice boost at all rpms. It sounded great, but for my own tastes, there was just a little more cabin noise than I care for. I swapped in the Z06 Ti cans and found those to work very well. It's a lot closer to stock muffler volume levels at low rpms, but still flows very well and makes great noises when you get on it. A bonus is that they are very light.
Hope that helps! IMO, long tube headers should be the first mod any vette gets. The improvement in low end torque really helps in daily driving and any other flow mods you do will just be that much better.
Dan
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Pro
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 692
Likes: 1
From: Argyle Tx.
St. Jude Donor '08
LT headers, High Flow Cats, ( or no cats) great X-pipe flow and low resistant exhaust, along with CAI and tune, your car will pick up quite a few ponies, run much smoother and quicker. The downside ( or may be not) it will BE LOUDER.
Free flowing exhaust produces more hp and noise.
Free flowing exhaust produces more hp and noise.
get some headers man!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,298
Likes: 4
From: American Canyon Lethal Injection
I am thinking about LG headers as well. My coupe is stock, and I want a better sounding exhaust, but I don't want to loose low end TQ which frequently happens when going with a freer exhaust.
So I'm thinking about headers with my stock exhaust, or maybe headers and a Z06 Ti exhaust. I figure it will sound better (no too loud, just better) and I'll pick up some grunt. What do you think?
So I'm thinking about headers with my stock exhaust, or maybe headers and a Z06 Ti exhaust. I figure it will sound better (no too loud, just better) and I'll pick up some grunt. What do you think?
Go for it..
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 22,185
Likes: 65
From: NJ
Yup, full LT exhaust with stock Z06 Ti's is the best exhaust on the planet. There are members here putting down 500-600 hp with ti's. No drone and excellent exhaust note.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,824
Likes: 459
From: EAST TENNESSEE
Lots of people have headers and love them, with a tune they deliver modest power gains.
With L98 C4's the worst thing you could do is change back pressure, they were not high revving engines by any stretch of the imagination and relied on back pressure to maintain their torque curve. By 4500-5000 in stock form their power was gone.
With L98 C4's the worst thing you could do is change back pressure, they were not high revving engines by any stretch of the imagination and relied on back pressure to maintain their torque curve. By 4500-5000 in stock form their power was gone.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,195
Likes: 25
From: Tacoma WA
I bet a 600HP car would pickup HP w/ straight pipes, vs Ti's...
As for the OP...
If you're not planning on going Forced induction - and you don't want a ridiculously loud car. (Not that LTs + Ti's are very loud...) You can always go for a set of 4.10s in the rear. The SOTP difference was much greater after the 4.10 install than the Long Tubes, Hi Flow Cats, and X-pipe.... And the Price is fairly similar...
-Dan
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 34,124
Likes: 105
From: Pensacola FL
Lots of people have headers and love them, with a tune they deliver modest power gains.
With L98 C4's the worst thing you could do is change back pressure, they were not high revving engines by any stretch of the imagination and relied on back pressure to maintain their torque curve. By 4500-5000 in stock form their power was gone.
With L98 C4's the worst thing you could do is change back pressure, they were not high revving engines by any stretch of the imagination and relied on back pressure to maintain their torque curve. By 4500-5000 in stock form their power was gone.
Here's a pic of my ol' 1990 'vert with a mild 383:
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 34,124
Likes: 105
From: Pensacola FL
Now this I will agree with. The Z06 Ti cans are light, flow well and sound great with or without LTs.
Racer
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 347
Likes: 0
From: Whiteville NC
on my Maggie 112 equipped vette, i saw a 7 rwhp gain by opening the electric exhaust cutouts right in front of the TI exhaust. To me , the TI exhaust is pretty quite, and when i *need* the power... an open exhaust is only a flip of a switch away.
