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I have read lots of posts on exhauts questions but I never read anything to help my situation. I have an '00 model hardtop 6speed I am going to put headers on it and a muffler for some sound and a tune and that is about all I can afford right now. My question is in addition to the headers and muffler should I get the H-pipe too or is it not worth the $300????? If I am not going to gain much then I will not bother with it.
I know most guys go full out with the exhaust but having multiple cars hurts the budget pretty bad Any advice from experienced people would be much appreciated. Thanks
Couple things to look at. You are going to get into modding on a budget, which limits your options. If you get headers without the support mods (X pipe, cats) you are going to be kicking yourself later.
$$ is already being spent on labor. Should you ever deicde to add an X pipe later you are going to pay money again to have a shop go in, loosen the header bolts, loosen your factory H pipe and add the X pipe.
For HP and TQ increase you are going to want a smooth free flowing system and to do so you should get a matched X pipe to go with your headers. IMO that $300 you are worried about is well worth it.
I would add the X pipe when doing the mufflers and headers and some type of cold air intake and then the tune.Doing the mods in that order will save you money in the end.You are looking at about a $4000. outlay for all those componets installed by a pro. You should be putting down about 350RWHP with those mods. LT
Frankly, if you want to prioritize your spending, I'd get the headers, intermediate pipe, a tune, and THEN the mufflers. Not knowing how much money you were going to spend on your exhaust, a set of Ti Z06 mufflers can be had for around $400-500, and will give you all the performance of any aftermarket exhaust, plus is about 24-26 lbs. lighter than stock. So, that might buy back the $300 you're concerned about.
The car currently has a cold air intake and a 160 thermostat, I am not worried about the instalation costs because I do all my own work. I am looking at the LG's for the headers and I didn't know if the headers by themselves would do much? I would like to change the muffler just to get some sound because I don't expect much HP gain from it. So it sounds like Headers x-pipe and a muffler would be the way to go,I am then going to get the car tuned and see how it does. it has been on a dyno before and put down 327rwhp but I typically do not trust a dynojet for accurate numbers. I am bringing the car to the track in 2 weeks to get a baseline before I start changing things. What are some of the 1/4 times you guys have seen before and after exhaust mods?
With the LGs you will defneately want to get the kit with th x-pipe. I think a lot of systems headers and x-pipes do not bolt up to each other. Just too many differences and combinations, different collector lengths, cats, no cats, x-pipe design, in summary there is no standard about where a x-pipe will join the headers. But they do all bolt up to the catbacks. Get a mated pair and save yourself a lot of grief, and most likely money.
Cats, have you considered them? The LG system will come with off-road pipes if you want to get rid of them. If you can't you will need to buy new cats and you will probably only have room for high flow cats. I would get high flow cats over mufflers.
Mufflers I'm not so sold on, I just went to the Z06 Ti from a corsa. I do feel like there is a little more back pressure, but that could be just the sound of it... The corsa was just getting too loud for Daily Driving with a big cam.
With the LGs you will defneately want to get the kit with th x-pipe. I think a lot of systems headers and x-pipes do not bolt up to each other. Just too many differences and combinations, different collector lengths, cats, no cats, x-pipe design, in summary there is no standard about where a x-pipe will join the headers. But they do all bolt up to the catbacks. Get a mated pair and save yourself a lot of grief, and most likely money.
Cats, have you considered them? The LG system will come with off-road pipes if you want to get rid of them. If you can't you will need to buy new cats and you will probably only have room for high flow cats. I would get high flow cats over mufflers.
Mufflers I'm not so sold on, I just went to the Z06 Ti from a corsa. I do feel like there is a little more back pressure, but that could be just the sound of it... The corsa was just getting too loud for Daily Driving with a big cam.
Good luck and have fun!
Matt
I don't want the car real loud, my '69 has side pipes with one pair of drag baffeles in them.. you have to yell at the person next to you to talk This car is a daily driver and I dont want the lound drown that is common with most off road systems, I just want a little bit more note and some HP gains. Do you know if the car will sound different with just the LG headers and x-pipe?
The 2000 model had a very small crossover hole. You will want to do the x-pipe to reduce the popping. I did the entire system headers, high flow cats and x-pipe, at idle it sounds good, but WOT is great.