If you EVER plan on going forced induction, then use 1-7/8" headers; otherwise, the 1-3/4" will suffice.

 

 

i was sayin you could do the T-stat if you wanted to. its not a deal breaker.. it costs like 50 bucks plus some dexcool. big whoop, and you can get your tuner to set your fan temps when you do your tune (which is totally worth it on a Z btw.

BUT, i was trying to say you could get the car to run cooler than 220 simply by changing the fan on/off temps

yea the XSPower setup is awesome. ive installed countless sets of headers on all kinds of vehicles. they went in with pretty much zero hassles and fit just fine. the only thing is i would order 2 - 3" band clamps to replace the horseshoe style ones they send in the kit. but other than that they are awesome. the flanges are thick and square, the tubes are well bent, everything fits and is polished wonderfully. the metal they use for the tubing is good and thick (i ruined two hole saws installing my cutouts) so yea. id buy them again. and again. and ive had kooks and ARH in the past on other cars. are they as good as ARH? nah, but if aARH is a 10 on a 1-10 likert scale, the xspower setup is about a 8.8.. and for HALF the price. plus the offroad setup has resonators, which to me is a huuuge plus.

the electric cutouts go downstream from the headers but before the mufflers. that way from inside the car with the simple flick of a toggle switch you can regulate how loud your car is. mine is whisper quiet with em closed at cruised, or i can open up the cutouts and make plenty of noise. around town i will crack them open slightly, to give me more noise, without being totally wide open sounding.. its pretty much dial your car in to sound however you want at the flick of a switch.

 

^does that affect power at all?

 

I was thinking NA with mild mods 1 7/8" might be over kill and cause a loss of back pressure resulting in loss of hp/tq no?

 

I will try to explain this and if I don't do a good job send me ur phone # and I will send u a pic.
Basically the mod is where you take a pc of titanium tubing and weld a bypass in. This does not totally make it loud until you get on it. It has enabled conversation in the cockpit but still has a tad of mean....when u punch it then it's allot of mean. It compliments my full OBX header and catless exhaust system and promises not to get on your nerves. I like loud but let's face it...after awhile it will get old.

 

I track an '03 Z. It's mostly stock. I spend all my time and money on safety, and reliability. More HP will come later. If you want to track your car, invest in brake ducts, maybe HP plus Hawk pads, as much safety equipment as you can handle. Then spend the rest on seat time and instruction. Spend a couple of grand and go to Spring Mountain, Bondurant or one of the other schools. You will come home a different driver. Really, go fast $ is not where you need to focus.

JMHO

Good Luck!

 

absolutely. depends on the car and setup, but its usually worth several hp.. its worth way more than that in grins. i've already used it to keep out of trouble with the cops 3 times. heck just now i ran to chic fila to get a salad and there was a state trooper posted up in the parking lot around the corner, i came rollin around there makin all kinds of noise and got his attention.. closed the cutouts and he was confused as hell

the cutouts pretty much allow you to do the "Ti mod" the others are talking about.. at the flip of a switch, and then undo it at any time.. if you wanted you could even put a cutout in between.

basically it bypasses the muffler with a piece of pipe that connects one of the outlet tubes to the unmuffled exhaust gas that is about to enter the muffler

and no, the 1 7/8ths arent going to CAUSE back pressure, more like prevent it. if you do your research, you will see there is very little to lose with 1 7/8ths but *SOME* to gain later on if you do bigger mods. the difference isnt really that much even in some blown applications. people just like to make a big deal over an eighth of an inch and beat their chest like baboons over it. its amusing LOL. but what can i say, i ran 1 7/8 on the camaro, and would have run 1 7/8 on the vette too if XSPower had theirs out yet

 

ok I see what your saying with the plate. DUH! LMAO
I've seen similar before, its a muffler by pass where you can open a plate in the exhaust before the mufflers to gain some extra HP off the street. Or on the street For some reason, I thought you were putting this plate in your headers, it makes sense now.

I was actually saying the 1 7/8's would cause a loss in back pressure resulting in a potential loss of hp/tq on lower HP apps, I'll do some digging as to see what the percentage of loss might be.

I think I saw these electric plates as a weld in add on in the aftermarket somewhere, can't recall where though.

 

I agree, some seat time at a race school is a good idea. As far as safety goes I'm not going to cage it or anything like that. Are the OEM Z06 cooling ducts not sufficient for a some laps around the track for some reason?

 

No they are not. Rotors get so hot they melt the rubber off the end links. Wrap them with heat resistant material. There are several vendors on the forum that offer plates and ducts to get the air where it needs to be, on the inside of the rotor so it gets pulled in and out the vanes.
A fire extinguisher, suit etc. A good SA rated helmet if you don't already have one.

It's a slippery slope. I went and did a "one time" track event in '04.
It's been downhill ever since.
It helps if you have an understanding wife. That I got.

 

As far as header size goes, you can spend weeks reading all of the back-and-forth on the topic. The truth is, the difference isn't going to be much either way. If you're just doing bolt-ons, I'd say go with 1 3/4". Even with a heads/cam setup, 1 3/4" is still fine. If you're doing a max effort build (500rwhp+), or at least are planning on being at that power level someday, then go 1 7/8". IMO.

A lot of the header manufacturers are good. It's kinda hard to go wrong. Just make sure you pick a brand that is reputable and MAKE SURE you get stainless. Mild steel == no-no. I have had mild steel headers on two vehicles, even when coated they will rust and rust quickly. My C5 I only drive on nice days, and much of my coating has peeled off and rusted through. Not that it REALLY matters since you can't see the headers unless you pop the hood and look. It's inevitable. Get stainless.

Dope

 

Where do you find this type of upgrade???

 

Good advice from Dope.

Here are my recommendations for mild mods that will not affect driveability and produce good results at the track.

Vararam Intake
Headers-leave the cat back alone
Do the T-stat, it is cheap and will not hurt
Tune - get a good dyno tune.
Gears-I would recommend 3.90s

Do that much and then decide where to go from there.

 

I would think hard about installing a 3.90 rear end, IF the car is a daily driver. The gas milage goes down with larger gears!

 

In theory yes, but real world results show that you simply tend to utilize the higher gears more oftern resulting in a similar MPG. ie you use 4th instead of 3rd, etc. Only on the highway in 6th will it result in a slightly less MPG.

Besides if you want MPG, buy a Prius!

 

Thats getting too low! A Prius? Gee whiz! My car has 505 RWHP, and gets 13 MPG with a 3.42 diff. I am not complaining at all. I just wanted the OP to know what he is getting into.

 

LOL

You guys are good peeps, I can see already. I'm not married, did the ultimate mod of all time there. The not follow the crowd and buy her the ring mod! lol

 

Personally, if I were to do it over again, I'd go with:

1. Did the thermostat, got much better overall results with the DeWitts radiator with oil cooler.

2. Many people seem to like the Vararam but say the quality isn't so great. I'd be inclined to get the Callaway Honker. Nice looking and positive dyno results. My car came with a Halltech Tric/CF airbridge/smooth coupler so I haven't replaced it.

3. Leave the MAF, get a ported throttle body. Supposedly about a 5hp gain.

4. Don't most aftermarket intakes come with a smooth coupler? I don't know, see #2.

5. You'll see a lot of these exhausts you mention up for sale/trade. Guys think they sound great initially, but the noise is obnoxious for a daily driver after a while. Do some real performance mods (heads/cam/FAST intake, etc) and you won't need the loud exhaust. I would do the long tubes again(LG Pros, American Racing, Kooks) w/ cats and X-pipe. Keep the Ti, if money allows, the LG Big 3 has proven to have good gains.

6. I have the C6 Z06 shifter, it's physically shorter than the C5 and the **** is nicer. The throws are not noticably shorter though. I initially put a B&M precision shifter in. The throws were very short, but it was difficult to get into reverse so I replaced it with the C6 Z06. I'd probably try the LG short shifter if I were starting over.

7. Dyno tune


To summarize how I would do it over: Honker, headers, LG Big 3, Dyno tune, a lot more money in my bank account.

-Rick

 

Just drop a 427 in it and be done...