I am originally from NC so I am curious as to why shops are preferring American Racing Headers over Kooks? A big difference in HP/TQ?

 

I just installed a set of Kooks and thought the fit and quality was awesome. Plus they came with nice ARP bolts, cometic MLS header gaskets and 02 extentions

 

I have owned and installed both! Two of the best out!
Neither are a bad choice!

 

Billy Boat Performance Exhaust Company makes top quality headers and x-pipes. Mufflers also.They use quality materials and are American made. Check them out.

 

I prefer ARH due to the quality of service that Nick and Steve (and Phil) have shown me over the years.

There are some graphs here (older threads) that showed the Kooks putting down less power than the ARHs, but without dredging that whole deal up, I'll stick to my first statement.

Customer service goes a long way in my book.

 

Ditto and GM uses ARH for the COPO's

My last 4 tribute vehicles only used ARH and will be doing the same with current C7 project

 

Hands down ARH super quality and easy install

 

ARH have longer primaries that will make more torque and the dyno results as well as track numbers back that up, there were a couple comparison tests done a while back here if you search.

 

I don't find the ARH primaries to be all that long actually. I recently picked up some SW 1 7/8's and those things have some serious primaries with a comparable merge collector design (i.e. merge spike). But it is true longer primaries will make more tq and make more tq is what these SW's did.

As for the initial question by the OP I think 1) ARH has proven to make more power than Kooks in a few instances and 2) the marketing of ARH has made it a household name in the LS community.

*Just cause it's on the COPO Camaro doesn't make it the "best" it just makes it the best "deal" for GM while trying to make a profit.

 

Leavinu, With all due respect, I can guarantee price was not the determining factor. GM knew we manufactured high quality products but it was all about HP and what our header systems bring to the table. The COPO is built for Stock and Super Stock competition where every hundredth of a second matters. They compete against V10 and V8 Drag Pack Challengers and blown Cobra Jets. GM Performance spent countless hours on the dyno. If we didn't meet their goals, they had other options. The same goes for Chrysler and Ford, both of which run ARH exclusively.
As far as overall primary lengths, we take full advantage of every square inch the chassis gives us and build our headers to optimize power for a wider range of upgrades, not just stock engines. We have the capability of making our primary lengths as long we want given the space provided, but building headers with extra long primaries, (which is what you're forced to do in the Corvette chassis when you choose to move the collectors further back from where we currently locate them), puts you in a predicament where on some applications those extra long primaries hurt mid range and top end power. We feel our primary lengths make the least amount of compromises and there's literally countless C5, C6 and now C7's running ARH and setting records. I appreciate you taking the time to read this.

Nick

 

We run ARH on our builds. The quality is top of the line and HP/TQ#s are always the highest out there. We are a dealer for all the companies but ARH is always our first recommendation. The customer service ARH has cant be beat.

 

George from Kooks used to post regularly here on the Forums; but I have not seen him do so for a number of years.

 

A lot of vendors come and go here (posting-wise) due to a lot of nasty forum- and posting-wars. That's the reason that several of the big vendors haven't even signed in for months (and some for years).

That being said, I'm glad to see this section finally settled down after the first few rough months.

 

These look pretty sweet

 

It settled down? That must have happened when I wasn't lookin'

Oh. And to get back on topic, I've used nothing but American Racing Headers since the day Nick opened his doors. I think I might have been his first customer, or certainly close to.
There's nothing he won't do to make his product and customer service better than anyone else's.

That reminds me. I need to order a set for my car.

 

Got better when that certain somebody got banned over and over and over again.

 

Bump

 

For... what reason? Do you have a particular question? Otherwise, I think there's a lot of good info here already.

Just odd to see that instead of the usual popcorn.

 

Good to see AR Headers post up. I was hoping to hear from Kooks too, but I have already decided to go with AR Headers.

 

I spent a lot of time looking at dyno's and reading feedback. It was a no brainer ARH all the way. I don't think I have ever read anything negative about them.

I get mine installed June 18th....can't wait. Just need to figure out tuning.