Question about C8 headers
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 31
Likes: 8
Question about C8 headers
Are headers worth it? I am waiting for my exhaust/sport cats to arrive (going you fabspeed) and have also read that headers add a decent amount of performance. My question is will headers (or anything else) add any decent amount of performance to the cats/exhaust? I don’t see the point in spending additional time/$ if the improvement would only be a couple hp or something, but if it would be 10-20 more then it might be worth it. Just curious what people think since I’d like to squeeze out as much performance as possible without going forced induction.
Popular Reply
Oct 17, 2022, 02:09 PM
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,779
Likes: 129
From: Amityville ny 631-608-1986
Guys,
We found zero net gains installing our very own high flow cats on a C8. If there was an advantage to having them, like we do for C5, C6 and C7, we'd long since been offering them. The quickest and fastest N/A C8's are all ARH equipped and you'll be hard pressed to see that change any time soon. They both ran through factory cats. Snowblind 2.0 is a great source if you want detailed information. Thanks.
PS. For the forum member (bsDoc) that wonders if 12 RWHP is worth the money, line up next to someone that has the added power and watch what happens. It's game over! It may not matter to everyone but not everyone installs headers on their Vettes.
Nick
We found zero net gains installing our very own high flow cats on a C8. If there was an advantage to having them, like we do for C5, C6 and C7, we'd long since been offering them. The quickest and fastest N/A C8's are all ARH equipped and you'll be hard pressed to see that change any time soon. They both ran through factory cats. Snowblind 2.0 is a great source if you want detailed information. Thanks.
PS. For the forum member (bsDoc) that wonders if 12 RWHP is worth the money, line up next to someone that has the added power and watch what happens. It's game over! It may not matter to everyone but not everyone installs headers on their Vettes.
Nick
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 720
Likes: 538
From: Atlanta, GA
Are headers worth it? I am waiting for my exhaust/sport cats to arrive (going you fabspeed) and have also read that headers add a decent amount of performance. My question is will headers (or anything else) add any decent amount of performance to the cats/exhaust? I don’t see the point in spending additional time/$ if the improvement would only be a couple hp or something, but if it would be 10-20 more then it might be worth it. Just curious what people think since I’d like to squeeze out as much performance as possible without going forced induction.
Thanks
Andrew
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 10,709
Likes: 7,101
From: Fulshear, TX
The aFe Twisted Steel headers added quite a bit of mid-range to my car. The Corsa cats added more volume & sharpness to the exhaust note, but the aFe headers did more performance-wise.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,048
Likes: 887
From: Tampa Florida
Yeah.....it seems like American Racing Headers and AFE are the only ones indicating horsepower gains. Kind of strange regarding the other name brands not indicating horsepower gains. I am on the fence also on my decision. But for the price AFE stands out.
Hey Kracka, would this be a DIY installation on the AFE? And are the AFE Headers available for the HTC? Thanks
Hey Kracka, would this be a DIY installation on the AFE? And are the AFE Headers available for the HTC? Thanks
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 31
Likes: 8
yeah I just watched a video on ARH, which gained about 12hp added on to the gains produced by the LMR cats/exhaust system. Just need to figure out if 12 hp is worth the $ haha
Yeah.....it seems like American Racing Headers and AFE are the only ones indicating horsepower gains. Kind of strange regarding the other name brands not indicating horsepower gains. I am on the fence also on my decision. But for the price AFE stands out.
Hey Kracka, would this be a DIY installation on the AFE? And are the AFE Headers available for the HTC? Thanks
Hey Kracka, would this be a DIY installation on the AFE? And are the AFE Headers available for the HTC? Thanks
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,048
Likes: 887
From: Tampa Florida
I know for fact that the ARH are proven performance. I witnessed it the drag strip. One c8 with ARH including bolt-ons and another c8 with bolt-ons but without the ARH. The c8 with the ARH just continously pulled away from the bolt-on c8.....no contest. Do a search on YouTube.....Carlos Rioz and/or RearwheelDrive.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 377
Likes: 435
I know for fact that the ARH are proven performance. I witnessed it the drag strip. One c8 with ARH including bolt-ons and another c8 with bolt-ons but without the ARH. The c8 with the ARH just continously pulled away from the bolt-on c8.....no contest. Do a search on YouTube.....Carlos Rioz and/or RearwheelDrive.
IMHO i would skip headers, the factory heat shielding on the stock headers is quite nice and the stock headers flow pretty well as demonstrated by the small gains, i would argue you lose more than you gain with the headers. To each their own.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 10,709
Likes: 7,101
From: Fulshear, TX
Yeah.....it seems like American Racing Headers and AFE are the only ones indicating horsepower gains. Kind of strange regarding the other name brands not indicating horsepower gains. I am on the fence also on my decision. But for the price AFE stands out.
Hey Kracka, would this be a DIY installation on the AFE? And are the AFE Headers available for the HTC? Thanks
Hey Kracka, would this be a DIY installation on the AFE? And are the AFE Headers available for the HTC? Thanks
I installed my aFe headers working solo in the garage with the car on the ground; no reason to lift it, remove tires, wheel liners, etc. aFe recommends the Titanium Ceramic coated headers for use in the HTC due to thermal management. I have these ones in my car and engine bay temps are actually LOWER than factory temps due to the ceramic coatings keeping the heat where it should be, in the exhaust gas stream, plus improved ventilation airflow without all the bulky factory heatshields taking up space and retaining heat. aFe uses Cerakote Titanium V-164 ceramic coating; I used Cerakote Glacier Titanium C-7900 on my Corsa cats. Both are excellent coatings with great thermal properties. Here's my thread: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...port-cats.html
Titanium Cerakote Ceramic Outside Coating with Copper Ceramic Inside Coating:
This coating combination reduces the outside surface temperature of headers and reduces engine compartment temperatures by as much as 46% vs. non-coated headers. These headers are highly recommended for convertible applications where the top is stored over the engine compartment.
https://afepower.com/afe-power-48-34...oated#overview
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,048
Likes: 887
From: Tampa Florida
Just not proven at the drag strip alone. It appears that the hp gains for most headers are with the header/cats combo. Kooks is one of them.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 377
Likes: 435
Upgraded cats arent the magic bullet for more power. I suggest everyone do their own research on this.
Last edited by J5isalive; Oct 17, 2022 at 02:32 PM.
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,779
Likes: 129
From: Amityville ny 631-608-1986
Guys,
We found zero net gains installing our very own high flow cats on a C8. If there was an advantage to having them, like we do for C5, C6 and C7, we'd long since been offering them. The quickest and fastest N/A C8's are all ARH equipped and you'll be hard pressed to see that change any time soon. They both ran through factory cats. Snowblind 2.0 is a great source if you want detailed information. Thanks.
PS. For the forum member (bsDoc) that wonders if 12 RWHP is worth the money, line up next to someone that has the added power and watch what happens. It's game over! It may not matter to everyone but not everyone installs headers on their Vettes.
Nick
We found zero net gains installing our very own high flow cats on a C8. If there was an advantage to having them, like we do for C5, C6 and C7, we'd long since been offering them. The quickest and fastest N/A C8's are all ARH equipped and you'll be hard pressed to see that change any time soon. They both ran through factory cats. Snowblind 2.0 is a great source if you want detailed information. Thanks.
PS. For the forum member (bsDoc) that wonders if 12 RWHP is worth the money, line up next to someone that has the added power and watch what happens. It's game over! It may not matter to everyone but not everyone installs headers on their Vettes.
Nick
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,048
Likes: 887
From: Tampa Florida
Guys,
We found zero net gains installing our very own high flow cats on a C8. If there was an advantage to having them, like we do for C5, C6 and C7, we'd long since been offering them. The quickest and fastest N/A C8's are all ARH equipped and you'll be hard pressed to see that change any time soon. They both ran through factory cats. Snowblind 2.0 is a great source if you want detailed information. Thanks.
PS. For the forum member (bsDoc) that wonders if 12 RWHP is worth the money, line up next to someone that has the added power and watch what happens. It's game over! It may not matter to everyone but not everyone installs headers on their Vettes.
Nick
We found zero net gains installing our very own high flow cats on a C8. If there was an advantage to having them, like we do for C5, C6 and C7, we'd long since been offering them. The quickest and fastest N/A C8's are all ARH equipped and you'll be hard pressed to see that change any time soon. They both ran through factory cats. Snowblind 2.0 is a great source if you want detailed information. Thanks.
PS. For the forum member (bsDoc) that wonders if 12 RWHP is worth the money, line up next to someone that has the added power and watch what happens. It's game over! It may not matter to everyone but not everyone installs headers on their Vettes.
Nick
Hello Nick, I have a base model convertible. Anything different from the base model coupe or is it the same headers? Thanks in advance
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,433
Likes: 873
From: Bay Area CA
Last edited by Mike's LS3; Oct 18, 2022 at 12:30 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 10,709
Likes: 7,101
From: Fulshear, TX
It really depends which time of cat cores you're using. Soul and Fabspeed use very large (and expensive) German HJS cores that flow quite well, hence the $3,000-3,500 price tag. At the opposite end of the spectrum you have the cheap generic Asian 200-cell cat cores (sub-$1,000 price range). In the middle, which is a nice balance between flow, power, sound, price, and being emissions-friendly, you have the North American made GESi G-Sport cats which are 49-state EPA cores with claimed gains in the 10-15 WHP range (these are the cores used by Corsa, Cicio, Paragon, and Kooks and cost in the $1,500-2,000 range). HJS & GESi cores do not trigger a CEL, but the generic ones are a total crap shoot as they do not meet any emissions standards.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 377
Likes: 435
It really depends which time of cat cores you're using. Soul and Fabspeed use very large (and expensive) German HJS cores that flow quite well, hence the $3,000-3,500 price tag. At the opposite end of the spectrum you have the cheap generic Asian 200-cell cat cores (sub-$1,000 price range). In the middle, which is a nice balance between flow, power, sound, price, and being emissions-friendly, you have the North American made GESi G-Sport cats which are 49-state EPA cores with claimed gains in the 10-15 WHP range (these are the cores used by Corsa, Cicio, Paragon, and Kooks and cost in the $1,500-2,000 range). HJS & GESi cores do not trigger a CEL, but the generic ones are a total crap shoot as they do not meet any emissions standards.
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 26
Likes: 4
Nick is the authority when it comes to Headers. All ARH products are superior. Would not consider any other brand.
The headers indeed add power that you can feel and hear, even with factory resonators.
Check out his dyno results. Facts are facts.
The headers indeed add power that you can feel and hear, even with factory resonators.
Check out his dyno results. Facts are facts.
