I would like to but trying to keep them under the $250 Range
Headers N stuff
- Thread starter Yeedonkey
- Start date
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Frank Enstein
Best. Day. EVER!
Shortys work. Full length works better. Tri Y headers work better yet. 180 degree headers are the best but won't fit anything!
Shortys are generally worth 10-15 hp. the 15 is with a better cat-back exhaust.
Full length are around 15-20ish hp gain
Tri Y make a bit more hp at peak than full length but they really shine @ low-mid rpm where we spend most of our time driving and they generally go in easier because of only 2 pipes at the final collector.
Anything under 8000 rpm will benefit from Tri Y over full length. Above 8k full length wins over the Tri Y. And the 180 headers beat those!
Each step better in performance equates to higher cost for each step.
A properly done single exhaust will beat a dual exhaust every time!
Shortys are generally worth 10-15 hp. the 15 is with a better cat-back exhaust.
Full length are around 15-20ish hp gain
Tri Y make a bit more hp at peak than full length but they really shine @ low-mid rpm where we spend most of our time driving and they generally go in easier because of only 2 pipes at the final collector.
Anything under 8000 rpm will benefit from Tri Y over full length. Above 8k full length wins over the Tri Y. And the 180 headers beat those!
Each step better in performance equates to higher cost for each step.
A properly done single exhaust will beat a dual exhaust every time!
Supercharged111
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I will echo all of this because. . .
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That and he's right.
The only reason tri-Ys are more expensive is that only one company makes them. I would much prefer tri-Ys over 4-into-1s, but the latter are far cheaper.
Somebody's gotta get some dyno time and settle this once and for all. If you watch Engine Masters where they tested this, they didn't put a crossover in the duals, and the difference is what you'd expect from a crossover pipe. I believe a more accurate assessment is that if you go duals, use a crossover. A properly done single exhaust will match a properly done dual exhaust. I'd also like to see the same test done on an engine making over 500 hp.
L31MaxExpress
I'm Awesome
I have played with numerous setups and my preference is duals with a X-pipe as close to the engine as you can get it. My old G20 van, my Hemi Ram, my 4.7L Dakota, my M56S and my G35 have all been setup that way. The dual with X-pipe has the broadest power curve. If pure low-midrange torque is the goal a merge Y into a single might make a few more units of twist.
My 383 is dual 3" to the muffler. With the cutouts open I gain power above 3,000 rpm. At 382 wheel, I am fairly close to 500 at the crank.
I will also say I went from the Y'd together single back to dual setup (OE Y-pipe was 2.25 in the center) to a 2.5" dual with a X-pipe on the 3.5L engine making ~370 crank hp in my G35. I added equal length merge collector headers and highflow cats. Power was night and day different. I had the same exact configuration on my M56S as well and it woke it up too.
On my VK56DE in my 2012 Titan it was 2-1/8" dual to the muffler. I had previously muffler swapped with a magnaflow. I switched the resonators behind the factory manifold cats out for 2.5" pipes. Then built a dual 2.5 to single 3.5" Y-pipe with a Merge Y. Magnaflow turned down and dump at the rear axle. All that did was make the truck drone like crazy. No real HP or torque gained (gained 3-4 here and there but lost in other places) and zero difference at the track. I sold that Y-pipe setup to a guy that wanted his lifted 4x4 loud.
What I have learned is if you are going to run a single, keep the pipes dual to the muffler. Seems to work best. A Y-pipe up front might add a couple ft/lbs at lower engine speed but the trade off is equal power loss up top.
This is the most equal length setup I have run. This is on my G35, but my M56S was the same minus the rear mufflers. They both had a very exotic like sound. Very even exhaust tone. The X on both was right behind the transmission moubting crossmember.
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L31MaxExpress
I'm Awesome
Here was the X-pipe and magnapack race mufflers in place of the OE resonator. G35 and M56S shared this setup. The chassis, suspension and driveline under the car were almost identical just one was stretched a bit and one had a 3.5L V6 and the other a 5.6L V8.
This is how the OEM reverse Y-pipe looked going into the resonators. Nissan Y-d the banks together using 1-7/8" pipes, forced the exhaust through a single 2.25" bottle neck then split it back apart into those resonators that were chocked down to 1.5" inside. Made for a nice quiet car but was absolutely like putting a banana up the tailpipe as far as power goes, especially on the ~420 crank HP rated V8.
The M56S sounded alot like a newer 5.0L Mustang.
All I kept hearing about is how the 2.5" was going to lose torque on the M56S and later the G35. Post exhaust mods neither car would hook in 1st gear. They just blew the tires off. The M56S had 315s on the back and with a 2.62 rear gear it still hazed them. It did have a 4.78 first gear but a 315 is a big chunk of tire to spin over effortlessly.
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This is how the OEM reverse Y-pipe looked going into the resonators. Nissan Y-d the banks together using 1-7/8" pipes, forced the exhaust through a single 2.25" bottle neck then split it back apart into those resonators that were chocked down to 1.5" inside. Made for a nice quiet car but was absolutely like putting a banana up the tailpipe as far as power goes, especially on the ~420 crank HP rated V8.
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The M56S sounded alot like a newer 5.0L Mustang.
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All I kept hearing about is how the 2.5" was going to lose torque on the M56S and later the G35. Post exhaust mods neither car would hook in 1st gear. They just blew the tires off. The M56S had 315s on the back and with a 2.62 rear gear it still hazed them. It did have a 4.78 first gear but a 315 is a big chunk of tire to spin over effortlessly.
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94K3500PROJECT
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Shorties gain no power as I’ve seen (at a track) on a few cars. Any HP “gained” on a 3300lb car will be even less noticeable on a 4-5,000lb truck
Hedman makes an “Elite” series and I haven’t installed a set yet but there isn’t anything on the market that comes close to them in heavy duty construction. 14 gauge tubes and 3/8” flanges should provide a pretty reliable header (in a long tube and ceramic coated).
I’ll be installing the Hedman Elite on my project.
evilunclegrimace
Does not always play well with others
They did this with a 360 (?) hp LS . They ran duals, duals with an H pipe and duals with an X pipe. The difference was not worth the time. They came out with something like 2 HP and 2 Lb Ft of torqe difference across all three.
These are the best headers you can get on cross-plane V8. Packaging is difficult.
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L31MaxExpress
I'm Awesome
The shorties gain noticeably compared to log manifolds. Gained about 20 ft/lbs when I ran them before the tri-ys. Was not a huge gain but still noticeable. Stock manifolds were both cracked before 65K miles.
