dr_whigham

iTrader: (49)

Guys you've gotta understand the Blackheart line as a whole. There a LOT of design and research that went into them. Their new stuff is leaps and bounds better than anything they've put out in the past.

If the design and engineering is there, I'd highly doubt ANY of you street cars would notice any difference between their mid lengths and say a pacesetter LT.

It's just food for thought. I think Hooker is doing a good job at this, and to see a rep from them here CONSTANTLY talking about the product and fielding any and all questions is pretty cool to say the least.

MSD could take a page out of their book...

Toddoky

Thanks for noticing our efforts and the positive support. The Blackheart line will be continuously expanded, so if users want to see a particular product from us, like a new set of long-tubes for 4th gen F-bodies mentioned here, then just make the products you'd like to see known to us and we will seriously consider producing them if we get enough similar responses. My PM box is always available to receive such comments also.

SlasherVRGR

iTrader: (1)

I agree with this guy, seems like hooker is doing a really good job with this setup.

wayland1985

I don't think anybody is trying to be malicious at all. And I don't think redbird meant anything against Toddoky: I read it as; "I understand how the higher ups put in constraints that don't always agree with the market".

If anything I think most of us are simply noticing that there would be quite a market for a set that bolt right up to long tubes.

I can see where Hooker would be concerned about selling an exhaust that's compatible with competitor headers too (perhaps hurting header sales).

In any case, if the time frame works out, I'm strongly considering ordering a set for myself. I'd rather not have to hack up a brand new exhaust to make it work.... but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Toddoky

No offense has been taken by anyone's comments put forth and I feel all the opinions shared have been constructive. It would be quite ignorant to believe any product you make as a manufacturer, or any product you use as a customer is exactly what every user in the market is looking for. I have to wonder everytime I hear that nobody wants to use mid-length headers where all the mid-length headers we are shipping out the door are going to. Long tubes are also shipping out right along with the mid-lengths, so it goes to show that there is no single mentality used to make a header purchasing decision. What can be the most important header attribute to one user can be low on the priority list of another and vice-versa.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Do a search on Mac mids and you'll see that several years ago there was a lot of discussion on them vs. LT's. A lot of guys found their performance very close, especially with stock heads and cam. Here's an example: https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...r-lts-tds.html And from what we're told here, the new Blackhearts should have a better collector design than the old Mac's. True, scavenging is always going to be better with the long primaries and collector, but there may be a point below which the performance difference is insignificant.

A lot of us have struggled with LT fitment: bring them up too tight and the Y hits the floorpan; too low, and ground clearance is compromised. Yes, the better brands seem to avoid this problem, but this mid/TD setup should give ground clearance like no LT can, without the floorpan interference.

wayland1985

I was browsing the hooker website tonight and came across the install directions: does that panhard spacer alter the suspension character at all?

Toddoky

No, the spacers install under the brace only and have no affect on the pan hard rod itself.

samerickson89

iTrader: (1)

Did a little Googling since I had no prior knowledge on the subject, and I just want to confirm what I found. Will the full 304ss system have a higher MSRP since that's (from what I understand) the stronger of the two?

wayland1985

It seems there will be about a $200 premium for the 304.

Strength is less of an issue: the main advantage to 304 stainless is that, it is in fact, less stain prone than 409 (which has a tendency to show surface corrosion)

_JB_

iTrader: (33)

This is awesome that another company is entering the true dual market, and ACTUALLY have a goal for release (unlike Speed Engineering). But Hooker headers+true duals+200 for 304 SS+200 for nice tips puts the setup at $1800. That's getting up there, and for me, that's very close to the tipping point of where I'd just go with Kooks. I'm rooting for you guys though!

Latch

iTrader: (8)

Looks like a nice setup. I don't understand how people are gonna hate on this system for being dual 2.5" when most people are running single 3" catbacks. The mid-length headers are probably more than adequate for most bolt-on and mild cam setups in daily driven cars where ground clearance is a priority. I'd be really curious how well they flow when compared to cheap long tubes like the eBay ones that are on my car. I know for a fact that dual 2.5" exhaust will out flow a single 3" catback all day.

Toddoky

Comparing the cost of the Hooker system to the Kooks system and saying that are close to the same isn't even close to being factual...the Kooks system is well over $3,000 once you add in the cost of the aftermarket suspension parts you have to buy/use to get it installed. If you already own a good set of headers you could just modify the inlets of the Hooker exhaust system to connect to them and save even more money.

Toddoky

Your opinion is logical Latch. the mass flow potential of dual 2.5" tubes is actually a hair above a single 3.5" tube, so a well executed dual 2.5" system will net you better performance and a reduced interior noise level.

wayland1985

Was there any progress with the video/sound clips?

And Texas Speed is saying these are on back order. Are they already shipping, or are they just telling white lies?

Toddoky

I have the car scheduled to come in on Friday. I gave an estimated ship date for the exhaust system of mid-end of July earlier in this thread and that's as close as I can do with the information I have.

wayland1985

That's what I thought! I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything here!

1evilz28

I still have stock manifolds so this looks appealing. However I would like to run with cats. Could the ypipe be modded to accept catts

wayland1985

He announced earlier in the thread that they will be offering a 50 state legal version in a few months. So if you can wait a little longer, they should have a nice plug and play setup...


That being said, I don't see why somebody couldn't just weld a cat onto this setup... But if you're in a state that does visual inspections, it's probably safer to just wait.

_JB_

iTrader: (33)

I understand but if I'm already 2/3 there, I might as well spend the extra IMO. Buy once, cry once. I'm not trying to bash Hooker, I think this is a nice setup, and I still might go for it especially around the holidays. I just think the initial price is a little on the high side.