Jadeeglide1550

Has anyone used the JBA Shorty Headers with the Random "Y" Pipe that includes the Cats? If so... does it solve the problems that the Long Tubes have... low ground clearance, wiring to starter heat protection, difficult to install passenger side, cross brace interference???? Is there a HP gain worthwhile, or are the long tubes the only real way to go. Hooker claims 8 to 10 HP with their shorties.... What kind of HP do you get with the Long Tubes with aftermarket Cats through a cat back system like the Loud Mouth from SLP. I have seen claims of up to 30 HP for the Long Tubes, but is that with open headers or closed pipes???
Thanks for helping....

WILWAXU

iTrader: (6)

IMO.. shorties are not worth it, unless you live in a area that has strict emissions... which isn't Richmond <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

Bad02WS6

DO NOT GET SHORTIES! The power gained is not worth the money. At least go with Mid-length. You will get 2-3x more power.

RTCamaroSS

I have hooker shorties on my SS... I got them mainly because of emissions. Here in the bay area, if a cop pulls you over, and notices your car is modified, he'll pop your hood and site you for every little thing he can.. And if enough illegal stuff is found, your car goes on a flatbed.. Isnt that great? Well, i notices a big difference when i put them on, both in sound quality out the tail pipe and overall power.. Im happy with them. Still using the stock y-pipe though. I need a new y-pipe next...

Jadeeglide1550

Thanks RT... Even though in VA we are not that strict.. .things can get stricter. I was looking at the HP that JBA was claiming... 10 too 25 HP with a stock "Y" pipe, and then Random Technologies has their claims for their cats... sot together I figured they would be easy to install, and have a fair amount of power increase, and not have the worries with the starter wiring or cross brace. I will find out as I have ordered them. This car is a convertible and a daily driver... it will not ever see the track (been there and done that years ago). Just want a very peppy street car to get out of harms way if it appears on the Interstate. Truckers seem to be attracted to this car and want to pull into the same lane as me. It is better than when I bought it... but a little more power would not hurt.. and I enjoy tinkering with it. Just not looking for the scraping problems of a low exhaust system, or the swearing and headaches of putting the LT's in by myself.

NoGo

iTrader: (2)

If your car is unmodified (ie no heads cam) then you are going to see very little if anything with the JBA shorties. If your car has some mods to it that help it breath a much better (Heads/Cam/Intate etc...), then you will see some gains over the stock system, +10 HP maybe.

I have heard story after story of no gains with the shorties on a lightly modded car.

They will improve sound, engine bay looks, and are a cinch to install (most of the time).

Good Luck <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" />

RTCamaroSS

Althought i cant back up my experience with dyno numbers, i can honestly say that i noticed a difference with the hooker shorties. You can see in my sig exactly what my mods are, no heads/cam and no z06 intake. And because i have no muffler, i was getting a lot of popping from the exhaust on decel, and after the headers went in, that went down dramatically. It still pops every now and then, as expected.. but the WOT sound is much better now too.. hehe.. Im not as hardcore as the other guys on this list, but id say you made a decent choice with the jba's and a random tech. y-pipe.. ill be ordering the random tech pipe soon as well. Then my exhaust will be completely done.

Ragtop 99

iTrader: (7)

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by NoGo:
<strong>If your car is unmodified (ie no heads cam) then you are going to see very little if anything with the JBA shorties. If your car has some mods to it that help it breath a much better (Heads/Cam/Intate etc...), then you will see some gains over the stock system, +10 HP maybe.

I have heard story after story of no gains with the shorties on a lightly modded car.

They will improve sound, engine bay looks, and are a cinch to install (most of the time).

Good Luck <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well said. Let me add that I believe the gains on the 00 and newer cars are less because the manifold design was changed.

Jadeeglide1550

Thanks for the comments. I am now committed as they say, having ordered the parts. Looking for a little kick in the pants, but not to the point that the car becomes unmanageable. I have been down the unmanageable road years ago, and setting up a car is a lot of personal preference. If you are planning to use the car as a strip car, there are a lot of things that you can sacrifice, if you are street racing then there are different things to consider, and for a daily driver like mine, the approach is also different again. With this car I am enjoying the hobby of modifying the car more than in the past with my 70 Chevelle SS and my 69 Chevelle SS. We go through phases, and we do learn some things as we get older, like all the parts must work together. Will report back with the results after my installation, I assume two weeks for shipping, so it will be in August some time I would guess.

Xsta Z 28

iTrader: (2)

I installed some JBA's on my Convertible, what a BREEZE to install!!!! I did it more for appearance than anything, I think the exhaust has a little more growl, and since I have an A4 Convertible none of the LT's fit with out modifying the undercar brace(s). Plus I didn't want olde emissions man coming after me.

My only complaint with the JBA's, for some stupid reason they used a nut and bolt to connect the collector flanges and the EGR tube in lieu of threaded flanges. What a b***h. Make sure to disconnect your battery!

I did a set of SLP LT's GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" />

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Xsta Z 28:
<strong>Plus I didn't want olde emissions man coming after me.

</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">As long as you put cats on there somewhere you won’t have any issues passing in IL. I run an ORY on the street but I have cats that can be put in it come emissions time. CARB stuff doesn’t matter in Chicagoland. They don’t do visuals here. And even if they start I doubt anything will be said as long as cats are present.