South

This might be a dumb question, but I'm going to ask anyway. At what point would you shift for the two setups? Any advise?

scotty2000ss

iTrader: (2)

Seems very minor. You should put the pacesetters back on.

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

Well the new setup definitely frees up more power up top and carries better. The kooks setup you could shift that combo @ 7k pretty easy where the old setup I would be shifting at 6700.

FIVEPOINT7

iTrader: (2)

The comparison is next to useless. The only way this would help would be if the Kooks were also 1 3/4 primaries and the rest of the exhaust was the same.

Right now it's like swapping a Fram air filter for a K&N while you swap an LS6 intake for a Fast 90 and then saying the K&N made more power.

South

I shared what I had and I still think it shows the Pacesetter headers perform very well for the money. I saw very little difference, even with the entire exhaust changed over to Kooks.

Ls1Ryan2002

IMO Pacesetters have done me great, I don't think the money is worth buying kooks, that my opinion and I know somebody will get upset. Yes, Kooks are one of the highest quality headers you have but the power gain is not worth the extra $$

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

It depends how much you care about looks...I like my car to look great and like new. Kooks headers after 5yrs still look great. The Pacesetters I had on a different 4th gen started to look like **** after 2 years. Same thing with Hookers that were on my current car when I bought it...The coating starts to surface rust on the primaries and chip off on the collectors over time...Coated steel is a thing of the past. I would buy TSP stainless if on a budget.

wannafbody

iTrader: (2)

Kooks has a nice catted Y pipe for those who deal with smog.

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

10 year bump...gotta be a record

South

Well, you can't say I didn't do a search!

usnfenix

iTrader: (11)

This comes down to personal preference but I know personally, I don't take my car to car shows, and nobody is looking at my headers while im racing the car, so why pay premium for looks. Kooks flows well and looks good no doubt, but the difference between a kooks header and a TSP stainless in the same size is price, HP wise its negligible and any variation in either brands direction can be attributed to the dyno. I wouldn't buy painted pacesetters as once the paint chips the headers fall apart from rust but im not afraid of other choices such as the stainless TSP or BBK. Ive ran both and had plenty of good results and years of use from either and never once regretted not spending a ridiculous amount more for a name brand.

Then again if you are big into engine bay dress-up or car shows then kooks may be what you need.

Ls1Ryan2002

Pretty spot on right there, if you are strictly for performance and are on a budget, pacesetters all the way. The very small gains that might be seen between the two is not worth the large difference in price. I do prefer to keep the engine bay of my car looking clean. A way to avoid rusting for as long as possible is sand down the headers till they are rough then put some high temp paint on them. Just a cheaper route than going that way. Some may not want to take the cheap route on there cars. IMO Pacesetters are best bang for your buck deal. Especially when on sale.

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

I don't take my car to shows either, but I like my stuff to look nice. I never bought painted anything...I owned 3 sets of ceramic coated steel headers before switching... 450.00 for a header that starts to rust in a couple years does not seem like a good deal when I bought my 1 7/8 Kooks for 750.00 that will last a lifetime. so it was well worth the 300.00 for a premium header that excels in all metrics over the Pacesetter. I have owned 4 different brand of headers and Kooks by far bests Hooker, Pacesetter, BBK in fit and finish.

I agree TSP Stainless is a great option I just stated that previously. They also were not available 5yrs ago when I bought my Kooks setup and would not work with exhaust anyway.

Either way, its nice to have options and if you feel Pacesetters are right for you, then that is OK. Not hating at all...been there done that.

96darkhorse

iTrader: (6)

Pacesetters here. Still look good and perform good.

usnfenix

iTrader: (11)

I would not get ceramic either, same reason for the painted pacesetters. I have had good experience however with the BBK chrome headers, yes they will turn blue after awhile but the fitment was amazing and tucked up cleaner than the stock exhaust did. TSP stainless with its newish velocity spike is a good choice for looks, with some added pain in installation.

What gets me is these car are not exactly new, header choices have been available for over a decade, and we still get the this vs that threads on here. IMO there are well known brands that are tried and proven out there, and in each category ( 1 7/8 and 1 3/4) the HP differences are basically nothing to worry about. People need to spend less time worrying about a potential 3 HP or whatever difference between 2 brands and focus on the build as a whole and choose parts based on what works well with each other.

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

This thread was from 10yrs ago when the "this vs that" was going on. South bumped the thread with his apples to oranges comparison. I only commented because I knew he was trying to imply that the pacesetter header and exhaust combo was close to the Kooks. I was just pointing out that the kooks setup show to be far superior...peak numbers don't mean everything. The Kooks setup makes far more low mid range tq and carries power out another 300+ rpm.

Then it turned back into "this vs that".

omc8

iTrader: (7)

It is difficult to find apples/ apples comparisons , because most guys do upgrades in groups of 3-4 parts at a time which clouds the picture of what part gives a select gain by itself. Its been debated over years between 1 3/4 vs 1 7/8 . Most that are buying new, now are going 1 7/8. Ten years ago I don't think Pacesetters even made a 1 7/8 LS1 header. A lot has changed in 10 years most for the better.

Alex-chevy

Very noice! I was trying to decide between the kooks 1-3/4, and the kooks stepped 1-3/4-1-7/8 headers. We're you able to install the 1-7/8 headers with engine still in car? I am going to assume you have an LT1 engine?

G Atsma

His Trans Am is an 02 which would have an LS1

big hammer

Speed engineering FTW