What's the real difference in Kooks, QTP, ARH ?
 

I am in the market for some stainless steal long tubes. Been looking at Kooks, QTP, and ARH. I just having trouble making a decision on what manf. to purchase. I've read numurous threads and learned a little so far.

Honestly besides the price, what is the over all differnece between the three?
I'm looking for 1 7/8"x3" along with a ORY pipe. Just have narrowed myself on these three and would like to hear from any owners and their overall thoughts on each.

Thanks, Rob.

Kooks makes the QTP's or at least did at one point... if they haven't changed then they are the same header essentially. Not too familiar with the ARH's... I've heard great things about them all... but If I had the money i'd go Kooks/QTP

that is false info. kooks and qtp are completely diff companys and the headers are very diff. i have qtp's and i vote for arh. qtp doesnt make a 1 7/8 header anymore so if thats what u want then its arh or kooks. personally i think the arh are better built when i looked at all 3 side by side.

It may or may not be OUTDATED info, but it certainly isn't false... I used to work at a performance shop and spoke to Kooks many times about carrying their line and they told me that it was a little secret of theirs that they designed and made the QTP line as well...

don't jump the gun before you label something as "FALSE INFO"

so Kook's told you they made QTP headers? Interesting.

yes... it was a little secret at the time... that was about 2 years ago... not sure if they still continue to make them or not since i've been outa that job market since then...

I am under the impression from friends and readings that some employee's from Kooks left and started their own company ARH. This is why both designs are simular. As far as the association between Kooks and QTP I am not sure. I have heard to many issues with the QTP's. Some of the headers have welds right in the middle of the primary's, others have exhaust leaks and so forth.

qtp has said it time and time again as well as kooks publicly on this forum-kooks does not build qtp headers. im not jumping any gun. what u r saying was something a person told u who wanted u to carry their line of headers.

or could it possibly be that neither company wanted the secret to get out? Would you come out and say it if your company and another had a little inside deal going on that they didn't want everyone to know about for obvious reasons... besides I doubt they would lie about something like that and blemish their good name with a potential dealer on the line... it wouldn't be worth coming up with a story like that and screw up their reputation... there would be no point...

and like I said twice... they may not make them anymore... but did at one point...

But what is there to hide? I could understand why they would be hush-hush if Kooks made XS headers or Pacesetters that are much cheaper. I think that if QTP and Kooks were really working together at some time and aren't now, we would know.

Back on topic; after reading A LOT about headers, I would suggest looking into the ARH's. I own neither but they seem to be the header to get lately. Not taking anything away from Kooks or QTP though.

price has nothing to do with it... QTP's have a good reputation because their headers are of great quality... hence the great quality headers that Kooks have always made... hmmm... coincidence? as far as them working together and we would know... i'm trying to tell you that now... but nobody believes me :lol:

I can see i'm out numbered and whether or not you choose to believe me it's up to you.

I heard kooks and qtp copied a popular header design and made it there own

ok for the sake of argument say they did make them. which im still saying they didnt. #1 why the hell would u go on a public forum and tell this "hush hush" secret? and #2 why would kooks design a better header for their competitor and then make it cheaper? if u compare the hvmc qtp vs a 1/34 kooks the qtp will out perform it everytime. is it going to be 20 hp? hell no. will it be 1 or 2 yes. but its the point. thats like chevy building a car for ford that will outperform theirs..........

why would I go on a public forum and tell this hush hush secret?

- I don't work for Kooks, nor am I in the business anymore... what do I have to gain/loose... nothing, just passing along information that might be helpfull in some cases that I gathered when I was in the business...

Why would kooks design a header for someone else?

- lets think about this... QTP could make their own, where kooks would make no profit from that and have an another actual competitor on the market. OR.... they could strike a deal with QTP to make their headers for them, making profit for both companies... why not? Just like any other company out there these days...

so.... now i've answered EVERY question with a VERY plausible reason/answer

I don't think kooks was around when i ordered my QTP headers about 3yrs ago
back then it was between PPC,QTP or Grotyohann "the real ones" or so i recall from my header research back than.
I didn't want to wait for the hvmc QTP headers to be tested for the first time

my point is I think QTP was first so how could kooks make QTP's headers.


I could be all wrong :confused:


I wouldn't buy QTP headers again my y-pipe fits like crap and trying to find a TA to fit with the y-pipe is getting old

here's a thread referring to the kooks back in Feb. of '04 from another forum...

http://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread...=kooks+headers

and here's someone else on that forum backing up the claim as well...

https://img169.imageshack.us/img169/8123/kooksii7.jpg

i'm sure there's older references but that's the first one I came across and I am absolutely for sure they've been around for more than 3 years...




now that the thread has been totally :hijack: :lol:

to answer the original question, if I had to choose, I'd go Kooks/QTP... if I wanted to save a little money then i'd got ARH... all in all, I don't think you'll be dissapointed any way you decide to go with these 3 brands... Kooks and QTP are definately top notch, and from the threads i've seen on ARH they are no slouch either...

Hooker offers stainless 1-7/8". Edelbrock offers stainless stepped.
prices arent bad on either of those.

just a couple more options too maybe save a buck or 3

I have 1 3/4" Kooks - in August I saw a professional install of the American Racing and I wish I had them -installer says the performance is there too-great fit and finish on a set of headers.

LGM makes a great set of Pro Longtube Headers for Corvettes. They had been in the process of making Fbody longtube headers. I don't know whatever happened to the project. From what I heard the prototypes looked good and made power but there were some production issues that needed to be worked out. At any rate thats good news for me. I have run into a lot of Fbodies and they were fast, and freeing up the exhaust with longtubes will only make it harder for me to beat them.

Like stated above, the "RUMOR" is that ARH is a former employee of Kooks who started their own line. These headers are the new rage so to speak lately and are showing nice gains to prove it, just do a search, some upwards of 20 rwhp. I however have Kooks 1 3/4 with their catted y. They are completly all stainless, tuck up well and I gained close to and addtional 10rwhp "with a tune", sorry no baseline pull before install.MY DYNO . They also offer different sizes of primarys and stepped versions.

QTP was my other choice at the time (ARH hadn't came out yet) and the headers are completely polished, they have the HVMC which some people seem to see some nice gains (not much over kooks) but their Y-pipe is aluminized and it you get a catted y like myself- plenty of adjustments needed to be made and the lack of ground clearance turned me back to Kooks. I did lots of reading on here before making up my mind...

Do I wish I went with QTP for the "bling" looks and HVMC- YES. Am I glad I went with KOOKS for their outstanding tight fitting stainless catted y pipe and their version of the HVMC (the Venturi Collector)- YES. Check out my thread here- Ground Clearance/Headers/Suspension

The so called "rule of thumb" that I learned on here in the past that many people will probably argue with me is this:
If your going True Duals...Get QTP
If your going Y-pipe, Catted or not (which you seem to want)... Get KOOKS
But if going Kooks, Compare the ARH as they are pretty much the same.

Bottom line is this: people will push you towards what set up they currently are running and tell you that their way is the only way. Its just their opinion.
Do some research, take your time and just go with one- you'll love it!! Hope this helps....take it with a grain of salt- afterall, Its just my .02 :nod: