Need Wisdom, Only Have $750
11-23-2007, 04:28 PM
#21
My pacesetter headers are great. No banging, went in like a breeze as well. I would definitely buy them again. If I wanted to spend over a grand on headers then I would have bought the ARH. I did not feel it was necessary to pay that much. Especially since my car only sees nice weather. About the gains, I am not going to bitch and moan over 10 hp, if there is even that much of a difference. Since you are on a budget, go with the pacesetters. You will not be disappointed.
11-23-2007, 09:17 PM
#23
I'd go through the for sale section and see if you can't pick up some good used headers and y pipe. Then take the rest and save for a cam swap. I have the tsp dumps and its loud as ****. It wasn't too bad before the cam at cruising speed, but when you get on it, everyone knows it.
11-24-2007, 10:07 PM
#24
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Alright everyone, once again thanks for all your advice. its become obvious to me that u go exhaust before intake, or at least save a little more and get a lid and full exhaust.
11-24-2007, 10:31 PM
#25
Tech Resident
XS Does NOT make an emissions header, so that wont work for him. IMO I dont think that JAMM air will net you as large of a gain as say a catback and a lid would...I would most likely do:
LID
Catback
Ported TB
And save the extra money for a stainless header that has emissions like the QTP's do.
LID
Catback
Ported TB
And save the extra money for a stainless header that has emissions like the QTP's do.
11-24-2007, 10:44 PM
#26
Tech Resident
pacesetters...bottom of the barrell?? inferior?? rusted up in a year?? i dont know if youve had personal experience with pacesetters, cuz it really doesnt sound like it. do yourself a favor Suicide Machine, do a search on pacesetters (ceramic/armor coated) and i have no doubt you will go for them. I have had coated pacesetters on every one of my ls1 cars, and ive installed plenty of them for friends, along with a few other "top name brands," and i must say, pacesetters fit the best out of them all. as far as rust, they do get a little surface rust once in a while, but it takes me 10 minutes every few months of just wiping the header down with a rag and cleaner/polish and they look brand new again. id also be curious to see proof that most other brands outperform pacesetters 
Pacesetter is the way to go. Just use the search feature and im sure you will agree. anyway, good luck to you buddy
Pacesetter is the way to go. Just use the search feature and im sure you will agree. anyway, good luck to you buddy
It's cheap material made by cheap laborers. They fit well because they're very small for a longtube. I've seen them next to a set of Edelbrocks and they looked like a child's toy. Lemme find you the picture:
Yowza
The power that Pacesetters leave on the table due to their small size relative to other longtubes is evident in dyno charts, too.
That is a dyno graph of a simple longtube swap. The swap went from Pacesetter longtubes to QTP's with HVMC's. There is a 9 rwhp gain up top with a 18 rwqh/30 rwtq gain at ~3100 rpms. There are serious power sacrifices with Pacesetter headers down low because of their shorter primaries and standard collectors.
Are Pacesetters junk? No. They're a well-made header for the money. The thing is, there are currently much better headers on the market for around the same price. The problems with forums like this is everyone tends to vote for the headers they own. Pacesetters have been around for a long time, much longer than a lot of the competitors on the market today. So, when a newbie comes in asking for advice, they're overwhelmed with people telling to get Pacesetters because they were an inexpensive header on the market available years ago. The problem with this is Pacesetters were a great option years ago, but they're not now. Why pay for Pacesetters when you can get a set of Edelbrocks that will seriously outperform them or a set of XS headers that are stainless for roughly the same price? It makes no sense.
If you buy Pacesetter headers and your car is a daily driver, your headers will be rusty on the surface in a year. If you drive them in cold climates where there is a lot of road salt, your headers will look horrible in 3 years. They're not gonna hold up forever, that's why I went stainless. I only wanted to do headers once.
11-25-2007, 01:05 AM
#29
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Choco, I wasnt telling you to do a search. I was telling suicide Machine to do a search. My guess is the ratio of satisfied customers to unsatisfied will be in the ballpark of 20:1. Oh yeah, to reply to your comment on fitment, I didnt mean just the way they slide right in (though they do). I mean once they are in, they clear everything just fine. Ive seen plenty of headers hitting the floorboard, k member, etc. Out of the dozen Pacesetters Ive installed, Ive never had an issue. I will gladly sacrifice 5-10 hp for an excellent fitting, reasonable priced header. Bottom line, they are a killer bang for the buck header, and unless I will be showing my next car, in which case, i would definitely go stainless, I will go with Pacesetter again...and again...and again.
11-25-2007, 10:08 AM
#30
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for MAXIMUM performance from $750 you could either spray it or if you want throttle no bottle here is what I would do...
Ebay headers- about $400 installed and done
TR224- Just picked one up used for $175
If you can install the cam yourself, pony up another $100 or so and get it tuned. This should get you approx. 50-60 rwhp for $750-$850...not bad.
Ebay headers- about $400 installed and done
TR224- Just picked one up used for $175
If you can install the cam yourself, pony up another $100 or so and get it tuned. This should get you approx. 50-60 rwhp for $750-$850...not bad.
11-25-2007, 11:19 AM
#31
for MAXIMUM performance from $750 you could either spray it or if you want throttle no bottle here is what I would do...
Ebay headers- about $400 installed and done
TR224- Just picked one up used for $175
If you can install the cam yourself, pony up another $100 or so and get it tuned. This should get you approx. 50-60 rwhp for $750-$850...not bad.
Ebay headers- about $400 installed and done
TR224- Just picked one up used for $175
If you can install the cam yourself, pony up another $100 or so and get it tuned. This should get you approx. 50-60 rwhp for $750-$850...not bad.
11-25-2007, 11:26 AM
#32
Tech Resident
Yea...I was about to say the same thing. Bolt-on tunes are usually around $250. If you want tuning done for internal work, you're looking at $400-$500. If you want it done for FI, it's $500+ Tuning ain't cheap, and just like parts, you get what you pay for in almost every instance.
Tuning ain't cheap, and just like parts, you get what you pay for in almost every instance. 
11-26-2007, 01:19 AM
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the man is on a budget so stop telling him about any other header other than pacesetter... pacesetter is the only decent long tube that is cheap IMO. also IMO, I would be between either getting a nice set of used headers with the $750 and just run stock exhaust until i could afford an exhaust system or getting the pacesetter long tubes and getting either the LM or I would go with a custom H or X pipe w/ mufflers of choice.
11-26-2007, 10:52 AM
#38
Tech Resident
the man is on a budget so stop telling him about any other header other than pacesetter... pacesetter is the only decent long tube that is cheap IMO. also IMO, I would be between either getting a nice set of used headers with the $750 and just run stock exhaust until i could afford an exhaust system or getting the pacesetter long tubes and getting either the LM or I would go with a custom H or X pipe w/ mufflers of choice.
