are open lt headers ok on a 2000 ws6 m6 with a cam (230/236 .581/.590 112 lsa) and a custom tune only? i have heard some people on here say no way for open headers. is that because of it being so loud or is there something else? this car is mostly a weekend driven car. the guy at the performance shop that is tuning it says it will be fine.

 

There's a possibility of burning your exhaust valves with open headers. Plus you'll be losing alot of low end torque. I would say you'd be better off installing a full exhaust with a cutout in the I pipe

 

youre gonna get a ticket and how hate loud it is. its just a blaaaat loud sound, no tone at all

 

tuning it would be a problem. The o2 sensors will not heat properly and will throw your A/F ratio all over the place. If you're dead set on running them open you're gonna need at the very least, some 18" extensions

 

The only time I have heard of people ruining valves is whenever the engine is ran with NO exhaust on it at all, and possibly shorties. Longtubes have long enough primaries that cold air can't make it all the way back up to the valves. The loss of low end torque would be no different than having an open cutout.

The big draw back to open headers on a car that still uses the O2 sensors is that fresh air can throw off the O2 readings and cause the computer to interpret a lean condition and run rich. 12 inch length of pipe on each collector will minimize this.

 

no i am not dead set at all about this open header thing. i dont like the idea of it but the guy at the performance shop i'm dealing with said it will be fine. i dont want to damage anything so i'm wandering now is there any way to mount 1 cat somewhere on the exhaust or do i have to do two at the y pipe?

 

AGREED..from all I have read on this subject.

 

too loud!!!!doesnt sound very good

 

This would be about the worst decision you could make (IMO). Burning up your exhaust valves, and ungodly amount of noise, fuel efficiency cut in half, and power dramatically reduced all come to mind.

 

atleast through a y or x pipe on it!

 

if i get him to delete all o2 sensors and run a full exhaust to dual tips no cats no muffler would that work ok?

 

yeah that would work fine but i wouldnt delete all o2 sensors just the rear ones that would be after the cats...unless you are planning on running the car in closed loop mode...just get an ory and any catback could even be stock and put a cutout in the i pipe like stated...if you dont like the idea of a cutout then get a good catback like hooker or magnaflow...etc

 

what is closed loop mode, i thought i might have heard the guy at the shop mention something about that?

 

closed loop operation means that the computer runs the car off of an assumed table of inputs. When in open loop the computer takes in sensor readings ie;the front 02 sensors, to control a/f ratio. You could run it in closed loop, but it would be pointless to do it that way and the car would not adjust for any variable you might run into.

 

Don't do it. I drove my car with just the kooks headers on it to the exhaust shop and it was just like a dragster. I thought i wanted my car to be loud until i heard staraight headers. Its unreal how loud it is.

 

definately not good at all. either sound or performance wise.

 

+1 I ran at the track with open headers because I was shipped the wrong y-pipe and it took a month to get the right one. Anyway I ran .2 slower with open headers than I did with the y-pipe and exhaust. And it had no ***** down low.

 

ok i see about the open header thing, but like i had asked before what about a straight open exhaust? headers straight back to dual tips at the rear of the car, no cats no muffler , i would think that would deaden the sound some. has anyone run their exhaust like this.
oh i talked to the guy thats working on it and he says the upstream front o2's will go in the headers.

 

^^^there are a lot of guys running running that exhaust, the sound is good....mostly because the exhaust isn't dumped right under your ***...

 

Open headers are ridiculously loud (in my opinion) and you should sacrafice a bit of low end torque. I have long tube headers, an off road y and have an electric cutout in my intermediate pipe.....that still gives me a very agressive exhaust note and a good bit of the low end torque is back!