well. one advantage is the stainless steel, wont rust from inside-out like pacesetters eventually do. I'm on my 2nd set and basically could have paid for the stainless in the begining and not had to buy another set. the 2nd advantage is the noise reduction,
I noticed my buddy switched to a thicker stainless header and the exhaust noise/underhood was reduced 10fold. this is just my opinion

 

I got a header than consistently dynos higher than other brands of headers for a lot less money than other systems. What did I lose? My ground clearance is fine. The welds were great and if there is some kind of tiny exhaust leak, it's not hurting performance any. They'll last forever because they are stainless steel. So, just what did I lose? I can tell you what I gained - a great header and 2 days extra pay.

Why do you have to spam a Kooks thread with this kind of BS? These redesigned Kooks headers look fantastic. If they had this redesign when I bought my headers a year ago, I definitely would have given them more thought, because as of now, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the best longtube on the market now in general if you take price out of the picture.

 

Ignorance is bliss. How in the Heck are good wideband readings going to be obtained in a collector if there are leaks in the collector? I don't recall seeing any direct comparison of QTP/Kooks/ARH anywhere, so where do you get your information regarding "a header than consistently dynos higher than other brands"? What, just because you found a dyno' chart of someone's car dyno'ing more power than the Pacesetters they had on the car means QTPs are the best out there? Comparing a header that has a merge collector and one that does not is like comparing apples to oranges. Because a car dynos' exactly the same everytime, or conditions are the same everytime? Just because the welds that you see look great doesn't mean crap. QTP doesn't completely weld (at least on the three sets I've seen and the three sets I've installed - not that that means anything or has any relavance ) the primaries completely where the tubes merge. My tuner had great frustration with tuning the car because the wideband we getting affected by the leaks in the collectors. I guess you know though, because you installed your headers and because you tuned your car. OH YEAH, because you pressure tested the headers... I forgot.

I'm sorry to everyone else for flaming a little bit. It wasn't my intention to appear that I was talking bad about Kooks. I was in fact stating my opinion that with their current changes, their headers are going to be more desirable and a better value, in terms of quality, performance, and durability than ever before. I just get frustrated seeing the same d@mn post from the same d@mn person everytime about the same d@mn thing. Too George - I appologize, and if I didn't already have a set of leaky stainless headers, I'd definately be giving you my money. Congratulations.

 

What brands of headers have you owned? Or are you one of those experts that have never seen seen a set in your life?

 

LT1 - SLP shorties, custom fabd' a 3.5-inch catback, replaced finally with a Borla catback

LS1 - A set of MACs and their Y-pipe and added Magnaflow cats', a set of standard collector QTPs with their catd' Y-pipe, a set of their HVMCs and modified their Y-pipe with a set of 3-inch Magnaflow cats'. I've installed all three header systems and the catback and a set of their HVMCs and catd' Y-pipe and Borla catback on my brother's car. To say I have a little experience with headers and to say I know what the complaints of their Y-pipe and leaky collectors are correct.

 

That is echoed from a friend or two that have the Kook's Y.

The quote "not leaving anything on the table" and the price justify's a better merge for the Y pipe IMO. Performance, durability and appearance are big deals when you are spending big $$$ no matter what it is. I am not saying that the Kook's Y merge is a bad one but it could have been tweeked IMO.

 

I agree. The revised headers look fantastic. Revising the merge in the y-pipe would make it the best system on the market IMO.

 

+2 That had been my biggest complaint with the Kook's design. If just seemed like the Y-pipe was an afterthought to the header design. Regardless, there are plenty of people who have great ground clearance, and made great power with this product, and that it is offered in stainless is even better. I seriously think that one couldn't go wrong with Kooks

 

I will also agree that the ypipe should be worked on a little. Honestly, the ARH ypipe is probably the best out there right now, and I wouldn't hold it against any company that copied it.

 

Now if only they would SHIP these new headers, so I could get em on my car sometime this season

 

They are shipping AFAIK? I have a set of 1 7/8" in stock. FWIW, I want to throw in that Kooks has had stamped merges in their list of tricks for years. Someone else d

We are working on getting a set of these on the dyno

 

About Kooks y-pipe....didn't they already re-design the y-pipe like a year or two ago? Kooks made it in all stainless steel. I thought this was great, and I ordered my Kooks setup and had it all installed last year.

Granted, I didnt get the revised headers that are now offered, but I'm 100% happy with my setup. I'm stainless stell from the heads all the way down the headers, y-pipe and right into my s/s GMMG catback. The cats are the only thing not s/s.

Anyway, the y-pipe is a 2 piece part, so when installed, it can be fitted, and tucked into place just fine.
Is the ARH y-pipe s/s also?
What more does the ARH y-pipe offer?

 

The ARH y-pipe is stainless. Look at the ARH y-pipe next to any off the other systems and you'll see. It's the best y-pipe out there.

 

ARH has a merge collector, don't they? It looks to me that it would flow better than the style Kooks has, but who knows by how much?

 

I have a kooks ypipe from 3-4 years ago on my car. Can someone post a picture of the newly redesigned ypipe?

I need a new ypipe as mine got crushed by a huge crack in the road that spit up chunks of concrete that I ran over.

Thanks.

 

Okay, so they are both stainless y-pipes.

I'd like to see a side-by-side picture of the two pipes.
Anyone have some pics to post??

 

You are correct, there will always be one primary tube that isn't welded on the inside. The reason for this is because the other three are welded into place and the last one - because its too close to the other three pipes - cannot be welded easily. There is nothing wrong with this design. The problem is the last tube is supposed to be a "slip" fit. Meaning the female tube (the swedged tube) should be no more than a couple of thousands of an inch (0.002") larger than the insertion tube. This very close fit will not leak if done correctly. The problem is with QTP's quality. They over-swedge the tube to ensure clearance which will slip on easily if they are out of tolerance with the other pieces of the mating assembly (remember this tube is the last piece of the assembled header), at this point they want it to go out the door so they leave it with a huge gap and if you complain they simply consider you a problem customer, not a customer with problems.

 

ive also heard stainless steel doesnt conduct heat as well as mild steel so the heat stays in the gases more, giving better exhaust velocity.

 

cool, I dunno but we seem to have some smart ****'s on this site

 

i can tell u that stainless un coated headers get a **** load hotter then coated mild steel ones. but i assume most of that is in the coating.