Shorty Headers... Are they worth the upgrade?
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
Like everyone has said Shorty headers will give you approx. 10 rwhp gain. Then again the right atmospheric conditions can give you 10 hp. You just need to decide if the cost of purchase and installation. Frankly, people with more brains than money opt not to.
BTW, if your budget is limited, and your options come down to one or the other. You might look at installing a cold air intake or lid (one with a CARB EO #). You will see a better increase in rwhp over shorties. I installed a K&N FIPK and saw an increase of 26 rwhp (highest I've ever seen so yours might be less). You can buy it online and install it in your driveway yourself.
Now, if you want to be completely legit smog wise, you need to get a set of headers with a CARB EO number. Not all shorties have one. One brand, JBA, is right in San Diego, off Convoy at hwy 52.
BTW, if your budget is limited, and your options come down to one or the other. You might look at installing a cold air intake or lid (one with a CARB EO #). You will see a better increase in rwhp over shorties. I installed a K&N FIPK and saw an increase of 26 rwhp (highest I've ever seen so yours might be less). You can buy it online and install it in your driveway yourself.
Now, if you want to be completely legit smog wise, you need to get a set of headers with a CARB EO number. Not all shorties have one. One brand, JBA, is right in San Diego, off Convoy at hwy 52.
Yeah, I just pulled a set of JBA shorties off my car that the previous owner put in. They aren't bad but much prefer the long tubes I just put on. As others have said though, you'll see better gains with other mods for the time being.
what you can get out of a set of shorties hp wise, you can probably do with a good intake and spend 1/2 the cost. I know that at times there this itch to do something to your car, and we see something and say WOW all that HP out of that...What many marketing directors forget to put on is that usually its after a few other mods too have taken place in their advertising or commercials.
Many 'shorty' headers do not produce any type of exhaust scavenging effect. All they really are is just better flowing manifolds.The best headers are ''tuned" full length headers.As the exhaust exits the tubes they scavenge the other tubes, and the gasses don't collide in the collector like in many shorties.
Many 'shorty' headers do not produce any type of exhaust scavenging effect. All they really are is just better flowing manifolds.The best headers are ''tuned" full length headers.As the exhaust exits the tubes they scavenge the other tubes, and the gasses don't collide in the collector like in many shorties.
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 17
From: So.Cal.
You just shuffle LT's and manifolds every two years, it's not that hard, you get faster/better at it each time... do not dare to show up with LT's on, that's not wise.
Various LT's tuck up good leaving good ground clearance.
Get stainless if you have sufficient budget.
"Emissions Legal" simply means all the bungs/flanges to fit O2/AIR/EGR/cats are present.
Various LT's tuck up good leaving good ground clearance.
Get stainless if you have sufficient budget.
"Emissions Legal" simply means all the bungs/flanges to fit O2/AIR/EGR/cats are present.
Some of us live in counties that don't know "a lot about our cars" so some look like its "stock" looking as long as no SES light or we can pass the sniffer - to lazy to get under the car and actually look for cats/stock stuff...
TECH Resident
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 843
Likes: 0
From: Roseville, Ca.
I'd do shorties last since it's the most $ for the least power. I ran them for years with all the other bolt ons. They add a decent sound to the exhaust... But not much more! Get the ones with the biggest primaries you can and definitely coated. Mine ran a tad rich after the headers. Smogging cars with longtubes in Cali is a bitch... Trust me! What IS ILLEAGAL in California is changing the LOCATION of the cats. Since they're in the tunnel, you're screwed for even midlengths, unless they overlook it. You are only allowed to get aftermarket cats if your car has over 70,000 miles. The funnest mods I ever got were gears and an electric cutout. You can do a pulley, a LS6 manifold, high flow cats and EWP first also. THEN get the headers if you still got money to burn. You can go pretty fast smog legal with stock internals. With a lid, catback, pulley and shorties with the stock cats and still a LS1 intake, my car trapped 112mph. Just do things in order of "bang for the buck"!
Last edited by Steve Gunn; Jul 31, 2010 at 08:21 AM.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
