Originally Posted by EliteCamaro94

everyone i have known with long tubes have said that they felt they had more top end power rather than low end. my buddy had a 91 z28 and added hooker super comp headers ory and a borla adj. catback and he dropped from a 14.1 to a 13.7 in the quarter and he also started beating other guys cars on the top end on the freeway that he previously had lost too in freeway runs. He said the car felt way more powerful in the higher rpms.

Originally Posted by PNYKLR-TA

i am almost 100% positive you have this backwards, i just installed my long tubes and got my exhaust welded up and it feels slower from about idle to 2500rpms but much faster from their on up.

i think long tubes moves your peak torque up and shorties will move it down. mids obviously keep it in the mid section.

Originally Posted by David Vizard

To predict what primary size will be best for a specific motor, you must know where you want the engine to develop peak torque. If the existing torque peak is at a bit lower RPM than you prefer (typical in under-cammed or stock motors), it can be "bumped" a bit by increasing the primary diameter. If the torque peak is too high (motor is "peaky", with no range and poor recovery from gear changes), the peak can be adjusted down by using a smaller pipe. A change of 1/8" in the primary diameter will raise or lower the peak torque RPM by 500 or so.

This factor slightly overlaps the effect of primary pipe length, but the pipe length generally will not change the peak torque or the RPM at which it occurs. A length change has the effect of improving the torque on only 1 side of the peak by "borrowing" it from the other side. A shorter pipe improves the torque after the peak (reduces it at lower RPM), preventing the curve from flattening out so quickly as speed increases. A longer pipe extends the torque curve backwards to improve the engine's flexibility, at the expense of after-peak torque.

Originally Posted by PNYKLR-TA

just wait till you take a ride in my car now after i let everything settle in for a couple days, i can tell up top it wants to just fly man its crazy! plus i love my flowmasters that everyone hates soo much

Originally Posted by thesoundandthefury

I had a feeling I'd see a response (or three) like this one, which is why I said "all other things being equal."

You felt like you lost low end torque, (and you did), when you switched to long tube headers because the primary diameter in the headers is significantly larger than that of stock exhaust manifolds. The larger primary diameter raised the torque peak.

If we're going to compare apples to apples, (two exhaust headers that have equal width primaries), then the one with the longer tube will have more of the torque under the curve stacked below the peak every time.

Originally Posted by LT1SS

im going to cut through all the red tape and use my stock system for emmissions testing then take it off and put Lt's and an offroad y pipe on.yeh it's a little annoying having to do all that work each year. but it will save the headache of having to find an emmisions legal LT setup. and some money. the non emmisions set ups are a lot cheaper