Burdman

Hey to all. I've started looking for upgrades for my 2005 gto and the first thing I've been told to do is put headers on. So after hours of looking and asking around, i have no idea what i should be looking for... the most important is the price difference. I'm seeing long tube headers from 300 to 1200.Another question is what's the difference between long tube and short tube headers? What else will need to be done to the gto? Any info on best price and brand is appreciated. Thanks

versz

Shorty headers are for California people mainly. Their slightly better than manifolds. And will only gain you 5-10 rwhp. Where as a longtube is going to add 15-20 and with a tune even more. Plus whatever the header is made out of is going to add to the cost

CamaroSS27

iTrader: (6)

The price difference a lot of the times comes down to brand then coating on the header.

Burdman

Does what they are made of change performance? If it doesn't i don't see the need to by ceramic or stainless steel.

Orange Juice

iTrader: (3)

You get what you pay for. My first set was a coated steel lower price set. The coating started to peel off after 6 months and the weld cracked in a place that couldn't be fixed. I went to the Kooks stainless and when I was rebuilding the motor had them coated by a reputable coating company to help reduce heat.
Headers get hot, a lot hotter then the stock manifolds. That is why coatings or stainless works best.

HumanNipple

iTrader: (2)

First question you need to ask yourself is "Do I need to pass emissions?" then "Do I have a buddy to pass me since I like in XXXX and my state hates fun cars?" then you can ask "Wtf headers should I buy?" lol

Long tubes give the largest gains, VERY loud, scrape on stuff, have rattling issues sometimes

Mids- similar to long tubes but without so much scraping

Shorty's- an alternative to broken manifolds, california people, emissions people, people that want them for turbo setups.

I've had long tubes with no cats and with cats. Without cats was miserably loud but impressed people. With cats it sounded beefy but not **** your pants loud like the ORY (off road y-pipe with no cats)

Recently went to shortys cuz I need to pass emissions and couldn't find new manifolds to replaces the old cruddy ones. It basically sounds like an LS1 engine with exhaust and its smoother on power delivery.

Hope some of that helps

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

Actually, orange juice, headers run cooler than stock manifolds. They dissapate heat quicker than manifolds. A good coating, inside and out will help hold heat inside the header and push it down the exhaust.

The bad part about them dissapating heat quicker is it all ends up raising under hood temps.

A manifold on the other hand takes longer to get hot because it is more dense material and thicker, but once it is up to temp, it stays that way longer.

After I installed headers, I could shut my car off and 5 minutes later grab the tube and it was cool to the touch.

With a good coating, your headers will last longer and run cooler as what heat does make it thru the header will dissapate quickly

stevez2885

iTrader: (9)

I went with BBK "chrome" long tubes on my camaro with off road y pipe (no cats) and if i remember correctly they were like 360$ shipped to my door from colorado speed. The coating still looks awesome and I dont have any clearance issues with scraping.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

my KOOKS have been trouble free. ARH is also top of the line.

Orange Juice

iTrader: (3)

I guess I didn't make myself clear, you said exactly what I was getting at. Even with Stainless headers my underhood temps were still hight. Coating the stainless was a great inprovement.
Something that hasn't been mentioned is sparkplugs. With longtubes it will be easier to change the plugs but the downside is that some headers really squeeze the clearance with the plug wires, burning out wires.