Pacesetters and kooks..
No they aren't. Your not going to lose out on power or torque, only gain in these areas. This myth that they are overkill has been proven wrong by several builders on here such as TSP, Pat G and others. The gains even on a stock LS1 motor are better than 1 3/4. It's not a ton of power, but power is power.
Get the 1 7/8 and put them on your car and i bet you dont gain more then 5 whp. I see N/A cars doing over 500 wheel with 1 3/4. the only way i would do 1 7/8 is if i had a 408 or bigger.
In BOLD. You just said it yourself, there will be gains by going with the larger headers. So if you are looking to get the best gains and get squeeze out every last HP, then they are the way to go.
Launching!
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 234
Likes: 0
From: Disneyland or St Louis
It would run fine, maybe a little rich and you might get a check engine light. But it wouldn't hurt anything. Its best to do your mods in groups with a budget in mind. Bolt on's then a tune, forced induction or cam and a tune. If your going to get more midieval than that you won't need anyone's advice at that stage, at least not mine.
Find the best high performance shop in your area that doesn't mind sharing the technical info with you and ask them about a mod your going to buy. You can write down all the BS you want from the internet but you would be better off asking a shop that has seen the good, bad and ugly of just about everything you can throw at them.
I like a shop that makes their money from doing the installation and not from selling the parts.
LOL my main point is its not worth the extra money for the few ponies you get
Launching!
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 234
Likes: 0
From: Disneyland or St Louis
1. If you already have a set of 1 3/4" headers is it worth it to buy a set of 1 7/8" headers for the small gains you will get per cost of a new set of headers. That answer would be NO.
2. If you don't have headers now and are about to buy a set. Is the extra cost of upgrading to 1 7/8" for the small gains you will get per the price difference between the two. That answer would be YES.
Keep in mind of how far you plan on going with mods. I bought a set of 1 7/8" headers because I was planing on porting the heads and installing a bigger cam some day. That has changed after I started learning more mostly from this site. Now I'm going to install a Procharger so I would be better off with 2" headers. Am I going to get a set of 2" headers, NO. I would be better off spending that money on Cam with more gains.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
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
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
Five Reasons the Camaro Was the Most Pivotal Player in the Pony Car Wars 2.0
Brett Foote
I've had pacesetters before... I run Kooks now. Everyone has their opinion and mine is that fit and finish along with longevity, quality and performance are rated over just simply a performance gain. Pacesetters will eventually peil and rust, then leak, and all while looking like **** under your hood. Thats my opinion and good luck with whatever decision you make.
Lol what? So are you saying Pacesetters look like crap and leak? If so, you don't have a clue what you are talking about. Never once had a single issue with mine nor have I heard any of the local guys having issues. Mine still look like they did when I took them out of the box 2 years ago.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,076
Likes: 0
Lol what? So are you saying Pacesetters look like crap and leak? If so, you don't have a clue what you are talking about. Never once had a single issue with mine nor have I heard any of the local guys having issues. Mine still look like they did when I took them out of the box 2 years ago.
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Portland OR
You can buy pacesetters either coated or uncoated, if they are NOT coated, they won't look good for long once the paint is burned off. But that statement goes for any mild steel header that isn't coated. If you get their coated header, they will look as good as any header. All the Kooks or ARH headers that are made of stainless steel look better because they never rust. You can also have the option of coating a stainless header but WTF for?? You are spending upwards of $300 to save a bit of heat in the engine bay. I have never seen any real temp reductions that were significant. Nick at ARH says don't bother to coat their SS headers because they will tend to hold more heat and transfer it back into the chamber. Which I can't see how thinking back to the days of my thermodynamics classes. In any case the pacesetter headers look fine when coated and perform nearly as well if not as well as the more expensive cousins.
As far as 1 3/4 vs 1 7/8 there is a trade off, the larger tubes may cause you to loose some low end torque but may gain on top depending on your combination. The smaller tubes will promote more low end torque but may loose on top depending on your combo. On a stock or near stock engine with say a cam only, that statment will definitely hold true when going to large tube headers.
As far as 1 3/4 vs 1 7/8 there is a trade off, the larger tubes may cause you to loose some low end torque but may gain on top depending on your combination. The smaller tubes will promote more low end torque but may loose on top depending on your combo. On a stock or near stock engine with say a cam only, that statment will definitely hold true when going to large tube headers.
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
From: Stevenson,WA
There are only gains to be seen across the board with the larger tube headers. Even on stock motors.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...o-results.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...o-results.html
I had the pacesetters and kooks on my 06 GTO and I will never again buy pacesetter headers. Call Marylandspeed I picked up the kooks 1 7/8 and midpipes for $990shipped. They fit much better on the GTO and you wont ever have to worry about the headers if you ever decide to go stroker or more cubes. The kooks are worth the extra $$$ in my opinion.