anyone know the truth on headers?

[Dave B.]

Iv heard for the longest time that headers on a supercharged Cobra do not help, in fact George from RPMOUTLET who sells headers told me if I put them on my car it would be like throwing an anchor out at lower RPM's

Iv just heard too many stories, does anyone have FACTS???? DYNO PROVEN TYPE STUFF????

[InfamousSVT]

Well, honestly I don't have any facts on hp increases, but I put the Bassani mid-lenghts on mine and I just love the sound!

But, for your question. Headers will only really net you about 5-10hp gains. Unless you have over 600rwhp then headers will only really help the car breath a heck of a lot better, but don't expect any 40 + rwhp gains from them.

Hope this helps!

IMO, it's worth it just for the sound

[Dave B.]

When you bring up 5-10 hp Theres a lot easier way to get it, before I have my mechanic take on a hugh pain in the as& job like installing headers,

I think I would go with an electrice water pump mod, thats a proven 11.5 RWHP or more HP all the way around, and if anything takes stress off the engine,


But its just like the gears issue, a lot of tuners told me to leave the 3:55's alone, but I put in 4:10's and its the biggest gain yet since the 2.80 pulley

[InfamousSVT]

Every mod out there is basically just an opinion really!

Some say headers are worth it and some don't..........I believe headers are worth it for the sound, but if you're looking for power gains I'd look else were like you stated above.

It's all a matter of how much money you want to spend and what kind of gains or upgrades you're looking for from your car!


BTW, let me know how that electric water pump does if you get it, I've been looking at it, but haven't heard much feed back from it!

[smashedheadcat]

They will pick up a little across the rev range. The will not make you lose bottom end power. Headers will remove a restriction and you will most likely see a reduction in boost if you add them. This is a good thing. While headers are not the most bang for buck mod for our cars out there, they do help reduce underhood temps. Which, is definately a good thing. Expect maybe 7-10 rwhp across the rev range with peaks ending up around the same.

[Dave B.]

Josh,
I see your car is a 1997, are you speaking from your experiance from a 97 model?

Yes under hood temp is hot, in fact its very very hot, by chance do you have any temp reduction numbers? if not I know thats a hard number to put ones hands on for sure, the engine temp would most likley remain the same but to make matters worse I have a fiberglass Cobra "R" hood,

it gets hot, real fricking hot, too hot, but $1000 hot? gee I dont know, its just too dam bad that headers are so hard to install on these cars,

My mechanic just did a set on another cobra and it was absolutly awful.

I want to see some numbers, I would almost loan out the wife to clean you guys house for a day if I could actualy see, a before and after Dyno graph where the headers were the only thing changed.

[blk04cobra1]

I'll let you know how I like my LT's and water pump, here in the next few weeks...I think the water pump is worth it for cooling reasons...oh yeah, my results may be a little different b/c it's with another blower, but it'll give you an idea...and Jason is right, they make the exhaust sound just that much better

[lorahcobra]

I agree with everything every one said about HP gains & sound. We have the Bassani mid-length (ceramic coated) on our '03. Consider this...if you plan on doing suspension/chassis upgrades, DO NOT put on full length headers. We added KB matrix braces, jacking rails, and MM full length subframe connectors last winter and plan to go coil overs, a-arms, and k-member from MM this winter. Our installer said practically none of the above would have been possible with full length headers...not to mention the fl's will give you clearance issues. Just my .02.

[dewone]

Aspiration. Anything that helps your car breath helps the car produce power.
A good part of the gains is in the top rpm's which is where you would be trying to get around slower traffic (SMOKEN A CAMARO...) I haven't noticed any loss in the low end like some claim.
Some manufactures provide a dyno graph showing the results of their tests.
Hope that helps.

[smashedheadcat]

I don't have any underhood temp numbers for you unfortunately, but I'm sure it's pretty significant. While I have more exprience with headers on a 97 cobra than I care to have, I am talking '03-04 cobra numbers here. The older mod motors seem to respond better to headers than the '03 cobra do, but there are still gains to be had. Doing the header install isn't that bad. It takes some patience, but it can be done in one day without a lift. Going by looks alone, the '03s look a little easier to work with headerwise. I haven't put headers on my '03 cobra as I'm going a different route. If I had planned on staying with a supercharger, I would definately put some headers on there. I would go with bassani mid lengths though, as I'm tired of dealing with header removal and installs everytime I need to get into the bellhousing. LOL Them headers interfered with anything I ever wanted to do with my 97. Lowering, lakewood bellhousing, motor mounts, batter relocation, EGT guage, and finally, house selection. I bought myself a my first house, and with the springs on my car, I couldn't get the thing out of my driveway. It literally would get hung up leaving the driveway. So keep in mind, with the addition of long tubes, you have to worry about ground clearance. If you decide to do headers, I recommend the coated MAC headers, or the bassani midlengths. Stainless works headers look good as well. So do SLP's but damn that price!

[InfamousSVT]

Originally Posted by smashedheadcat

I would go with bassani mid lengths though,

Can't go wrong there!

[dewone]

Aren't those 1 3/4" pipes into a 4" collector though. My BBK's and most others I was looking at are 1 1/2" to 3".
Still stick with stainless or ceramic.

[kilroy]

Originally Posted by Dave B.

Iv heard for the longest time that headers on a supercharged Cobra do not help, in fact George from RPMOUTLET who sells headers told me if I put them on my car it would be like throwing an anchor out at lower RPM's

Iv just heard too many stories, does anyone have FACTS???? DYNO PROVEN TYPE STUFF????

Only SOTP facts. My neighbor slapped on a set of BBK LT off-road H & borla stinger muff only/flows (he keeps switching them for some reason). The one time I drove his car in a parking lot it felt like milktoast down low. Sounds like the Second Coming, though! At the track side by side he traps 2-3 mph slower & a few tenths off as well. He was running a RR 2.80 to my RR 2.85(he recently switched to a 7.5 RR but still runs no better than I do). His tune is Strictly while AR did mine. Not exactly an apples to apples comparo, but like I said, milktoast. If he ran cats, perhaps that would make a huge difference. His car gets the looks due to its sound, mine because it runs OK. Both of our cars are daily drivers.

Amazon Racing will tell you all day long Teminators need backpressure and I believe it. At the same time, I also feel that with high boost configurations that the oem manifolds will become too restrictive. Question is, where is the limit? I'll put on my Whipple very soon but only running 15-16PSI & stock manifolds. May go bigger in the future & try headers. Dunno. I just may leave the stock stuff in place.

One last parting shot. I hate header leaks. Do a search elsewhere & you'll find tons of threads with that result from LTs. I love not touching a thing once it's modded.