Hey guys,

I'm runnin the vortech kit now and I'm getting ready to upgrade to 650cc injectors and a 4.2" pulley. I know our stock header is pretty sweet from the factory, but when do i need to get an upgrade? How far can the stock one go?


Thanks

Nate

 

bump ?

 

to answer "when do i "NEED" a header: unless you're willing to spend $1000+ on a header, stock is the way to go, especially supercharged.


now if you're thinking, "when do I WANT a header", well there's lots of options out there.

any of the big name brands out there will get a little bit of gains, but by spending under $1000 ( talking new here ), you're not getting a lot of bang for the buck.

the exception for only the ap1 is the ricks header. awesome header, 1/2 the weight of stock, and reuses the heatshields. I picked up 6-8hp low and midrange after tuning, but lost 4hp up top top.

pretty much for max gains the J's or Toda is the way to go. But for any header, except for i believe the Rick's and Mugen ones, you will need some sort of heat protection under the hood as you lose the heat shield.

you will need to either coat/wrap the header, make custom shields, or vent / get a vented hood. what good is a shiny new header when you lose any additional power to heat soak? and keep in mind, after any header install you should have the car tuned as well, as you'll probably be running lean after install.

so take all the costs into consideration, and decide if the gains are something you "need" for you're setup. now if a good header is something you "want", well then we can have a different discussion about what's best for your setup.

 

I definitely don't want to spend the money on the header, but if my car needs one at 400whp I want to get what's best

 

if you're car is going to be pumping out 400whp, I'd get the J's or Toda header.

you need a test pipe / high flow cat and 70mm single exhaust to really take advantage of it though.

 

oh, and a retune is VERY important.