Headers w/ high flow cats

[BroySS]

OK, so I'm going to be buying a set of long tubes for my car this weekend off one of our sponsors as I did the CAI.

I mostly want my car as a street car, to maintain driveability. I guess I should stick with high flow cats with a set of long tubes? I don't have any emissions issues where I live so I wasn't sure which would be the best option for me. Currently, I don't have any mufflers, I wanted to wait and see what the headers sounded like before I made any more exhaust system changes.

Looking at Stainless Works, Kooks, Stainless Power....... Just looking for the best price I guess. I can't see alot of difference in them.....any tips/advice is appreciated in advance.


Mike

[ModBargains.com]

I wouldn't say going for just the best price is going to necessarily be the best option. If that's the case, just find something off ebay, but be prepared to MAKE it fit. We've installed Stainless works here before, and we have yet to have an issue with fitment on these, so we feel very comfortable knowing that after we send one off to a customer, he's going to be more than happy with the fit, finish, and final sound you get out the back when you first start it up. I'd stick with Stainless works, hands down.

[MarylandSpeed]

PM Sent. If we touch base, I can get you hooked up in the right direction and save you some money.

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by BroySS

OK, so I'm going to be buying a set of long tubes for my car this weekend off one of our sponsors as I did the CAI.

I mostly want my car as a street car, to maintain driveability. I guess I should stick with high flow cats with a set of long tubes? I don't have any emissions issues where I live so I wasn't sure which would be the best option for me. Currently, I don't have any mufflers, I wanted to wait and see what the headers sounded like before I made any more exhaust system changes.

Looking at Stainless Works, Kooks, Stainless Power....... Just looking for the best price I guess. I can't see alot of difference in them.....any tips/advice is appreciated in advance.


Mike

All of those are great products and will produce strong gains. Stainless Power would be the way to ho if you want the best bang for your buck. They are a very good set of headers at an affordable price point. The other two are great headers but cost substantially more.

[BroySS]

Any major differences with stainless power and stainless works? I know same company and all. Has anyone had any issues with them?

I appreciate all the vendors professional info , thanks

[ModBargains.com]

Originally Posted by BroySS

Any major differences with stainless power and stainless works? I know same company and all. Has anyone had any issues with them?

I appreciate all the vendors professional info , thanks

Stainless works would be the headers fully made in the US. The Stainless works headers are exactly 100% the same, but they are not made in the US, therefore they're less expensive due to lesser expensive labor rates and such. Same company, same design, same high quality steel, just outsourced.

[vroomapunk]

Originally Posted by BroySS

Any major differences with stainless power and stainless works? I know same company and all. Has anyone had any issues with them?

I appreciate all the vendors professional info , thanks

No one has issues, or anything bad to say about SP. ITs my understanding the flanges and pipes are still made/bent in the US, then welded over seas, and sent back here. They undergo quality testing here. They do have a shorter warranty, but I dont think anyone has had to use it yet.

Originally Posted by BroySS

OK, so I'm going to be buying a set of long tubes for my car this weekend off one of our sponsors as I did the CAI.

I mostly want my car as a street car, to maintain driveability. I guess I should stick with high flow cats with a set of long tubes? I don't have any emissions issues where I live so I wasn't sure which would be the best option for me. Currently, I don't have any mufflers, I wanted to wait and see what the headers sounded like before I made any more exhaust system changes.

Looking at Stainless Works, Kooks, Stainless Power....... Just looking for the best price I guess. I can't see alot of difference in them.....any tips/advice is appreciated in advance.


Mike

For LTs, you cant beat SP 1 7/8". They are reasonably priced, great quality, and put out the same power as most other brands. But there are better options for more money out there. People also like TSP, but I hear they are hard to come by.

Most 5th gen headers are similar design, and produce similar gains.

What to look for:
Stainless (wont rust, will discolor over time (not really in a bad way)
Mild steel thats coated wont rust either, but it can pit. It also will keep temps down because of the coating.
Merge spike, instead of the 4 pipes just dumping into one big collector, some brands have a "merge spike" that smooths the flow from 4 to 1. This is generally seen as superior to those without.

Thats about it, stick with the common brands on C5 and you will get good power, quality, and fitment.

There are extremes, cheap ebay ones may rust out lol, and Pfadt tri-y's go from 4 to 2 to 1 and have great gains (but are really expensive).


Keep the HF cats for a few reasons, deleting cats all together makes the car raspy and causes an odor. There is no performance loss with HF cats, they flow like 99.5% as good as mid pipes.

IMO, get a muffler or resonator somewhere along the line or the car will be really really loud.

I have:
SP 1 7/8" LTS
HF cats
Stock resonator
SOLO axleback with J pipes

Quiet inside under 2k rpm, over that sounds great, screams at WOT

[axis]

There are 50k threads on headers. Pretty much all header/HFC combo's will do what you asked. Pick the one that fits your budget and don't look back.

[BroySS]

Originally Posted by vroomapunk

No one has issues, or anything bad to say about SP. ITs my understanding the flanges and pipes are still made/bent in the US, then welded over seas, and sent back here. They undergo quality testing here. They do have a shorter warranty, but I dont think anyone has had to use it yet.




For LTs, you cant beat SP 1 7/8". They are reasonably priced, great quality, and put out the same power as most other brands. But there are better options for more money out there. People also like TSP, but I hear they are hard to come by.

Most 5th gen headers are similar design, and produce similar gains.

What to look for:
Stainless (wont rust, will discolor over time (not really in a bad way)
Mild steel thats coated wont rust either, but it can pit. It also will keep temps down because of the coating.
Merge spike, instead of the 4 pipes just dumping into one big collector, some brands have a "merge spike" that smooths the flow from 4 to 1. This is generally seen as superior to those without.

Thats about it, stick with the common brands on C5 and you will get good power, quality, and fitment.

There are extremes, cheap ebay ones may rust out lol, and Pfadt tri-y's go from 4 to 2 to 1 and have great gains (but are really expensive).


Keep the HF cats for a few reasons, deleting cats all together makes the car raspy and causes an odor. There is no performance loss with HF cats, they flow like 99.5% as good as mid pipes.

IMO, get a muffler or resonator somewhere along the line or the car will be really really loud.

I have:
SP 1 7/8" LTS
HF cats
Stock resonator
SOLO axleback with J pipes

Quiet inside under 2k rpm, over that sounds great, screams at WOT

Excellent info, thanks a bunch

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by vroomapunk

No one has issues, or anything bad to say about SP. ITs my understanding the flanges and pipes are still made/bent in the US, then welded over seas, and sent back here. They undergo quality testing here. They do have a shorter warranty, but I dont think anyone has had to use it yet.

Exactly correct. Great product for the money.

[BroySS]

how long after header install do you need to get a tune? and how long will it take to throw the check engine light?

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by BroySS

how long after header install do you need to get a tune? and how long will it take to throw the check engine light?

Sometimes the CEL is immediate, sometime it may take some time. Nothing harmful is going down but until you get the tune you will be leaving a lot of power on the table and if you are driving around with a CEL on you won't know if something legitimate comes up.

[tainoxl]

I just got my Stainless Power ordered from Maryland Speed. They look great and price was def right.

[MarylandSpeed]

Originally Posted by BroySS

how long after header install do you need to get a tune? and how long will it take to throw the check engine light?

The CEL light sometimes takes a while, sometimes it is immediate. That said, it is kind of a nothing light. Basically, you replaced the stock cats with high flow ones that are much further back in the exhaust system. That changes the readings the O2's see enough that the computer thinks the factory cats are failing and throws the code.

With our yellow car, I went almost a year without tuning because I knew we were doing a much bigger build it would have to be tuned for. It ran a little rich, but there was no harm. You are leaving 10 or so HP on the table..but in a temporary situation, it is not a huge issue.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to contact us!