Best Shorty Headers

[asroka]

I've found a lot of good advice here about cat-backs. I think I'm going with the Borla Type-S. I'd also like to get a good set of shorty headers.

I've found a few. Borla makes one, Edelbrock makes one, and Doug Thorley makes two (different coating materials). Any opinions on these (or others) would be appreciated.

My one caveat is that I am in California and I need this ride to be street legal. So, I need a set of headers that work with the stock cats and have CARB certification :-(

[2010SSRSM6]

Save your money. Shorty's will do nothing for you but empty your wallet.

[The 2010 Sin]

Why shorty headers?

"I've heard of alot of people buying shorties and wishing they had spent the extra but never the other way around!"

[MillerTime]

Originally Posted by 2010SSRSM6

Save your money. Shorty's will do nothing for you but empty your wallet.

+1

[BlaSSt Off]

Shorties are pointless.

[asroka]

I'm trying to work within the law. I know that long tubes will give me more horsepower, but none of them are legal for street use here. A lot of guys will do long headers anyway figuring that the chance of getting caught is small, but I'd rather do it by the book.

Besides, 426 is plenty. I just want a little more than stock. I'm not trying to break records.

A well designed shorty will clear better than stock, because of the varying length of the tubes and the bends relative to the order in which the cylinders fire. You want the exhaust from each cylinder to line up evenly in time. The stock design pays relatively little attention to this because they want it to be quiet and somewhat restrictive.

I'm an engineer by training, and I'm confident in my understanding of the technology. What I am interested in is actual experience with the models available for the LS3. How good are the available ones? Do any stand out over the others?

[CamaroFTW]

Do a search on the forum on "Shorty's" and you will see Dyno's posted of losses by adding these over the stock manifold. Haven't seen anyone prove these are better than stock and so why waste your money?

[The 2010 Sin]

If you're gonna do it I would only do Doug Thorley

[VADER SS L99]

Put that money towards other things like a good intake and tune. As long as you have a catback that you like the sound of you will be wasting your money on the shorties. A really good intake and tune will be way better for performance than the shorties. If you already have the tune and intake save the money toward a supercharger as there are 50 state legal units.

[2010SSRSM6]

BBK Has "tuned length" shorty's. If you HAVE to spend the money on a part that will only net you maybe 2hp, those are the only ones I would get. Honestly, there was a shorty test done by a shop on here a while back and a couple sets of headers actually lost power.

The factory headers are not like older units you may be used to. They are very strong and flow extreamly well.

[VADER SS L99]

Originally Posted by 2010SSRSM6

BBK Has "tuned length" shorty's. If you HAVE to spend the money on a part that will only net you maybe 2hp, those are the only ones I would get. Honestly, there was a shorty test done by a shop on here a while back and a couple sets of headers actually lost power.

The factory headers are not like older units you may be used to. They are very strong and flow extreamly well.

who did that test? i want to look it up for that info

[2010SSRSM6]

Jannetty Racing. Ted has done a LT test, CAI test, etc. I'm assuming I was on crack when I thought I saw a shorty test, cant find the thread when I search for it.

[asroka]

I searched and found this: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73977

Is that what you were talking about?

He lost power using the BBK shorties. No other headers were tested. And he did it with everything else stock.

I am a bit surprised that he *lost* power, but I'm not surprised that the shorties did nothing with stock mufflers. The mufflers are the bottleneck. The cat is a problem too, but better timing of the headers should flow more through the cat (More constant flow) unless you've got stock mufflers backing it up.

I want to see a real test with different brands and with free flowing exhaust behind it. I would bet money that at least some of them beat stock by a good deal, with or without the stock cats (Although getting rid of the cats is a no brainer, it's just not legal.)

So, I'm not sold on the shorties are worthless bit. With CAI, cat-back, and a good tune they should do quite a bit. However, I do buy the argument that I should spend my money on those other things first. So, I'll do that :-)

[BlaSSt Off]

Originally Posted by asroka

I searched and found this: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73977

Is that what you were talking about?

He lost power using the BBK shorties. No other headers were tested. And he did it with everything else stock.

I am a bit surprised that he *lost* power, but I'm not surprised that the shorties did nothing with stock mufflers. The mufflers are the bottleneck. The cat is a problem too, but better timing of the headers should flow more through the cat (More constant flow) unless you've got stock mufflers backing it up.

I want to see a real test with different brands and with free flowing exhaust behind it. I would bet money that at least some of them beat stock by a good deal, with or without the stock cats (Although getting rid of the cats is a no brainer, it's just not legal.)

So, I'm not sold on the shorties are worthless bit. With CAI, cat-back, and a good tune they should do quite a bit. However, I do buy the argument that I should spend my money on those other things first. So, I'll do that :-)

Spoken like a true engineer! A cat back has been PROVEN not to flow any better then the stock mufflers. The Cats are the "bottle neck" you speak of. Sure, shorties and a cat back SHOULD make better power from an engineering stand point, but its kinda like an when your working on a vehicle and your constantly saying "I wish the engineers would have to work on this thing!". Fact is, shorties do nothing and a cat back exhaust is for nothing more then sound. If you have the money to burn and you like to show off name brands, knock yourself out. If you want REAL performance, listen to the ones with REAL experiance.