Step Headers

[A.R. Headers]

My pleasure Bob. Glad I can help.

Scruffage, Our 1-7/8" system complete with our X-pipe and cats through the stock mufflers will produceapproximately 30-32 RWHP prior to any tuning and with the stock Air Intake. We've sold thousands of these systems to date and they've been dyno'd to death. The performance results are well established. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions. I'll be glad to help. Thanks.

Nick
A.R. Headers

[A.R. Headers]

One other thing I wanted to add, if you're supercharged step headers are a complete waste of time.

Nick

[MileMAN402]

Originally Posted by A.R. Headers

One other thing I wanted to add, if you're supercharged step headers are a complete waste of time.

Nick

do yours have the spike that the others are using?

[CC Performance]

ARH are some of the finest headers on the market. I've run Stainless Works, Kooks and ARH on my personal car. The ones pictured are 2" primaries with 3 1/2 collectors. We offer only ARH. Call or pm me, we offer a free set of plugs and wires as well as free shipping with an ARH long-tube combination.

[Slowhawk]

Stepped headers is nothing new in the LS world.I was running them 5 years ago on one of my cars.
As Nick said,they are purpose built for certain setups.They already make proven headers for the Gen5. I run the 2" on my car.

Pretty sure ARH has had the merge spike for alot of years.

[A.R. Headers]

Thanks for jumping in guys. Since ARH began we've incorporated merge collectors with scavenger spikes on everything we produce. Add to that the fact that we won't use any foreign sourced material and you have the trademarks that helped define us as a high quality header manufacturer.

Nick

[Georger]

Here is alittle insit on a stepped header design and it's benifits.
Headers must be designed for specific applications ..A step header on a supercharged application will increase scavenge the exhaust gasses .A good rule to follow is match the exhaust port and end with the desired horsepower range. The rule bigger is better works well when high boost levels are obtained with a roots type screw supercharger..Example Hi-Helix, Kobelco etc, such as (30+ lbs of boost)..Also RPM range and the duration of the range has a lot to do primaries size and length for example a 355”engine making 750 HP @ 7500 would use depending on application a 1-7/8 stepped to a 2” 32” x in length into a 3-1/2” and a go fast high dollar 355” engine making 850 hp spinning 9000+ will run either a 23-25” primary depending on cylinder head can run a 1-7/8-2-2-1/8 with a 3-1/2” collector with a 3-1/2” collector or if the cylinder head is ported larger and a higher launching and rpm range is the case a 2” stepped to a 2-1/8” with a 2-1/8 x 3-1/2 x 4” merge would fit the bill.. If the proper designed header unit is not tailored than it’s possible for static heat retention in the exhaust primaries to go into effect, than the exhaust will have a tendency to stall similar to an airplane running in a vertical climb, the exhaust track and a negative exhaust pulse will be in effect. Now on lower boost levels say for street car application 6-9 PSI the engine is running similar to a naturally aspirated with say a .5 of a bar( Barometric pressure) to the manifold psi 14.1” a step header will evacuate the exhaust gasses the same as a naturally aspirated power plant ..In a nut shell the more efficient the engine is on the exhaust side the intake will greatly benefit increasing fuel optimization. If the initial exhaust tract sees to great of volume of void there will be a manifold pressure drop thus negative boost will be seen. In every application we have ever tested, a “properly designed” stepped header has made more power or TQ than a non stepped header. We put a lot of work into designing these products, and have been a leader in bring out this type of header for many of our applications. The big issue with a stepped header is the price and work involved in making the product. Each stepped header normally runs $2-300 more than a standard header and takes 30% longer to make. Because of that, they are a premium product with a premium price. Why do you not see many competitors offering stepped headers? My only guess would be either they haven’t tested them properly, or they do not want to deal with the extra hassle they add to production. Luckily for us, we have a new 45,000 sqft state of the art facility in NC, that allows us to produce the highest quality product in the industry. Being located in NC also allows us to have unbiased testing done with multiple Professional race teams such as Roush Yates, Hendrick motors and Cagnazzi racing. Through there testing with us is where we gain our factual data that helps us make our final design decisions. I hope this helps explain the theory of a stepped header and how they work with a supercharged application. If you have any other question please feel free to PM me or respond to the thread.