Gears?? Long tube headers or shorties??

[Stangsgrl]

Long tube headers or shorties??

I plan on puttin on a supercharger in a year or so, and have been hearing different suggestions.
I was told that i might not get the full use of the long tube headers, and that shorty headers would be best if i put a supercharger on.
Thoughts??

I'm not too concerned about money so give it to me performance wise and what's best for the engine.. thanks!
*newbie girl to the 'stang scene!*

 

[StangLou]

If I were you Id go with 3.73's since you want to go with a s/c. As far as exhaust goes... I dont know who told you to go with shorties, but since you want to go s/c, L/T's will be best for you performance and sound wise...

Im going to bed now sexy lady

 

[CottonBurnerz]

I also have read somewhere that shorties and long tubes doesn't really matter when putting s/c on.. I would spend the extra $$ and get long tubes though..

 

[02 Sonic Blue]

definetely go with the LTs, with the blower you'll see noticable gains over n/a. Also i think that the 3.73's are best for the blower, the 4.10's are just too much, but they'd be a heck of a lot of fun though, but just a little overkill if you ask me.

 

[Bob H]

The Kenne Bell web site claims there tests yield no gain (and in fact some losses) in HP with LT of shortie headers used in conjuncton with there S/C. Might be best to use the money for cat backs/gears/short shifter or things like a new MAF or throttle body to compliment the future S/C.

 

[oldskooler79]

definetely go with the LTs, with the blower you'll see noticable gains over n/a. Also i think that the 3.73's are best for the blower, the 4.10's are just too much, but they'd be a heck of a lot of fun though, but just a little overkill if you ask me.

But for somebody that doesn't daily drive their car, such as myself....is it still overkill? I will put maybe 3-5k miles a year on this car and DO NOT care about losing mpg. I want to be able to make it to the track and back (roundtrip 150 miles) with my ET Streets in the trunk with optimal performance. Is it still overkill in the 1/4?

 

[Beau]

But for somebody that doesn't daily drive their car, such as myself....is it still overkill? I will put maybe 3-5k miles a year on this car and DO NOT care about losing mpg. I want to be able to make it to the track and back (roundtrip 150 miles) with my ET Streets in the trunk with optimal performance. Is it still overkill in the 1/4?

everyone i've talked to thinks that 3.73's are a great supercharger gear. unless you have 6 gears, i wouldn't get 4.10's with a power adder. staying N/A, get 4.10's at least maybe 4.30's if you wanna have lots of fun

 

[Stangsgrl]

i realized after I posted that I got the gear numbers mixed up, i'm going with the 3.73's for sure.

But L/T's i'm hearing?? Is there any benefit to helping the engine with air flow if i happen to lose some HP? hmmm.... haha
thanks for the feedback

 

[Mod Man]

Longtubes are going to be the best bang for the buck hands down. I have put tons of them on customers cars. They just have the best bang for the buck. But if you were going to be going for some shorties I would try out some of the new BBK's. I have a couple on the way to get in stock...but havent seen them yet or try'd them out on a car yet to see the power increase. They look good and looks like bbk put there time in the design of them...But we will see. But if it was me I would go with some Longtubes and do an Xpipe: VRS, DR.Gas, BBK, or Bassani. That will give you the best bang for the buck. Good luck and hope this has helped a little.

Also the Gear I would go with: 3.73's.

Let me know if I can help out in anyway.

 

[hognutz]

everybody starts talking out thier a@s when it comes to gears. they will tell you not to run a certain gear but not why. the reason you would not run 4:10's has to do with if you are trapping to high mainly. it really depends on what supercharger you go with IMO. not everyone is trapping over 116 with SC. if you went with a centi charger and did not have every mod I think 4:10's would be a good gear. it really depends on what you plan to do total with the car. calulate you tire size, redline, hp. then decide if you 4:10's are too deap. someone who is only putting down like 330-350hp from a certifugal charger may benifit from 4:10's.

for example I have even though about running the KB 6psi kit with 4:10's. I would not run the 9PSI kit with 4:10's though. if that makes sense. I think youwould run out fo gear.

one thing I would say is 3.73's are not goin to be that great right now. better but not optimum. as for headers you could also look into mid lenght. the reason I don't have headers yet is I would like stainless and to be able to drop the tranny since I want a t-56 down the road. I know jba is working on midlenghts.

 

[hognutz]

if you could decide on an exact supercharget to buy that would help you pick you mods now. for example if you wanted a kenne bell 9psi(what I would pick) you almost need to to nothing. you would have a low 12sec car without headers or gears. you can have 400hp with simple maf, cold air, catback. this kit almost runs you at the safe hp limit of your engine with no mods.

I you wanted a vortech (mongoos kit from t&j is what I would do) depending on what you wanted to to total I would run gears 3.73 or 4.10. I would run headers as well. as for headers I am not alot of help becasue I can't make up my own damn mind.

 

[Beau]

hognutz, the JBA midlengths can be ordered from JBA right now BUT IMO it would be best to wait till suppliers start getting them before ordering so the prices will go down some. You can get them in either the 1 3/4 tube or the 1 5/8 tube. Also, the only mid pipe that will work (according to J Bittle, the owner of JBA) is the JBA catted or non-catted H pipe.

 

[Stangsgrl]

Interesting, from the Kenne Bell 4.6 tech tips:

HEADERS
Long tubes make very little, if any, power or actually lose power according to our customer reports. They eliminate the pre-catalytic
converters. That isn't 50 state legal. And don't confuse any power gains from removing the pre-cats with header gains. Pre-cat and cat
removal will net around 10HP. In our opinion, headers for the 4.6 GT aren't worth the small peak power gains and expense. Always keep
in mind that any power gain from exhaust (headers, cat back, and cats) is incrementally proportional to engine air flow/HP and reduced
back pressure. That's why some products make "0" Hp on stock or +100HP engines but more on a +200HP engine. Every component
has it's limits.
Example: If the headers make 20HP at 700HP but nothing a 400, 500, and 10HP at 600HP why would you buy headers for
an engine that will never make 600 or 700HP?


Things that make you go HMmmmmmmm

 

[Dark Knight GT]

i realized after I posted that I got the gear numbers mixed up, i'm going with the 3.73's for sure.

But L/T's i'm hearing?? Is there any benefit to helping the engine with air flow if i happen to lose some HP? hmmm.... haha
thanks for the feedback

As without a doubt the smartest man on this board , I will tell you I never lost any power with my long tubes nor have I seen a dyno that showed a loss for anyone going to long tubes over stock shorties.

 

[prsrizdgt]

From reading alot of posts and having a few more years under me than most on this board I can say I respect alot of what Hognutz has to say. I will add however that there are alot of intangibles that can keep you from producing what I would call "book" horsepower numbers. Are you racing redlight to redlight, running 1/4 mile times, or just have fun showin off and cruzin. You have to ask yourself what you want to do with the car? I am not a professional but anybody, including KB, that doesn't think long tube headers on a S/C motor are not beneficial over shorties (glorified stock manifolds practically) needs mental help. If your gonna bleed putting them on, which you will, put on the LT headers. My problem is the 98 heads. The FRPP shorties are not an issue now. Right now LT's probably wouldn't help much because the restriction is in the head. Under full boost I am showing about 10.5 psi because pressure is stacking up in the head. Once the heads are opened up, I will make more power and boost will be less, but the restriction will become those shortie headers guaranteed. You guys with the PI heads have the advantage, big time. On gears, I didn't look to see if you noted 5-speed or auto. I am running 3.73's with the auto and turn right at 5800-5900 thru the traps. I basically can, like most S/C cars, loose traction at any time I hit the throttle hard under 30-40mph on street tires, and I know 5-speeds can even easier than me. If you have that much torque and power, I am not sure lower gears would be a good move. Keep asking questions, ride in some cars with S/C's, and read. As many people as there are on this forum, you probably can find some folks around where you live to see how the S/C cars run. Just my quarters worth, Good luck.

 

[Stangsgrl]

thanks for that input! i am 5-speed and have thought about that traction deal. i was thinking about doin a break job and some suspension also, just what though, i'm not sure yet. Maybe i'll just put the s/c on before i do anything full exhuast wise and go from there. i just had a friend tell me that shorties would be better and not that expensive. that's why i posted this, because i would think LT's would be better. thanks again all!