LTs vs. Mid-Length

Malevolyn · Mar 3, 2006

I hate to (most likely) spark this argument again, but... I know LTs offer more gains over mid-range headers. But I don't have a lot of time to work on my car and I've heard that LTs can really be a bitch when it comes to working on the engine. Can anyone recommend a good mid-length header? And possibly a place to get the insulation wrapping?

PS, my girlfriend's here and liked this. She's Canadian. Just thought you'd all wanna know.

mrvax · Mar 3, 2006

The mid-length or "shorties" may give a 3-4rwhp gain on s stock GT. I pass on them and get thel longtubes.

speedfreak98r · Mar 3, 2006

Bassani makes a good mid-length i've heard..

Malevolyn · Mar 3, 2006

I guess I really dunno what I want. Do you have to lift the engine more with LTs? Because that's what I'm trying to avoid.

shallowreef · Mar 3, 2006

Not sure but from what i've read and heard your better offf with LTs. Thats what i did at least.

speedfreak98r · Mar 3, 2006

Instead of lifting the engine, drop the K-member..That seems to be easier.

BooWFO · Mar 3, 2006

Well been that I just did shorties last week and had to lift the engine to put them on I doubt you'll be able to put LT in without doing it. Now I'm not saying it's not possible just I couldn't. If you have REAL skinny arms you may be able to reach the bolts with shorties without raising it. LT's can it be done? well I know my buddy put the LT's on his 96 cobra without raising the engine or dropping the kmember but bothhim and his dad have skinny arms and it took them almost 2 weeks to do it.
Now for all those that DON"T have shorties and have never been in mod motor car with them. I can't see how you can possible be say they are not worth it. I know my car rev's more easily and smoother to higher RPMS than before. I made no changes to the intake side or any other changes to the exhaust side. Now do I beleive I would have seen even better results with LT's the answer is of course yes, but I didn't want the headaches of them later on.

csledd · Mar 3, 2006

When I installed my LT's I tried to do it without dropping the k-member and lifting the engine.. yeah that didn't work so well so I just dropped the k-member.

Malevolyn · Mar 3, 2006

I don't mind lifting the engine or dropping the kmember once, but how many times will I have to do it in the future?

ian7654 · Mar 3, 2006

here's what i don't get. if LT's are the best for performance, what are "optimum length" headers? just shorties with a better name?

hey cody how's the car running?

Malevolyn · Mar 3, 2006

ian7654 said:
hey cody how's the car running?

Shut up. My broken Cobra is still so much cooler than your fake Cobra. So there.

billfisher · Mar 3, 2006

listen dude.

ANYTHING BESIDES TUNED LENGTH LONGTUBES LOWERS RESTRICTION! THEY DON'T 'MAKE' HP.

proper length longtubes use pulse tuning to extract gasses. anything else does not.

edelbrock steppers are the best available. (1 3/4") shorty's are ok, but why? 300 or so dollars get you torque and hp. you can use larger tubes and port stocker and get the same as shorties. or get big increase in area under the curve with steppers.add a 1 7/8" last section custom and 3 1/2" collectors and they can't be beaten. by anything but another stepper.

if you get .1 sec improvement at different rpms during acceleration you win.

helty · Mar 3, 2006

bill, whats the word on tranny access with the edelbrocks, and what mid-pipes are available with it? They have a 3" collector and most, if not all mid-pipes available for the 2Vs are 2.5". Isn't 3" exhaust a little much for a bolt-on 2V? Even with H/C/I, wouldnt you loose a lot of low end?

Just curious. Im looking into LT's soon and want the bst bang for my buck. The price on the Edelbrocks isnt bad, but I need to know they are worth it on a N/A 2V, and what mid-pipe choices I have. Thanks.

hognutz · Mar 3, 2006

I say spend the money elsewhere if you don't want longtubes. the only midlenghts out there are jba and bassani that I am aware of. niether are cheap. I don't forsee the intasall on the midlenghts not being a bit of a pain in the ass. They don't produce the power of longtubes. I would just buy longtubes. set a weekend aside and drop the k.

I think longtubes are the way to go the one thing that would be unacepable to me is not being able to pull the tranny withoug pulling the passenger side header.

If I were staying N/A I would get the kooks stainless headers. they are expensive but everthing I have read on them tells me they are the ones to have.

that being said the price of the headers I wanted and the aftermarket intakes out there are what drove me to thinking boost was the way to go on the 4.6L 2v engine.

deftsound · Mar 3, 2006

5.0 mustang mag did a dyno test iwth shortys and gained i believe 2hp....2hp for a PITA and a lotta money. Any header install is a bitch on the 96 and ups....

Stang|ess · Mar 3, 2006

mrvax said:
The mid-length or "shorties" may give a 3-4rwhp gain on s stock GT. I pass on them and get thel longtubes.

midlength headers are NOT the same as shorties. it's exactly what the name says, midlength. they're longer than shorties, but shorter than longtubes.

I only know of bassani and jba that make them, and due to their length, you have to use the same brands midpipe. that is unless you get a different one retrofited to your car (cutting and welding).

you can stick with longtubes (flowtech, hooker, kooks, maybe slp) and not have to remove them when you work on your tranny. I don't see why it would be any harder to work on your engine though?

I'm not quite sure on the power thing, I skimmed something that said something about aslong as the primary tubes are 14", there's no additional horsepower to be made. do a search, I'm sure you'll find it easily.

helty · Mar 3, 2006

^not SLP.

hognutz · Mar 3, 2006

mid lenghts to not make as much low end power or peak power as longtubes. you would be lucky to get 10hp most likly out of midleght. most likely 8 or so. were longtubes are usualy 15hp.

they are not a complete waste like shorties but are expensive enough that I would not run them personally. I have researched headers into the ground too. If shorties were worth it they would be on my car as they are cheap. stainless longtubes are expensive. I really wanted to stay n/a. just gets to expensive.

then again I wanted a low 12 high 11 sec car on handling oriented suspention. hard to do with 300-320hp. need more like 400hp.

QU!CK · Mar 3, 2006

FWIW, you don't have to unbolt/loosen/remove Hooker and Flowtech LT's to have access to the tranny.

-J

Stang|ess · Mar 4, 2006

QU!CK said:
FWIW, you don't have to unbolt/loosen/remove Hooker and Flowtech LT's to have access to the tranny.

-J

Along with kooks, and bassani.

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LTs vs. Mid-Length

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