Yeah I have decided I need cats and I know the difference b/t the two... The only problem is I have never heard them in person; so I am going by what I've heard on youtube and peoples personal posts

 

I would recommend the H-pipe. I've got the X-pipe and at the time the H was not available. The X can get really raspy sound wise. It's not that bad. I can live with it. I wish I cold have heard both in person too. It's hard to tell. But when you floor it the car just screams. Yet you can take it easy and its not that loud at all.


When you add FI to it though it gets even better. It sounds better too. I'm not sure if its that it breathes better or what, but the car sounds better now with LT headers and a blower up top.


I would not hesitate to do LT headers again. I'm putting them in my '91 convertible this month.

 

So I'm confused??? You say you would have rather gone with an H but which are you talking about when you say it screams at WOT??? Which are you saying sounds better w/ FI or LT's???? I'm sorry but I confused?

 

In my opinion the H sounds a little better. The X can get a bet trumpety. But I drive mine so little its not worth spending $400 for another mid pipe and swapping them out. If I had it to do over again I would get the H with high flow cats. But I am still very happy with my X with high flow cats.

They are Kooks headers and mid-pipe BTW.

The best way describe wide open throttle with my current setup would be NASCAR. But at idle to 2,500 rpms its not nearly as bad as you would think. You can tell its not stock, but it doesn't sound any harsher than a lot of the cars with stock manifolds and an off road X pipe. FWIW.

 

Hey Gary thanks for your help b/c w/out people telling me about their experiences I would be totally upside down on what to do... So I decided to Go w/ Catted H.

Now I have a question regarding FI vs. NA??? I thought FI you need 1 3/4 but with NA I should go 1 5/8.... So I don't know what to do???

 

I went 1 5/8" though I could have gone 1 3/4" if I had known but I didn't.

It won't hurt you to get 1 5/8" and eventually go FI. It'll be a substantial improvement over the stock manifolds. If you knew you were going FI right away I might would go that route, but 1 5/8 will not hurt at all. It's still a cast improvement. Plus if you're keeping the stock block and stock bottom end, the 1 5/8" will easily get you to the max 450-500 rwhp. All this is IMHO.

 

Yeah, that makes complete sense... My question is whether the 1 3/4 gives you the opportunity to run less boost to get to a certain HP or is the diff b/t the 2 sizes negligible?

 

That would be a question for Chris Rose at Tillman or Brent at Brenspeed. I can't answer that.

 

Ported heads would show you less boost but more power, your only as good as your most narrow point. Think of it like a straw with something stuck on the tip, when you move the obstruction it flows great. If you were watching a boost gauge before and after you would actually see less boost pressure

As far as headers go, I love my catted X and 1 5/8" headers I'm weird like that though. Check this video out to see what he's talking about at WOT, I love underpasses so much.... Skip to about half way:

 

Yeah Robert. Underpasses are pretty cool now.


Underpasses, parking garages, downtown areas with tall buildings on both sides...

 

My favorite place is a long concrete tunnel. Up my area, we have one that goes through a mountain, and I have ALOT of fun there. Also, there is one down in Maryland. I went through there one time and I think I SERIOUSLY pissed off a M/B driver. The look on his face when he passed me just outside the tunnel, was one of those "if looks could kill..." expressions. I was having the time of my life in the tunnel, doing 45 mph, 3rd gear, WOT then shift to 4th!! WHAT A GLORIOUS SOUND IT MADE!!!

 

I appreciate the help with the video but I tell you they just don't do justice to the real thing. And that is why I am having such a hard time....

 

Yeh I'm still on the fence as well about which brand of headers and pipes to go with. I saw someone mention LT and lowered, is there a clearance issue with lowered cars and LTs. My 08 has the Roush lowering kit and Stage 2 suspension so would I need to worry about clearance?

 

How much is your car actually lowered??? My car is lowered as well and I don't think it will be a problem at all...

 

Not exactly sure, suspension and springs were already installed when we got the car. I figure 1.5 to 2" if I had to guess. What's the stock ride height and I could measure mine to see the difference?

 

2" may be pushing it but I'm not sure. As for the Stock ride height I am not sure on that either considering I've been lowered for awhile now. You could look up how much the stage 2 springs from Roush drops the car though.

 

It's the great mystery of life. I posted the question a year ago and found some people had issues while some did not. I also called header companys and none of them would guarantee that their product would tuck under the frame rail.

Right now, I'm lowered 1.5" and scrape the occasional speed bump. If I lose another .25 or .5 inch, I'll lose a substantial amount of streetability (imo). Thats why I'm going shorty.

 

Hold on right now lowered 1.5 you scrape??? Man I think that is what I am lowered to and I have to say I never scrape!!!!

 

I really need to take care on speed bumps and steep driveways. If I don't take special attention, I'll scrape for sure.

 

Man for real.... That stinks; I guess LT's are kinda out of the question...