I have been kicking around adding these. My car is going in for gears and a driveshaft soon and was wondering if I should do these too while it's in. I received a very professional opinion that the minimal gains are not worth the cost of them plus the install...this is not something I can do. I was also told they really only make sense if the car was turbocharged and I might lose some low end. So what are your thoughts? Thanks.

 

I heard the same. They are not worth the cost of admission, and Long Tubes would give more bang for the buck. I recommend holding off until you can get a decent pair of long tubes and associated parts.

 

Long tubes. Shorties are a waste of money and weaken the low-end torque.

 

He has a V6 and you definitely don't lose low end torque you gain it. Longtubes will net you a little more than shorties but the difference between shorties and o/r mid pipe and longtubes and o/r mid is ~10 hp. The Longtubes will also be more raspy where as the Shortys will give your exhaust a more deep tone.

 

Thanks for the replies. Shorties aren't going to be worth it, and I definitely don't want raspy. Also, I may have issues with LTH and passing inspection here in NJ. LTH seem to be more for racing applications as well.

 

Actually anything that adds 20 to 30 Foot pounds of torque in the midrange is more than worth it. You need to think the whole picture, not just the top end. The shorty headers are the best mod I have done to my 3.7 for power.
BTW, BBK Shorty headers, FRPP Cut and clamp X-Pipe with no Rasp. Long tubes are the Raspy ones.
The beauty of the STH is you can leave the stock cats and resonators on it and be 50 state legal and the Resonators keep the rasp out.

 

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I have kooks shorties and jegs cat deletes - the difference between the LTH and hp is around 5 hp. I went this route in case i ever want to use the NJ DMV for inspection or sell it and i can either put the stock cats back on or throw them in a box to the buyer.

If you got into a 5.0 with LTH in the morning and the same car in the afternoon with shorties and no one told you, you wouldnt know the difference

 

Whoa there, shorties are NOT 50 state legal unless they have a CARB number stamped on them. Ask my how I know. I had JBAs on my old V6 because they were one of the only shorties that were certified 50 state legal.

Just throwing that out there. If you don't get chrome headers, most smog shops would never tell you had shorties...

 

BBK and JBA are both CARB approved.

 

If you have a 5.0, i would say it's not worth it. The tri-y's that come stock are pretty good already.

If you have a 3.7, I would recommend doing it. It's a PITA to install yourself (if you go that route), but it nets you a nice gain in power (mostly mid-range) and sound. I don't think it raspy; it's a bit louder and a bit deeper than stock. There shouldn't be any low-end torque loss. The bbk's are CARB approved.

"CARB EO Number: D-245-16"
http://www.americanmuscle.com/bbk-sh...6-ceramic.html

 

I did the Kooks Shorty headers on my car and it is the one mod I wish I would have skipped!
Didn't see a gain, much, and the cost was definitely NOT worth it! Plus my MRT mid-pipe didn't have enough adjustablility to mate up properly to the kooks headers so I had to "cut, weld" it to fit right.

All in all....super disappointed. But now its all on and running good...my money would have been better off spent on the Watts link!

 

^Once again, he has a V6 you have a GT. Total difference when talking about gains from shorty and Longtube headers and definitely sound different. Shorty is the way to go for sound and with the right mid-pipe will give about the same gains as longtubes on the 3.7.

 

This is where I'm stuck....which mid-pipe to go with. Only really notice BBK high flow catted x, BBK o/r x and FRPP cut and clamp. Are there any other options out there?

 

There's also MAC prochamber and lethal performance H-pipe, both of which are off road. You could weld in Pypes Hi-flow cats into most o/r mids but not all. I'm not a fan of x-pipes on this car except for the FRPP cut and clamp which doesn't make it sound raspy.

 

I just kept the stock Cats and Resonators on mine and went with the FRPP Cut and Clamp.
It stays 50 state legal and since I know of someone that had to pay a $1500 for non OEM cats on his truck I will keep mine like that.