you're looking at headers then? i have pacesetters on my car...some guys on here don't like them cause they used to have major fitment issues, however i believe now they have fixed MOST of that and mine fit just fine when i put them on. if you do it, you definitely want ceramic coated. it dissipates heat faster than just painted and painted ones tend to rust rather quickly

 

Got ya. Now do you have just headers or is it a full system exhaust? If it's a full system is it all made by pacesetter? See I'm not sure about the whole long pipe thing. How many different pipes are there? Does it go headers mid pipe and then cat back?

 

You have headers, a Y-pipe and then your cat-back. If you choose to do a long tube header (this is the recommended path) you're going have to get at least a new Y-pipe and probably modify whatever cat-back you have on the car, whether that be stock or aftermarket. As far as headers go you can get either long tube, or shorty. Mid-tubes will be advertised, but from what I can see the only difference is they come with a Y-pipe and usually shorties are just the header and you use the stock Y-pipe. That said if you get headers it's highly recommended that you upgrade your Y-pipe as well because it's quite constrictive. When talking about headers I will say that I love my Kooks, they're pricey, but it's probably the best street header you can get your hands on. For a lesser price but still good quality I recommend Dynatech headers. They're fully ceramic coated and have a more tuned design than Pacesetter (we can talk about the benefits of a tuned long tube versus a regular long tube in a later post if you're curious, but it's mostly math and physics), and they're not too much more expensive. If you're looking for a racing application LPP Headers would be a good choice because they're a cheaper alternative to a 1 3/4 to 1 7/8 stepped header design, but unless you're making some serious power you're never going to utilize the extra flow of the stepped primary.

 

slvr...i don't even know the differences in tuned headers...educate me!

 

Now can you get the full system all made by the same company. I'm sure it's possible but is that recommended?

 

dont worry about the guys sayin that flowmasters junk because its not. i went with flowmaster 40 series.it sounded great. but that is thats if you like the more cackle sound to it. and i would go with k&n intake

 

they were describing flowmaster on a performance standpoint......

 

Haha, bluovlh8er, i love magna flow too. But JUST cuz mario andretti likes it.

 

Alright, you asked for it (it's getting late, so I may make some mistakes, but hopefully not)...

First off, headers (as with all exhaust) work to maximize flow, which is best achieved with a wide cross sectional area as well as a large surface area to help cool the tube faster (thus the reason a tubular exhaust system flows better than a manifold style, it has more surface area). High flow is what gets you horse power. Since most of the headers we put on our cars are a 1 3/4" primary, they all flow about the same at high RPM where peak HP is usually made. A tuned header will help low end torque because it is better at scavenging exhaust out of the cylinder when the exhaust valve opens. The basic concept behind it is sine waves. As the exhaust valve opens and the piston starts to rise to push out exhaust gas it creates a high pressure, this pressure is going to oscillate depending on the RPM of the motor in a sinusoidal fashion. High pressure when the exhaust valve opens, low pressure when it closes. In a header with tuned primaries the manufacture attempts to make it so the tube is tuned (think of organ tubes, the longer it is the lower the pitch) so in the low RPM range the low pressure part of our sine wave is occurring just as the exhaust valve is opening. The low pressure will help "suck" more exhaust out of the cylinder faster, which helps create low end torque. Technically a shorty header is "tuned" for a certain RPM, but it's much higher than our cars can rev. The better a header is tuned for each cylinder, the more torque the car is going to make, thus the benefit of an equal-length tuned long tube. If the header is designed correctly you'll actually hit multiple "natural frequencies" which is where the pipe resonates at the same frequency as the motor RPM and this is where you'll get the best scavenging. I can actually hear my Kooks about every 500-600 RPM incrament start to resonate. If you check out Dynatech or LG Motorsports Corvette headers they actually have the primaries set up so they're extra long and they make even more low end torque because the primaries are so long. That said, the Kooks Long tubes usually make more HP at the top end because they flow more since the primaries are shorter, there are benefits and detriments to everything, but in general a tuned long tube is the best way to go.

 

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez slvr, your brain must be packed with like 10million gigz of car info............ lol

Well said though, that info helped me too