Kooks long tube headers

[REAL ONE]

I'm thinking of putting on Kooks long tube headers on my KR with a throttle body with an updated tune for the headers and throttle body, solid aluminum drive shaft to go with the up tick in power. I was going to keep the KR stock but...the mod bug is "bugging me."

 

Have any of you guys done headers? Any thoughts as to should or shouldn't do.

 

I was told by my local tuning shop it would increase exhaust flow and large increase in torque and hp iwth about 40 hp at the rear wheel. Its getting more power through a different route other then a bigger blower and increasing the efficiency of the engine at the same time with even more exhaust sound.

 

Is this a mod you would/wouldn't do on a KR and why?

 

Of course I would keep all my original parts.

 

Thoughts appreciated.

[MY500SS]

Not sure which make but Gary D. has headers on his KR and she sounds FANTASTIC.

[JADEDaddy73]

I have Kooks headers on mine and I love them. One thing to consider is the h-pipe. I was told to swap the hpipe for the xpipe for better flow and increased power. The other thing to consider if you do this though is that you may need to change your mufflers as well. The combination of the headers, xpipe and original KR mufflers is deafening. I mean not good deafening, very very bad. You would be getting noise violations at every corner. I had my mufflers swapped out as soon as they turned the car on and drove it 30 feet to bring it to me. I know people like "loud" throaty muscle cars but trust me when I tell you that the sound coming from my car was not street legal. I know my car has an extra 400 crank horsepower which of course will have a lot to do with the sound but the car had all the horsepower in it prior to the header/x-pipe conversion and when they turned it on it was like a funny car. Just a word of warning because I know most people are very partial to the distinctive "KR" sound. I love the way my car sounds now with the current setup. The magnaflows do a great job in killing the low end sound but when I get on it you can still hear it 3 states away. This is great when morons in tuners pull up next to you and think you have nothing under the hood because they cant hear it rumbling.

[PaulW]

I have Kooks headers on mine and I love them. One thing to consider is the h-pipe. I was told to swap the hpipe for the xpipe for better flow and increased power. The other thing to consider if you do this though is that you may need to change your mufflers as well. The combination of the headers, xpipe and original KR mufflers is deafening. I mean not good deafening, very very bad. You would be getting noise violations at every corner. I had my mufflers swapped out as soon as they turned the car on and drove it 30 feet to bring it to me. I know people like "loud" throaty muscle cars but trust me when I tell you that the sound coming from my car was not street legal. I know my car has an extra 400 crank horsepower which of course will have a lot to do with the sound but the car had all the horsepower in it prior to the header/x-pipe conversion and when they turned it on it was like a funny car. Just a word of warning because I know most people are very partial to the distinctive "KR" sound. I love the way my car sounds now with the current setup. The magnaflows do a great job in killing the low end sound but when I get on it you can still hear it 3 states away. This is great when morons in tuners pull up next to you and think you have nothing under the hood because they cant hear it rumbling.

 

 

Hey, thanks for the info on your setup. Just curious, did you get an x pipe with our without cats. If its without cats that would make it louder and the incremental increase in airflow would not be worth it to me. I'm thinking about the headers too and I thought that if I put long tube headers on it I would need to swap out the h pipe as the stock one is to long to fit with long tube headers so I was going to go with an x pipe with cats (would keep it emissions legal and keep the volume down). The other option is to have a set of resonators installed in the x pipe (if there is room) which would also reduce the noise, not hinder the air flow much and allow me to keep my KR mufflers.

 

Also, what size are the primaries on your Kooks long tubes (I think the ones I've seen are 1 3/4ths but I was thinking about getting a set that have 1 7/8ths primaries). I think there is even a set made (by ARH) that has 2 inch primaries. I've heard really good things about the Kooks headers, though. I'm looking at them along with the SLP, ARH, JBA, and Bassani. Anyone know if the Kooks are the best? Either way, I would want to get the ceramic or jet hot coated.

 

A final option I'm looking at (sorry to hijack the thread Real One), is a set of short tube headers that would allow me to keep the factory h pipe and cats and factory KR mufflers but I'm not convinced that the hp increase would be worth the cost/effort. Any thoughts on that combo?

[fcettner]

I also installed the Kooks headers with X-pipe. As JADEDaddy stated they are way loud with the KR mufflers. I haven't swapped the mufflers out yet, but plan to go with FRPP SVT1's and hope they will quiet the roar. There's a GT500 owner who had the Kooks and KR mufflers and he's going with Borla touring mufflers. I'm hoping he get's to test drive and provide feedback. Hard to find sound clips that I can make a sound comparison between various mufflers in the market. Anyhow, that's my .02 cents worth.

Happy Motoring

[JADEDaddy73]

Hey, thanks for the info on your setup. Just curious, did you get an x pipe with our without cats. If its without cats that would make it louder and the incremental increase in airflow would not be worth it to me. I'm thinking about the headers too and I thought that if I put long tube headers on it I would need to swap out the h pipe as the stock one is to long to fit with long tube headers so I was going to go with an x pipe with cats (would keep it emissions legal and keep the volume down). The other option is to have a set of resonators installed in the x pipe (if there is room) which would also reduce the noise, not hinder the air flow much and allow me to keep my KR mufflers.

 

Also, what size are the primaries on your Kooks long tubes (I think the ones I've seen are 1 3/4ths but I was thinking about getting a set that have 1 7/8ths primaries). I think there is even a set made (by ARH) that has 2 inch primaries. I've heard really good things about the Kooks headers, though. I'm looking at them along with the SLP, ARH, JBA, and Bassani. Anyone know if the Kooks are the best? Either way, I would want to get the ceramic or jet hot coated.

 

A final option I'm looking at (sorry to hijack the thread Real One), is a set of short tube headers that would allow me to keep the factory h pipe and cats and factory KR mufflers but I'm not convinced that the hp increase would be worth the cost/effort. Any thoughts on that combo?

 

 

 

 

I have the 1 7/8 primaries and yes I did get the catted x. I also got the entire system jet hot coated and I love the way it looks. It's silly because you only really see it when it's on a lift but when it is up there they look fabulous! Anyway It is still crazy loud until you swap the mufflers. If you care to see more detail on my setup just check my profile and hit the about me tab.

 

I'd hate to advise either way on the shorty headers only because I havent experienced the setup personally and I wouldnt want to offer an opinion that might guide you to do the wrong thing. I'd feel awful if you did it and it turned out bad. That said I don't believe the shorty's would do anything but help your flow versus the stock manifold setup. If you want to keep the rest of the setup stock then that might be something to get more info on. Good luck.

 

 

[REAL ONE]

Dean: I spoke to Jim, Jr. at JDM. He said the 1 3/4" LT set up is much quieter then your set up. You went with the larger size thus more sound..

 

Jim said with the LT headers and TB the car will be 540 -550hp at the rear wheels with about 30lbs of additional torque. this eqates to about 650 at the crank.

 

With just the upgraded TVS you get about 600hp at the rear wheels.

 

Jim said that the shorties will gain about an additional 10 hp at the rear wheel and the cost and time to install is the same as LT. Not worth the expense if you can do LT.

 

Jim said the LTs are a worth while upgrade as it actually helps the engine run more efficiently allowing exhaust gases to escape more easily. It actually aides engine life with an awesome growl. They recommend the 1 3/4" LT Kooks.

 

A upgraded blower TVS without headers is just forcing more air in forcing the engine to exhaust more out of the stock primaries and collector. You are actually increasing pressure in the engine thus more stress. Adding headers with the upgraded blower...whoa, now you are talking!!!

 

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[REAL ONE]

Oops.