I have ask this question to many people, and I can never really get a straight answer. So, why are equal length shorties better than unequal?
Why are equal length shorties better than unequal
- Thread starter whistlin93SVT
- Start date
If you think about it though, with the unequals the exhaust doesnt have to go through as much tubing. It Goes straight to h-pipe, with less turns in the tubing.
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Ah yes, the age old debate. IMHO, the disadvantages on eq. lenths far outweigh any advantage they may or may not have HP wise.
Disadvantages being PITA to install (as difficult as long tubes, in some cases), likely to hit rub steering shaft/passenge shock tower, higher possibility of burning plug wires, etc.
With that being said, I have eq lengths... :kaboom:
Disadvantages being PITA to install (as difficult as long tubes, in some cases), likely to hit rub steering shaft/passenge shock tower, higher possibility of burning plug wires, etc.
With that being said, I have eq lengths... :kaboom:
It's all about "scavenging"; where the exhaust pulses are travelling the entire length exhaust sytem in an orderlay fashion, and not colliding into one another, and causing a vacume behind each pulse thereby assisting the oncoming exhaust pulse and adding flow rate and horse power. This can only be achieved with the exhaust system being the same length for each exhaust port. With shorty headers this is only good for about 5-8 hp which is not quite enough to make the pain of installation, and spark plug replacement, worth the effort. Long tubes add enough HP, around 20+, to make the effort worth while.
my .02 :-D
my .02 :-D
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Equal length shorty headers are not worth it in my opinion. I have seen direct comparisions, and for the money, and effort, they just aren't worth it.
They are bundlesome, and have too many tight turns in too small of a space.
A pair of 1 5/8" unequal shorties will carry you a long way. Otherwise, just go with long tubes.
Basically, there is not real advantage to equal length shorties.
They are bundlesome, and have too many tight turns in too small of a space.
A pair of 1 5/8" unequal shorties will carry you a long way. Otherwise, just go with long tubes.
Basically, there is not real advantage to equal length shorties.
One other disadvantage I failed to mention - HIGH underhood temps. All that exhaust tubing under the hood really gets it hot under there...
Here's my equal length story.............
I got a killer deal on a set of EQL bassani headers a while back. I was doing my head gaskets at the time so I wanted to swap headers too. When I got them I was really happy until I put them on. I will admit, they were by far some of the nicest headers I have seen as far as quality, but when I had to install them it was a major PITA. I worked on jet engines for 5 years and let me tell you, these were a job and a half. Once they were finally in I was thrilled. Then I went to install my plugs, this was the biggest cluster f**k ever. I started looking for more info and found the same story everywhere. I was adding a blower at the time, so I decided that in order to make swapping out spark plugs easy, the Bassani's had to go. I sold them on Ebay (for more than I paid
) and picked up a set of BBK ceramic's. They are sooo much easier to install and the price was right ($249) The welds aren't the smoothest but you get what you pay for. If I had to do it all over again, I'd just get the shorties ;-) and if I had the money, I'd go with JBA
I got a killer deal on a set of EQL bassani headers a while back. I was doing my head gaskets at the time so I wanted to swap headers too. When I got them I was really happy until I put them on. I will admit, they were by far some of the nicest headers I have seen as far as quality, but when I had to install them it was a major PITA. I worked on jet engines for 5 years and let me tell you, these were a job and a half. Once they were finally in I was thrilled. Then I went to install my plugs, this was the biggest cluster f**k ever. I started looking for more info and found the same story everywhere. I was adding a blower at the time, so I decided that in order to make swapping out spark plugs easy, the Bassani's had to go. I sold them on Ebay (for more than I paid
) and picked up a set of BBK ceramic's. They are sooo much easier to install and the price was right ($249) The welds aren't the smoothest but you get what you pay for. If I had to do it all over again, I'd just get the shorties ;-) and if I had the money, I'd go with JBA
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I went with the MAC equal length. It may take a little longer to install but I am very happy with the results. :burnout:
dude, if your gonna do headers, get the longtubes...
Equal-length shorty installation on my 88 GT wasn't too bad. Just had to unbolt the driver side motor mount and jack the engine up a couple inches. If you do go with = length, get the ceramic-coated to solve that underhood temp problem mentioned above. That's what I did, and my underhood temp actually dropped a bit. They did burn through my Jacob's plug wires (VERY expensive), so I had to reroute the wires. If I had to do it all over again, I go with the cheapest set of ceramic coated long tubes I could find.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
LtDan said:
I am running BBK equal length and they installed pretty easy for me. It is a pain to change the # 4 cylinder spark plug though. I burned a set of plug wires in that same spot so I put a very high temperture resistant piece of hose that goes over the plug wire right next to the headers and eliminated that problem. I did that on all eight just to be safe. Next time I will go with long tubes because they produce better numbers on the dyno.
looks like just about everythings been said already but i read a comparo one time on a 5.0 with unequals the motor made slightly more peak hp like less than 5 more, but the equal lengths made much better power across the whole rpm range than the unequals did. prolly due to what lee said... scavaging
ive got equals on my gt and msd straight bendy boot spark plug wires, once i bent the boot in the direction i needed i never burned a wire. the same wires have been on there for 6 years so...
i installed my headers at the same time i installed my heads so it was a sinch. but yes i had to trim a little off the steering shaft knuckle- but not very much-again no biggy
all in all if you dont care about being able to install the factory H-pipe to pass emissions then screw it get long tubes for a couple extra hp. but they are a real bitch to install
ive got equals on my gt and msd straight bendy boot spark plug wires, once i bent the boot in the direction i needed i never burned a wire. the same wires have been on there for 6 years so...
i installed my headers at the same time i installed my heads so it was a sinch. but yes i had to trim a little off the steering shaft knuckle- but not very much-again no biggy
all in all if you dont care about being able to install the factory H-pipe to pass emissions then screw it get long tubes for a couple extra hp. but they are a real bitch to install
I had the BBK unequal length shorties on my 93 LX pushing a little over 300 hp at the wheels. and I had problems with rubbing my steering column and they didnt like to hold gaskets, I think it was 3 times I had them replaced. So I went with the JBA unequal shorties on my Cobra and I haven't had any issues with them and yes use the metal gaskets over the cheap stuff. The JBA's are little more expensive but as far as I'm concerned it was worth it.. I've heard nothing but bad stories on the equal length, from extra engine heat to burned plug wires to steering issues. go unequal or long tube.. this is my opinion
giz93cobra said:
as long as their ceramic coated, you wont have the underhood heat issues
11secCobra said:
as long as there not bbk you prolly wont have issues either
bbk is cheap junk!
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