[greenz28]

I want headers but dang I really don't want to get it tuned. The hassle of finding someone you can trust, the time spent driving hours to get to them, will they do a good job? Plus, the warranty gets ruined. I e-mailed a guy in Indy, no response, maybe he doesn't want to do it. Yes I could wait another year to be out of warranty. I'm really just looking for the awesome sound they make, I know there's not much power to be gained from headers from what I've read on here.



Probably sounds crazy to many, but what if I installed long tube headers, reduced it to 2-1/2", installed an H-pipe, and chambered flowmaster or flowmaster style mufflers? Would combo of more flow from the headers and less flow from the reduction in pipe diameter from factory 3" possibly satisfy the OEM computer programming? I'm thinking power might be reduced, but really how much? I'm thinking if nothing else it would really sound awesome especially with the H-pipe and headers together.



Feel free to shoot this down. Just looking for insight. Maybe someone's tried it?

[greenz28]

I should have mentioned that when/if I add headers, I will be adding cats!

[arpad_m]

I'm afraid those headers will already kiss your powertrain warranty goodbye no matter if tuned or not. There actually is tangible power to be gained from headers, not sure where you got your info from.

You probably also want to add wideband oxygen sensors if you go with headers, and I'd get a proper tune for this entire specific system instead of trying to tweak your new 'hardware' in random ways to try and match the existing 'software', which makes little sense to me.

Plenty of professional tuners sell remote tunes and services, you don't really have to travel if you don't want to. My car was tuned by Ted Jannetty, and I know for a fact he does remote tuning, too. Another advantage of this is that you'll have a tuner device and you can "touch up" small details later as you want.

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

I'm afraid those headers will already kiss your powertrain warranty goodbye no matter if tuned or not. There actually is tangible power to be gained from headers, not sure where you got your info from.

You probably also want to add wideband oxygen sensors if you go with headers, and I'd get a proper tune for this entire specific system instead of trying to tweak your new 'hardware' in random ways to try and match the existing 'software', which makes little sense to me.

Plenty of professional tuners sell remote tunes and services, you don't really have to travel if you don't want to. My car was tuned by Ted Jannetty, and I know for a fact he does remote tuning, too. Another advantage of this is that you'll have a tuner device and you can "touch up" small details later as you want.

You’ll want to have your tuner do a quick tune update *before* you put the headers on to head off any permanent code issues. Then once the headers are on, he can finalize it. This process will be smoother if you add the wideband while doing the headers as Arpad suggested. The AEM 30-0334 is the one you want as it will communicate right over the cars canbus system, allowing you to datalog wideband data along with the rest of the ECM info.

[s346k]

headers and cats without a tune is worth 0 performance gain. as long as you use a quality cat, you will not have any issues with the ecu. the car will be slightly louder but perform at a stock power level.

my anecdotal evidence: a friend of mine has the same car i do. 1ss 1LE. his car with kooks long tubes, cats and a cai cold air intake (factory tune) was door to door with my car when it was 100% stock. i didn't have a ringer, it trapped 115.

[SJFGTO]

Not worth the cost. Not worth the hassle. You run the risk of going too lean on part/full throttle. Tune it the right way or leave the headers off.