What are the drawbacks of headers if any??

King RT10

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Besides cost?
I understand I will get about 25hp with my current freeflow exhaust.
Seems like a lot of money for 25hp, so I am on the fence.
Any heat issues?
Or other drawbacks?
 

Daffy Duck Viper

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Depending on the type of headers, I do believe heat can be an issue.

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Snake Bitten

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They can be a ***** to install...You need them on your huffer for sure...seriously...Get headers that are ceramic coated...to reduce underhood temps :cool:
 

Jack B

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You can get 50 flywheel hp (depending on year of car) from headers, 3" exhaust and cat delete. The installation is not bad, I have done both a Gen1 and Gen2. The problem is, without them, all the other mods have limitations. The header/exhaust changeout is the gateway for all the other power adders. Take a look at how peaky the dyno curve is on a viper with other mods and no headers/exhaust.

You can do heads, they will cost you more, give you less/equal hp and are harder/longer to install and they won't work that well without the headers.

As far as the heat, I can only speak for the Belanger brand. I have the double coated ceramic version and the engine compartment runs cooler, even without the heat shields. Removing the cats also solves the issue of the sills and heat.
 

Nexus-6

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If you're married, your wife may not want to ride in the car anymore! :)

That and setting off car alarms as you pass...but then again, neither of these are really drawbacks in my book...
 

GTSTF

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it's not as much of a drawback as it is an annoyance: with headers, chances are your O2 sensor will trigger your dash (check engine)light to go on. what bothers me about this is that unless i have it constantly reset, i never know if the light is illuminated because of the header/O2 situation or if there's a problem with the motor.
 
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King RT10

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Chuck you are correct about the corsa but I also took the cats out so I am sure I gained a little hp but most important I gained an exhaust note that I can live with.
Headers are next, and with 25hp as the upside I want to make sure there are not any drawbacks.
 

ACR Joe

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Headers were my first significant mod and what a difference in SOTP power. Sans cats, underhood temp decreased significnatly but sims necessary for OMD II cars to keep the CE light off. Tell us more about your mods. Who did the work, what was the cost, etc.?
 

Steve 00RT/10

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it's not as much of a drawback as it is an annoyance: with headers, chances are your O2 sensor will trigger your dash (check engine)light to go on. what bothers me about this is that unless i have it constantly reset, i never know if the light is illuminated because of the header/O2 situation or if there's a problem with the motor.

You can buy OBDII readers/erasers relatively cheaply. You can then see for yourself the code set. Relocating the front O2 **** up higher on the center tube fixes my light for 5 or 600 miles at a crack. As I understand it, the problem with sensing only one tube is that the computer is then correcting the mixture for only one cylinder. There is a slight potential for one/more of the other four to run at an improper mixture, although according to my mechanic the risk is slight. To perfectly mix each cylinder, you would need an O2 for each tube. The factory location at the collector area takes an average of the 5 and sends that mixture to all of them. Theorectically I suppose you could have 4 cylinders running very rich and one very lean. The average of the 5 would then be a mixture that runs the lean cylinder even leaner. Anybody with more knowledge than me on this subject feel free to jump in if I'm off base.

That being said, I have new Cragin front O2's to try this year. They are supposed to do the trick and I again will be sensing all 5 cylinders.

Steve
 

jimandela

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i am staying stock headers.

i have a 01 and the results of headers has not be cut and dry yet (years matter)
On May 1st I am having high flow randomtech (best) cats and B&B catback installed.
That should suffice until the SC then headers because of the SC.

Just my 2 cents
 

Casey

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Drawbacks?! OK, maybe Cost, but they are quite a bit cheaper now-a-days.

OK, maybe there is a small problem due to how great your Viper sounds afterwards, that you will be angry you didn't do it sooner! And I guess it could be a drawback that your stereo will go mute for quite some time, as you won't be able to get enough of that Deep, Throaty, gargle while downshifting!

Sooner you get them the less you will have to kick yourself in the A$$ for waiting! At least that is how I felt after I finally got them :D
 
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