New Header Dyno Results

S

so cal mark

True Classic
We installed our new header and exhaust system on a stock 1980 FI X. No mods to the engine whatsoever. I had the car dynoed for a baseline, then again after the header installation. The results were very good, with a 10% increase in peak hp, but a 15% increase in the upper rpm range when stock hp is starting to decrease.
Max torque increase was 10% but that doesn't tell the whole story. Stock trim peak torque occurs at 3k rpm, but with the header peak torque moves to 4200rpm and continues flat as torque drops off in stock trim. At 4200-4500rpm torque is 15% more than stock configuration.
I'm posting the copy of the two dyno runs. As you can see at 6500rpms, the header is making 9hp more than the stock exhaust.



Anyone have figures for headers from other vendors?
 
wow! those are great results. Is this the difference between completely stock manifold, muffler, and cat VS new header, no cat,and new muffler??? Or is this stock manifold vs. header only?
 
the stock test was in completely stock trim; full oem exhaust. The 2nd test was with our new header and exhaust system w/o catalyst.
In driving the car, the increase in mid-range torque is immediately apparent. The car pulls like crazy.
 
The more I think about it...

... the better it sounds!

Since it locates on the stock hangers and...

With about 20 minutes of time and a six dollar gasket set now and then... the OLD system could be put up in place for "testing purposes" and swapped out again afterwards...
 
Is it the header or the cat

you did two things at once and that may lead to the wrong conclusion.
 
Black-Tooth said:
... the better it sounds!

Since it locates on the stock hangers and...

With about 20 minutes of time and a six dollar gasket set now and then... the OLD system could be put up in place for "testing purposes" and swapped out again afterwards...
Click to expand...

I think you have been "testing" your "test" pipe long enough, time to man up and get one of these exhausts tony!
 
With only a minor tweak to a/f ratio, we actually increased peak hp and torque by adding the catalyst. We picked up the hp to 72.23 and torque to 77.44.

 
What a pleasant surprise, more hp and torque, and cleaner emissions, the best of both worlds. I’ll be adding this to my wish list.
 
I'm impressed with the results but so many bends would

cause some restriction. I wonder what a Vick header would test at. Talked to them last week and they have no data. I think the design looks equal length and smooth bends and straighter flow. I wish I could find a dyno to do a before and after for cheap.
 
I'm no expert...

What I've read in various magazines is that the reason the header pipes are all twisty is due to the fact that the pipes are of equal length which must be a benefit to performance I guess. The twisty bendy of the pipes is the only difference that I can see to this new header and my PBS header which I posted photos in an earlier thread.

'PeteX1/9
 
Very Impressive...

Numbers don't lie and those numbers are impressive. Not to get off topic a little but I would love to see Dyno numbers of your distributorless ignition system before and after with a stock motor and while I have your attention would the distributorless ignition system work on a twin carbed car?

'PeteX1/9
 
Some of you guys are too funny. You needed a header, some wanted one that would fit a car with a c. So someone went through the trouble to make it. Then you wanted dyno #,s, which no one that makes a header for the x supplies. And no one even had a gripe with this. It was never mentioned. So the header gets dynoed, gets good #,s, and your still complaining. Ive been running something similar on my spider for eight years, and I love em, for how they look , and how they perform.
014-6.jpg
 
Bang For The Buck?

Assigning a round number of 7 as the increase in HP and torque, and assuming a full system with cat would sell for about $1,100 incl shipping, that would put the bang-for-the-buck numbers at about $157 per HP/FT-LB of gain.

How does this compare to spending equivalent money enhancing the intake side of the equation?

For example, let's say the other choice would be Midwest's hi-po FI head with Delta 35-75 cam, for $1,349. If that adds 9 or more HP and torque, even though it's higher priced, it's a better value on a dollars per power increase basis.
 
Here is the last test we plan to do on this X. We added a performance AFM we've been toying with. The header, catalyst and exhaust are the same as in the previous tests. No other changes were made. The test sheet I'm posting has the stock baseline, and the last test. We picked up another 2hp peak and another 2ft lbs of torque. We actually hit just over 80ft lbs of torque, but after tweaking the a/f ratio to get the up, peak torque ended at 79.39.
If you look at the chart, at some rpms we have nearly 20% improvement over stock configuration.


Comparing the exhaust to intake improvements or any other changes is not valid. Improvements will compliment each other, you shouldn't do them in lieu of other upgrades. For instance, by getting increases with a better afm, this shows that intake upgrades will enhance the exhaust.

As for the twisty tubes, it's done to get the length we wanted and to equalize tube length. The tubes in this header are all exactly the same length.
Not sure how you price it at $1100, I posted prices in a previous thread about it and we're nowhere near that amount
 
I cant believe you guys have not heard of tubular headers before.... its a very common method of creating extremely high performance headers. As you can fit longer tubes in smaller spaces, and the smooth round bends don't hinder flow.
 
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