How nuch horse power are headers worth?

[8mywal8]

How nuch horse power are headers worth on a stock gen 3? I have heard conflicting stories. Some say not much others say lots.

 

[YLW DRM2]

To the extent of my research on this forum I've seen people gaining between 15 to 30HP. I just installed headers, but didn't dyno the car before and after. I will be taking car for the dyno tune in a few weeks, will post the total HP.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

We have seen anywhere from 5-17 out of the Gen3.

 

[SquadX]

I don't think the cost is worth it on the pre 08s.
Estimate around 15-20 but probably most of the benefit is in the mod range. I'd only do headers with other mods like tune/sct. Head/ cam supercharger.
Some will do it just for the sound but I for one don't thinks it's worth the cost when u can spend another grand and do head/cam or sct flash for a 5th of the price and the same if not better power gains and other benefits.

 

[dipapa]

In my opinion, based on the cost of headers alone on a stock viper for the gain its not worth it. Headers are mostly good if you go a bit further, do the high flow cats, air filter, remove crossovers and most importantly dyno custom tune. With these few bolt ons and tune you will get 70-80rwhp. That's something you will feel. My 05 copperhrad went from 445rwhp bone stock to 521rwhp with intake and exhaust mods and tune.

 

[Twister]

In my opinion, based on the cost of headers alone on a stock viper for the gain its not worth it. Headers are mostly good if you go a bit further, do the high flow cats, air filter, remove crossovers and most importantly dyno custom tune. With these few bolt ons and tune you will get 70-80rwhp. That's something you will feel. My 05 copperhrad went from 445rwhp bone stock to 521rwhp with intake and exhaust mods and tune.

was this on the same dyno and both sae corrected?

Im really gonna have to dyno now...

I hit 459 with intake/roller rockers...I now have exhaust/no cats/sct tune...

Arent the American raceing headers only 1300$ or so????


To the OP.....From my research..Headers only seem worth 7-12 rwhp max on a stock aplication...

Honestly for increased performance and sound you can go to any performance shop and spend $300 and they will cut out your cats and add straight pipes...This mod will NO BS gain you 15-20 rwhp lower your cabin heat and make the exhaust sound much better..

HIGHLY recommended...

HEADERS in my opinion would be after the..

intake
exhaust
no cats or high flow cats
roller rockers
trottle boby

Say you do all that and only hit 495 rwhp on the dyno...Well headers and a sct tune will get you to the 500PLUS range...

But if you do all that and add justr the sct tune without the headers and hit 505 rwhp..Is it really worth another 1500-2000$ to hit 515-520 rwhp?????

1500-2000$ plus shipping$..plus install$ plus retune$ then the car might be a lil louder than you would like your 85K exotic to be all for another 10-15 rwhp????????

Im in the same boat..But havent decided..Im trying a lightweight flywheel to see if I can hit the 500's rwhp sae...

 

[dipapa]

Yea same dyno corrected. I witnessed both runs on A&C Performance Dyno Dynamics.

With the intake and exhaust before the tune, on stock computer, it was around 488, then after the VEC3 was custom tune it was 521.


headers, no cats, no crossovers, stock mufflers sounds great for a street car.

 

[Twister]

Yea same dyno corrected. I witnessed both runs on A&C Performance Dyno Dynamics.

With the intake and exhaust before the tune, on stock computer, it was around 488, then after the VEC3 was custom tune it was 521.


headers, no cats, no crossovers, stock mufflers sounds great for a street car.

WOW!!! You give me hope then..Ive got..

no cats, no cross overs, titanium exhaust, intake, roller rockers, sct tune...Im just hopeing for 500 rwhp..

man you should do a light weight fly wheel, throttle body and see if you can hit 530 rwhp sae...That would be pretty close to gen4 power...

These srt10's simply amaze me....I got into an argument with a gen2 gts owner recently. I told him I have around 500 rwhp and he said he would drag me. I thought he was stock. But turns out he has heads and cam...

THE THING IS..I HAD A GEN2 AND WITH ROLLER ROCKERS/INTAKE/NO CATS/AEM TUNE ...THE CAR ONLY DYNOED 445 RWHP.....

The guy wont post his numbers..But seriously your 520 rwhp is very impressive..thanks for posting...

 

[mbccenter]

Headers will not only pick up peak hp but will pick up through the whole range of the power curve. Take it for what it is worth as I do own M&M Performance who only make Viper headers

 

[BAD BOYZZ GARAGE]

Gentlemen, just the facts.

Very good points & views posted. I have always been a firm believer in header upgrades for all around performance gains. The stock exhaust on the Viper Gen 2-3 have been very restrictive & the Viper responds well to un-corking it's exhaust. Headers, Flywheel and diff gear ratio changes have been a proven basic set up & still stand the test of time.

The Gen 4 really responds well to the header upgrade due to the higher compression ratio, high flowing cylinder head volume, higher rpm range.

American Racing Headers 5 into 1 Long Tube Race Merge really works well & is the reason SRT made their decision.

Test 1: PDF dyno files attached
Stock Gen 3 on engine dyno w/ stock controller at Arrow racing with SRT present:
Stock exhaust manifolds delete cats
556.1 Trq @ 4700 rpm
531.7 Hp @ 5600 Rpm
ARH 1 5/8 stepped to 1 3/4 delete cats
575.9 Trq @ 4600 rpm
551.3 Hp @ 5500 rpm
Solid power level increases through-out the rpm range

Test 2: see attached dyno graph
Stock Gen 4 ACR on chassi dyno w/ stock controller Provided by SRT for header developement program
stock exhaust with cats
ARH 1 3/4 ACRX-Track Headers delete cats w/ stock controller

=DISTRIBUTORS OF POWER=