What should I buy? Headers, gears, or ??

[TS6]

My 97 GTS is mostly stock aside from smooth tubes, K&N's, no cats, hi flow mufflers, and a B&M shifter. What would gain me the most ET reduction for about $1K? Headers, gears, or? I'm going back and forth on a nitrous setup, which I already pretty much have on the shelf. Help me out!

 

[plumcrazy]

out of those options id say headers for sure.

but take your time and make sure ya know where ya want that car to end up powerwise and how you wanna get it there...

 

[TS6]

I'd love to see it at 500 RWHP N/A.

 

[plumcrazy]

and no S/C or TT in the future ???

 

[TS6]

I really want to do the Roe s/c, but realistically its a ways off. If I could hit 500 n/a I'd skip the blower. I dunno, every day something sounds better. I figure headers or gears would go good with a roe if that happens.

How much noise would headers add? I have the stock exhaust but no cats and only 2 high flow mufflers. Also, would headers benefit me if keeping a 2.5" exhaust?

I thought about getting some later model tubular manifolds as a comprimise.

 

[DAMN YANKEE]

Your asking for opinions.....so here goes...

Your absolutely wasting your money if you think headers are going to ring your bell on performance...Noise...YES, huge huge noise especially without cats and a modified muffler.
Absolute waste of money...

Want to feel it in your pants? Something that you will immediately notice and say "hey, now that made a difference" and in doing so be even more prepared for nitros, S/C. TT down the road????

Only one mod you could do that for a grand.....roller rockers....period. If you cant get THOSE done for a grand..STOP and start SAVING.

 

[carguy07]

I don' t know if your ET will drop much, but 3.33 gears would be high on my list for seat of pants.

 

[chimazo]

I, too, have been researching the most cost-effective method of making my
'98 faster. Plenty of folks who have a Roe are hitting 600+rwhp on the stock manifolds. The bang for the buck ratio for headers on these cars doesn't seem to be very good at all. The only headers you will find for
$1k will be used, not new (if that matters other than limiting selection).

You won't hit 500rwhp without headwork or Strikers (or N2O), from what I've gathered. Save the $$ you would have put towards headers and wait until you can go FI. That's what I hope to do, anyway.

I am trying to hit 450rwhp once I am done with the current round of mods I am installing over the next month or so. They include hi-flow cats, Borla exhaust, smooth tubes, SCT tune, and 1.7 rockers. I'll post once I get some dyno results. We'll see!

 

[TS6]

Your asking for opinions.....so here goes...

Your absolutely wasting your money if you think headers are going to ring your bell on performance...Noise...YES, huge huge noise especially without cats and a modified muffler.
Absolute waste of money...

Want to feel it in your pants? Something that you will immediately notice and say "hey, now that made a difference" and in doing so be even more prepared for nitros, S/C. TT down the road????

Only one mod you could do that for a grand.....roller rockers....period. If you cant get THOSE done for a grand..STOP and start SAVING.

You really think roller rockers would provide more seat of the pants gain than gears?

 

[dave6666]

Not that it wasn't said, but is anything on that list avail for less than $1K w/o used and/or buddy install?

Where you shopping dude? I'll meet you for beers there!

 

[carguy07]

Unless something changed, you can get the gears and box installed for around a grand.

 

[HI-NOS-Viper]

For $1k, get the n2o. You have the internal components to be able to handle 600+rwhp which can be had with the Viper NX Nitrous kit http://www.nitrousexpress.com/Pages/ViperSystem.htmb just a bit more though as you will want the bottle warmer and purge kit(GenX-2 Kit) That will set you back in your seat for sure, trust me I know. Oh and for that money, nothing will get you a lower ET than the Nitrous. Use those forged internals as they were meant to be used. Vipers love the Juice

 

[HI-NOS-Viper]

Not that it wasn't said, but is anything on that list avail for less than $1K w/o used and/or buddy install?

Where you shopping dude? I'll meet you for beers there!

Hey Dave hope we can at least meet half way for the beers you owe me, NT Nitrous kit I linked less than 1k will get you 600+rwhp on a 200 shot. Brand new and can install yourself. $757.68 Plus shipping.

 

[dave6666]

Hey Dave hope we can at least meet half way for the beers you owe me, NT Nitrous kit I linked less than 1k will get you 600+rwhp on a 200 shot. Brand new and can install yourself. $757.68 Plus shipping.

I'll ship some Lone Star long necks over.

The war will be over when Texas' finest hits the shores.

 

[DAMN YANKEE]

Your going to need to get those valves to breath, rockers are a must anyway.

Rollers were a noticeable improvement in my rig before the blower went on. Much smoother, mush fast build up. Nitrous will, of course be the biggest band for the buck you can do..but you'll still need the rockers done. Gears....later...much later...if at all.

 

[ViperTony]

Your asking for opinions.....so here goes...

Your absolutely wasting your money if you think headers are going to ring your bell on performance...Noise...YES, huge huge noise especially without cats and a modified muffler.
Absolute waste of money...

Want to feel it in your pants? Something that you will immediately notice and say "hey, now that made a difference" and in doing so be even more prepared for nitros, S/C. TT down the road????

Only one mod you could do that for a grand.....roller rockers....period. If you cant get THOSE done for a grand..STOP and start SAVING.

Have you actually done a header/exhaust upgrade and compared results to rockers to come to the your conclusion that "Your absolutely wasting your money if you think headers are going to ring your bell on performance...Noise...YES". I've got dyno pulls to prove that headers are little bit more than simple noise makers.

 

[ViperTony]

My 97 GTS is mostly stock aside from smooth tubes, K&N's, no cats, hi flow mufflers, and a B&M shifter. What would gain me the most ET reduction for about $1K? Headers, gears, or? I'm going back and forth on a nitrous setup, which I already pretty much have on the shelf. Help me out!

NOS is no doubt your biggest bang for ET reduction. If you can find a set of used Borla 1 5/8" stepped headers you'll be happy that you did. You should be able to get these under $1K but they're hard to come by. They produced excellent mid-range HP and torque and were a great bang for the buck.

 

[DEADEYE]

If you go with gears you may regret it in the future if you wanna go FI.

 

[plumcrazy]

thats what im saying.....

rockers are good but i think only good if ya got headers.

 

[TS6]

You guys are only confusing me more!

Nitrous isn't a problem, I have the bulk of the kit here, just need an FJO and another nozzle with lines.

So I guess its between gears, RR's, or headers.

And yes, I was figuring used headers.

 

[plumcrazy]

gears and nitrous aint gonna be fun. you wont need the gears trust me on that one

 

[RayC]

Depends on your final goals for the car. If you plan on not doing much to significantly increase h.p then hands down do the gears. I had 3.55 in my 97(also K&N and corsa exhaust) and loved the difference it made. If you plan on large h.p. increases later on (roe s/c, turbos, 200 nitrous shot etc.) you will find the 3.07 stock gear is better.

 

[TS6]

If I spray it it'll be a 100 shot. Nothing big, and I probably won't spray 1st gear.

Might have a good hookup on a whole rear end, will find out later.

Still debating on the headers/rr's. I could get some newer tubular manifolds pretty cheap, but it doesn't sound like they make much difference in power. 20 lbs off the front though is good.

 

[plumcrazy]

OEM manifolds is a waste of time and effort.

and you say only a 100 shot now........trust me, you'll be spraying more..lol

 

[TS6]

OEM manifolds is a waste of time and effort.

and you say only a 100 shot now........trust me, you'll be spraying more..lol

I've sprayed quite a few of my cars, but I've never gotten greedy with it. I don't use it much anyway, just when the mood strikes. As it is theres no place around here to open it up.

 

[ViperTony]

RR's and Headers compliment each other. I think a set of Harland Sharps and push rods will be around $800 new from Roe. A number of members have these installed and they love 'em. You're going to want both RR's and Headers sooner or later. I started with headers. Rockers are next.

Give JonB at PartsRack a call. He not only deals in new parts but lots of used too. You may find a set of good headers through him at a good price. Besides the excellent advice you'll get here on the forums Jon is very knowledgeable guy and can help pave your path to better ETs.

 

[Purdue_Boiler_Viper]

1. Engine Management. You will be amazed at how a "tune" for a given set of mods / fuel can increase HP.
2. Hard to beat nitrous. I agree with ViperTony on bang for buck.
3. Think long term. You've got the mod bug, just like most of us. You will save $$$ long term if you just accept it, and plan for the end game.

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Wow! All these posts and not one suggestion of hands down the #1 thing that will makes your car faster: sticky rear tires. Next step after that short gears to use those tires to their capablities. Then leave it.

 

[HI-NOS-Viper]

I'll ship some Lone Star long necks over.

The war will be over when Texas' finest hits the shores.

I really hope that you are right about that. Any beer is welcome here though. We get really thirsty and we like to save water, and beer seems to do a better job

 

[RTTTTed]

Gen 2,3 stock headers are nearly as good as aftermarket over the 1st gen cast manifolds, and yes that -20# makes a big difference. I have a set of nearly new (less than 10Kmi.) 01 stock headers and the front curve and flex pipe. Send me a pm if interested. After that I'd instal hi-flow cats.

Ditto on Nitrous. With the Nitrous you would still have it after installing the Roe blower. I've never used my Nitrous, but it's still there ... just in case.

Gears would help n/a, but you'd want to change them back after blower instal. One of the best features of the Roe blower is that you use high gear when driving on the highway.

Ted