Mustang headers

Have a 2010 gt premium thinking about putting headers on do they make headers will bolt on not shorty,s not wanting to do of modifying 4.6

Most headers other than shorties will require a mid pipe as well. This is where new cats would be installed. If you use them. Highly probable a tune will be needed with the headers.

What I have read shorty headers won’t do much is that true?

Tiger Ron said:

What I have read shorty headers won’t do much is that true?

Click to expand...

Shorty headers are an utter wasted effort.

On my 2010 GT, I used JBA titanium ceramic coated LT's with 1 5/8" primarys..and 2.5" collectors. Then the JBA HI-flow catted H mid section. The reduction in eng bay temps was a good 40F. The oem cats reside at the bottom of the eng bay and run stupid hot. The oem cast iron manifold also runs stupid hot.
Between the ceramic LT's and new cats much further back, the heat redux was superb.

The new high flow cats reside below the seats. Also used new STEEDA eng mounts. These allow for a stock height, or 1/4" - 1/2" - 3/4" drop. I used the 1/4" drop option, so the Roush CAI on my roush m90 blower setup clears the Steeda STB. When I installed the steeda STB, I also installed the steeda front strut mounts, which allow for camber adjustment.

Use whatever LT's u want..... just don't waste your time with shorties. The LT's will require a tune. The LT's and the high flow catted H was one of the best mods I have done. It made a huge difference to TQ.

Midlife Crises said:

Most headers other than shorties will require a mid pipe as well. This is where new cats would be installed. If you use them. Highly probable a tune will be needed with the headers.

Click to expand...

Long tube headers WILL require a tune but only because the upstream O2 sensors will be further away from the engine than in a stock exhaust. Since they'd take longer to warm up, the cold start time where the ECU is in open loop would need to be prolonged in the tune to prevent the engine from running lean during the short period where the ECU could go into closed loop mode before the O2 sensors are ready. This is really only a potential issue where the weather is cold and the engine takes longer to warm up.
As long as you don't live in a smog nazi state like CA where LT headers would fail a visual inspection 'cause you've moved the cats from their stock location, you won't have a problem. DO make sure you install a catted mid-pipe behind the headers because running without cats could be problematic in some states. In any case, the high flow cats used in these mid-pipes pose minimal restriction, so the only real reason for going catless would be if your car is used purely for racing away from public roads.

Pentalab said:

The new high flow cats reside below the seats. Also used new STEEDA eng mounts. These allow for a stock height, or 1/4" - 1/2" - 3/4" drop. I used the 1/4" drop option, so the Roush CAI on my roush m90 blower setup clears the Steeda STB. When I installed the steeda STB, I also installed the steeda front strut mounts, which allow for camber adjustment.

Click to expand...

Did you notice any increase in heat on the floorboard/inside the interior with the cats below the seats?

SilverMustangGT said:

Did you notice any increase in heat on the floorboard/inside the interior with the cats below the seats?

Click to expand...

Nope, none, zero, non issue. The LT's are titanium ceramic coated, they look like battleship grey.
The catted H section is not ceramic coated. Hi-flow cats are shorter than OEM cats, but a lot bigger in diam, like 4".

You won't measure any difference in hp/tq with hi-flow cats vs no cats. With no cats, the exhaust will reek really bad. I prefer the high flow catted H... vs high flow catted X. The H config provides for more low and med tq. The X has more tq/hp at the top end...and exhaust note sounds a bit raspy. The H config is ideal for my street car application. Make no mistake though, the difference in pull is blatantly obvious with LT's, like night and day.

Good information on the long tube headers. That may be by next mod. I'm still on the fence on buying a supercharger. I mostly just autocross my 2008 Mustang GT and don't like the extra weight of the supercharger up front.

SilverMustangGT said:

That may be by next mod.

Click to expand...

When you install a set of headers and mid pipe that is a great time to do whatever cold air intake setup you choose also. Tune them together and you will notice a difference.

long tube headers are a huge pain in the butt to install! If you plan on a supercharger they are not really worth it IMO. I installed a set on my whipple 2.3 - blown 07 GT, it took way too much time, busted knuckles and bad words. It sounds different, louder, maybe better to some but no to me. I installed them cuz I had them from a past car. I would not do it again, the HP gain is minor, just not worth it.

I installed ceramic coated shorties a couple years ago. No noticeable difference in power or mileage, but the underhood temps really dropped. Maybe worth it for that.

tabstang said:

long tube headers are a huge pain in the butt to install! If you plan on a supercharger they are not really worth it IMO. I installed a set on my whipple 2.3 - blown 07 GT, it took way too much time, busted knuckles and bad words. It sounds different, louder, maybe better to some but no to me. I installed them cuz I had them from a past car. I would not do it again, the HP gain is minor, just not worth it.

Click to expand...

On my 2010 GT auto, with small roush M90 blower..and 5.7 psi boost, it was 348 rwhp / 320 rwtq before the Ceramic coated LT install. After the LT install, it was 386 rwhp / 376 rwtq. For my low boost / small 90 ci / 1.48 litre displacement blower install, the LT's made a substantial improvement. The install cost was not cheap however. The 40 deg F drop in under hood temps was substantial. Boost did not change after the LT install, remained at 5.7 psi. Out of boost, the increase in tq is substantial, pulls a LOT harder. IE: foot into it, just keeping the boost gauge at zero, or slightly less.

Plan B was to just use the smaller blower pulley and bigger idler pulley...and increase boost to 8-9 psi. That would increase IAT's by a bunch. The LT's work in NA mode, as well as blower mode. The blower with or without the smaller blower pulley, only works in blower mode. Being a street car, and blower rarely used, I opted for the LT's, since I was up for a good experiment.

BUT the exhaust ended up with 2 krpm drone..and was way too loud with the FRPP FRS-500 SS mufflers. So in went a pair of SS pypes M80 resonator's, welded in, just before the rear axle...problem solved.

Tiger Ron said:

What I have read shorty headers won’t do much is that true?

Click to expand...

Shorties do not increase top HP much but on a Cyclone V-6 they boost low end torque noticeably which is where it is needed. It made my 2012 Cyclone feel much more aggressive and mean and I recommend them for all Cyclones for street driving.

Longtubes are hands down the best bolt on for the 3v imo. 40-50rwhp gains with tune. I went from 263rwhp stock to 310rwhp with kooks longtubes offroad midpipe and 93 tune. Night and day difference.

Good info everyone thanks

Hi. As I've stated in prior posts I bought my '08 GT/CS with Ford shorties and the stock cats. I had a set of used BBK LTs (ebay prior purchase) and I purchased a BBK high-flow cat mid-pipe (also ebay). I had to have a little welding done because of the difference in sizes between the BBK Lts and the BBK mid-pipe, I must have bought the wrong size mid-pipe. I had to have my local tune shop tweak the tune to make up for the longer mid-pipe (cats located farther back) but it wasn't a major deal. I have the Ford Hot Rod cams so the Lts really brought out the lope. Hemi owners drool in line at the car wash ("I wish my car sounded like that"). You will totally love the LTs. Please do yourself a favor, get the high flow cats, it's not worth the fine if ever get called on it.

Without cats, the exhaust will just reek real bad. The difference between no cats..and hi-flow cats is miniscule. At some rpms, no cats are 1-2 hp better, and at some other rpms, the cats are 1-2 hp better.

Shorts headers aren't an "utter wasted effort". If you're building for low end power? Shortys are great, plus, you don't need a tune, you won't see any HUGE hp gains? BUT, you will get a small, but noticable gain. If you're going after high/top end power? Then that's where long tubes come in. Yes, you will need a tune, because of the new location of the O2 sensors. Plus, with shorty's, if you're planning on lowering the car? And/or live in an area with crappy streets? Shortys will be a plus, because there's ZERO chance the tubes will get banged up, or your collectors will get caught on a bump/speed hump.. there's no such thing as "wasted effort" when modding a car. Most people say that when the parts they've put on, either doesn't fit their build? Or they haven't researched the parts beforehand.

I concur on the Long Tube Headers is the best mod and the worst was the cams it sounded good but robbed me of low-end torque and that sucked. Get the Longtube headers first and you are fine with cams but without longtubes you will feel like you have shot yourself in the foot. It's funny when I first got mine I was so unsatisfied and was worried that I couldn't outrun even a six for lol.

Anthonioj said:

Shorts headers aren't an "utter wasted effort". If you're building for low end power? Shortys are great, plus, you don't need a tune, you won't see any HUGE hp gains? BUT, you will get a small, but noticable gain. If you're going after high/top end power? Then that's where long tubes come in.

Click to expand...

Got any dyno results to back that up? It goes against everything I've ever learned about headers.
Basically, the only thing shortys COULD improve on over the stock manifolds is maximum flow, therefore the only place they can benefit power is above the stock peak power RPM.
Conversely, properly designed and built long tubes will do that plus make more mid-range power by improving exhaust scavenging.