LTs vs shorties
Wowbagger hates me too!
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 9,865
From: Magrathea/California
incorrect. The flow has only a very small part in the overall power releasing properties of longtubes.
Long tubes build the scavenging effect of the exhaust system which helps to literally suck out the exhaust gas from the cylinders allowing a clean unpolluted fuel/air charge to enter the combustion chamber outside the presence of transient exhaust gasses. They also flow free-er and provide less backpressure which is good for hp but not usually very good for torque.
Shorties don't do much for us because they don't accentuate the scavenging effect.
Ideally headers should be optimized for the displacement of the motor and the cam&intake. A BIG displacement motor would benefit from shorties over cast manifolds more than a small displacement motor on exhaust volume alone but it would still be better with longtubes of the correct length.
In my unscientific statistics gathering I've noticed that Bassani Mid-length headers are just about the perfect length for 4.6L motors. Equal length shorties are better than plain shorties but still nothing like a good set of mids from bassani or any of the longtube designs.
If you need to understand it more, check out the how stuff works website. They've got cool animations of stuff like this.
Long tubes build the scavenging effect of the exhaust system which helps to literally suck out the exhaust gas from the cylinders allowing a clean unpolluted fuel/air charge to enter the combustion chamber outside the presence of transient exhaust gasses. They also flow free-er and provide less backpressure which is good for hp but not usually very good for torque.
Shorties don't do much for us because they don't accentuate the scavenging effect.
Ideally headers should be optimized for the displacement of the motor and the cam&intake. A BIG displacement motor would benefit from shorties over cast manifolds more than a small displacement motor on exhaust volume alone but it would still be better with longtubes of the correct length.
In my unscientific statistics gathering I've noticed that Bassani Mid-length headers are just about the perfect length for 4.6L motors. Equal length shorties are better than plain shorties but still nothing like a good set of mids from bassani or any of the longtube designs.
If you need to understand it more, check out the how stuff works website. They've got cool animations of stuff like this.
Always Detailin'
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,556
From: Dayton, OH
Leave it to R3d to always come through with the technical terms, lol.
But yea, LT's or nothing at all. Now that I think of it, are you able to install shorties a lot easier than LT's or do you still need to drop the Kmember or lift the engine up? I would think you can squeeze in there if you have small enough arms.
But yea, LT's or nothing at all. Now that I think of it, are you able to install shorties a lot easier than LT's or do you still need to drop the Kmember or lift the engine up? I would think you can squeeze in there if you have small enough arms.
Can you hear me now?
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 951
From: Jacksonville, NC
Leave it to R3d to always come through with the technical terms, lol.
But yea, LT's or nothing at all. Now that I think of it, are you able to install shorties a lot easier than LT's or do you still need to drop the Kmember or lift the engine up? I would think you can squeeze in there if you have small enough arms.
But yea, LT's or nothing at all. Now that I think of it, are you able to install shorties a lot easier than LT's or do you still need to drop the Kmember or lift the engine up? I would think you can squeeze in there if you have small enough arms.
Always Detailin'
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,556
From: Dayton, OH
O no, I agree that there just simply isn't enough pro's vs. cons to get anything BUT LT's. I very glad I got mine.
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