Kooks vs. American Racing Headers
12-03-2009, 06:42 PM
#1
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 118
Kooks vs. American Racing Headers
I've been doing a lot of research on different long tube header combinations and I've pretty much narrowed my choices down to kooks and american racing.. I just can't find ANYWHERE of a head to head comparison. My main concern is the numbers... I know both companies provide top of the line quality but I'm looking for the most hp/torque gain. I've been looking all over and haven't found many dyno charts of the ARH headers. I read the 5.0 magazine write up and the kooks headers 1 5/8 primaries provided some really solid gains. I just would like to see how they compared up to the ARH 1 5/8 primaries and also the 1 3/4. I would like to go 1 3/4 now because i plan on supercharging down the road but there's no telling how long that would be.
PLEASE ADVISE!
PLEASE ADVISE!
12-03-2009, 07:27 PM
#2
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ
Posts: 825
Well, here's what I have heard about ARH: Because they are very long, that you lose some bottom end torque. Also, because the O2 sensors are so far downstream, the tune has to keep the O2 sensor heaters on all the time to correct driveability issues, from what I understand the sensors "cool off", and the PCM goes open loop, closed, etc, making the car run like crap, like at stop lights, and then when you go, it straightens out. (Thats how it was explained to me).
They are high quality, ARH is a spin off of Kooks (former Kooks employees), and the quality and fitment of both are great. Definitely two of the best headers out there, period. And if someone says they're too expensive, well, you get what you pay for!
They are high quality, ARH is a spin off of Kooks (former Kooks employees), and the quality and fitment of both are great. Definitely two of the best headers out there, period. And if someone says they're too expensive, well, you get what you pay for!
12-04-2009, 01:41 AM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NJ
Posts: 401
I went with Kooks based off the 5.0 magazine write up. I think they gave the best overall gains across the entire RPM band. I found this image off another site with the following mods:
C&L Racer, CMCV DP's, UDP's, ARH 1.75" primaries LT's, O/R X-Pipe, and Zoomers A/B exhaust.
321.79rwhp
328.53rwtq
5.0mag used a supercharged mustang and got 40hp at 6K. this mustang was not supercharged, so you should yield similar results.
Hope it helps.
C&L Racer, CMCV DP's, UDP's, ARH 1.75" primaries LT's, O/R X-Pipe, and Zoomers A/B exhaust.
321.79rwhp
328.53rwtq
5.0mag used a supercharged mustang and got 40hp at 6K. this mustang was not supercharged, so you should yield similar results.
Hope it helps.
Last edited by Jersey Stang; 12-05-2009 at 02:00 AM.
12-04-2009, 03:43 PM
#6
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: TEXAS
Posts: 1,491
Congrats on the purchase, I too am currently debating on which set to get... It's my Christmas present this year. :-)
If you don't mind me asking, where did you wind up getting them from? The best price I've seen is at MarylandSpeed.com.
If you don't mind me asking, where did you wind up getting them from? The best price I've seen is at MarylandSpeed.com.
12-04-2009, 05:48 PM
#8
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NJ
Posts: 401
I got them from Hurricaneperformance.com. they were running a group buy back in August for only $1200 shipped (catted H).
Last edited by Jersey Stang; 12-04-2009 at 05:53 PM.
