SLP Headers and a cooler tsat...

Guys, racing with an ACURA(that whipped me) my SES came on. Miss on 4. After the race the car missed badly under load.
Found out the ACURA was intercooled, NOS equiped(obviously manual tranny), high performance clutch, lightening kits, (I cuold keep writing all night long about his mods). I know my limitations, that is another league.
Well, I just replaced the Spark cables(got rid of the heavy missing on 4).
What a really pleasent surprise it was when I installed a 180degf tstat and the KR imprroved by 28%. 0-60 times lowered by .50 secs and the est LS1M scanner hp rating on the car rose 20hp on the 0-60mph test(just from that single mod). I need to know facts about going to the 160degf tstat. I have read people having problems with it and people having performance gains with it. Does anyone have facts that back them up?
Also I have a cracked manifold and Ripn12s pointed me to an inexpensive header (SS Headers) but my technitian told me that since I have spent a decemt amount of money on the car I should go with CatBack or SLP Headers.
The performance gains is very similar with the 2, around ~20hp. I found the SLP to be more cost effective than the catback by 150bucks.
I saw the SLP at LMPerformance for 700+bucks and at PFYC.com for 650+ bucks. Is there anywhere cheaper than these?

http://www.intense-racing.com/

they have SLP headers for 599.99. I'd plug them even if they didn't just sponsor my gp club. They're just a good company.

You might also want to looking into "the other guys" headers. You would have to get a DP though.

Do NOT waste your money on a catback system. It wont get you shit. Just get some mufflers and you'll be fine.

Headers will give you more gain then any catback, so go w/ the SLP's or TOGs and then just get some mufflers for whatever sound your looking for.

The colder tstat will keep the motor cooler, dont expect huge gains though. It cost what 5 bucks, so get one and if it throws a code then put the 180 back in.

Have u switched to colder plugs yet?

Also, doubt you gained 20hp with a tstat. Probably just gained HP because the car wasnt misfiring

The misfiring was not there when made the original 0-60 tests. At least no TC and not strange behaviour on the car was percieved. I am thinking of leaving the same muffler, the technician was taking about the cracked exhaust manifold that I have. Basically he said that if the SS Headers people are not able to give me data like the SLP guys then the gain using those headers was not signofocant and would be better to install OEM manifold instead. I sent the SS guys a note asking for performance data and they have not replied yet. Which ones are cheaper with similar performance? THe TOGS or SLP?
And no, I have not installed the cooler plugs yet. I was told that the OEM platinum ones would last a lot longer and since I am sales person and I am running all over the place I would like them to last as long as they possibly can.
So now 2 questions. Is it correct the asumption that platinum would last longer and secondly the spark plug cable 4 could be giving trouble before it could trigger a SES or I could percieve it?

And Ripn12s could be now that the thrasher CAI(with 9" K&N filter), Thrasher 3.4" pulley and DHP v1.0 along with the cooler tstat could really enhanced the car's efficiency?

Other question(Please excuse me asking this much), does the SLP headers take care of the U-Bend on the process? I have checked the pictures and look like it does, could you please confirm this?

I'd go SLP for the price, but TOGs if I wanted to go all out and run low 12's w/ my car.

Like w/ my car I've been able to run 12.9s and low 13's w/ stock manifolds.

The Plat. plugs will last longer, but run hotter i think.

Ive had Autolite 104s in the car for over a year w/ 0 problems. I think that the bad wire could very well have caused the car to run poorly without throwing a SES.

With those mods your car is runny pretty good. I still would go w/ a range or 2 colder plugs. With that setup you should have a low 14 sec car, but everycar is different.

SLP headers do not eliminate the ubend.

If you do go with the SLPs make sure you have the installation kit or at least some good exhaust clamps for slip fit joints to eliminate any possible leaks. Good luck.

Yup, at LMPerformance they sell you everything in one package for ~800bucks. At PFYC they sell you the header for ~650 and the kit for ~65 so basically the same price

Or you could buy the headers fron intense like i said for $600. And buy a the kit for little more than waht u saved.

if a manifold is cracked, would you lose power? i think that one of mine is cracked because i have a bad exhaust leak sound coming from the engine bay--the back side of the engine. iv checked all the gaskets on the exhaust and none are leaking.

My mechanic told me that the back manifold (not sure why, but he have seen it happen many times) usually cracks easily if you made any kind of mods to the intake/fuel feed. In my case the back one is the one cracked. You can tell by exaggerated noise on the engine compartment.
I do not think the crack would take away power if it is small enough. In my case as soon as the car heats up it almost gets sealed, you can tell by the rumble fading away.
The issue here and also was brought by my mechanic (which is my dad BTW) is that if you have any kind of fuel fumes leaking even thought a heated manifold could easily set it on fire a cracked one sure will since there are sparks coming out of the crack every time the engine revs one cycle. He said that if installing SS headers would do nothing for me that I should install OEM exhaust better. He said that since I have invested money already at least I should go with the SLP’s and based on Ripn12s notes looks like that is the way to go.
My Mechanic said that the OEM exhaust manifold is really a half header, that explains why Ripn12s can get decent performance on those.

And 98gtp I have to check if the intense guys include the high flow cat since the other people for that price does not include it.
The cheaper one Ripn12s found out there are from 3800 performance that for the ~850 you get the whole thing. The headers, kit and high flow cat converter.

And 98gtp I have to check if the intense guys include the high flow cat since the other people for that price does not include it.


If you had ordered it from Intense before the end of November last year it was 599$ for the headers, a high flow cat, and the O2 simulator.

If you order it from now from Intense it will still be cheaper than 3800.
$599 + $179 + $69 < $850 You could save $3!!!

The only thing you really need from the over priced kit are the exhaust clamps for the slip fit joints. I am sure you could find those cheaper. If you really want to save cash you could have a 12" custom race pipe made for $10 instead of using the cat.

http://www.intense-racing.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/headerkit_350.jpg