I am putting in Jet-Hot LT's, with a Dr. Gas X-Pipe setup, and a bullet muffler on each side, and would like to put cutouts in so I have open headers at the track. Just curious, where is the best place to place the cutouts on an x-pipe setup, before the x-pipe, or after? Anyone have any diagram or anything? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanx guys!

 

depends on if you want it before the bullets or after. I would say put them at the end of the headers.

 

Um, cutouts after the bullets wouldn't change anything bro. Did you mean to say something else? And I've been told that you can't have the exhaust dumping out too close to the block, cause air will go back in and ruin stuff, but i'm not sure exactly what the person was talkin about, something about havin to be at least 12 inches back after the headers. Is this true, or can I put the cutouts right after my LT's? Any knowledgeable info will be greatly appreciated here, thanks again guys!

 

the idea for a cutout is that your exaust gas bypasses your catalytic converters, (therefore reducing backpressure)=more power. if you dont have cat's then you dont need a cut out. if you do then do them before the cat's so you **reduce** backpressure.

 

Isn't it also to bypass mufflers?

 

Man I feel for ya ... ask a simple question ...

Now ... before or after the x-pipe? A lot of people put them before. But here's my thought ... why did you go to the effort of putting in an X-pipe?? The X-pipe is not a restriction, in fact it's purpose is to assist with the scavanging of the exhaust.

So, why not take advantage of the X-pipe scavanging and place the cutout after the X-pipe.

 

Cool, thanks a lot for the answer bro!!! Yeah, if I put cutouts, I think i'll take your advice and put it after the x-pipe, but i'm rethinkin if I want cutouts now, cause everyone's sayin the bullet mufflers wont' restrict barely at all, and won't really tone it down that much either since i'm gonna get the 12" bullets. They're sayin i won't see any gains with the cutouts over it goin through the bullets, so i'm gonna see how it comes out when it's done. Again, thanks a bunch, cause at least now I know where to put them if I do decide to put em!

 

If you've got LTs into true duals with no cats and only bullets, I honestly don't think you'll gain much by going with cutouts. Sound is a definate, but as for ET gains, I think you'll be very lucky to see one tenth. Of course I could be wrong, and I hope someone does prove me wrong. I'm planning on LTs into true duals and was wondering if cutouts would benefit.

If I were to do it now, I'd put the cutouts right before the X pipe.

 

I put my cutouts right after the the headers, before the X. Opening them up at the track, has given me a better timeslip, I guess 1-2 tenths. Although they are not nearly as loud as open headers, or no muffler at all. Next time when the track opens I plan on seeing if the cutouts perform just as good as no mufflers. I supose the only real way to find out exactly is to take it to the dyno. If the cutouts produce as much power as no mufflers than the X would not make a difference in scavanging and so cutout placement wouldn't matter. I wish I had a decisive answer for you, but without real testing its hard to say. I know the X is there to even out the exhaust pulses, the gases will flow to the pipe or area with the least backpressure, I don't think the X really does any scavanging, and since cutouts are very freeflowing, I doubt theres much backpressure to worry about. The X will nt be as benifical as it would with more backpressure. Anyways that my reasoning for puting my cutouts right after the the header collectors(about 8 inches). It seems like there is ample room for them, and its easy to remove the covers when racing.

 

the x-pipe doesnt effectively "scavenge" the exhaust, per say.... its too far down the line. thats the exhaust port/header's job. the x-pipe is just a better version of the h-pipe, which adds volume to the exhaust system as opposed to the traditional dual setup.
open headers with the correct length/size collectors will always make more power than an exhaust, imo.
that being said, if your going to run cutouts after the headers, why suffer with the loud exhaust? might as well save some bucks and keep the factory i-pipe with maybe a flowmaster muff or something.
to the guy that gained 1-2 tenths with open exaust.... thats a pretty large/vague difference. you should try back to back runs once your very consistant with the car.
jeremy

 

Actually dude it's cheaper to do the true dual setup!! I'm gettin the x-pipe kit for $199.99, and each bullet muffler for about $40, so in total for parts it's about let's say close to $280 before shipping. Now if I had to buy the y-pipe, that would be $170 for the y-pipe, and the absolute cheapest catback i've seen is the hooker for like $262, so in total for parts, it would be about $432 before shipping. So why would I go with a worse setup that's not gonna sound or look as good or produce as much power? Also, I want it to be loud, why would I be suffering from loud exhaust? That's what I want! That's why I don't understand why everyone doesn't do a true dual when they get headers, cause it sounds better, gives more power, and is cheaper. And if you don't want it to be too loud, you could always get the 18" bullet instead of the 12". So that's why I don't see why anyone would stay with the stock y-pipe setup for these cars if they're gonna do headers, you know what i'm sayin? Actually, at first I was thinkin about doin a qtec y-pipe on the headers, so I would have open headers at the flip of a switch, with a catback, but then I realized how dumb that was. You know how much more expensive that would be, that qtec y-pipe alone is $600!!!!! I can get it installed with the money i'm savin, and still probably have money left over for some other mods!!

 

This is exactly why I went with true duals , cheaper, easier, better sounding, and more power, what more could you want. As far as my 1-2 tenths better timeslip with open exhaust, It could be me and my driving, I had a hard time hooking up and staying consistent, but my first 4 runs were 14.1-14.5 after that I ran 2 more times with the cutouts open and pulled 13.8 on both runs. Thats why I said I wanted to test out how well it really does perform (cutouts vs mufflers vs no mufflers) next time, when I get some drag radials and plenty of track time.

 

Yeah, your definately gonna wanna test that when you have a set of DR's!!! On street tires, your 60' times can be all over the place depending on how you launch. A lot less consistent than on a sticky tire! I need to get myself a set of DR's badly, that's the next thing I get before anything else after the exhaust goes on!!

 

well, i was actually talking about keeping the factory exhaust system and putting cutouts behind each header. cap em up for street use or uncap for the track. VERY cheap exhaust setup.
but, if you like it loud, then your right on track.
jeremy

 

Yeah, I definately want it loud, I also don't wanna have to get under there to open it up everytime I want the power, cause my stock catback is mad restrictive, it's a Z28. Especially if i'm drivin around wit it closed, and someone pulls up and wants to race
Might not be too bad on an SS or WS6 car as a cheap alternative, considering those mufflers are 3" and flow pretty good!