I am ordering headers and need to make the decision between the two. I am right now leaning towards the Mac's because I am very impressed with the dyno numbers and gains people and getting from them and the plug access is unbeatable. I am also torn on another factor. I am on a very tight budget. Since I live smack dab in the middle of a desert(El Paso) I am thinking that it would be alright to get them uncoated and am leaning towards uncoated Mac's. What do you all think, decide my fate??

1.)Mac's uncoated
2.)Mac's Coated
3.)Coated Pacesetters

Thank you for whoever can help me decide.

 

Well, the desert helps your rust problem, but makes the heat problem even worse. The coating is for heat protection more than rust protection. In the desert, I wouldn't use a header without coating.

By the way, I would go for the single cat MAC's. About $540 coated and shipped from Jet-Hot.

If you go to AI's website, you will see that the MAC's are putting just as much HP to the ground as cars with long tubes, and that's at 400+ rwhp. These are comparing headers with identical heads/cam combo. http://www.advancedinduction.com/ Just look at the car results on the main page. Dyno numbers are hard to argue with.

Guys will say that LT's with 1 3/4" primaries make more power, but that's only if you run into the point that the headers start to restrict flow. 1 5/8" primaries are PLENTY big for almost any street motor. Look at it this way. Each header has 4 primaries that are 1 5/8" in diameter. That's 2.07 square inches per primary. 2.07 times 4 = 8.28 square inches. The Y-pipe is 2.5" diameter per side, so that's only 4.9 square inches. Where is the restriction? Not in the headers, it's in the Y-pipe or the intermediate pipe. Even a 3" pipe is only 7 square inches.

The smaller diameter actually helps low end TQ, and you don't really sacrifice HP until very high RPM. The 1 3/4" primaries hurt low end.

The benefit of LT's is a little better shift to low end TQ because of the length. To be honest, I would much rather have a 1 5/8" LT than a 1 3/4" LT.

Let the debate begin!

Dan

 

Another vote for coated MAC's. Better plug access is always nice with an LT1 and of course, ground clearance. I don't think there'll be a noticeable power difference at all.

 

IMO I would go with coated MAC headers. Out of all the headers I have seen and owned they have the best plug access. Make sure to get them coated though or they will rust pretty quickly. I can not comment on Pacesetters because I have never seen a pair installed on a car.

 

How about the issue or Coated or Uncoated then.......???

 

What kind of headers are we talking here? Mac midlengths vs. Pacesetter longtubes? The Macs are pretty darn impressive for midlength headers unless they make longtubes that I haven't heard of yet

 

I have the pacesetter long tubes and love them. I really can not compare them to any other header, but with my true dual exhaust, this car pulls real hard at 3k rpm. Installation was not bad. Plug access is good except for one plug. But other then that no problems... Go with the pacesettter.

 

i bought the non-coated mac's and am very happy with them....day night difference between those and stockers...i paid 440 shipped through my local race shop

 

Well the reson I was thinking uncoated headers is because the stock manifolds are the equlavalent if not worse than the HTS coating, right????

 

You know, that's a very good question. I'm not sure if the HTS coating is better than the stock manifolds, for heat. If the HTS coating is better than manifolds, then go for it, since you don't really need to worry about rust.

Remember, if you buy the MAC midlengths, you will need an S-pipe and either an Off Road straight Pipe (ORP) or a cat.

Dan

 

Yeah I remember, I am planning on just putting on the headers and y-pipe, and I will have them connected to the cat once I get the money to do it.