This is a stupid question, but I was curious why shorty headers dont' give as much HP and longtube headers? And I have a cutout, so with the shorty and the cutout would I be just as good as longtubes?? I'm just a little retarded on the exhaust side, ne help?

 

i guess because of the size of the primary tubes (the tube that comes off of each Cyl)

but that is just my guess

 

Exhaust gases flow more freely - they each have their own tube for a longer period of time so there are no "traffic jams" with the gases - when they do finally meet into one tube, jams are minimized since they come together after they are all traveling relatively in the same direction. Since the tubes exit under the car, gases are then flowing a nice straight path ("traffic" traveling the same way) so there is less "jamming"

EDIT: I don't know how much less, if any, jammin occurs with LTs, but the fact that they each have their own tubes for longer time period helps. It also may help that exhaust gases are cooler when they eventually do come together. Warmer gases have more kinetic energy, so they would be more likely to bounce into each other/obstruct flow......maybe the fact that the gases are cooler helps as well????


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"Length plays an equally important role in tuning the power curve, as does the diameter of the tubing. Long-tube designs (typically 30-plus-inches) create a strong exhaust-gas pulse signal throughout the pipe that enhances low- to mid-range torque and horsepower. On the other hand, as the tubes become shorter, the tuning effect has less time to enhance the engine's low-speed benefits. A short header tube will allow the low- to mid-range power to fall off while increasing the upper-end potential of the engine. Many companies offer headers in intermediate and short-tube lengths mainly for clearance reasons, but these same applications can be used to alter the power curve of the engine." --Chevy High Performance, Header Ho-Down


Check out the rest of the pages within that article. Some interesting stuff, and testing they did on four different headers. Here are flow results for Hooker LTs: 1 5/8-Inch Hooker Long-Tube Headers, 1 ¾-inch Hooker Headers; Long Tube, more charts on other pages.