Headers were one of the first performance mods most folks would do with their muscle cars and hot rods back in the day. As cars have become more and more complicated, engine compartments have become tighter, and emissions equipment has become more integrated into the exhaust manifolds and y pipes, headers have become harder and harder to install onto something modern. Short headers have therefore become even more common because they are easier to install and usually cost much less. But do they work as well as long tube headers? Are they any better than stock manifolds? Are modern manifolds so good that doing any upgrades is a waste of time?

In this video, Richard Holdener is going to be testing headers on a Junkyard 6.0 LS and I can assure you that they are not a waste of time or money. At least in some cases. There are plenty of combos that will make all the power you need with cheap stock manifolds, but it totally depends on the install, the power level, and the look you are going for. Watch.

Here is the video description:

STOCK LS MANIFOLDS VS HEADERS, STOCK CAM, TRUCK CAM & BLOWER. DO HEADERS REALLY ADD POWER ON A STOCK 6.0L LS MOTOR? HOW MUCH ARE HEADERS WORTH ON A MILD CAMMED 6.0L? DO TRUCK CAMS RESPOND TO LONG TUBE HEADERS? WHAT ABOUT HEADERS ON A SUPERCHARGED B15 LS? ARE BIGGER HEADERS WORTH ANY EXTRA POWER ON A HIGH-HP, WHIPPLE-SUPERCHARGED LS? CHECK OUT ALL THE DYNO RESULTS AS I TESTED STOCK MANIFOLD VS LONG TUBES WITH A STOCK CAM, THEN THE SAME TEST WITH A MILD, BTR STAGE-3 TRUCK CAM. THE FINAL TEST WAS TO COMPARE 1 3/4 VS 1 7/8 HEADERS ON A WHIPPLE SUPERCHARGED B15 CRATE MOTOR. SOUNDS EXHAUSTING!