Alright I'm purchasing a header for my 06 2.2 cobalt 5spd.

I "THINK" I made this mistake once and want to check it out w/ you guys. When I had my last car 2002 z24 cavi ..I spent like 500 bucks on either it was a DC or a Weapon R header, and ended up losing a race to somebody who had almost identicle mods on the same car just w/ a cheaper exhaust and a cheap pacesetter header.

NOW after that , Im back to purchasing a header for my car and does it really make a bit of difference for a lil 2.2 ? Now i guess if i'm throwing header(S) on a vette or a stock car sure i could see hooker or elderbrocks being worthwhile. But seriously i personally DONT care if the paint chips off in 10 minutes, my 2.2 engine looks like crap anyways w/ the stock covers and everything so I dont care what the headers aesthetics are.

Please help me out guys. Does the brand matter? Why am I seeing pace setters for 160 bucks ebay and weapon r 's for like 500. Will I possibly w/ light mods get hot enough to make a damn bit of difference?

 

Go with a Clear Image 4-1 Header and Downpipe.

 

Vibrant header/downpipe/highflow cat. Best quality, best value (for a complete bolt on kit)

 

I really dont have the money to spend 500 bucks on a header. I'm hoping for around 150-200. Would i see anything other than 1-2 hp difference going from pace setter to clear images 500 dollar header?

 

yes Clear image is 10hp with out a tune

 

Any idea on price? is it 500 bucks? I think the lady on the phone through them tried to sell it to me.

 

$206.75. Was it beth? she is really cool

but if you just purchase the header and not the downpipe they have to weld a tri flange on it so it can bolt to the stock or and another aftermarket downpipe.

 

REALLY smart lady . Hearing a girl that sounds cute, tlaking about mandrel bent tubing .. just made my leg shake!! LOL but she said something like 500 bucks for the header .. and I just kinda shuckled I am wiling to return the pace setter header if its only like a 50 dollar difference but an extra 5 hp isn't worth 300 bucks to me lol.

Also what do you think. 2.2 cobalt ls. does it need a bigger downpipe? I'm not runnin F/I or anything here. Its only a 2.5 catback exhaust, Would it be worth it. I'm getting it trifecta tuned as well following my 2.4 intake mani & header install.

 

ok im on the phone with her and for the 4-1 heaer to a 2.5 downpipe w/o cat is 392.00.

with all my bolt ons beside the cams i ran 163 hp so yes im saying to get the full header and 2.5 downpipe money well spent. and beth is very cute

but if you go with the header ceramic coated like i have and 2.5 w/highflow cat it is 550.00

 

Well then HOOK ME UP. I bet after a date w/ her I could talk her down into the 200 range W/ cat.

I guess i can take dogs in too if she has em

Yea, on a more serious note. That wayy too high. bottom line its metal. Sure the engineering has something to do it w/ it but once a company figures it out its a MOLD that they make a million out of. I can't justify paying 400-500 bucks for a 10 hp gain, when I can get a pacesetter for 160 on ebay, have a downpipe made for like 50 bucks. and get 8 hp lol. Just not worth it, unless beth comes w/ the header!

 

Yea i know what you mean beth is awesome. actually each header is built to order as soon as you purchase it.

 

the pacesetter has been known to break welds and sound like bees. if you want something not too expensive but good quality i'd go with the zzp mid-length header/dp combo. i believe its about 370

 

ya i would go wit the ZZP header/dp combo thats what i just bought

 

ZZP midlength for the win. It ranges from $350 to $650 deoending upon options, including 1.5-1.75 primaries, high heat paint/ceramic/stainless steel, mild steel/stainless steel DP, extra O2 bungs, Cat converters, etc.

For your application, I would reccomend 1.5in primaries with a 2.5in DP, unless your planning on some good power (200+), then go with 1.75 primaries. The other options depend upon what you want.

 

You should. When the paint flakes off, the headers will start to rust. Have a look in my Camaro's engine bay and you'll see what I mean.

Not to mention, Ceramic coating helps to keep the heat in the headers, from what I can remember.

 

Never heard of Pacesetter breaking welds.... Also the base header that ZZP uses (last we heard) was the Pacesetter header, and ZZP modifies the downpipe....

At any rate the Pacesetter and ZZP headers seem to be a good choice.

 

Thanks, Maybe these companies like Vibrant and even clear image when they get big enough to compete will FINALLY learn when people buy headers its bottom line a piece of fabricated metal. Once you make one its a mold. Sure when I buy an exhaust I'll spend a bit more on the muffler because of sound chambers, but a header?

 

Those are the pacesetter headers, (painted mild steel)

Those are not 100% bolt up as you need to CUT the downpipe, and clamp. The vibrant is made from 304 stainless, TIG welded, with a high flow cat and downpipe, that all bolt up to the cat back. There is a reason for the price difference.

Dont get me wrong the pacesetter are good, for the price, but you do pay for what you get.

I would not call that "MARK UP" it is called "Using quality materials" and "what the kit includes"

 

LOL call it what you want, I guarantee it dont cost them a fraction of 500 dollars to make a few pounds worth of molded metal. Thats what markup is my friend, whether or not its a quality product or not. Hell I'm paying somebody to put the header on for me, as easy as it sounds to do, its beyond what I'll dive into on a car.. I manage to cut myself enough working on computers from the cases. Everytime I dive into a major car upgrade, I have a hospital bill to go w/ it. Like last time, Which involved a compressed spring, take a wild guess what happened lol.

Apparently your loaded and dont mind spending an extra 200 bucks for a header to get a cool lil logo on it. I suppose you buy Abercrombie & Fitch shirts for 75 bucks too cuz the logo looks cool. lol j/p :P

 

Not here to argue as we do sell both.

But, why are you calling it "molded" You do know the cost to bend stainless is much more than mild steel. Also stainless is around 4 times more expensive than mild steel. Also you dont want to MIG weld stainless, as you need to TIG weld stainless. So the "process" to make a stainless header takes longer as TIG welding will also take 3-5 times longer than MIG welding.

Cutting stainless flanges also takes longer as it is harder, it is harder on CNC carbide tooling, and "wears" tooling out faster.

Plus mild steel does rust, where as stainless does not....

Depends your goals on your car. If it is a drag car, and you only want it for 2 years, get the pacesetter. If you want a show car/drag, and want a lifetime header for the car, get a stainless.

You are also not comparing apples to apples. The pacesetter does not include a cat converter, nor a complete down pipe.

Again, we do carry both and there are benifits of both, so dont get us wrong, we are not arguing that the Vibrant is "better" it is a fact that there is a reason why they are that much more....

Look around all Stainless headers will be around 500, where as all mild steel headers will be around $200.... Does not matter on the company size or mark up, it is just that much more to make that style....

 

OK. Yes you answered the question right there. My car is going to be my girlfriends car when I buy my SS/TC or better. At that point if the header is rusted out by then, I'll simply put the stock one back on. Hopefully it would take more than 2 years to rust through a header! LOL Isn't there some crap i can buy at autozone or something to put on the header to stop that from happening?

Now when you say full down pipe? Whats the difference between a header extension as the pacesetter comes w/ and that 150-200 dollar down pipe? Sound difference performance?? Enlighten me please.

Also plz dont get me wrong I'm not argueing, just trying to learn what makes a 500 dollar header worth 500 bucks.

 

I would not call the pacesetter "down pipe" a downpipe... It just connects the header to the stock exhaust.... A true downpipe is larger (longer) and replaces much more. When you get your pacesetter header your "downpipe" will only be about 4-5" long...

You should AT LEAST get the ceramic coated pacesetter header to prevent rust....

 

X2. Headers are not cast.

 

doesn't wd40 prevent rust

 

LOL sure, but I dont think you want to spray flamable material on a hot header, well if you like your cobalt you wont