Kooks or Arh for gt350？？

[chops44]

I'm going to stay the unleaded fuel route for now and thought about dumping a can of torco on top of the 93 and playing the waiting game on the cel. Interesting find on the o2 extensions there, I haven't seen those before. Any experience with them? I've already got the sctx4 and have talked to Shaun, but I'm still a little leary to flash the computer simply because warranty. What's the issue with your car that warrants 4 months in the shop?

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[Lexluther]

Numb nut dealer.. Trans went out on my tech at 2400miles they remembered to order a new trans after 2 months when they audited the loaner cars and found out I was still in mine. They broke the tabs on my rear bumper adjusting the gap thats been 6wks. I know they didn't change the throw out bearing because I test drove it at their bodyshop and its making a whirling grinding noise and hard to shift so trans is mis-aligned so its going to be forever. So in the 6months I've owned the car 4months its been at the shop and I've been making my payments, I figure they own me..

I'm paying on vapor so thinking of reducing my risk and offing my car parts for now I can always repurchase parts later when things are more certain.

I've run 4 gals of E85 and the rest 93 when I filled up a station that had both, did that 3times no issues. The 93 had a sign that said contains 10% ethanol. Not sure the total content of the mix but car ran fine no issues.

I've used that mini cat in my porsche carrera C2 no CEL lots of euro car guys use it and pass emissions. If I ever see my car back my attorney says Ford sucks and takes a long time so I was going to go with off-road legs and put this o2 spacer on. I can't reflash although I also have the SCT sitting next to my tv due to possible pending litigation. Shaun at AED has been waiting for ages to send me his tune. Was going to do a remote tuning session with him and his buddy that has a shop near me.

I've also got ford performance 47lbs injectors and Injector Dynamics ID1300 next to the SCT. Its like looking at old trophy's and saying "I used to be cool" and than jumping in the mini-van. Painful and not good..

 

[autobahnGT350]

I was convinced on doing a Kooks header swap, but after speaking with one of the Shelby GT350 engineers, not sure anymore. The factory header system has a serious amount of R&D to satisfy the scavenging requirements of this new engine, plus, maintain emissions and reasonable loudness. The catback portion seems to me to be the bottleneck. I always added headers in my other cars, Corvette, Mustang, M3, Camaro, or whatever,to extract that last bit of performance. The sound of the Shelby stock is satisfying enough, the Kooks headers adds some other elements, some minor power increase, and a louder car. Perhaps, for an allout rcae setup, the Kooks might be okay, but others are racing fine with factory headers. I guess,I think I am at an impasse regarding adding headers for this particular car. But, I did order the Ford Performnace by Borla cat back, sport exhaust, which gives a better tone, and more power. Of course, all bets are off the table, when HP is your abosulute goal, and every incremental increase helps gains overall.

 

[chops44]

I see where you are coming from but Kooks put a tremendous amount of r&d into their headers, that's why I went with them. They are the only ones who use the stepped design, incorporated the flex section and used vibration dampeners in their design. For me, when I looked at the dyno charts, there were gains in both the hp and torque department across the board. That told me that the headers are doing the job better than stock, so I was confident in doing the swap. From my conversations with other manufactures, they seemed to be interested in peak hp numbers and not so much in the smalls. Again, I can see where you are coming from and the ford system will sound sweet for sure. If I didn't want the particular engine note the kooks produce, I would have just done a catback also.

 

[autobahnGT350]

I see where you are coming from but Kooks put a tremendous amount of r&d into their headers, that's why I went with them. They are the only ones who use the stepped design, incorporated the flex section and used vibration dampeners in their design. For me, when I looked at the dyno charts, there were gains in both the hp and torque department across the board. That told me that the headers are doing the job better than stock, so I was confident in doing the swap. From my conversations with other manufactures, they seemed to be interested in peak hp numbers and not so much in the smalls. Again, I can see where you are coming from and the ford system will sound sweet for sure. If I didn't want the particular engine note the kooks produce, I would have just done a catback also.

Thanks, and totally agree. :cheers:I am sure that if I were to hear your car I would forego any of my rational and reasoning, and say heck with it. You guys and gals on this forum make it hard to decide between the mod devil on the left shoulder, and the mod angel on the right shoulder, LOL.

Abosultely love the look of the Kooks headers too, and they were the only ones I would consider, even over ARH.

Post some sound clips when you get a chance. My Ford Racing by Borla sport exhaust should be installed next week.

 

[Driver 8]

Many have reported no drone which is great. But I'm a little concerned about the loudness. I don't care how loud it is on the outside as I don't have to worry about neighbors. I'm more concerned about how loud it is on the inside. Does it interfere with normal conversations? Is it Fatiguing after a while?

 

[chops44]

I had a hard time with starting the mods too, but I finally gave in for the sake of enjoying the car that much more. There is no drone inside the car and with the windows up it's loud but only if you give it pedal. Cruising around town under light throttle it's not intrusive at all and I would venture to say only a hair louder than factory sport mode.

 

[Driver 8]

I had a hard time with starting the mods too, but I finally gave in for the sake of enjoying the car that much more. There is no drone inside the car and with the windows up it's loud but only if you give it pedal. Cruising around town under light throttle it's not intrusive at all and I would venture to say only a hair louder than factory sport mode.

Good to hear, thanks!

 

[G-FORCE]

My 09 GT500 has full KOOKS system. For that car they offered the best fit, sound, cost etc. at that time.

My 16 GT350 has the full ARH system. For this car ARH has the best fit, sound, and cost.

I've dealt with both companies on various cars and various manufactures. I will assert with full confidence that the service after the sale will not be beaten by American Racing. The owner will personally be involved in any concerns that may arise until you are pleased.

The ARH connections are superior and will not leak and allow slightly better fit for O.E. manufacturing tolerances.

No regrets, with a canned LUND tune and full ARH system mine put down 495ish and 410 lb/ft on 93 pump gas.

 

[G-FORCE]

Also, the absence of dampers has not changed noise, vibration etc. There is no difference than O.E.

I also have tried with and without cats. While I am using the ARH mufflers which could make a difference, without cats is a little raspy for me.

Craftsmanship wise the ARH system is beutifully formed and welded and I am a picky SOB too.

 

[EF300]

My 09 GT500 has full KOOKS system. For that car they offered the best fit, sound, cost etc. at that time.

My 16 GT350 has the full ARH system. For this car ARH has the best fit, sound, and cost.

I've dealt with both companies on various cars and various manufactures. I will assert with full confidence that the service after the sale will not be beaten by American Racing. The owner will personally be involved in any concerns that may arise until you are pleased.

The ARH connections are superior and will not leak and allow slightly better fit for O.E. manufacturing tolerances.

No regrets, with a canned LUND tune and full ARH system mine put down 495ish and 410 lb/ft on 93 pump gas.

U had cats and resonators on the ARH system for those dyno numbers ?

TY

 

[J_Maher_AMG]

Also, the absence of dampers has not changed noise, vibration etc. There is no difference than O.E.

I also have tried with and without cats. While I am using the ARH mufflers which could make a difference, without cats is a little raspy for me.

Craftsmanship wise the ARH system is beutifully formed and welded and I am a picky SOB too.

Completely false. So you think that Ford who designed the car for longevity and reliability put in those dampers and designed the OE system the way it is for no reason? It would have been MUCH cheaper to just leave that stuff off were it not necessary.

Just because you don't feel it or hear it in car doesn't mean its not going to have a profound affect long term. Ford was very, VERY adamant about not messing with any of the dampening found throughout the car.

Sounds like you got pretty good dyno numbers for your setup, but what were your baseline numbers if you have them?

 

[G-FORCE]

Baseline 457 RWHP 375 RWTRQ DYNOJET

Im sure the dampers are there for a legitimate reason, noise, vibration, etc.
Omitting them could be a problem that is undetectable to the ear or ass I suppose. I run the crap out of mine so if it is going to create issues I'll be the kind who will find out.

No worries, it's just parts.......

 

[Lexluther]

I was convinced on doing a Kooks header swap, but after speaking with one of the Shelby GT350 engineers, not sure anymore. The factory header system has a serious amount of R&D to satisfy the scavenging requirements of this new engine, plus, maintain emissions and reasonable loudness. The catback portion seems to me to be the bottleneck. I always added headers in my other cars, Corvette, Mustang, M3, Camaro, or whatever,to extract that last bit of performance. The sound of the Shelby stock is satisfying enough, the Kooks headers adds some other elements, some minor power increase, and a louder car. Perhaps, for an allout rcae setup, the Kooks might be okay, but others are racing fine with factory headers. I guess,I think I am at an impasse regarding adding headers for this particular car. But, I did order the Ford Performnace by Borla cat back, sport exhaust, which gives a better tone, and more power. Of course, all bets are off the table, when HP is your abosulute goal, and every incremental increase helps gains overall.

Cost is always a factor where any engineer will be forced to compromise. While the factory header works very well it is not optimum for the application rather the application within the confines of mfg costs.

Looks the the flat spot in the header bottom left in the pic. Look at all the kinks in the bends where the piping is bottlenecked and different piping transitions which will decrease flow and velocity. The factory header is done that way since the catalytic converter will zap the exhaust velocity so they went cheaper on the header and added mpg numbers.

 

[2015 Silver GT]

What many don't know is ARH is made up of former employees from Kooks. They decided to go off on their own years ago.

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