SPF Performance Side Pipe upgrade selection

[Pman1961]

Madmaxx...is this the gas-n.com sidepipes that you mentioned early in this post or can you not say?

[madmaxx]

No, but I did check out the gas-n.com website, looked impressive!!!!!

Originally Posted by Pman1961

Madmaxx...is this the gas-n.com sidepipes that you mentioned early in this post or can you not say?

[RDUTRA]

[quote=STEVE-O;1100645]How do the Firefly pipes compare to these Mastertouch ones that are air cooled and a little cheaper?
[url]http://mastertouch327.com

I bought a set of Mastertouch sidepipes almost a year ago. The workmanship was second to none. It took a bit longer than expected, but the owner, George, is an honest straightforward gentleman. The stainless shines as nice as chrome and they actually do run cooler than the stocks pipes. Never put the car on a dyno, but the power increase was IMMEDIATE! They are loud, but with some baffles, they can be adjusted to suit anyone.

[S Bramlitt]

Rare Iron.

Just burned through my last set. Will be making another purchase real soon! This winter was a bit slow.. but now that the sun is coming out....

[poisonsnake]

I am absolutely sold on Firefly performance products! Besides being a great guy, Ron will set you up with headers that fit large port heads (designed specifically for them) and his ss sidepipes sound incredible not to mention look fantastic. I notch above the rest! Oh,Did I mention they flow better also? Clips do not do the pipes justice but check out..My friends new superformance cobra on you-tube and crank up the volume!!! Have a magical one!

[poisonsnake]

Pman 1961 I have a set of spf 402 double bolt pattern headers barely used for sale if you are interested

[Jake]

The common complaint is the popcorn machine sound out of the stock pipes. I understand that someone did some dyno tests and with a big block there was a 75 HP difference between the stock and free flowing 3" inside diameter pipes. I had a friend weld in some stainless specialty mufflers in place of the stock mufflers and they sound amazing! Much cheaper, at about $ 119.00 each ( Stainless Steel exhaust components• ) All said and done I think I was less than $500 with fresh ceramic black coating.

Jake

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by Jake

The common complaint is the popcorn machine sound out of the stock pipes. I understand that someone did some dyno tests and with a big block there was a 75 HP difference between the stock and free flowing 3" inside diameter pipes. I had a friend weld in some stainless specialty mufflers in place of the stock mufflers and they sound amazing! Much cheaper, at about $ 119.00 each ( Stainless Steel exhaust components• ) All said and done I think I was less than $500 with fresh ceramic black coating.

Jake

I put mine on a dyno before and after the Stainless Specialties pipes, and there was only 1 HP difference.

Now with that said, I did not re-jet it after the new pipes, and it was on the lean side, but still acceptable.

[Pman1961]

I was seriously considering the Firefly pipes. Great reviews from all that took the time out to speak with me who has or had a pair. At the end I elected to go with the 3" by Performance Engineering. Baffles are on order and my pipes went out Monday. Some reasons is that the most notable performance gains as I was told were on the big, big horsepower engines. So I figured why spend twice as much for the same performance gains. There were many other upgrades that I'm doing to my car while my motor is out such as radiator and oil cooler screens, Kirkham brake and clutch resevoirs, fan covers, 5 point harner, fire extinguisher. I wanted to stay with ceramic coating look instead of the stainless and did not want to coat stainless pipes. Most of all a very respected Superformance builder/dealer said I was just wasting money. I basically want the sound improvements and if I gain a few horsepower then that is just fine with me!

[craigayl]

"very respected Superformance builder/dealer said I was just wasting money"

DANG!!! Wish I had talked to that very respected dealer! Could have saved a bunch.... Of course on the other hand, I be short 50hp, the rusted out muflers would be banging around inside the pipes and the car would look like hell with the crap ceramic coating, but what the heck.. It would at least get the endorcement of a "very respected dealer".



Craig

[Jake]

Originally Posted by craigayl

"very respected Superformance builder/dealer said I was just wasting money"

DANG!!! Wish I had talked to that very respected dealer! Could have saved a bunch.... Of course on the other hand, I be short 50hp, the rusted out muflers would be banging around inside the pipes and the car would look like hell with the crap ceramic coating, but what the heck.. It would at least get the endorcement of a "very respected dealer".



Craig

Now that is funny!

Jake

[Pman1961]

I was told by Firefly to expect a 20 to 25 hp increase over stock SPF sidepipes with my engine combination as other pipe manufacturers or fabricators also claim through testing. No doubt in my mind I'm convinced Firefly sidepipes are the best money can buy. Yet, I have a lot of upgrades I'm doing this year and the money saved buying pipes from Performance Engineering at half the price with similar performance expectations sure helps the bank account.

[poisonsnake]

Originally Posted by craigayl

"very respected Superformance builder/dealer said I was just wasting money"

DANG!!! Wish I had talked to that very respected dealer! Could have saved a bunch.... Of course on the other hand, I be short 50hp, the rusted out muflers would be banging around inside the pipes and the car would look like hell with the crap ceramic coating, but what the heck.. It would at least get the endorcement of a "very respected dealer".



Craig

'
Difficult situation because the dealer's first obligation is to sell the vehicle and may not steer you in the right direction.(first hand experience) so I just listen to Dr. Craig!

[Pman1961]

I've had the car for almost 3 years now. I bought the car from an individual and not a dealer. The upgrades are a personal choice. Good thing I didn't tell the brand of scatter shield I just bought! I'm sure their would be a lot of disrespectful comments with the stupid smiley faces too.

[SPF1061]

HP is bragging rights. Torque is what makes these cars so much fun to drive.
With my 427R I added 3" stainless specialties mufflers. Lots of dyno tweaking gained me 7 hp at the top end. They are loud and sound bad asss though. Then I added the big port headers that wouldn't restrict the flow. Lots of dyno tweaking gained me no horsepower and lost @ 30lb ft torque down low. Also cost me .3 seconds on my ET at the dragstrip. A "respected dealer" (maybe the same one referred to above ) told me this is exactly what would happen.
I am always amazed a the threads claiming the big performance gains from exhaust mods. Sure didn't do much for me. Some guys are just lucky I guess?
On the other hand, these cars are all about the fun, plain and simple. If shiny loud mufflers make you feel like you're going faster, then they are worth every penny. No arguing that point! Enjoy.

[427supr]

Eric at Performance Engineering just did mine. I went to the stainless 3" exhaust. Eric said on the dyno it showed a 25-30hp gain. I don't know for sure how much you will feel it at the seat of your pants, but the car sure does sound better! It cost $1200 bucks out the door with the ceramic coating. I know the car is at least breathing better now. Performance Engineering is located in Ross, Ohio near Cincinnati.

[Pman1961]

SPF 1061 and 427supr....all I can say is thanks my thoughts exactly!

[jhv48]

And people will now cover their ears when you drive by.

That's a big plus.

I got mine from Full Throttle about a year ago. 3" innards. Now the car sounds like a monster. Not sure, nor do I care, if there was any horsepower gain. Sounds 1000% better than stock.

Had an older guy pull up next to me while I was sitting at a stop light. He looked down from the cab of his truck and said, "Now that's what a car should sound like". And he's right!

Just get the pipes from someone and don't look back!

[Voyager]

Probably not what people want to hear, but…at what point is it loud enough & at what point do you have enough horsepower?

Finding that breakeven point between sound and performance is tough.

For me, the OEM SPF pipes are spot on. You’re louder than you think. I let my son drive mine around the neighborhood and I could hear him a couple miles away, loping around at 2000 rpm. My wife told me that she heard me jump on it on the local bypass road (about 5 miles away). Hard to keep your license in your wallet with that pronouncement!

Also – adding 20 hp to my 515 hp only means that I spin my crappy tires a tad sooner.

[greg schroeder]

Originally Posted by Voyager

Probably not what people want to hear, but…at what point is it loud enough & at what point do you have enough horsepower?

Finding that breakeven point between sound and performance is tough.

For me, the OEM SPF pipes are spot on. You’re louder than you think. I let my son drive mine around the neighborhood and I could hear him a couple miles away, loping around at 2000 rpm. My wife told me that she heard me jump on it on the local bypass road (about 5 miles away). Hard to keep your license in your wallet with that pronouncement!

Also – adding 20 hp to my 515 hp only means that I spin my crappy tires a tad sooner.

For me the 275/60 15 Mickey Thompson drag radials helped the car hook up. The next best mod for me was the Pro-Systems carb and the taller oval air filter. I like the look of the SPF side pipes too, but I was chasing HP with buying side pipes. Cost per HP the least effective item was the side pipes. The light weight flywheel is more fun and helps the car hook better too.