How much HP am I leaving on the table if I run some 1 7/8 primary tube and 3" collector headers vs. some 2" primary and 3 1/2" collector ones. This is on a 9.5/1, solid cammed 496 with some big valved and ported 781's. I'll be running 3" exhaust all the way out. I don't mind losing a little torque down low as I feel I'm going to be "traction challenged" as it is. Are 2" primaries the way to go?

I didn't realize this was such a tough one... anybody?

Other will disagree but I would rather see you run a 2" primary. I've been running 2" primary Hooker Super Comps on my car (460ci) from day one through (now) 3 engine iterations as well as both manual and automatic transmission. You've got enough grunt there that it won't hurt anything and the next time the speed bug bites you won't be worrying about whether the headers are too small.

my $0.02

Where your car runs right now, I don't think it would be worth spending the $$$ for a set of 2" headers. I doubt you would see any real difference either in seat of the pants, or on track.

Now if you were to upgrade down the road and be making say 550+ hp, then 2" headers might be worth investing in. I doubt they would really hurt your performance by a whole bunch, but they also just don't seem to be a part which would be worth spending $$$ on right now. I'm sure there are other areas in your cars combination which would yield better performance for the $$$ spent.

thanks for the feedback. 10secBu, these headers are for my current 496 build (not my old 454 which the numbers in my sig represent). I will be extremely dissapointed if I don't hit the 550+HP/TQ number. I'm scheduled to be on the dyno Friday night or Saturday so I'll keep everybody posted.

Ok, then that's a different story. For a 496, I'd agree with Ken and go ahead with the 2" header now.