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The second biggest controversy in header design is the "equal length" versus "shorty" styles---which is best? Like most performance products, there are advantages and disadvantages to both.Exhaust headers with equal length primary tubes have been shown to develop slightly more power on an open exhaust system, but not when hooked up to a street system with mufflers. The fact is, most street motors with shorty headers will produce the same power as they would with expensive equal length headers.Equal length tubes can produce more power, true. However, they must be the right length for the specific motor at the RPM range where you want the power. What that means is lots of custom fabrication and dyno testing, which translates into lots of time and money.For racing applications, the slight gain may justify the cost, but competition cars are more easily built "around the engine" than street cars. When you are working within the confines of a given body style and chassis, with motor mounts, starter, steering linkage and accessories to think about, the way the headers fit becomes more important.That is where the compact or "shorty" style header shines. You get a significant performance increase compared to stock exhaust manifolds, at an off-the-shelf price. Plus, Sanderson headers provide excellent clearance around spark plugs, starter and chassis components, as well as ground clearance for lowered vehicles. The charts on this page illustrate just how little power you trade off for the much lower cost and easy installation of compact headers.