DVC

Is anybody running the ARH revised DS header on their E55? Does it clear the steering shaft bolt/nut?

Also looking for any dyno results and audio.

Thanks

Hotsoss

I ran the ARH long tube headers on my now sold E55 and there were no clearance issues. The only thing you will need to do is remove the steering shaft nut holder. I cannot verify the exact gains because I had another of modifications done with the headers at the same time, but I would say that my car gained about 40-45rwhp compared to just running a 180mm pulley as my only mod. The car pull instantly and was faster overall, but I did sacrifice some low end torque in the lower RPMs. The car essentially became more of a horsepower car with an endless pull instead of just a torque monster with the 180mm pulley in which the power would die off a little on the top end due to backflow restriction an IATs. The car will also loose about 1-2 pounds of boost allowing you to run a bigger pulley to pick back up that power loss from having a more efficient set-up. In terms of sound it was perfect! It sounds almost stock at idle except for a little more rumble and the rumbe is a little louder at low RPMs or cruising speed. The sound never made the cabin loud nor was there any weird noises from the exhaust. It was just pure rumble just a notch below the 63 motors in terms of rumble during normal driving. However, when you romp on it all hell would break loose, but never is an obnoxious SLP Loud mouth WS6/Camaro/Mustang way maintaining the that classiness of a benz.

I hope this helps bro,
Larry

DVC

Larry,

Thank you for the reply and input! That's the most feedback I've seen on the ARH system. May I ask if you were running cats with yours?

Are you pretty happy with your V so far?

Thank you,
Travis

BI-Performance

We have installed two sets of ARH on E63's and both had clearance problems. The shaft would rest right on the header, but with that been said, they made monster power. With just the headers and tune, the customers car picked up 70rwhp, and sounded like a big block

Hotsoss

Travis,
Yes, I ran hi-flow cats with my headers for emissions purposes. In terms of the V, I love it. It' does not feel that much faster than my stock E55, but there seems to be a little more midrange and top end grunt in the V. To be perfectly honest the E feels faster around town and has a little more low end grunt than the V. Also the traction control system on the E55 feels less intrusive at cutting power when getting on it and it does a better job at modulating the tire spinning while allowing you to stay heavy in the throttle. The V's traction control system at times to kill the power aggressively. So in my humble opinion a stock CTS-V feels like a pulley only E55 from a roll and would probably loose to Pulley only E55 from a dig. Don't get me wrong though the V can pull just as well if not more than a E55, it's just not as easy to extract the power because of wheel spin. The V has great handling for such a heavy car! I love taking the car around winding roads and letting the car rip. Don't get me wrong. The V is no canyon carver like an E46 M3 or Lotus Elise, buts its very good. The interior is very sporty and modern with cool electronics. The recaro seats are supportive and look great. The car has more of a sporty like interior with a touch of luxury similar to a E92 M3 or S4 Audi. It is not as luxurious as an E class or Jag XF and it is smaller than both inside. With that being said the car is very good and has a very good power train that can be modded safely between 600-720 rwhp/rwtq.

DVC

Gents,

I spoke with Anthony from ARH today regarding the clearance issues. First, he is a great guy and I was very impressed that he took the time to call. Also, that he'd support the platform with such low quantity demands.

I encouraged him to stop by the forum.

BIP- Those are awesome results! The way the power is being maintained from 5800 to 6700 is incredible.

Larry- Thank you for describing the differences between the V2 and the E55. You have really summed it up well from your first hand experience. Thank you so much for the input, sir.

Hotsoss

Travis,
You are truly welcome. Glad I can help. From what I read on these forums ARH and MBH headers seem to be the best for the E55/CLS 55 platform with Kleemans being a cost effective alternative.

Larry

E55Jess

impressive result damn!

DVC

Thank you brother. Very good stuff. What is the best forum for the V?

Hotsoss

From my knowledge the best forum for Cadillac V enthusiast seem to be Cadillacforums.com

Like MB World this site has a lot of good information for enthusiast interested in modifying or maintaining their vehicle especially for the V2. The problem is there are not a lot of V alternatives in Cadillac lineup like you have with AMG or BMW M. So it can get boring pretty quick. Also, the members on this forum as a whole tend to be a whole lot more knowledgeable about their cars. That may be mostly due to the fact that MB World has been around a lot longer.

Hotsoss

Oops...I meant to stay the Cadillac forum members aren't as knowledgeable about their cars a whole as the members on this site.

adianaty

Ctsvowners dot com. Go to the engine and performance section and you will see some knowledge. The Cadillac owners forum is garbage. Owned a supercharged V1 and broke 7 rear ends in it until I finally moved onto the M6 V-10. I have my eye on a V2 wagon come summertime. They are well into the 9's and there are a few that are making some serious power. It's a heavy car though but the LSA and automatic seems to be able to take punishment above 750rwhp. Eventhough they are new cars, they are years ahead of us given the common platform.

jcjmw

I almost pulled the trigger on a blue (metallic blue?) cts-v wagon in december, after the nearby mercedes dealer quoted me an outrageous price to order a new W212 amg wagon. I then decided to hold on to my current w211 wagon a little longer.

With that said, I was thinking of getting new headers to replace my Kleemnan headers. Has anyone switched from Kleeman headers to LT headers - like these ARH - and noticed more torque and/or HP? Thanks ahead for any response?

DVC

Ali & Larry -Thank you for the links, gentlemen. I definitely want to learn more and track the resale. The LSA platform would be the main attraction for me.

e55amgrocket

I believe they will be worth some HP up top but you will loose TQ for sure. One of those trade offs for having bigger headers. I really think a stepped header might keep the torque plus give you those bigger HP gains up top. Now we need someone to make them

cij911

If you guys think there would be a market, I could have a little company I know make stepped headers....The company makes them for the Japanese import scene and does private label stuff for the OEMs.

DVC

Private label for OEM...sounds pretty good to me.

Rocket- are you thinking 1 3/4 stepped to 1 7/8, or 1 5/8 to 1 3/4?

e55amgrocket

If they can make them and make them fit I think that would be the best of both worlds. Supercharged cars love BIG header pipes but they do take so low end torque away. On my car we plan on doing 1 3/4 to 1 7/8 into a 2" where it goes into a tri-y with a megaphone. For the regular modded cars I would go with 1 3/4 into 1 7/8. Then you would need to run everything thru a pipe max to figure out the lengths you would need for best results too. My fab guy already said its going to take a lot of work to get what I want done with the space we have but if it makes more it will be worth it.

cij911

We could also do a cast stepped piece too...

Hotsoss

Adianaty: Thanks for that site information (ctsowner.com). I will check it out as I want to become more knowledgeable about this platform before I start spending money trying to keep up with the bi-turbo E63s and F10 M5 of the world lol

DVC: No problem man. Glad I can help

e55amgrocket: You are right. You will lose a good amount of low end torque in the lower rpms in exchange for upper RPM Horsepower. I was contemplating upgrading to a 185mm pulley just to gain some of that low end grunt back before I decided to move onto another platform.

DVC

Rocket- that setup sounds incredible!

That's a great question...whether there's market. I have a feeling Bruce from TTM went to a lot of work to get the ARH system together. Maybe 5-10 sets have been sold. That's kind of frustrating.

e55amgrocket

I like the system but fit and function comes first. I don't like the 4'' collector either myself.

DVC

4" for ARH? I thought that was typo, and that it's 3".

It looks like they have a new page up for the MB systems:

http://www.americanracingheaders.com/MercedesBanner.htm

99lightning

I dont know same stuff on i read when i did my lightning headers at the time that you lose this you lose that. I jammed them on and retuned my truck picked up power and torque everywhere and gained 3mph. When tuned properly you should not lose anything.

DVC

Tim, what headers did you run on your L?