nota4re

Earlier today we had the opportunity to dyno test my 2012 LS with a stock exhaust and stock intake system against another, otherwise identical 2012 LS with a full-Kook's exhaust system. This second LS also has all of the OEM stock intake system - no CAI on either car.

We had just completed this full header, H-pipe, and exhaust system install earlier this week and as long as we had my LS on the dyno to get a baseline run, we thought it would be very revealing to see what this modified car would run. We are in-process to do the same exhaust install on my LS - I and would expect the same results.

The net of it is very, very, positive. We saw a 35HP increase and 40 more ft-lbs of Torque. BUT, the impressive part is tha this HP/TQ improvement was very consistent across virtually the entire RPM range!!! So, here's the point. Forget what you told your significant other you wanted for Christmas! Instead, tell them about the Cool Tech LLC website and tell them to push the button to purchase the complete Kook's exhaust system!!

Ok, one last word of caution..... the sound of this exhaust is just absolutely WICKED! Small children run and hide. Young boys wet themselves. Pit bulls wimper. The Boss 302 just screams at anything and everything to "GET OFF MY PLANET!!!" Seriously, this exhaust system sounds very, very, very good!

Here's the results....

5 DOT 0

Yikes! Is the Kooks system smog legal in CA?

69mustangman

I'm all in for this setup. Now to decide which body part to sell.

nota4re

First, just to be sure we are clear, you do not have to smog test a new car in California for the first 6 years. Second, you can purchase the Kook's H-Pipe with or without catalytic converters. The car above is a car registered in Hawaii and has no cats. We are installing the Kook's with CATs on my car so we will have another comparison. After the comparison - not sure which setup I will run for the next 5.5 years! (It is a very small job to switch back and forth between catted and non-catted.)

Apollo

OK, Kendall took me for a ride and we came back laughing and giggling like... well two high school kids. The car sounds incredible. It is so throaty and Barks and pops like you wouldn't believe. Seriously, I had tears in my eyes from laughing, it was unreal! Can't wait to get mine on.
THANK YOU FORD! THANK YOU COOLTECH!

5 DOT 0

All good points. Throw in a CAI and tune and you're at 500 HP at the flywheel.

nota4re

Speaking of tunes - I have an observation and a question.

Observation: We put my (stock) car on the rollers first for the principal reason that we wanted to see what kind of A/F numbers the Ford Engineers had dialed in through the RPM range. Once we saw this, we could put the "Kooks-equipped" car on the dyno and make sure that there were no spots in the dyno run where we would be running the car too lean. Somewhat surprisingly, the A/F numbers were nearly identical to the stock car. In my experience, this is unusual. I guess the wideband-equipped Boss is more adept at controlling a/f's than lesser vehicles!!

Question: If you tune a Track Key equipped car, do you lose the track key??? If not, which ECU program are you tuning - the black-key program or the red-key program??

2 Go Snake

I liked the last question about the ECU. I would think you would have a choice and I would hope most tuners would leave the red key ECU alone and tune the black key ECU. That would be the best of both worlds for those who chose the red key program.

P0 Corsa

Great work Kendall! And numbers don't lie.
This is a huge gain for the engine.

Question- Does the Kook's setup maintain the 4-pipe exit plumbing from the OE system or does it eliminate the two side exhaust pipes?

Does the system tested use the OE mufflers or were aftermarket mufflers installed as part of the complete exhaust system?

nota4re

The Kook's full 3" H-Pipe is made unique for the Boss 302's and maintains the cut-outs for the sides. We thought this was important as it will still allow an owner the ability to tailor the exhaust to his/her liking using different size restrictor plates. Note: the side turn-outs of the H-pipe can also be capped and then the side exhaust plumbing completely eliminated for maximum weight savings. We are in process to install the system on my LS. I think I will try the car with the side exits capped initially and see if I like the sound.

Regarding the mufflers, this is a full "headers & back" Kook's system. The super-heavy OEM mufflers were replaced with these much lighter and better sounding Kook's mufflers for a weight savings of about 27lbs!!

Rom

as usual you guys level of dedication and feedback as to Boss 302 innovative products is really admirable. I can't wait to hear some sound clips

ps: no affiliation to Cooltech whatsoever, but liking your presence and products on this board!

PACETTR

nice

12C/OBoss

Short answer is no...but if you have a cai you CANNOT use track key if the car is tuned for it. Also if you want to get rid if the catalyst efficiency codes from the catless exhaust you will need a tune OTHER than track key or a mechanical code fix like sparkplug foulers. I am assuming the Kooks equipped car has a CEL on and with some tuning and a cai you should pick up another 30-35 hp on a Dynojet. You could raise the soft limter to 7800 and the hard limiter to 7900 and you will be AMAZED with the pull up top. The extended limiter will be a boost to track day performance.

BTW If you remove all limiters a stock Boss will rev to 8250 before the fun ends...but 7800 is plenty for most track rats LOL

ufnavy06

I'm getting my wife a dog for Christmas....but I think we really need something that barks.... so she can get me this. And btw, didn't see a video but I'd love to hear it.

adam81

Kendall-

All these questions pertain to the LS with the Kooks system:

How many miles were put on the car before the dyno?

How many miles have been put on it so far?

Did the LS have a CEL appear?

And if so does it stay on or did it go away by itself?

Was the car tuned? I am assuming it wasn't....

Was it a total weight savings of 27 lbs after everything?

Please keep us updated on this car. I am curious to see if the CEL stays off and if the A/F stays safe.....(I am assuming this is non tuned and will stay so)

Thanks

Zoldier

In for video as well. Please tell me you cant ship this to an FPO address. Thats about the only way I see myself not getting it. I was already checking it out on the site but with the weight savings and numbers you've posted I really want it.

Maybe one piece at a time wont hurt as bad.

RJorge1950

Hi Kendall

Great post and great results !

I had the entire Kooks system in my 2008 Shelby GT-500 with the excemption of Corsa mufflers and boy did it BARK.

I would like to add to Adam's list and ask the following:

The dyno results are they with the track key or black key ?
Did you remove the discs on the side exhaust ?
Did you do the ceramic coating on the headers for this car ?
Do you think Ford would void your warranty with this system installed ?

P.S.
I was told by a tuner that he would use the black key to do tune since we have a dual path ECU.

Best regards,

Rob

nota4re

Love the questions. I like owners like me that want the details and the "why". I'll do my best to answer...

1. The car had approximately 20 miles on it with the headers/exhaust before it was put on the dyno. At about 15 miles, the car illuminated the CEL with a code for catalytic converter efficiency. Please note that this is a Federal OBD2 requirement. OEM engine management is required to have the ability to detect and report on a "failed" CAT over the lifetime of a car. It took the ECU only 15 miles to determine that the CAT wasn't doing its job. (It wasn't there!) The car uses the pre-cat O2 sensors for engine management and in the case of the Boss, these are wideband sensors.

2. Post dyno, the car has about 15 miles on it and about 1800 miles total mileage.

3. Yes CEL was illuminated. We confirmed the code (catalytic effeciency) and chose to intentionally NOT reset it prior to the dyno run. There are two traditional ways to eliminate the CEL. One is with a custom tune where the light is supressed and the other is with a small black box wired in near the O2 sensor. We will try the later since I don't think we will tune this car in the forseeable future.

4. The light will not go away by itself. It is a nuisance - nothing more.

5. Now for the really interesting part... We dyno'd a stock LS (mine) just before this modified car. The reason is that we wanted to see what A/F's the Ford engineers had dialed in for this car. We tested my car with BOTH the black key and the red key. Please note that we tested the red key only AFTER the car had dropped into its "Track Key Engine Enabled" mode which occurs only after the car has been running a couple of minutes. On the dyno with my car (stock) we logged A/F's throughout all of the pulls and got very good and consistent data. The reason that we were SO careful is that when we put the Kook's Exhaust car on the dyno - my experience is that with no tune the car will want to run lean. I was ready to abandon the run at a moment's notice as soon as we saw anything appreciably leaner than the stock car. (Note: I dyno with a team of 3 people. Driver watches RPM and "feels" car for any odd sensations. Colleague monitors A/F's with hand on driver's shoulder so he can "tap him off" at any time. Finally, I am outside the car - typically watching boost but in this case watching A/F trends as well. This is how we tune 1,000 RWHP twin-turbo Ford GT's.) anyway, the REALLY INTERESTING part is that the car ran virtually the same A/F's and even a tad richer on the high end of the RPM range. Yes, you read that correctly. In both track key and black key modes, the ECU correctly accounted for the headers - delivered superb HP/TQ increase and added fuel to compensate. Pretty amazing! Based on this encouraging data point - I DON'T think that tuning the car is needed. It is HARD to beat the factory flat-line A/F numbers!! There is NO reason to suspect that the car is going to fall out of tune - either the ECU has the ability to adapt or it doesn't. It appears that it does - and quite well.

6. We saved 27 lbs of weight with the H-pipe back (and another 19 lbs with the aluminum driveshaft) for a total of 46 lbs. The headers are a push in weight but the OEM CATs weigh in a 9lbs each - replaced by a 1 lb pipe. So, TOTAL exhaust weight savings = 43 lbs. Add the 19 lbs we saved with the driveshaft and we're talking about 62 lbs saved and 35HP/40TQ added!!!!

nota4re

More great questions....

1. We did two pulls with track key enabled - virtually back to back. Then we re-started the car with the black key... maybe 3 minutes max between the track key runs and the black key. We did the EXACT same procedure with both cars. In both cars, the 3rd pull (first pull with the black key) was the strongest by a small margin.

2. The discs were removed completely on my (stock) car and the were also removed completely with the Kook's car. Note that the Kook's car is LOUD as it has no cats. We may try capping off the sides and see if that reduces the bite somewhat. (The owner really won't care as this is almost exclusively a track car - and where we have no db limits.) We are doing our best to finish my car now which will be the same setup - although I will use the new Kook's high-flow cats. Should be a little quieter and also may cost me 2-4HP. I will try to have mine back on the rollers on Wednesday as we have to test another Ford GT TT then anyway.

3. Yes, I would NOT recommend installing these headers without the ceramic coating. The headers are very close to the starter and the ceramic coating will be a BIG help in protecting the starter. Anyone getting the headers from us can benefit from our installation tips and suggestions. We are in-process on my car and we have a 3rd LS waiting in the wings for an install too!

4. Well, the way that the law is written, Ford has the burden of proof to convince the judge or jury that your mods are what caused a given failure. You can see in the above where we have conclusive proof (albeit only one data point so far) that clearly shows that the A/F's are as good or better than the OEM cars. For sure, we are NOT running the car lean. It will be nice to have my car tested as early as Wednesday giving us yet another datapoint... as we start to accumulate some bonafide knowledge!

RJorge1950

Thanks Kendall !

So it appears that the ECU does a great job with the A/F ratios.
Do you thing the ECU is capable of compensating for a CAI like the CF Air Raid unit with the restrictor removed and the KOOKS or is that asking for too much ?
The KOOK's system that I put in my 08 GT-500 had the metallic cats and it never put a CEL. I did afterwards have it custom tuned by Justin of VMP and he did mentioned that my A/F ratios were a little on the lean side before the tune. I know it's a different ECU than the Boss but it means that there should be no CEL issues at all if we go with the KOOK's and the metallic cats.

I'm trying to go on a diet to save some weight off the car but I don't think I can save 62 pounds like you did. So it's better if I do the KOOKS diet plan instead !

Rob