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My 2001 Dakota has always been good to me. It has a bed large enough to accommodate all of my needs, a comfortable interior, and best of all, a big engine; I sprung for the 250-horsepower 5.9-liter V8. The power, the sound, the speed—I love it all. The only problem is that I’ve had the truck for seven years now and I feel like my driving experience has lost its passion. It’s like dating someone for a few years and getting to the point where there are no more surprises. It’s vanilla. I miss romping on the pedal and feeling the excitement as the wheels exhale white smoke.
Up until this point I have added a few aftermarket accessories, but they have all been cosmetic—window tints, a Maxx Grille Guard, and an Extang tonneau cover. One night I was over at the track with a buddy of mine and I was telling him about my dilemma. "Why don't you work on the engine to get your needle going?" he asked. I was thinking about throwing an exhaust on, but I don’t want my truck to be too loud. The last thing I need is everyone in my neighborhood flashing me dirty looks when I cruise down the street. So I went down to my local auto shop and they recommended exhaust headers. Apparently, new performance exhaust headers can add gains of 10-20 horsepower and 10-30 lbs. of torque. That’s pretty good if you ask me. I think I can add even more ponies if I add a high performance exhaust as well, but I think I will take one thing at a time. After a little research, I found some sweet headers that are 50-state street legal, which is good because I live in California and the cops here are strict. I’ve heard stories of people getting tickets for having blinking valve caps, which is ridiculous if you ask me.
I think the headers will make an excellent choice for me. I think a big horsepower gain at a moderate price tag will rekindle the flame between me and my Dakota.