Well, the industry has come a long way since the wicked Witch from the West melting aluminum exhaust headers formed for the Swiss cheese Catalina's. The aluminum now being used is of the T-356 type and can probably take more heat. I still would be nervous with them taking full open throttle bursts up and down the track. For the money, I'd rather opt for Titanium exhaust tubes that can take the heat and are most probably just as light because of the thinner gauge construction. For now, I'll stick with my thin steel headers.
I'd imagine the titanium tubes would be a lot louder. Just like the thinner (old school Hooker headers used thinner gauge (for more internal area than competing brands), and were noticeably louder... and in my opinion sounded worse... they sounded cheap. A thin, strong titanium pipe would have to be louder. It was an eye-opener when i replaced my Mustang's (non-stock) mild steel tails with the factory (same size) stainless. The factory SS was thick, and thats why they sound really good. A really thin SS (or thinner yet titanium) would sound more like a cheap header. IF... ov course, that matters to you. I am as anal and obsessive about weight as even you are (believe it), but i DO draw the line at sound. Its gotta sound good.
