you do have some points but headers realy are this much better.when they suck they suck but not often enough to be that bad if you just get a good set in the firstplace. i think the Schumacker tri y headers or the new TTI shortys seem to be the best option if you are real worried about the starter clearance and ease of instalation but they will give up some torque to a longtube 4 into 1 header that is sized correctly.
The Hedman shortys could have been a great product but they dropped the ball bigtime in one simple area,the angle and location of the driverside collector.
