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.