Would someone be kind enough to 'school' me on performance exhaust?

[WhiteCrane]

Now forgive me, as I drive a Mustang, not a Camaro. But the facts here should be about the same...

Adding performance exhaust to your car, where does the hp increase come from?

Does it come from the X pipes?
Does the axle back muffler (flowmaster for example) add any horsepower?

Wouldn't a car like mine (or your camaro) already have X or H pipes underneath? Or does it just pipe it out from the header in a straight line? I don't understand why Ford would equip my car stock with restrictive exhaust pipes.

Does a cat-back exhaust mean pipes and muffler? Or am i missing something.

Am considering dropping the cash this summer to buy this:



And whatever exhaust combination gives me some more horsepower, but I am CLUELESS!. I dont even care how it sounds, as long as it doesn't turn m car into a rice rocket.

Will take any advice. If there's a tutorial for me to read, just send me that way.

[BigDan]

There isnt much if any hp to be gained my changing out the mufflers or different tube size on a stock car. Owners do exhaust mainly for the sound and not so much the additional power. The area of the exhaust where you are going to see hp gains is if you remove your catalytic converters and get a "off road" H or X mid pipe since the cat's are a major bottle neck and restrict air flow.

Doesn't your 2010 come standard with cold air intake similar to the one shown above?

If you want the most bang for your buck, get a off road mid pipe and a tune and you should have the sound and power you are after.

[WhiteCrane]

Just answering your question, the 2010 GT does come with a CAI.

But if you look, you'll see it has one of those "restrictive" air boxes with a FLAT filter inside.

Should I just throw one of these inside it and call it a day?



This is like a K&N, but its made by GreenFilter. I hear they are manufactured a bit sturdier and flow a little more.

[KXRM]

Mustangs now come stock with CAI. The aftermarket says the design is inferior to theirs of course. Tune is going to be your best gains. Exhaust really doesn't give you a lot of gain but the exhaust on a stock car is conservative and quieter and supposedly the quieter exhausts are restrictive to block sound. That's the theory any way. I wouldn't expect huge gains on any exhaust system over stock though. Not unless you are drastically changing the exhaust and removing components that make your car more environmentally friendly and potentially making it illegal for street use.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by WhiteCrane

Now forgive me, as I drive a Mustang, not a Camaro. But the facts here should be about the same...

Adding performance exhaust to your car, where does the hp increase come from?

Does it come from the X pipes?
Does the axle back muffler (flowmaster for example) add any horsepower?

Wouldn't a car like mine (or your camaro) already have X or H pipes underneath? Or does it just pipe it out from the header in a straight line? I don't understand why Ford would equip my car stock with restrictive exhaust pipes.

Does a cat-back exhaust mean pipes and muffler? Or am i missing something.

Am considering dropping the cash this summer to buy this:



And whatever exhaust combination gives me some more horsepower, but I am CLUELESS!. I dont even care how it sounds, as long as it doesn't turn m car into a rice rocket.

Will take any advice. If there's a tutorial for me to read, just send me that way.

Think of an engine as a great big pump. It takes power to suck air in, and also to push exhaust out. Certain types of exhaust setups (X pipe and H pipes) can make it more efficient for the engine to pump out the exhaust. They allows the exhaust pulses to work with each other to keep the gases flowing.

Manufacturers will usually go with the cheapest decent solution for any particular problem. In the case of exhausts, if there are 2 designs and one has 5% better flow than the other, but costs 10% more chances are low that they'll go with the better flowing design.

[derklug]

KXRM is right, both the Mustang and the Camaro gain little in muffler changes and CAI. The real gains are in tunes and non-EPA friendly exhausts. Your best bet would be to work on making your car hook-up to put the available power into forward motion. Easy, cheap gains can be made with silly spray, but it's kind of annoying to have to open the trunk and turn on the tank when someone rev's at you.

[WhiteCrane]

Wow. so, even if I put 50 state legal X pipes under the car, I won't see any horsepower gain? Or if I do it will be like one or two? Not worth the money I guess.

Maybe i'lkl just see if I can pay my dealer for a Pro Cal tune, as they dont void warranty.

[Stingr69]

The easy gains on a 5th gen Camaro will come from a good CAI and long tube exhaust headers followed with a tune. Your powertrain warranty will be gone with the tune but maybe it is worh it to you.

The cat back systems are more just for the sound as the stock 5th gen Camaro exhaust is very well engineered from the factory to provide little restriction with a decent sound.

-Mark.

[Shadowsong]

Saying you won't see any power from an exhaust is a little...well not even a little, it's wrong.

Axel backs (just the mufflers) will net you 5hp AT MOST, not no power, but some at least.

A cat-back replaces ALL the piping from the catalytic converters back, these systems usually come with some kind of H or X pipe. Cat back gains really depend on the car, on the 4.6 in your car I don't think 10hp would be far fetched...

As others have said, you best bet is a tune, keep in mind a tune with a CAI AND catback exhaust will give you more power over just a tune, or just an exhaust, or just a CAI.

[2ndgenz28]

The Strong Silent Type

"You can build a quiet exhaust system that performs almost like open headers."

By Jim Hand & Tom Hand

http://www.pontiacstreetperformance....p/exhaust.html

[SleepWarz]

Quiet exhausts are lame.

all they do is hiss