| Geofux |
My understanding for exhausts is that you have to have cats and a muffler to be legal.
I have had cops follow me a few times and I haven't been stopped EVER for anything. I haven't had a muffler on my car for a good 3-4 months now, with no piping going to the back of the car. I have two cats which seems to help out quite a bit. My friends old camaro that has a muffler is louder than mine, and some diesel trucks are still a lot louder than my car as it is. So how do the laws work? Are the cops just not bothered to pull me over for only an exhaust ticket, even when they see I don't have anything coming out the back, and my car isn't as loud as others that do have mufflers? |
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| BLOCKER |
Ultimately, you need a muffler (cats depending on the year of the car)
A lot of police, especally patrol do not bother with traffic enforcement, (on the other hand there are quite a few who only do traffic, and don't bother with calls :dunno: ) consider yourself lucky that you have not gotten a ticket for it yet. |
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| XtraX |
I don't believe cats are required by law in Alberta. Probably not loud enough for the Police to be bothered.
But I'd recommend you repair it. |
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| Geofux |
| Yeah, I have had the setup ready to go .. but it got cold, and my jack doesn't like to get my car high enough. My car is going to be on display Thursday for an open house at my school .. can probably get it up then, because it will be on a hoist. |
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| AudiInProgress |
I also was under the impression that Catalytic Converters were not required by law... Although most newer vehicles have cat's designed in such a way that they are almost completely restriction free... So removing them wouldn't net you any gains anyways. And as far as mufflers go, I cut at least 8 feet of exhaust off my truck and just left and open pipe about where my cab started... I never got hassled once, in the 3 years that I owned the truck, however... Being a truck, cops probably thought I was just another rig pig and they couldn't be bothered to pull over every single loud rig-rocket they came across, but still...
I don't think there's any law anywhere that says your exhaust outlet is required to be visible from behind the vehicle? I know a lot of guys who just put "turn down" tips right after the muffler and often times that's somewhere half-way under the body of the vehicle.
And I don't know any cop who is going to lay down on the ground and roll underneath your car during a traffic stop to look and see what kind of muffler you have?
Geof, your car isn't loud at all, I wouldn't worry about it. |
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| B-TownRep |
My dad was a patrol member of the RCMP for the first ten of twenty some years and while I was doing the exhaust on my truck, I asked him whether or not catalytic were neccesary. He explained to me that they Are required on any vehicle equiped with them OEM. If your vehicle never came with a cat, you don't need but, but otherwise you do. That being said, my dad held mine up as I cut it off :P. They don't care.
In your mustangs case, I'm not sure whether you would benefit a part from a louder sound. The one I had weighed over thirty pounds, and was restricitive as shit. I gained 3MPG, and someone on a truck forum I subscribe to gained 5 whp(dyno'd) by takin his off. Yours would be newer and alot better designed, so I'm not sure if taking it out would really do anything for you.
Edit: AIP, what do you drive? |
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| AudiInProgress |
That makes sense, about "if the vehicle came with them from the factory then they're required."
That's just like seatbelts... I know some guys with olddddddddddddd muscle cars who never came from the factory with seatbelts - and therefore aren't required by law to have them. But a lot of these guys get seatbelts installed aftermarket, just because it's a good idea.
Anyways... I don't want this thread to go off topic and get shut down by "the muscle" so let's take any further conversation to PM!
-rob |
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| Geofux |
I don't mind having my thread hijacked since it is still speaking of what you have to legally have on your vehicle, and it has threaded from my exhaust question, and it's not like it's total random shit being thrown around. ;)
Rob, I know it's not that loud .. but my mom seems to think so.. only thing I dislike is the vibration you get in the car. :( |
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| B-TownRep |
quote:
Originally posted by Geofux
I don't mind having my thread hijacked since it is still speaking of what you have to legally have on your vehicle, and it has threaded from my exhaust question, and it's not like it's total random shit being thrown around. ;)
Rob, I know it's not that loud .. but my mom seems to think so.. only thing I dislike is the vibration you get in the car. :(
Where does your actual piping end? I've heard that the easiest way to get rid of the vibration is just to make sure that the pipe ends after the passenger compartment of the vehicle. |
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| Geofux |
| It ends about where the dash is, or a bit farther back.. I could always throw a piece of the piping on so that the exhaust comes out a little bit farther back. |
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| B-TownRep |
quote:
Originally posted by Geofux
It ends about where the dash is, or a bit farther back.. I could always throw a piece of the piping on so that the exhaust comes out a little bit farther back.
I think that would definately help you out. May even generate a little more torque? |
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| AudiInProgress |
I would suggest lengthening your pipe as well...
Will also eliminate some of the "raspiness" |
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| Geofux |
quote:
Originally posted by B-TownRep
I think that would definately help you out. May even generate a little more torque?
Please enlighten me ... HTF would that generate more torque? :dunno: |
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| B-TownRep |
quote:
Originally posted by Geofux
Please enlighten me ... HTF would that generate more torque? :dunno:
I'm honestly not sure on the specifics, but it sounds to me like your exhaust is just about right off the headers. If there is not alot of pipe, the exhaust exits in a hurry, which causes the exhaust velocity to slow down, which in turn pulls less exhaust out of the engine. The more air you pull out, more room for air to go in the intake side and more torque. Thus having a longer pipe would help up to a certain point.
I have just read extremely briefly on this concept, so I'm really not sure. Am I wrong anybody? |
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| AudiInProgress |
Grabbed this from another forum, but very good information;
The first misconception that needs to be cleared up is that a header relieves backpressure, but a certain amount of backpressure is needed for optimum performance. Just the opposite is true. A good header not only relieves the backpressure, but goes one step further and creates a vacuum in the system. When the next cylinder's exhaust valve opens, the vacuum in the system pulls the exhaust out of the cylinder. This is what the term "Scavenging" means.
The first consideration is the proper tube diameter. Many people think "Bigger is Better", but this is not the case. The smallest diameter that will flow enough air to handle the engine's c.c. at your desired Red Line RPM should be used. This small diameter will generate the velocity (air speed) needed to "Scavenge" at low RPMs. If too small a diameter is used the engine will pull hard at low RPMs but at some point in the higher RPMs the tube will not be able to flow as much air as the engine is pumping out, and the engine will "sign off" early, not reaching its potential peak RPM. This situation would require going one size larger in tube diameter.
The second consideration is the proper tube length. The length directly controls the power band in the RPM range. Longer tube lengths pull the torque down to a lower R.P.M. range. Shorter tubes move the power band up into a higher RPM range. Engines that Red Line at 10,000 RPM would need short tube lengths that are about 26" long. Engines that are torquers and Red Line at 5,500 RPMs would need a tube length of 36". This is what is meant by the term "Tuned Length". The tube length is tuned to make the engine operate at a desired RPM range.
The third consideration is the collector outlet diameter and extension length. The major function of the header collector is to take advantage of the "secondary tuning impulses" from the other pipes in the system. The influence of the collector is generally restricted to the engine rpm level below the powerplant torque peak. The sizing of collectors is more critical in powerplants that spend the majority of their time in the lower rpm ranges. This is where major differences occur between four cylinder engines and V-8 engines. The optimum situation is the four cylinders because of its firing cycle. Every 180 degree of crankshaft rotation there is one exhaust pulse entering the collector. This is ideal timing because, as one pulse exits the collector, the next exhaust valve is opening and the vacuum created in the system pulls the exhaust from the cylinder. In this ideal 180 degree cycling the collector outlet diameter only needs to be 20% larger than the primary tube diameter. (Example: 1 3/4" primary tubes need a 2" collector outlet diameter.) The rule of thumb here is two tube sizes. This keeps the velocity fast to increase scavenging, especially at lower RPMs. Going to a larger outlet diameter will hurt the midrange and low R.P.M. torque. How do you know what length is just right for your race car? It might prove easier than you might imagine, but first, be sure to establish the primary-tube length. Once that's done, draw a thick line down the length of the collector using a crayon or grease marking pen. Make a normal hard pass with the car and check out the crayon mark. The temperature of the exhaust gasses within the collector will usually cause the mark to discolor or burn at a specific location on each collector. You can shorten the collector at this point. Just be certain to leave an inch or two of added material for further fine-tuning. It's tough to add material to the collector once it has been cut.
The amount of straight in the collector extension can move the engines torque up or down in the RPM range. Longer extension length will pull the torque down into the midrange.
Engines that Red Line at 10,000 RPM would only need 2" of straight between the collector and the megaphone. This is just enough length to straighten out the air flow before it enters the megaphone. This creates an orifice action that enhances exhaust velocity.
In the case of V-8 firing order, the five pulses fire alternately back and forth from left to right collector, giving the ideal 180 degree firing cycle. Then it fires two in succession into the left collector, then two in succession into the right collector. If the proper collector outlet diameter is being used (two sizes larger than primaries) the two pulses in succession load up the collector with more air than it can flow. This results in a very strong midrange torque, but causes the engine to "sign off" early, not reaching its potential peek RPM. The improper firing order on a V-8 engine results in the need to use large diameter collectors so the engine will perform well at high RPMs. Unfortunately the large diameter collectors cause a tremendous drop in air velocity, resulting in less scavenging through the entire RPM range. |
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