Have you ever heard the sound of a car at a stoplight where it makes that buzzing, revving sound? The sound of BWAAAAAAAAAA shift BWAAAAAAA doesn’t help either when the car starts to accelerate down the highway.
Ever gone to see a NASCAR race and the sound of the motors flying by sounds like a hurricane is making landfall? Policeman, why do you need earplugs when you are signing your buddy’s dyno session?
That, my friend, is a loud exhaust system, and it is actually quite easy to do than you think. Here is how…
What Does an Exhaust System Do?
Your car’s exhaust system is incredibly important. It provides a place for exhaust (the by-product of combustion) to go. In the combustion cycle, air and fuel mix together, and then the spark plug ignites them.
As this explosion propels the cylinder through its cycle, the remaining fuel particles and other random bits need to go somewhere. This somewhere is the exhaust system, which opens up into the exhaust manifold through a valve that is part of the cylinder itself.
Your factory exhaust system is designed to be quiet, efficient, and as environmentally friendly as possible.
Each country has a maximum allowable Greenhouse gas emissions marker, and every automaker has to meet these regulations so they can sell their vehicles in that country.
Your O2 sensor monitors these emissions and is usually located in line with the catalytic converter. This will become relevant later.
Remember, if you modify your exhaust system, you can always find a used exhaust system at a junkyard for relatively little money.
How to Make Your Car’s Exhaust Louder
#1. Straight Pip.
A method, and the preferred bit for race car boys, and people who want their truck’s exhaust loud, is just to “straight pipe” that thing and get rid of the cat.
Straight piping is exactly what it sounds like, just a tube that goes straight from the headers right out the back end of the car. Straight pipes are loud, smelly, sometimes illegal, and can spit flames out the back of your car.
As a former straight-piped RX8 owner, it is pretty awesome to blast through tunnels sounding like an F1 car as flames spit and backfire. It is one of those novelty things that is fun for a month or two, and then you get sick of it as a daily driver.
I will also add that you will lose your O2 sensors when you go with Straight pipes on your car, and you will throw a check engine light, and may not pass emissions/smog. Some tuners have workarounds for passing emissions, but we cannot recommend that on this site because it would, “WoUlD Be IlLeGAl.”
To play it safe, a muffler delete or resonator delete will give you some of the positives of a full straight pipe without some of the major negatives. But for those “go big or go home” types, a full straight pipe exhaust might be the way to go.
#2. “Cat-Back”.
Cat-Back – This likely is the most common method of exhaust “loudening” simply for the low cost, while still allowing you to keep your stock catalytic converter, meaning you don’t have to work around laws, ECU reflashes, and tons of check engine lights on your dashboard.
One advantage of the cat-back exhaust system is you will most likely not get the crazy drone that can be annoying on longer trips that exceed half an hour. You will get a less raspy, deeper exhaust sound, and revving will be much more satisfying.
In my experience, if you are going to embark on a louder exhaust system, go with a cat-back, as it is an easier option to deal with, day after day.
#3. Speakers.
Although there are not a lot of aftermarket places that can do this for you, many enthusiasts (and manufacturers) put microphones in their cars that amplify the engine and intake sounds. Sometimes they even wire in music that simulates engine sounds that do not even exist in the engine bay or exhaust system.
There is certainly a benefit to this approach, as the factory is going to build the most efficient and legal exhaust system, so modifying that system could lose miles per gallon and or fail emissions tests.
For me, I don’t think I would, as I would always know it is not a real sound, but each to their own.
#4. Headers.
Headers are the tubes that grow from the one (if not both sides) of the engine block and resemble an octopus.
Headers are the first point that your exhaust will exit the vehicle from, and usually the first place a race car engineer will look to free up resistance in your car’s engine.
Headers can improve flow, and with that comes a change in the sound of your car’s exhaust system, and sometimes added horsepower!
I mention those last because they need to be expensive and labor-intensive for the performance you might get out of them, and one is normally going to do headers if they have turbo-charged their car or have previously modified the exhaust system.
It is more of a cumulative modification if you had supporting mods, and it will free up some ponies.
#5. Having a Hole in Your Exhaust.
If you had to have your exhaust louder without changing it, this could be the most popular exhaust loudness modification; however, not always intentionally.
If your exhaust system has an opening/leak, for instance, a hole in your muffler, exhaust will escape as if it has not traveled through the piping, catalytic converters, and muffler.
Though having a hole in your exhaust system will make your exhaust considerably louder, and is the cheapest method of doing so!
How do I draw this conclusion? You only need a drill, perhaps a hammer, and a perfectly good exhaust system.
Now, take the drill and poke holes in the muffler! Then, for good measure, smack the living heck out of an entire length of the system!
Do Exhaust Tips Change the Sound of My Car?
I get this question all the time. Do exhaust tips change the sound of your car? No, sorry to say the exhaust tips do not change the sound of your car to make your Dodge Neon sound like a Dodge Charger Hellcat or a Mercedes AMG GT.
Of course, you could always get the little whistles that go into the exhaust tips that will make your car sound like it has a turbocharger in it.
Not the most realistic mod, but just like any mod, do whatever makes you the happiest. Plus, just remember it will never matter what anyone else thinks of your ride.
That’s it! A few different ways to make your exhaust louder, your mum prouder, your biceps bigger, and your buddy’s jealous!