What gives the car noise and power, the muffler or the exhaust?

Question

I would also appreciate info on what the muffler and exhaust are for.

Answer 1

Inside a muffler, you'll find a deceptively simple set of tubes with some holes in them. These tubes and chambers are actually as finely tuned as a musical instrument. They are designed to reflect the sound waves produced by the engine in such a way that they partially cancel themselves out.


Exhausts have four main functions: to control noise, to direct exhaust fumes away from passengers, to improve the performance of the engine and to improve fuel consumption.

An exhaust is a series of pipes that links the engine to a silencer and a catalytic converter.

The tailpipe is the part of the exhaust that you can see extending from the back of the car. The silencer joins onto the tailpipe, then a series of further pipes joins the silencer to the catalytic converter and then the engine.

The silencer contains metal plates or tubes that have a series of holes bored into them. Exhaust gases leave the engine at very high pressures, and the holes in the silencer help to reduce that pressure so that they leave the car more quietly.

Exhausts can corrode from both the inside and outside. How long your ehxuast lasts for depends on how far and how often you drive your car rather than the length of time it has been fitted. Vehicles used for short trips around town tend to corrode their exhausts in a much shorter time and distance than cars used predominately for long journeys.

Answer 2

The muffler is part of the exhaust sytem and probably does the most to determine the sound of the car. A quite muffler may limit the power of the car but the exhaust sytem is very complicated and it is not true that simply removing the muffler means more power. Many Harley riders like the sound of loud or no mufflers but they often do not have the power of the sport bikes that are much quieter.
There are exhaust systems that are designed for cool sound and those for increased performance and the ones on new cars are designed to be quiet. (except for new sportier ones where the customer expects a sportier sound)

Answer 3

The motor gives a car noise and power. Mufflers and exhaust restricts the motor. If you want more power get a muffler or exhaust system for that purpose. Single exhaust is the worst. Duel exhaust is better. Headers with duels are the best. Its best to run the pipes all the way to the rear. I only have one reason for this. It makes the inside of the car quiet even if its loud outside. OK the best Headers with bigger dia. pipe and flow masters or thrush mufflers are the best. Not only will this give you more power. It will increase your milage too. On top of all of that your engine will breath easier and last longer if you drive right and keep your foot out of it. Plus it will sound great.

Answer 4

i own a shop,and the complete exhaust system is where you can gain power and sound from,most vehicles just sound good,but the ones to watch out for are the sleepers,they don't give off a lot of sound but really run well,making a lot of noise,doesn't make a vehicle run better,its whats inside the engine that counts,in some cases trying to let an engine be louder will hurt its performance a lot,some engines run better being quiet,so you may open it up,and ,make it sound louder but you might hurt your over all performance also,and a muffler if designed right will help one to run better or hurt it,,there's a lot of ways to ,make any vehicle have power without making it loud,for instance i own a Nissan sports coupe,older one,with a 1.6 engine in it,its so quiet you could sneak up on a mouse with it,but i have nitrous on it ,and it being fuel injected ,when it comes to life it will nail you back in the seat,for a while,and it keeps up with some of the faster cars,so power doesn't come from noise remember that,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 5

Both the largest diameter straight through muffler with large diameter exhaust pipes are best. If you can swing headers stick with small equal length primaries and small collectors. You must strive to keep exhaust velocity up on street driven cars. Same goes for intake manifolds. Chevrolet makes the best aluminum intakes for their motors on the street depending on rpm. range. Edelbrock makes great high rpm intakes but nothing much for 500 - 5000 rpm.

Answer 6

The exhaust system carries exhaust from the engine to the rear of the vehicle.After your vehicle ignites the air/fuel mixture in your engine...an exhaust valve opens to allow emissions to exit out an exhaust manifold connected to the exhause pipe which leads to the Catalytic Converter.Its job is to clean up the harmful byproducts of combustion such as Hydrocarbons(unburned fuel) Carbon Monoxide(partially burned fuel)it is converted to CO2(carbon dioxide) and H2O (water).So dont fear if you see water coming from your tail pipe,it is a good thing.The job of the Muffler which is connected to your tail pipe is just to essentially resonate or quiet the exhaust note of your car and keeping the elderly and their sensitive ears happy.

Answer 7

OK the muffler is to quieten down the sound and the exhaust is for the c02 to get out of your engine and give you better speed and hp but i prefer the glass pack exhausts tips its good for sound.

Answer 8

more exhaust release lets the engine breath more intake air. and that creates more horse power. suggestion duel exhaust open mufflers with or without baffle.

Answer 9

A blow horn gives its noise and a little tap on the back gives it power. Good luck.

Answer 10

both if there set up in a way that allows the to here take a look