How Do Exhaust Headers Work to Improve Engine Performance?

Headers are one of the easiest bolt-on accessories you can use to improve an engine's performance. The goal of headers is to make it easier for the engine to push exhaust gases out of the cylinders.

When you look at the four-stroke cycle in How Car Engines Work, you can see that the engine produces all of its power during the power stroke. The gasoline in the cylinder burns and expands during this stroke, generating power. The other three strokes are necessary evils required to make the power stroke possible. If these three strokes consume power, they are a drain on the engine.

During the exhaust stroke, a good way for an engine to lose power is through back pressure. The exhaust valve opens at the beginning of the exhaust stroke, and then the piston pushes the exhaust gases out of the cylinder. If there is any amount of resistance that the piston has to push against to force the exhaust gases out, power is wasted. Using two exhaust valves rather than one improves the flow by making the hole that the exhaust gases travel through larger.

In a normal engine, once the exhaust gases exit the cylinder they end up in the exhaust manifold. In a four-cylinder or eight-cylinder engine, there are four cylinders using the same manifold. From the manifold, the exhaust gases flow into one pipe toward the catalytic converter and the ­muffler. It turns out that the manifold can be an important source of back pressure because exhaust gases from one cylinder build up pressure in the manifold that affects the next cylinder that uses the manifold.

The idea behind an exhaust header is to eliminate the manifold's back pressure. Instead of a common manifold that all of the cylinders share, each cylinder gets its own exhaust pipe. These pipes come together in a larger pipe called the collector. The individual pipes are cut and bent so that each one is the same length as the others. By making them the same length, it guarantees that each cylinder's exhaust gases arrive in the collector spaced out equally so there is no back pressure generated by the cylinders sharing the collector.

Little Things You Can Do To Save Money On Car Fuel

Nowadays, car fuel prices are on the rise and consumers are suffering. Gone are the days when you can carelessly drive your car without worrying about burning up too much gas.

There are important procedures that you, as a car owner, can take in order to improve gas mileage. The following are practical tips to conserve gas:

Close Windows – Windows that are open can create air drag that can decrease the fuel consumption by 10%.

Avoid Bumpy Roads – Rough roads should not be taken as much as possible. Dirt, bumps, rough roads and gravels can cause 30% increase in fuel consumption.

Keep Your Car Light – Take out unnecessary baggage. The trunk should be kept clean, any gadget, tools or loads that are not needed should be taken out. 100 pounds of extra baggage can affect fuel economy by two percent.

Drive Efficiently – Just drive reasonably within the speed limit. Remember that speeds of more than 60 miles per hour increase fuel consumption. Do not do sudden starts, accelerations and stops. Acceleration should be done gradually. The gas pedal should not be stepped on more than one fourth of the way down. This will allow the engine to function most efficiently. Gas conservation could reach up to 5 percent if sudden stops, jerks and accelerations are avoided. Make use of gears for overdrive and cruise control as needed.

Check Your Car Regularly – The car should always be maintained. The engine should be given a regular tune up, the tires should always have the right air pressure and efficiently aligned, the oil should be changed when needed and air filters replaced regularly. Clogged filters can affect gas consumption adversely by up to ten percent.

Don’t Burn Gas Unnecessarily – Turn off the engine whenever there is an opportunity. Idle engine wastes fuel. There are instances where the engine could be turned off; stopping for gas, waiting for someone, changing tire pressure, caught in traffic and a lot more.

Don’t Warm Up Too Long – Lengthy warming up of the engine should be avoided. 30 to 45 seconds should be enough time. Also check if the automatic check is removed after warming up the engine. This is usually stuck which could usually cause poor gas and air combination.

By following these simple tips, you will be surprised at how much money you can save on your car fuel. And guess what? The money really adds up if you continue to follow these simple practices for conserving carfuel!

Consider A Performance Exhaust System

Is it time for you to replace your car’s exhaust system? Have you noticed rust around your muffler and tailpipe? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then consider replacing your stock exhaust system with a performance exhaust system. Up front you will pay more, but in the end a performance exhaust system just may be the last one you will ever need to purchase for your car.

Nothing lasts forever, right? Well, in the case of some performance exhaust systems you can come darn close. Consider this: one top manufacturer of cat-back exhausts [more on what one is a bit later] produces an exhaust system with a one million mile guarantee! How can they do this? By making a product from aircraft quality stainless steel, that’s how. That’s right; the same steel used by aircraft manufacturers goes into every Borla brand exhaust system to produce a product that is durable and long lasting. Other brands have similar warranties, so I am not saying Borla is the end all or be all product for your car.

So, just how does a cat-back system work? By keeping all the important emissions parts in place, a cat-back system incorporates large width exhaust pipes and low restriction performance mufflers into your car thereby lowering exhaust back pressure. A side benefit is the deeper, throatier tone produced by the exhaust system. Because your car’s engine is essentially an air pump, a cat-back a/k/a performance exhaust system allows the engine to pump and flow air with less interruption. In summation, more power is freed up and horsepower increases of 5 to 15 percent are well within the range of possibility. One side benefit: you will notice an increase in fuel economy because a performance exhaust system allows your engine to run more efficiently.

So, what’s not to love about a performance exhaust system? Not much! Even if you aren’t planning to keep your car forever, the resale value of your vehicle will also increase with a performance exhaust system installed on your car. You win now with more power and better fuel economy and you can win later when it comes time to sell your car. A true win-win situation, don’t you agree?

Unleash The Horses With A Performance Exhaust System Upgrade

Stock exhaust systems are designed simply to provide a conduit for spent gases to move from your engine to your tailpipe – no more, no less. On the other hand, performance exhaust systems are engineered to maximize your engine’s exhaust flow, giving you:

- Serious horsepower and torque gains

- Distinctive, growling exhaust tone

- Improved fuel economy


Horsepower and torque

In case you skipped out on Auto Shop back in high school, I am here to give you a quick lesson on the mysterious inner-workings of your engine’s cylinders. Without cylinders, your vehicle could not drive around, unless you could convince your friends to lend you their backs and push you all over town. That’s because the majority of your horsepower is generated right there in your cylinders through a fairly straightforward process, called combustion.

First, the cylinder sucks a mixture of oxygen and fuel (gasoline or diesel) into its chamber, where it is then ignited by a spark plug or glow stick. These three ingredients create a controlled explosion, or combustion, which generates both energy and waste gases. That energy transforms into wheel-turning torque to propel you down the road, but the exhaust is a cloud of useless particles that would clog up your engine if left to linger in the piston chamber.

That’s where the exhaust system comes into action. The spent gases are exhaled, traveling out of the engine through your exhaust manifold, and they eventually exit out the back of your vehicle. The faster the exhaust gets out of the way, the easier it is for your engine to breathe, which means more horsepower, torque and fun behind the wheel.

The problem with stock exhaust systems is that they are not optimized for the best possible flow. Auto manufacturers spend much more time thinking about the shape and placement of your air vents than they do planning your exhaust pipes. What’s the result of their neglect? Your motor has to work harder during combustion, which robs you of valuable horsepower, torque and fuel economy. A performance exhaust system will harness the potential power that your engine is wasting because of its inefficient stock exhaust.

Quick-installing, bolt-on performance exhaust systems improve your power by:

- Drastically reducing restrictions in your pipes

- Increasing the puny diameter of stock pipes

- Improving engine scavenging

The Growl

With a performance exhaust system, you not only feel the power every time your foot hits the peddle, but you also hear it thundering and rolling around you. Nothing quite improves your vehicle’s presence as a throaty, rumbling exhaust system. When you hear each and every piston firing in rapid succession, you truly comprehend the unbridled force lurking under your hood. Stock exhaust systems try to hold back your engine’s naturally forceful tone with thick-walled exhaust manifolds and mufflers that stifle your vehicle’s rich resonance, rather than enhance it.

When it comes to the sound of your vehicle, the muffler has the most impact. Of course, you can tell by its name that a muffler’s job is to dampen the sounds pouring out of your tailpipes. Without a muffler, your vehicle would sound like a string of M80 firecrackers exploding in a metal trashcan. On the other hand, a stock muffler suppresses the naturally aggressive rumble of a strong engine to a spineless wimper. Take control of the tone of your vehicle with a performance exhaust system for the perfect balance of sound and suppression.

Fuel Economy

Unless you’ve got your own oil derrick churning out barrels of Texas Tea in your backyard, chances are you too are feeling the pinch at the pump due to the rising costs of gasoline. And while it might sound too good to be true that you can get better fuel economy along with serious performance boosts, we’re not pulling your leg.

That’s because the same overall improvements that lead to greater performance are improving your engine’s overall efficiency. You see, when the exhaust is flowing unrestricted down wider pipes with the right amount of vacuum left behind to keep the cycle running smoothly, your cylinders empty themselves of more and more waste gases. And when there are fewer impurities in the cylinder, your mixture of gas and oxygen burns purer, giving you greater horsepower without having to have a serious lead foot. These straightforward improvements in efficiency can result in around a 1 or 2% overall increase in fuel economy, saving you big every time the fuel gauge in your vehicle starts creeping down towards “E.”

I’m convinced and I hope your are as well that the exhaust system upgrade that you end up with will improve performance, looks, and maybe even set off your neighbor’s car alarm!…….:)

FALSE MYTHS OF MUFFLER AFFECTED TO UNEFFICIENT FUEL

Many peoples assume by changing standard muffler into racing muffler will make unefficiency fuel. This false myths have this clear expalanation. Muffler is a final exhaust system from the entire exhaust system inside vehicles spesifically car and motorcycle. Basically, muffler function is only accepting exhaust fumes from the engine into outside vehicles. So the feeling by using racing muffler will making unefficient fuel is no make sense since the efficiency of vehicles engine is only in your own hands and legs.

The other reason of unefficient fuel is to many accelerating engine after installing muffler especially for racing purpose or changing of transmission from low transmission (RPM 3000) into high transmission (RPM 5000/6000).

Finally as long as the engine only using in standard ways, there be no problems related to efficiency of fuel, because the function of muffler only for exhaust fumes.

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HOW MUCH HORSEPOWER DOES A PERFORMANCE MUFFLER ADD?

Picture of Sport Muffler

So ... performance mufflers. We're not talking about clamp-on oversize tailpipes -- those won't do anything at all to help your car's performance. In fact, they might actually slow your car down. That's because these parts just add weight and resistance without actually opening up the exhaust flow from the engine -- it overlaps to give the look of a bigger exhaust, but the same constricted old pipes are still doing all the work. Nope, if you want to experience a few extra horsepower, you've got to invest in high-quality exhaust parts. (And a cheap imitation "aesthetic" add-on won't give you the aural benefits, either ... but a real one will.)

When a real performance muffler is installed, it's usually as part of a more comprehensive cat-back system upgrade. (Cat-back just means everything from the catalytic converter on to the back of the car, including middle pipes, a resonator and a muffler or two. In most states, it's illegal to mess with the catalytic converter because of environmental regulations, but it's permissible to upgrade the cat-back components.) Since the muffler (actually, just the tailpipe) is what people actually see, it's one of those visual benchmarks that might indicate whether or not a car has been modified (if you're on the street checking out the competition or maybe shopping for a used car). Hence all those ghastly clamp-on tailpipe covers and extenders that just might be convincing enough to fool someone from a good distance away.

Let's be clear here: When talking about the muffler, understand that upgrading the cat-back system as a whole is really the only way you'll experience any notable power gains. It doesn't hurt to upgrade the muffler on its own, of course, especially if it's a rusted-out mess and you need to replace it anyway. But the gains, if any, will be minimal. Replacing your car's muffler alone is not enough to open up the restrictive exhaust system and allow the extra airflow that increases performance. Everything that comes before the muffler, where the pressure is greatest and performance potential is highest, will remain tight and congested.

Picture of Sport Resonator

But for the daily use its enough to replace only the muffler, you can have good quality of sound, acceleration more responsive than using standard muffler. But if you like speed and best performance you must upgrade your cat-back system, at least remove your catalytic converter, install the sport resonator and muffler