Motors Why do people do that...???

Agreed. Give me induction noise over an exhaust note every time.

 

I seen this argument before. And every time people say you cant have a big enough exhaust so my statement of back pressure is needed to produce power seems to be overthrown.

My answer of it need back pressure to produce power however still stands. The stock exhausts are good for small engines where torque is non existent in the low rpms as the stock exhaust makes the engine deliver way better low down torque where its needed (in the low speeds and to get it going).

Now the other reason to keep a stock exhaust is that larger exhaust create stagnant gases where the exhaust gas cools down before exiting the tailpipe and we all know cold air is heavy and the engine has to work harder to expel the gas.

This is not to say that engines need exhausts to make power simply because the best exhaust is no exhaust but since no one wants the sound of a machine gun every time they drive then a proper tuned exhaust is best.

Most people think bigger is better but I would not put anything larger than 3inches on a 7L v8. For 300hp v8 I would probably go for 2.75inches.

I think econoboxes are what they are and nothing short of a full rebuild would ever change that.

 

That's what people said when the Mustang came out and people dropped V8s in them. The Mustang was, and still is, an "econobox."

Perhaps I should elaborate on my PC-modding analogy:

If you want to overclock your computer by 100%, you buy a watercooling kit and mod the case (or buy a new one in some cases) to provide adequate cooling. The average watercooling kit (for Processor only, mind) ranges from $50-200. If the PC originally cost you $800, that's anywhere from 6.25% to 25% of the cost of the car.

If you buy a $20k car and spend $5k on it, you'll have a similar performance/money ratio (forced induction route). You can spend less (nitrous) and achieve similar performance (the 6.25% route).

People do it to have fun. People do it to get noticed. People do it so they can have something they're proud of. They want to say "See that? That's mine, and I made it like that, and I like it." They want you to say "That's pointless" so that they'll feel like there IS a point.

 

I dont agree, the mustang started life with a inline six and when it took off the factory droped a small v8 in it that continued to grow. Like I said before nothing short of a full rebuild will make the performance they want to advertise. I nothing against a full modification that has a purpose to it. In the computer world a slaped on exhaust is equivalent to slaping a tornado to a stock cooler and buying a premod case with a couple of cold cathodes. The end result is still crapy performance compared to stock but now it makes more noise and its obnoxious.

Ive seen muscle cars with full 3inch exhausts that make around 500hp and thump around the track faster than most new cars. Ive also seen "econoboxes" that have been fully rebuilt to produce power and handle and they dont sound like high strung weedwackers. Its ok ok to modify just dont be obnoxious about it. If your at a lan party and your computer sounds like a 747 taking off, I will not sit near you simply because its unwanted noise.

AT the end of the day there is allot of smack talking between autogroups and the belief system. But a ricing up your car does not constitute a fun mod. Do what you want to your vehicle as long as you don't bother someone. There are quite a few ricers around here that get smoked by my lonely van. Simply because their springs are cut and their exhaust is way too big for their car making them loose power and the aded weight of a body kit makes them even slower. Let me tell you something, when a small vehicle gets out cornered and out accelerated by a vehicle that weighs twice the weight then all you have sucesed in doing is making yourself a nuicence.

To me ricers should be shot and turned into glue.

 

Your all right there. Ive only once seeing a car that looked like stock but it pwned all ricers i my neightbourhood. 3 months later 1/3 of the ricers sold their small "riced" cars and brougt innocent looking car and tuned them like hell.

 

I have a 1.6 mobility 8V automatic.
Yeh it wont go fast and cant be modded up but theres nothing to say i cant make it pritty or sound nice.
Im currently repainting the center console (eq to painting the front of a pc case) to match the outside of the car (im sick of black) and am about to order a nice looking exaust with twin chrome outlet (small but looks more like the normal models) because my current exaust is looking manky.
As to the first post its known as

and there the ones that cause the accidents. the sensible modders know when to drive (track days) and how to drive but even the sensible modders will get the higly modded cars trashed because of ****s.
FYI my 998cc did 75 on the m5 no worrys (but it did scream like a cheep whore)
but my pore young 1.6 (02 plate) doesn't get taken above 70 on the moterway because i like to save fuel (youll be amased with the difference in fuel use between 70 and 75 MPH) but i have taken here upto 95 @ around 10:30 at night when its the best time to drive on the M5

 

I have no problem with speeding, if the driver is competent. I have been known to creep past 100 on the motorway, when late at night and there is no traffic. I even have been known to stick to 100 during the day.

I have even been known to make progress on the local A and B roads around my area at 100.

But only if it safe to do so. I have no problems at trundling along at 20 if it is unsafe or unwise to travel any faster.

But I have never been known to blast past a zebra crossing at 60+ even if there wasn't anybody there. Never have I took a 2nd gear corner at 40+ in the centre of town. Never get more than a cars length to the person in front (especially if making progress) nor ever not signalled for a turning or to change lane.

And from my experience, I have never seen a chavved up motor follow any road laws; guidelines or etiquette.

But that's still not the point, the point is, with a low cc engine, why put obnoxious 'hey look at me my car is FAST' exhausts and so-called 'performance' kit on them and proceed to act like they are going very fast and are racers albeit very very slowly and very very loud.

 

Agreed, but on turbo engines the turbine will usually create enough back-pressure

 

So they get noticed. They want you to look at their car, and clearly it's got your attention! I doubt people who put a new backbox on their small engined car are that bothered whether or not it makes a performance difference - they just want the sound. If all their mates have cars that sound like that, they probably don't want to be the odd one out!

It's the same with any modding community. Probably one of the first things people will do to a PC is stick a window in, which offers no performance benefits, but lets you see in, but also show off what you've done with the inside (WC'ing, lighting etc) even if you don't have great hardware.

So, in short - as with any modding - people can modify with or without any performance benefits. It's theirs to do what they want to!

 

very true but even on a turbo engine a too large of a pipe will cause stagnant air reducing performance because larger pipe will cool the exhaust too fast causing even more back pressure than a streamlined pipe..


also turbo engines can be run with ought mufflers altogether (not cats) and still not sound like a weed whacker. Well depending on the model. Dodge neon srt4 dose not have a muffler it just has a cat and streamlined pipe.

 

Yeah, fair enough I got my car decatted on Thursday and it sounds lovely. It's got a backbox on the exhaust though so isn't a straight-through job.

 

is that legal? they make very high flow catalytic converters you know.

 

as far as i'm concerned it's their business....if said driver wants to make their car then so be it? In reality, it actually has nothing to do with any of you, what another person does to their car. So what if they look like a muppet? Laugh and carry on with your day..don't keep on moaning about it.

This is such a lame arguement.

 

Not when they drive up and down the street at odd times of the night (~12am).. roaring along like they're Schumacher but going far too slowly.

We have laws against beeping the horn past 11pm at night, but nothing against a 105dB exhaust on some chav'ed up 1.0L shopping trolley.

They even have sound limits on racing tracks and, god forbid, I even praise America for having restrictions of sound output of exhausts.

It is none of my business I agree, if the people who who mod their cars are responsible.. hell there may be millions of these people out there, but because they are responsible and don't create a public nuisance, we never hear or see them.

What we do see however, are the gangs of chav'ed up motors roaring along at dangerous speeds in built up areas and odd times of the night revving the nuts of their motors like they're some god of racing.

That's when I stop and ask "Why?"

 

Yes thats legal. Car's here have to meet emission regulations depending on how old the chassis or engine is, it goes off which is the oldest.

 

Its not a lame argument, if im driving along minding my own business and one of these idiots roars past and disturbs me then its my business. Here they cese the car after the third ofense of such things, and these idiots dont stop at exhaust, they then go out and get super high beams and blind motorists at night and that gets them a ticket here but it makes it dangerus to others. I rarely run high beams on a stock set of headlights and even when I do its usualy a deserted part of town with litle to no street lighting. Not to mentions the ricers that put on colored headlights such as pink and blue that anger me the most.

I am not against moding a car as long as it dosent bother others. They can put all the body kits they want and mod the crap out of their car as long as it dosent interfere with others.

So at the end of the day it concerns me allot especialy since I do allot of nightime driving. God knows I love the sound of a unrestricted v8 but I would never do that to my car as it anoys others as well as inspire bad behavior between idiots witch I am not.

 

here its ilegal to remove the cat if the car came with a cat from the factory. Personaly even if my car came withought a cat, I would buy a high flow cat and bolt it on. There is nothing wrong with less emisions.

 

If there was an affordable high-flow cat available for my car for very cheap I may have considered it. Decatting was effectively free though and sounds better And yes, on my car it's totally legal, as my car only has to pass emissions tests as if it were never fitted with a cat.

 

Same in England, if a car comes with a cat, and you remove it, it makes the car illegal for road use and also invalidates your insurance. I know this because my father has just retired from doing accident investigation with the Police.

I drive a Vauxhall Astra 1.8 SRi mk4. I by no means am a chav, I don't wear track suits for a start! I have de-restricted the airbox, put in a K&N air filter and a Vectra C intake pipe on. The car sounds near enough standard, but it has made the engine more responsive, makes the car pull harder and my fuel economy has increased slighty. Now these are common mods to have on an Astra, and they don't make the car sound cheap or chavvy either. This is my 4th car, my other 3 cars wern't that good (A reg Fiesta 1.1, J reg Fiesta 1.1 and a P reg Escort 1.6 zetec) were all kept bog standard. My astra though, is the sport model, and was by no means slow (0-60 in 8.5 seconds). However, I also plan on having a cat back exhaust (which will be only slightly louder then standard as I hate loud chavvy exhausts) and a remap which will then make my car hit around 148bhp, without making it look or sound like a chav mobile.

x1nick, you may also want to check out http://forum.astraownersnetwork.co.uk (it used to be www.astra-sri.co.uk) and you can have all the help/advice you need with your car!

 

Wrong. Cars produced after about '92 are subject to emissions regs that require them to have a cat in order to be clean enough to pass. Removing a cat from an older car/engine is fine, as long as you tell your insurer first.