Mufflers and Exhausts - 101 (The Basics)
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Mufflers and Exhausts - 101 (The Basics)
Proper pipe size is important for performance, balancing between flow and backpressure, and will have some play in sound, but the real component that dictates sound will always be the muffler.
Mufflers can take care of the silencing chores by three major methods: Absorption, Chambering, and Reflection. Mufflers can use one method, or all three, to attenuate sound. There are also Resonators being used in most vehicles today. They always work by attenuating sound. The first step in achieving ear shattering sound, is to ditch the resonator(s).
Back to the muffler:
The absorption method is probably the least effective at quelling engine roar, meaning it is the loudest and the benefit is that "absorbers" are also best at letting exhaust gas through. Good examples of absorbers are the DynoMax UltraFlow, and the good old-fashioned Cherry Bomb glasspack. Absorption mufflers are also the simplest. They utilize a simple construction consisting of a perforated tube that goes through a can filled with a packing material, such as fiberglass or steel wool.
Chambering is another method mufflers use to kill off noise. For example, the Hooker Aero Chamber muffler is a straight-through design, with a catch. Instead of a simple, perforated tube, there is a chamber inside the muffler that is much larger than the rest of the exhaust pipe. This design abates sound more efficiently than your standard straight-through because when the exhaust gasses enter this large chamber they slow down dramatically. This gives them more time to dwell in the sound insulation, and thus absorb more noise. The large chamber gently tapers back into the smaller size of your exhaust pipe, and the exhaust gasses are sent on their merry way to the tailpipe. Problem is, most chambered mufflers "bend" the flow of the exhaust and that's where restriction and a lack of performance comes into play.
Probably the most sophisticated type of muffler is the reflector. They often utilize absorption principles in conjunction with reflection to make the ultimate high-performance silencer. Specifically, sound is a wave, and when two like waves collide, they will "cancel" each other and leave very little of the original sound left to hear. Again, that is why the first step to "exhaust bliss" is to cut out the resonators before even tackling the muffler issue...
Mufflers can take care of the silencing chores by three major methods: Absorption, Chambering, and Reflection. Mufflers can use one method, or all three, to attenuate sound. There are also Resonators being used in most vehicles today. They always work by attenuating sound. The first step in achieving ear shattering sound, is to ditch the resonator(s).
Back to the muffler:
The absorption method is probably the least effective at quelling engine roar, meaning it is the loudest and the benefit is that "absorbers" are also best at letting exhaust gas through. Good examples of absorbers are the DynoMax UltraFlow, and the good old-fashioned Cherry Bomb glasspack. Absorption mufflers are also the simplest. They utilize a simple construction consisting of a perforated tube that goes through a can filled with a packing material, such as fiberglass or steel wool.
Chambering is another method mufflers use to kill off noise. For example, the Hooker Aero Chamber muffler is a straight-through design, with a catch. Instead of a simple, perforated tube, there is a chamber inside the muffler that is much larger than the rest of the exhaust pipe. This design abates sound more efficiently than your standard straight-through because when the exhaust gasses enter this large chamber they slow down dramatically. This gives them more time to dwell in the sound insulation, and thus absorb more noise. The large chamber gently tapers back into the smaller size of your exhaust pipe, and the exhaust gasses are sent on their merry way to the tailpipe. Problem is, most chambered mufflers "bend" the flow of the exhaust and that's where restriction and a lack of performance comes into play.
Probably the most sophisticated type of muffler is the reflector. They often utilize absorption principles in conjunction with reflection to make the ultimate high-performance silencer. Specifically, sound is a wave, and when two like waves collide, they will "cancel" each other and leave very little of the original sound left to hear. Again, that is why the first step to "exhaust bliss" is to cut out the resonators before even tackling the muffler issue...