Daily Slideshow: What Can a Catback Exhaust Do For You?
Considering a cat-back exhaust change? Here's what to expect.
1. Tuber
If you haven't seen any Engineering Explained YouTube videos, you're missing out. Host Jason Fenske clearly and succinctly sorts out the principles behind many of the automotive designs we tend to have a murky understanding of, from how rotary engines work (along with their inherent design compromises) to why a Civic Type R has less torque steer than others. Like fellow automotive YouTuber Mr. Regular, who’s restored a Ford Falcon and purchased a 1st Gen Toyota MR2 since his Regular Car Reviews channel’s debut, Fenske has treated himself to the purchase of a car any enthusiast would be proud of, a yellow Honda S2000.
>>Join the conversation about a catback exhaust being right for your car right here in S2Ki.com.
2. Tuner
Like every good enthusiast, Fenske immediately turned his car into a 'project.' While he plans on keeping the suspension stock, he does have designs on changing his rear end gears, shedding a few pounds, and possibly adding a supercharger. However, he decided to start simple and, of course, he's a YouTuber after all, test and document his progress along the way. His recent video Can A Catback Exhaust Make Your Car Faster? explores exactly the question it poses. In explaining his parameters, he states that he wanted a system similar to the stock Honda pipes, saying, “I didn’t want it to be too loud. I think four cylinders aren’t the greatest sounding engines in the world, I don't think they need to be accentuated any more than they are.”
>>Join the conversation about a catback exhaust being right for your car right here in S2Ki.com.
3. Titanium
Fenske's choice for the cat-back revamp was a single-muffler Amuse Euro S in full titanium, which comes in at right around $2500. Fenske started from his premise that the primary restriction in his exhaust was the catalytic converter—he doesn't mention headers in the video—and since he wasn't planning on removing that, he decided to stick with the stock 60mm exhaust diameter. The video digs into the swap starting with the removal of the original system, which, luckily, had some pretty clean hardware holding it all together. We say 'luckily' because he recommends using a breaker bar to remove any extra rusty exhaust nuts. In practice, the likely outcome of that would be to either round the nuts off or snap the stubborn studs off the catalytic converter.
>>Join the conversation about a catback exhaust being right for your car right here in S2Ki.com.
4. Tale of the Tape
Before Fenske installed the new exhaust he weighed both it and the factory system, and the weight difference came down to 14 pounds: the predictable featherweight space-age titanium Amuse weighing in at 15.8 pounds, and the stock set-up at more-than-respectable 50 pounds. Once the new system was in place, and certified leak-free, he tested the sound pressure level emanating from it and found the result to be within a few decibels of the original exhaust, with peak levels of both hovering around 120 decibels. We've been stalling long enough, so here are the numbers you really wanna hear: the Amuse-equipped S2000 put out 2.5 more horsepower and 2 additional lb-feet of torque, all of the increase coming after the VTEC hand-off.
>>Join the conversation about a catback exhaust being right for your car right here in S2Ki.com.
5. Tale of Two Engineers
Fenske is a good sport and he admits, with a smile on his face, that his experiment was probably one of the worst investments you could make if you are on a quest for power. In the end, he uncovered a truth that many S2ki users know from their own experience: those people at Honda really knew what they were doing. Not only is the stock exhaust within a single percent of a $2500 aftermarket system horsepower wise, at only 50lbs it's not exactly an anchor either. Feel free to add your voice to the discussion... or start your own YouTube channel and share the results of your experiments here on S2ki.
>>Join the conversation about a catback exhaust being right for your car right here in S2Ki.com.