In the previous article, the pipe diameter is one of the main keys to selecting best suit exhaust system for your vehicle, But, how do we choose the best dimensions that suit our needs??
The quick and easy way to choose what diameter pipe you will need from the headers to the mufflers is to go back to the old rule of thumb, that for every 100 horsepower = 1” of total pipe diameter is needed across the system. For example, a 500 horsepower engine needs a 2.5″ dual exhaust (2.5″ x 2 = 5″). This, of course, is a rough estimate, and there are several complex mathematical formulas to help you discover the “perfect” size of pipe to use.
Our team had done several tests, and research for this calculation and the result using Max Racing Exhaust product on almost all cars is shown astable below:
Engine Displacement (ci) | Horsepower | Single Pipe Diameter (inches) | Dual-Pipe Diameter (inches) |
150 to 200 | 100 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
150 to 200 | 150 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
150 to 200 | 200 | 2.50 | 2.00 |
200 to 250 | 150 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| 200 to 250 | 200 | 2.50 | 2.00 |
200 to 250 | 250 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
250 to 300 | 200 | 2.50 | 2.00 |
| 250 to 300 | 250 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
| 250 to 300 | 300 | 3.00 | 2.50 |
300 to 350 | 250 | 3.00 | 2.25 |
300 to 350 | 300 | 3.00 | 2.50 |
300 to 350 | 350 | 3.50 | 2.50 |
| 350 to 400 | 300 | 3.30 | 2.50 |
| 350 to 400 | 350 | 3.50 | 2.50 |
350 to 400 | 400 | 3.50 | 2.50 |
| 400 to 450 | 400 | 3.50 | 2.50 |
400 to 450 | 450 | 4.00 | 3.00 |
| 400 to 450 | 500 | 4.00 | 3.00 |
450 to 500 | 500 | 4.50 | 3.50 |
| 450 to 500 | 600 | 4.50 | 3.50 |
| 450 to 500 | 700+ | 4.50 | 3.50 |
*only for general references, some modern cars with complex output may be different to the above table.
What About Muffler? For muffler diameter?
Your choice of mufflers is as much about performance as sound. Do you want a low deep growl sound, or do you want to wake up the be the eye-catching beast on the road? There are multiple options available to you. Click Here to take listen to some of Max Racing Exhaust’s offerings. You can click on the description to play the sound of each muffler, and check the attribute whether the muffler specification suits your vehicle.
Will this formula suit other universal exhausts or mufflers?
The answer is, no.
Exhaust parts are designed with multiple layers of structures instead of just plain straight pipes. Every single dimension is taken into account during the research and designs. of course, the key secret will never be easily shared or copied by any other manufacturer. Where any single difference of dimension or specs will directly affect the performance and sound easily.