What are Exhaust Systems?


Exhaust systems transport burnt gases and residues from internal combustion engine through its exhaust pipes. The main purpose of exhaust systems is to reduce the pollutant constituents of the exhaust gas generated by combustion in the engine. The remaining exhaust gas is then discharged as quietly as possible at a convenient point of the vehicle. The engine power should be reduced as little as possible during the process.

A typical car exhaust system consists usually of three major components: the catalytic converter, the mufflers, and the exhaust pipes.

The catalytic converter is usually used to reduce air pollution. It serves as an exhaust gas cleaning device for spark ignition and diesel engines. It is attached as close as possible to the engine so that it can quickly reach its load temperature and therefore be effective in urban driving. It is integrated as supplementary equipment in place of the front muffler.

One or several mufflers are used depending on the size of the vehicle and the engine. The left and right cylinder banks are frequently run separately in V-engines – each being fitted with its own catalytic converter of muffler, and only brought together at the end of the vehicle in one large muffler.

The third and last components in the exhaust system are the exhaust pipes. They combine the exhaust-gas outlets in the cylinder head into one or more pipes, and connect the one or more catalytic converter and the mufflers to each other. The length, the cross-section of the pipes, and the junction type used altogether influence the vehicle’s performance characteristics and acoustic behavior. Vehicles with larger swept volumes are usually equipped with twin-pipe exhaustion systems. The pipes, the catalytic converter, and muffler are connected to the main body of the system by means of flanges.

The entire exhaust system is connected with the underbody of the vehicle via flexible suspension elements. The fitting points must be carefully selected to prevent vibration from being transmitted to the bodywork that will generate noise in compartment. The exhaust system noise at the tailpipe can also cause framework resonances.

Other related components of exhaust systems are: the manifold, which is an assembly engineered to collect the exhaust gas from the multiple cylinders and combine flows into one single pipe; the header back, which refers to the portion of the exhaust system from the outlet of the header to the final vent to open air; the turbo back, which refers to the portion of the exhaust system from the outlet of a turbocharger to the final vent to open air; the cat back, the portion of the exhaust system from the outlet of the catalytic converter to the final vent to open air; and the tip.

Filed Under: General

RSSComments (2)

Leave a Reply | Trackback URL

  1. katie says:

    Informative blog.
    I’ll share this blog to my son. He’s starting to have interest on cars. I saw him helping his father installed new banks power exhaust, and they had a quality time together. It won’t take long before he’ll drive his own car.

  2. […] Larger turbochargers, a more efficient intercooling system and a stainless-steel high-performance exhaust system with four exhaust pipes and low back-pressure metal catalysts are all part of the BRABUS Rocket […]

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.