Everything You Need To Know About Your Car's Exhaust Kit

To understand what an exhaust kit is and what it does, we need to first look at how our engine works. A mixture of fuel and air is pulled into the engine’s combustion chamber, where it gets ignited by a spark plug causing a small controlled explosion. This explosion pushes the piston downwards creating power and torque. Once the fuel is burnt it leaves behind a cloud of smoke that needs to be removed. The cloud of burnt gasses is pushed out from the combustion chamber by the piston. This then flows through the exhaust manifold and enters the collecting pipe. The stock exhaust systems usually have heavy cast iron and wrinkle bent pipes which restrict the flow of exhaust gases, leading to a decreased efficiency.

Exhaust kit has various parts included in it depending on the type of kit it is. Major components of an exhaust kit include exhaust headers, collector pipe, resonator, muffler and tail pipe. The exhaust manifold is bolted to the cylinder head, further next in line is the collector pipe or just the collector where all the exhaust gasses from multiple cylinders are collected initially. Then the next part is known as the head pipe which goes downwards from the engine and connects the header to the catalytic converter that is present at the bottom of the car. From the catalytic converter Cat-Back exhaust system starts (present at the bottom of the vehicle) which include resonators, mufflers, tail pipe and may also include connecting pipes like X-pipe or H-pipe.

There are mainly three types of exhaust kits.

1. Header-Back - Header-back systems replace everything from the header collector to the tailpipes. By doing so, the major advantage is that you can enlarge the diameter of the entire exhaust system, allowing you to flow more flue gases out. However, these systems are very expensive and also highly complicated to install.
2. Cat-Back - Cat-back exhausts replace the components starting from the catalytic convertor. A cat-back system includes a muffler and tailpipe, however depending on the vehicle model it can also include an X, H or Y-pipe. A cat-back upgrade is relatively easier and more popular, the overall power gain will actually depend on the catalytic converter and other stock parts. A Cat-back system will allow a greater free flow of gases which will further increase efficiency and fuel economy of the system.
3. Axle-Back - An axle-back exhaust system includes all the components from the rear axle to exhaust tip. However, it cannot give a power gain as high as cat-back system or header-back system, but still it will provide more power compared to your stock exhaust.

These classifications are made based on parts included in the replacement exhaust kit. Like, Header-back exhaust kit changes everything starting from header, intermediate parts like connecting pipes, crossover pipes, catalytic converter to tailpipe and exhaust tip.

Cat-back exhaust systems are those which change only the parts that come after catalytic converters like crossover pipes, resonators, mufflers and tailpipe. Further, axle back exhausts are those in which we change only parts behind the axle to exhaust tip.

There are many important features depending on construction, material, orientation and type that are worth keeping in mind while choosing your new exhaust kit.

1.   Exhaust Kit Construction

Crush Bends & Mandrel Bends

The aftermarket exhaust kits are built differently than stock exhaust. The main purpose of exhaust kits is to reduce power-robbing restrictions, increase exhaust scavenging and finally, by doing so, increase power of the vehicle.

The first major difference is the diameter of pipes, exhaust kits will always have larger diameter pipes to provide greater cross-sectional area to promote better flow of exhaust gases. But that being said, it is not always important that larger diameter means larger power, it totally depends on factors like engine size and rpm.

The second major difference is the pipe bends. The regular stock exhausts use a technique known as crush bending, because it is faster and saves cost. Whereas high quality exhaust kits from Magnaflow, Flowmaster that are available at Parts Avatar are bent with the mandrel bending process, in which first a flexible rod is inserted in the pipe and bent slowly, this prevents the pipe walls from collapsing and forming wrinkles. This results in a consistent pipe diameter and a non-restrictive flow at the bends.

2.   Exhaust Kit Material

Mild Steel And Stainless Steel

At PartsAvatar exhaust kits made of both mild steel and 304 or 409 Stainless steel alloy are available. The mild steel exhausts are cheaper but will eventually corrode, and SS exhausts are stronger and resist corrosion.

Upgraded exhaust kits firstly increase the diameter of pipes. Second, they are bent using better techniques that prevent wrinkle formation at the curves and finally; they promote scavenging by using exhaust pipe designs like X-pipe, H-Pipe and Y-pipe. All these changes in exhaust promotes a more non restrictive flow of exhaust gases, the X,Y,H-pipe design helps to balance out both sides and prevents formation of backpressure.

A vehicle’s exhaust system is exposed to very harsh conditions, it is always prone to corrosive dust and water particles, plus it can easily break because of any impact. Few of the very common problems with exhaust parts are.

• Leakage of exhaust gases
• Broken exhaust hanger
• Broken connectors
• Corroded connecting pipes
• Low engine power

There are a few symptoms by which a vehicle owner can predict if there is a problem in his vehicle’s exhaust system. Few of the symptoms that help to get to know if any of the above-mentioned problems exist or are going to occur are:

1. Loud noise - This is the most common problem found in a vehicle, this can be because of leaking exhaust gases. This means that there is a crack or breakage in the connecting pipes. This is a serious problem because one, it can cause exhaust gases to fill in the passenger cabin and second, it causes a lot of noise pollution.
2. Decreased vehicle power - This can be a symptom of corroded exhaust pipes, if your exhaust pipes are internally corroded it will lead to loss of power and finally lower fuel efficiency. This issue can be solved by installing a new exhaust kit of a larger optimal diameter.
3. Hanging exhaust pipe - This means that your exhaust hanger is broken or loose, and should be fixed immediately. A hanging or a dragging exhaust pipe is not only a cause of danger for you but also for the drivers around you, if it falls off the vehicle.

Many of the tools required to change the exhaust kit are probably already in your toolbox. If not, purchasing these tools will be an excellent investment since most of them can be used for a multitude of other tasks.

• Start with the right protection gear
• Exhaust Kit
• Jack and Jack Stand
• Wrench Set
• Allen Wrench set

One of the biggest and most well-known brands for exhaust kits are available with us at Parts Avatar.

• Magnaflow Exhaust Kit
• Flowmaster Exhaust Kit
• Gibson Performance Exhaust Kit
• Dynomax Exhaust Kit

Do you want to know what are the related parts of the car exhaust kit? Say no more! We are here to help you out. Have a look at exhaust kit related parts below:-

• Connecting clamps
• Exhaust Hanger
• Muffler
• Resonator
• Connecting pipes
• Crossover pipe
• Exhaust manifold
• Exhaust tip

A new exhaust kit can cost from as low as 400$ to around 1200$ depending on the exhaust kit material type you choose for your vehicle. Changing an exhaust kit can be an easy task if it is an axle-back type and a job for a day if it is a header-back type.

As we have already mentioned, changing an exhaust kit can be an easy or complex job depending on the type of kit it is, so below we will mention the process to change the whole exhaust kit.

Step 1

Lift your car from the back with the help of a jack and use a ramp to get under the car.

Step 2

Inspect the exhaust system visually and make a plan of how to remove all the parts.

Step 3

Start from the back of the car by removing all the bolts visible and unmounting the exhaust parts one by one from the back.

Step 4

Once you have removed the catalytic convertor, open up the boot and remove any parts like car battery that might be restricting your approach to the exhaust manifold 

Step 5

Remove the crossover pipe.

Step 6

Start to reassemble all the parts from the replacement kit, make sure to place all the gaskets between the joints.

Step 7

Once reassembled check for the alignment of all the connecting pipes and make sure that no pipe is hanging below.