2 1/2 or 3" exhaust??

[TheBlackSwordsMan]

the pre 2000 don't have tubular manifolds unfortunatly including 99 :(

[toast]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by white96six:
ok, I just was saying that I think 3" is too big for our engines. especially if you loose low end torque.I would rather have the torque below 3000rpm because at 3000 rpm you are already moving. and a F-150 engine in our car would probably be faster than our 3.8 is. although I believe you would go to hell for putting a ford engine in a GM car.i am not trying to make anyone mad I was just giving my opinion. [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img] <hr></blockquote>

3inch is not to big for our engines. If it was then i should have lost power went from just a muffler to a 3inch system with a 3inch highflow cat. Now with just a muffler and air filter i ran a 15.3 at the track with a 2.1 60'. After the 3inch system i pulled a 14.85 at the track and still had the same 60' time as i did before. So that tells me i did not lose NO low end but i gained a good bit of top end. Trap speed went from 88 to 91.5, so the 3inch system got my down the track quicker. According to your theory this should not of happen but it did. Also one thing is that the 3.8 LOVES to breath even when it is just an N/A engine, the more air it can expelle the better.

[white96six]

cool thats a good for just adding an exhuast. I dont have a 3" system nor would I just because I have heard they sound bad at high RPM and I just put on mine, so I dont know if you loose low end torque I was just going by what other people on here had said. thanks.

[ReodDai]

I love how moderators start cursing and yelling at people now. That aside, the loss of torque due to large exhaust piping is due to the loss of backpressure. (duh) The bigger the exhaust(at a certain point) the less torque the vehicle will have. Not necessarily a bad thing since more horsepower gains are seen higher up the rpm chain. Just depends on what your goal is, most aftermarket products for v8 and v6s do NOT target torque as their main target. Alot of v8 and v6 cars end up seeing their torque numbers drop below their horsepower numbers after they begin modding their cars.

[phoenix64]

I lost no torque when I went to 3-in infact I didn't notice much at all. I had the edelbrock cat back, and decided to put a 3in cat and s pipe on the car, the sound got a little deeper, felt like it had a little more bottom end torque then before, but the topend was the same. I have more traction problems with the 3-in than I did with the 2.5. But the drone from the 3-in is almost unbearable, especialy after I got the flowmaster 80-series.

[Tyler]

i have pacesetter headers, highflow cat, and full catback exhaust.. ALL 3inches in diameter.. i did not feel ANY loss in low end.. infact it is even easier to break loose the tires on launch. the top end gain is rediculous tho.. in a good way

[Bliggida]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bluebird:
And Bliggida, where did you get your info from?<hr></blockquote>Carol Shelby.

[mjparme]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> I would rather have the torque below 3000rpm because at 3000 rpm you are already moving <hr></blockquote>

This depends on what you do with your car. If you are drag racing you probably want your torque numbers above 3000 RPM since that is going to be where your engine is spending its time.

When I am at the track I brake torque at the line between 1500-2000 rpm. So before I am even moving I have my RPM's near the point where a 3" system gives its torque gain. Once I smash the gas down and start going down the track I doubt my RPM's ever fall below 3000 rpm (of course I am looking at the track not down at my tach, so I can't be certain).

Here is a quote from a book by John Lingenfelter "Always maximize power within the rpm band where the engine spends its most time."

Of course if you don't drag race you may want your maximum power somewhere else. I would think if you are wanting better times at the track you would go 3" because it produces more torque at the RPM range you will be at most of the time when you are going down the track.

[ September 29, 2003: Message edited by: mjparme ]

[ September 29, 2003: Message edited by: mjparme ]</p>

[memphis_raines]

I just put on my system not long ago, but it was really weird because the system didn't include the tail pipes. So I used a 3" flowmaster system with 2.5" tail pipes and 3" tips, and it sounds great, so I would recommend the 3", especially if you're planning to keep upgrading the engine.

[Loochy88]

Get a 2.75 inch like i did ;)

its a happy medium