Exhaust system

Indoor generators and furnaces can quickly fill an enclosed space with poisonous exhaust gases such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, if they are not properly vented to the outdoors.

This practice lasted until the early 2000s when EU noise and pollution regulations effectively forced companies to use other methods to increase the motorcycle's performance.

[1] During design, engineers create a manifold without regard to weight or cost but instead for optimal flow of the exhaust gases.

Headers are generally circular steel tubing with bends and folds calculated to make the paths from each cylinder's exhaust port to the common outlet all equal length and joined at narrow angles to encourage pressure waves to flow through the outlet, not back towards other cylinders.

In a set of tuned headers the pipe lengths are carefully calculated to enhance exhaust flow in a particular engine revolutions per minute range.

Headers are generally made by aftermarket automotive companies, but sometimes can be bought from the high-performance parts department at car dealerships.

[5] The main purpose of a catalytic converter on an automobile is to reduce harmful emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere.

[9] Piping diameter that is too large can reduce torque at low RPM and can cause the exhaust system to be lower to the ground, increasing the risk of it being hit and damaged while the car is moving.

Resonators are sections of pipe that expand to a larger diameter and allow the sound waves to reflect off the walls and cancel out, reducing the noise level.

[citation needed] The end of the final length of the exhaust pipe where it vents to open air, generally the only visible part of the exhaust system part on a vehicle, often ends with a straight or angled cut but may include a decorative tip.

In the late 1950s, in the United States, manufacturers had a fashion in car styling to form the rear bumper with a hole at each end through which the exhaust would pass.

[citation needed] In some trucks, when the silencer (muffler) is front-to-back under the chassis, the end of the tailpipe turns and blows downwards.

That protects anyone near a stationary truck from getting a direct blast of the exhaust gas but often raises dust when driving on a dry, dusty surface such as on a building site.

A consequence of the problematic nature of the adaptation of large-diameter exhaust tubing to the undercarriage of ladder-frame or body-on-frame chassis architecture vehicles with altered geometry suspensions, lake pipes evolved to become a front-engined vehicle exhaust archetype crafted by specialty motorsport engine specialists of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, whose focus was the optimization of the acoustic effect associated with high-output internal combustion engines.

The name is derived from their use on the vast, empty, dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles County, where engine specialists custom-crafted, interchanged, and evaluated one-piece header manifolds of various mil thicknesses, a function of temperature, humidity, elevation, and climate they anticipated.

[citation needed] No intrinsic performance gain to be derived, per se, lake pipes evolved a function of practicality.

In typical instances, their manifolds routed straight out the front wheel wells posing an asphyxiation risk to the race driver, "lake pipes" were fashioned, extending from the header flange along the rocker panels, bottom side of the vehicle, beneath the doors, thus allowing (1) suspension tuners a lower ride height sufficient for land speed record attempts, and (2) engine tuners ease and flexibility of interchanging different exhaust manifolds without hoisting the vehicle, thus precluding having to wrench undercarriage of the vehicle.

Body-on-frame chassis architecture ceding to superleggera, unibody, and monocoque archetypes, in tandem with smog abatement legislation rendered lake pipes obsolete as a performance option.

The Turbo-back (or turbo back) is part of the exhaust system from the outlet of a turbocharger to the final vent to open air.

Cat-back (also cat back and catback) refers to the portion of the exhaust system from the outlet of the catalytic converter to the final vent to open air.

Backpressure is most commonly reduced by replacing exhaust manifolds with headers, which have smoother bends and normally wider pipe diameters.

One dominant solution to aftermarket upgrades is the use of a ceramic coating applied via thermal spraying as a heat shield.

This not only reduces heat loss and lessens back pressure, but also provides an effective way to protect the exhaust system from wear and tear, thermal degradation, and corrosion.