Is an Aftermarket Exhaust Worth It?

Your car exhaust pipe is probably the last thing you think of when you consider upgrading your car’s stock parts. Exhaust systems aren’t sexy, and therefore don’t attract a lot of attention that way a new subwoofer, tinted windows, or lambo doors can. In fact, by rule of thumb, if anybody does happen to notice your car’s exhaust system, there’s probably something wrong with it. But a good muffler shop can do more than just help pass your smog check. Upon closer look, when you ask the question, “Is an aftermarket exhaust worth it?” the answer is a qualified “Yes!” Here are several reasons why.

A more muffling muffler

Reason number one most people want to visit a muffler shop is to get a better muffler. After all, the muffler parts of exhaust systems do just like the name suggests: they muffle the sound your car makes. Internal combustion engines are literally designed to contain hundreds of small explosions each minute, and the bulk of the sound of these explosions flows outside a car through its tailpipe. Any exhaust shop will offer ways to mitigate this noise, with mufflers designed to counter each sound wave coming out of the engine, by bounding an inverse sound wave back at it. In this way, mufflers dissipate sound much the same way as noise canceling headphones.

Improved power

It almost sounds backwards, but an aftermarket exhaust system may actually increase your vehicle’s horsepower up to ten percent or more! Why? Because, just like it sounds, your car exhaust pipe releases exhaust, the waste gases released by your engine’s combustion. The more efficiently that exhaust is cleared from the engine cylinder, the more room is left over for fuel and air intake. Only when your car can maximize the amount of fuel and air can it optimize the power of internal combustion. Stock tailpipes may do a decent job at quickly venting exhaust, but you’ll need to visit an exhaust shop to find the type of high-performance mufflers that give your power a boost. Car Audio City has your best options for aftermarket exhaust in San Diego.

Better fuel economy

For similar reasons, it’s also true you should visit a muffler shop to improve your ride’s fuel economy. Because the amount of fuel injected into an engine cylinder is directed by the gas pedal, not the amount of room in the cylinder — the same amount of fuel will be used either way. So when you have an efficient exhaust system increasing the horsepower from a single instance of combustion, you literally get more bang out of every buck worth of fuel. Therefore, each turn of the engine will get you a little farther down the road, allowing you to use less fuel in the long run.

It may depend how much you replace

Now, if you go to a muffler shop just to replace your muffler and tail pipe, you might only see cosmetic improvements of an axle-back exhaust system, meaning factor parts are only exchanged to the rear of the rear axle. But most exhaust system efficiency requires at least a cat-back system, meaning the aftermarket exhaust replaces the exhaust system from the catalytic converter back, thereby affecting more of the engine’s efficiency. To get the best results installing aftermarket exhaust in San Diego, consider a header-back system, which replaces all factory parts with aftermarket exhaust parts.

An aftermarket exhaust is worth it!

Choose the correct aftermarket exhaust system, and you’ll see increases in both looks and performance with a single trip to the muffler shop. You just need to make it the right muffler shop.

Consult with our exhaust shop at Car Audio City today at (619) 474-8551 for the best aftermarket exhaust systems in San Diego.