Are there any side pipes for sale that DON'T eat HP?
 

I was doing a search for something else when I ran across the topic of side pipes.

And, while I was reading, I found where most Cobra side pipes eat approx 30-40hp.

So I don't want to get rid of side pipes as I love the way they look [oddly enough I don't like them on other cars, go figure], but I would like to have a pair that actually helped HP, not hurt it.

Outside of having custom pipes made, is there anyone selling these?

I went with Chambered Classics. They are supposed to drain less HP and also sound better, but I don't yet have them on so I can't tell you from experience.

Wow lippy, thanks. Guys you need to take a look at this webpage.

Looks like most side pipes are from a 4 cylinder.......

Classic Chambered Exhaust Inc. - Products

They also are easy to deal with. I had him weld on feeders and turnouts, for a very reasonable cost, so the sidepipe fabricator at ERA could then weld on brackets, etc.

Most of the pipes I see go from the 4 tubes into a 3" or 3.5" diameter pipe, then go into a 4" muffler, then back to a 3/3.5" outlet. Whatever brand I have on my car are 4" diameter straight through. They have a baffle about 10" long that is noting but a few pieces of plate welded to a 3/4" pipe down the center. Compared to most that are necked down, or go through mufflers, these are about as free flowing as you can get. I am not sure if all Arntz/Butlers had them or not.

I'm pretty happy with the mufflers I got from Stainless Specialties and get a lot of compliments about the tone. I also noticed a substantial seat of the pants increase in power over the augers I had on there previously.

Frank

we have four of our gang that use the Classic pipes. We all love them. Great sound.

My small block is making a little over 400 rear wheel hp and I think the Classic pipes help.

Great sound at 4,000 plus but at 2000 cruising you can talk to the passenger without screaming.

Yep I love them.

Dwight

You know, come to think about it, if your not looking for originality, it seems they would be easy to make.

Thats, IF, you wanted them open, as in no baffles.

I have the Kirkham stainless steel pipes and headers, suppose to be pretty good at not robbing hp...

Call Full Throttle up in Sparks Nevada. He'll trade you pipes for a modified set. I went to a 3" internal pipe. Really woke up the engine from the previous stock 1 3/4" inside pipe.

Trade off
 

mtrain2000 Bottom line is do you want to talk and have hearing from the l/s ear? The other thing is these sidepipes are for racing and not street cruising. If they could fit a 2 1/2" exhaust under the car without bottoming it out they would have. Cobra have poor headers unless stepped custom ones. Stainless also makes a different sound when running. I have 2 sets of side pipes for my car, street with mufflers and open pipe tubes with a short 3" in and out muffler. Open pipes are loud and need ear plugs after driving 5 minutes. HP different is there, 22 hp at 5,800 rpms gain with race pipes but a loss of torque of 16 ft going through the rpm range. This means about the same for loss with street pipes on the same motor but the torque was up 11pounds through the same range. This was dynoed 3 times. Bottom line you are not running the motor at 5,500 rpms all day long. Forgot to ask you, how much custom work is into your motor?? Head work, compression, intake manifold machine work, port matching gaskets?? The loss of power also depends on the motor and how well it breaths. Best answer to question of yours is to get car running and motor broken in and go to a dyno shop and have it performanced setup done. You will need to drill 2 holes in the side pipes before they go into the mufflers and check back pressure with the car running, Ideal number is about 1.5-3.0 psi at WOT. if you have this, you are not going to find a better side pipe. Your motor may like more restriction in the exhaust for more power and be quieter. Want to see the A/R ratios too, fuel and air. Get car running and dyno it. O2 sensor bungs are the easiest to install and mount and wled on the inside to not see them. They sell a basic back pressure gauge for about $30.00 or make one with a vacuum/pressure gauge and orange rubber hose that will not melt from exhaust temps and run car around the block and on the highway and watch the numbers on the gauge. Good luck Rick l.

I was going to say, don't you want a little back pressure?

I'll second that. I replaced my BDR mufflers with SS mufflers (3") and noticed a big improvement. The old BDR mufflers were highly restrictive. They had baffles with 2 small openings.

Frank: Which augers did you have? Reason I ask is that I've got long augers from Spiral Turbo in my sidepipes that are much better than the original BDR sidepipe/muffler in both sound and performance. So I reckon I'm looking for a reality check...

Thanks

Bill,
These were from Kook's Custom Headers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../DSC01627R.jpg

They were real chokers. I can't believe I left them on as long as I did.
The thing that finally tilted me towards the SS muffs over the Cobra Packs is that the SS mufflers are a perforated core design so I didn't have to struggle with which way the louvers should go.
Frank

I just put a set of Classic Chambered 3" Cobra Packs with the flow mod on my car. What I pulled out shocked me!! The difference was so great it threw the carb calibration off by alot. {Click on my camera and you can see the photos I took.}
Louvers are not a problem for restriction, they are not that big and deep anyway. My decibel level went up but I expected it to and don't have a problem with it. I used a cheap sound app on my smart phone and recorded 93dB at idle about 20" away from the tip. The tone deepened and I really liked that, and at 6300 rpms...well you know.

they are unpacked louvers facing forward

i just put a set of stainless specialties on: 3" straight through. the old ones were about 2 1/4" louvered. The new ones are the same volume level via ipod app sound meter, but the tone is way lower so they "seem" much quieter: you can hold a conversation much easier, but on the downside i can hear squeaks and rattles now that i could not before :)

Noise don't really bother me as I'm more of a driver. So stiff suspensions, noise, and such don't bother me too badly as I won't be taking the car out to church, etc, I have another vehicle for that [ie wife's car].

Here is my daily driver, believe it or not............90 Mazda B2200 with
363cid, Dart/Ford, with twin T4's, and custom built [by me] 3" exhaust.

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSCN0055.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/g...in2000/006.jpg

If the little louvres face forward...(the opening facing airflow) .....it will be quieter and use some horsepower....if they face back ..its louder but less power loss....

Which engine combos are you all losing power on from side pipes? I don't have much to base it on, but going from projected flywheel horsepower to recorded rear wheel horsepower, I don't believe that the Backdraft side pipes have much restriction for sub 600hp engines.