Improving your vehicle’s performance means upgrading components in a rotation that balances your gains across potential power, air through the engine, fuel delivery, and controls like the brakes and steering. That means you won’t see your best power output through the engine if you upgrade your intake and fuel injectors without also upgrading to a performance exhaust package.
Improved Air Flow for More Power
It’s not hard to understand that if you can bring more air in, you can cycle the engine faster, but you also need to move the exhaust out for the best possible ignition efficiency. Otherwise, you’re bottlenecking the incoming air. Performance exhaust systems do that, so your engine can cycle as quickly as your EFI conversion kit can deliver the fuel. The more improvements you make to your engine and fuel injectors, the more you need to improve both intake and exhaust components to keep up.
The key is proportion. If you make minor improvements to your engine like performance spark plugs and an expanded intake, upgrading the exhaust will help. If you go all the way to an engine replacement, Holley EFI system, and the rest of the works, then it’s a good idea to go all the way to a custom exhaust with bends that fit your vehicle and cutouts for peak performance.
Improved Fuel Efficiency
The improvements that allow you to make gains in your engine’s power output also help with fuel efficiency when compared to the same speed and gear before the improvement. That’s because the exhaust cycling out faster makes the reactions more efficient, allowing you to get more out without using as much gas. Like the addition of a turbo or supercharger, the upgrade helps with both aspects of your performance under the right circumstances.
If you are considering a supercharger kit and you’re still running an exhaust system with minimal upgrades, it’s time to look at your upgrade plan because you might be better off doing them together or even budgeting the exhaust upgrade first, just to get the most out of the new supercharger on day one.
Change the Way Your Car Sounds
The last major benefit to a performance exhaust upgrade is less important to performance-oriented drivers, but it’s still a really popular reason. If you upgrade your exhaust until you have it fully customized to your vehicle, you also have a chance to control the way the exhaust sounds to some degree.
That means you can optimize airflow while giving it just the right amount of growl. Done carefully, it’s a good way to adapt your vehicle for the best possible combination of compliance with local street laws and performance on the track. Exhaust cutouts are great for helping you balance those factors, too.
Plan Your Exhaust Upgrade
Since the best performance exhaust upgrades are the ones that are built to the shape, size, and needs of your vehicle, there is a lot to consider. From custom bends to a performance muffler, cutouts, and additional pipes, it can take some time to figure out exactly what you want. The sooner you start planning those changes, the faster you can get them in place.
