X Pipe or No?

[John510]

What are the advantages of having an x pipe? I heard it makes the sound different then if I just run duals. Opinions before I order my exhaust?

Thanks

[SAR Skipper]

What are the advantages of having an x pipe? I heard it makes the sound different then if I just run duals. Opinions before I order my exhaust?

Thanks

I'm no exhaust expert, but I went from stock exhausts, to true duals on my 87 Vette, and it ran like crap!:(

Wen't to a local guy, an ancient dude who had retired from the muffler and exhaust business and has been doing custom exhaust for almost all the rodders and musclecar guys in the area for years, and he immediately said "let's put an "X" pipe in there!"

He did, and the performance went way up, an improvement that was immediately noticible from a the seat of the pants and throttle feel!

Fuel economy also improved a tad as a side benefit.

He said it was about increasing a little backpressure in the system.
I guess it was too "unrestricted" before.

HTH?

[BBC69Camaro]

Least if you believe the Car mags, a good x-pipe system is about as close as you can get to open headers:
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/exhaust_system_installation/index.html

[wmhjr]

There are a bunch of resources out there that show that X-Pipes are better than open headers. The X-Pipe assists with evacuation, as well as some other funky pulse effects.

As usual, I'll fall back to my bike building stuff where air cooled v-twin motors can REALLY demonstrate how different changes effect performance. The absolute best performing exhaust on one is NOT "Drag Pipes" or "true duals". It is almost always without exception a well thought out 2-1 stepped design. Open headers have one performance range - WOT. Assuming the combo is even tuned for that.

[qbrown]

I have an x-pipe on my car and it is very responsive (ls1). It does have a bit of a raspy sound to it. A lot of guys that hear my car almost immediatley ask if it has an x-pipe on it. I guess the sound gives it away. WOT pulls sound amazing.

[Blake Foster]

I have an x-pipe on my car and it is very responsive (ls1). It does have a bit of a raspy sound to it. A lot of guys that hear my car almost immediatley ask if it has an x-pipe on it. I guess the sound gives it away. WOT pulls sound amazing.

My Nova is the same as well,
I like the sound of the X pipe. dual exhaust with no balance tube sound like S&*t IMO
My 510 ci BB Camaro has 3.5" with an X pipe and in the burn out box it sounds like a 10,000 RPM Small block.

[The WidowMaker]

ive always liked the sound of a h pipe vs an x pipe, but i built my new exhaust with an x. read up on david vizard and his theories on exhaust. pretty interesting stuff and the reason i wasnt concerned with putting flowmasters on the car which dont bench test to enough cfm movement.