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Same exhaust sounds so different

magvan

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I have two different 440 powered vehicles an exhaust system sound so completely different between them. they both have the same size exhaust, same 20" super turbo mufflers, same headers, one has an engle K 54 cam the other one has a another cam with almost identical specs, both low compression 452 head engines. the only other difference is one has an x pipe one has an H pipe. Vehicle with the H pipe is regular exhaust shop bent tubing the one with the x pipe is all mandrel bends. I can't believe that the x pipe vs. H pipe could be the only thing making the difference. The truck sounds absolutely fabulous Good Old School Rumble has a bit of a roar when you get on it the other vehicle almost sounds like crappy mufflers and is annoyingly loud when you get on it. Both complete systems are 2 years old that I installed so it's not like one of them is really old or something like that. Any ideas why such a difference.

And then of course my 67 RT which has I believe accurate exhaust on it sounds good also but has a little bit of a drone certain RPMs
 
Which is which? Is the good sounding one the H pipe or the X pipe with mandrel bends?
 
I would think its the x pipe and the h pipe making the difference. They are as different as night and day
 
Could be the mandrel bent pipes. I have 3 vehicles here with the same thrush welded mufflers. My model a ford with 354 hemi and 71 Trans Am with a RA3 400 both have muffler shop bent pipes and they have a great mellow rumble. My Vega with the same mufflers and all mandrel bent pipe hooked to a 6.0 LS engine is way too loud and has a lousy sound. All 3 using full length exhaust with no x or h pipes and the exact same mufflers
 
The cam has to be part of it but the timing and advance has to effect it a lot. When the exhaust valve opens where is the "burn" in it's process??? Is it over, still burning some? The two together will make a big difference.
 
Any variation is going to lead to a different sound. Age of the pipe, manufacturer of the pipe, if one pipe is worn (been driven) more than the other, X vs. H pipe, mandrel vs. shop bent, any tiny variation in the engine, exhaust hangers, hanger location, proximity of the pipe to the body (car vs. truck), overall length of pipe. Think of two musical instruments that seem the same, but have that much variation. Add all of those up and you have accumulated a lot of difference.
 
Which is which? Is the good sounding one the H pipe or the X pipe with mandrel bends?
The one with the H pipe sounds good. Oh and the H pipe is only 2-3" long so it's not like it's much different than the x pipe
 
I would think its the x pipe and the h pipe making the difference. They are as different as night and day
Idk, ive been researvhing and On the tests Ive seen they don't make any difference until over 7k rpm and none of my Mopars will ever see that.
 
The exhaust with the x pipe is 16ga individual mandrel bends and tubing all tig welded together
The exhaust with the H pipe is a hooker mandrel bend header back system. H pipe is 2-3 inches long (kinda in between mandrel bend and exhaust shop bends) not perfect bends like the individual bends but way better than ex shop smashed bends

Both are 2 1/4 tubes and mufflers 20" long dynomax super turbo center/offset.

Overall tubing length is about the same
115" wheelbase dump behind the tires vs 127" dump in front of the tires

Exhaust are the same age, the h pipe sounded good from 1st fire up, the x pipe I didn't like as soon as I fired it

Both cams are 112 lsa
 
I didn't see anyone mention carb tune. Play with the mixture and listen to how sound changes..
 
Make & size of headers will make a difference.

That's true, but he said they were the same on both vehicles.

I remember a youtube video that showed a comparison between a regular dual exhaust system, a system with an X-pipe and a system with an H-pipe and each one sounded different. It's hard to tell unless you're standing right behind the exhaust, but you could tell differences, even in this video. And, if I remember right, they did it on the same car. They changed the exhaust on this car three times using the same mufflers and headers. The only difference was the straight through, the H-pipe and the X-pipe. In this video, the X-pipe system sounded the best to me.

Therefore, since everything else is the same, I would have to think it's the difference between the H and X.

Just my .02 cents.

Can I add an H-pipe to my regular dual exhaust... anyone? Or should the whole exhaust need to be replaced?

Interesting post, thanks.
 
Distance of how far back muffler is located can make a sound difference also.
 
An X-pipe definitely changes the tone of the exhaust. Both an X and H-pipe quiets the exhaust but the H doesn't change the tone much. The X smooths out the pulses which gives a more 'European' sound which some people love and some people don't. You obviously don't like the sound but the previous posters are correct that even small changes in the engine can change the sound. I had a SBC that had a very different sound once I installed a bigger carb. Also, general rule is H adds low end, X adds top end.
 
I did an X pipe on my build. I heard it didn't drone as bad. Sounds good except at 2,000 rpm. Pretty loud at that spot but good under or above.
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Khryslerkid, what mufflers / exhaust are you running? Drone is almost impossible to predict. It's a combination of mufflers/engine combo/gear ratio but for me it's extremely annoying. Some people accept it as the price of doing muscle car business but I can't handle it. That and exhaust leaks drive me nuts.
 
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