I asked this on the exhaust forum, but nobody seems to know, so I figure this forum has a wider audience, and I may get the answer.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ust-style.html

Basically, the muffler design that is commonly derided as the "fart can", does it have a scientific reason for it's design. I've done search after search online, and so far the only info, which isn't clear, seems to point to it being originally designed by Apex'i for the N1 Endurance series, but 1. I'm not sure and 2. nothing online so far is clear. Google, Wikipedia, other search engines, and other forums have proven dead ends.

Anyone have the lowdown on this?

Thanks.

 

Its pretty simple actually. The straight through muffler goes back as far as the internal combustion engine, and its primary reason for existence is that it is cheap and effective. The modern "performance" muffler for four cylinder engines is nothing but an evolution of the "glass pack" muffler that our dads put on their muscle cars. And it still works! Of course you could argue about backpressure and lost low end torque until you are blue in the face but hey.....

 

O.K., so there's nothing secret about the design. So the next quetion is why does it piss off so many people? Anyone can feel free to discuss.

 

What pisses people off is the sound that is emitted from some exhaust brands or lack of a brand (cheap e-Bay products). My Civics in the past never sounded anything like what I heard when I went back to the states for the first time. It was utterly disgusting sounding and at that moment I then knew why so many people in the car world couldn't stand Hondas.

 

Yeah--I agree...way too many people put the wrong kind of mufflers on...and they sound TERRIBLE. My HKS (fart can design) sounds awesome!

 

A fart-can muffler is better than no muffler at all, or what people call the "scavenger" exhaust. From what I can tell it's basically a downpipe that ends in the middle of the car.

It's probably street-illegal in the US, but over here we get a lot of people who have that and it's seriously noisy. It's a hollow, irritating kind of sound too.

 

Just so everyone knows, I'm 39 years old and have been into cars and all sorts of vehicles since I was a little kid. I'm not throwing these questions out there as a green noob. There was a time when I was only into American and some European cars, but eventually I grew, learned and came to appreciate ALL cars, no matter where they were from, and really become a big fan of Honda. Even more so after learning the story of Soichiro Honda's life. Kinda lived the American Dream----Japanese style.

But it amazes me the comments on other boards about these mufflers. Yea, depending on if it's a cheapo unit, or if it's on a Civic HF or DX, then yes, the sound is horrid. But our L blocks sound great, a B16 or K20 sound great, and quite a few V8's and most Harleys sound like crap with what is in essence, the vehicle specific version (in function, not look) of a fart can. But those get a pass.

 

Isn't the story of Soichiro something else? One of my sons is named after the man himself. I can only dream that he will have some sort of impact on people that Soichiro had.

Another reason why I dislike Toyota and Nissan, they tried to get the Japanese government to keep him from building cars, they feared what he was capable of after seeing what he did with motorcycles and also that he was not from Japanese high society and they felt he didn't fit in with their snobby ways.

 

I really hate the fart cans but I hate Harley's even more!

 

Harleys are too damn loud. And some riders purposely gun their bike to make them louder.

"Fart can" exhaust screams RICE!!!

 

I've owned many Harleys in my life. A Harley from the factory is not loud. It's that most of the people that own them are jerks and make them that way on purpose.

 

Here is one of the few really GOOD uses for loud Harleys....to drown out poverty pimps who come to neighborhoods to make an interview....

YouTube - Quanell x Pasadena Texas Joe Horn

Needless to say Quannel X did not get his opportunity that day...Yay bikers!!

 

LMAO! A woman after my own heart! Someone's gotta' stop the poverty pimps... especially since Washington is so eagerly advocating them these days. But that's what power-hungry politicians (also "poverty pimps" themselves) do... they claim they're for the "little guy," but only need the little guys' vote because, after all, it allows them to maintain their reign of power not for, but OVER, people... especially the poor.

Instead of lifting everyone up to a higher standard (as it should be), they strive to lower the standards for everyone, and tax the more productive down to near-poverty levels... it's exactly how poverty pimps gain and keep power in the first place.

Always take advantage of even the appearance of "crisis." Always turn your constituents into victims, and into vehicles of class-envy and class-warfare. Get one class to hate and envy the other, then the deceitful message of "We only want to help you" becomes even more desperate to some, and unfortunately believable for far too many others.

What to do about those pesky scoundrels, tyrants and poverty pimps!

YouTube - Quanell x Pasadena Texas Joe Horn

Can we get those guys to drive into the House of Reps. and into the Senate during sessions? At least until this coming November? If no one can hear what the morons are saying, then they can no longer pimp their messages of poverty to the struggling, clueless and/or unsuspecting masses.

I second that... "Yay bikers!!!"

BTW, I don't own one... but sorry, I like Harleys and how they sound!

 

Juliane and annunC8, you are too funny. Hillbillies at heart, to the very end. Have you seen that South Park episode about bikers???

 

No, I don't watch Southpark.

 

To answer the OPs question: The style of free flowing exhaust that (I think) you are asking about is designed more for racing applications, or at least that was the original idea.

The benefits over something with a larger oval-style muffler, or something with a lot of bends in it, is that the N1 style is lighter weight, has less back pressure and a straight through design for more top end power while sacrificing noise suppression and low end torque.

 

And the reason that el cheapo straight through mufflers sound so terrible is that they often use cheap, loosely packed material for sound suppression. And ricers equate loud with powerful, so they sell like hotcakes! I take no small amount of pleasure in realizing that MY Honda doesn't sound like that.

 

i hate fart cans and those that blare their friggin pos sounding exhausts at me while im driving my FitS, go home.
im not your friend.

 

One thing I noticed this weekend is that the diameter through most of the lenght of my HKS maintains the inflow pipe diameter. It's only the last seven inches or so that gradually widens out to the tip's 3 inch diameter. I also couldn't see any openings into the larger canister. Just a rippled section along the inner wall. I would love to see one cut open to see if it's filled with fiberglass, or just an empty resonance chamber.

 

Thanks for this, learned something new! +rep

I was clueless as to why the same diameter of muffler could sound so different.