Showing posts with label exhaust manifolds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exhaust manifolds. Show all posts

Exhaust headers for great performance

Though the car is the result of complex engineering as a whole some of the most complex engineering goes into the car's engine. It is amazing though how people will find simple and elegant ways to understand what is going on and learn how to make things better.

For example amidst all the many things that are happening while your car's engine is running the exhaust gases that are produced when the fuel burns are constantly being thrown out. Something similar to our exhaling air as we perform respiration. Now imagine once you have inhaled air you are not able to exhale it easily. What will happen is your breathing will become labored and heavy and if at the time you are carrying out an energy intensive task such as running or climbing your ability to perform the task will be compromised.

A car's engine is always performing a strenuous task. Even if your car seems to perform effortlessly. Therefore any impediment to ejecting the exhaust gases affects its performance negatively. On the other hand anything that facilitates the quick and efficient removal of the exhaust gases helps to improve the engine performance.

Exhaust headers help improve the engine performance by making the exhaust gases exit faster. In a stock engine the exhaust gases from the several cylinders are brought together and then made to exit. This is not very optimal because the cylinders let out the exhaust gases at varying times. Exhaust headers on the other hand carry the gases directly to the exhaust pipe from each cylinder. This lets each cylinder eject the gases without any hindrance.

This ability to exhale more easily makes the engine roar with life. When the engine is performing at the higher output region the quick ejection of exhaust gases is very useful. This is because when in the high power mode the amount of exhaust gases produced is also high.

If you want to improve the performance of your car, exhaust headers are a great option. You can get exhaust headers online just as you can get other car aftermarket products such as body kits. You can get more information and also evaluate the options available for your car.

Performance header – What's that?

When you lift the hood of your car you see a lot of components. All at the same time. Unless you are into automobiles this complex visual will deter you from attempting to understand much about what lies under the hood. Usually you limit yourself to understanding just what is needed to accomplish the task for which you raised the hood.

However under the hood this complex set of components is what makes your car perform the way it does. Each component has a function which can be understood in simple language if you have the time and someone is around to explain it simply. Let us for example take up performance headers.

Performance headers are car components that, as their name implies boost the performance of the car. To understand them let us first see how the engine powers your car. The power reaches your car in the form of chemical energy stored in the unburnt fuel. It is the car engine that converts this chemical energy through combustion into mechanical energy and through a variety of linkages reaches this mechanical energy to the wheels which drive the car.

This conversion of chemical energy into mechanical energy is at the heart of the engine. It is done by exploding the fuel in a confined space called a cylinder. This cylinder has a piston which goes in and out of the cylinder. When the explosion occurs the piston gets thrown outward with considerable force and this force is what drives the car. Its that simple. But wait there are questions to be answered. How did the fuel get into the cylinder in the first place? And what happens to all the exhaust gases that are created when the explosion occurs?

The fuel is injected into the cylinder when the piston is going back into the cylinder. In four stroke engines the piston also goes back in and forces the exhaust gases out. Now how quickly these exhaust gases leave determines how quickly the next explosion can take place. Cars usually have more than one cylinder. In stock cars the exhaust gases from each cylinder are gathered and then ejected. However this is not very efficient. It is better to take the exhaust gases from each cylinder and reach it directly to the exhaust pipe. This is what performance headers do. In doing so they make the engine run more efficiently.

You can buy performance headers online, at sites that sell car aftermarket products such as body kits.

Exhaust headers help conserve the engine power

While the engine generates the power to drive the car it also has to generate the power to drive itself. The more power it requires to drive itself the less power is left to drive the car. Therefore car aftermarket products that help reduce the power required to run the engine help improve the car’s performance.

A lot of the engine’s power is consumed in driving the piston in and out of the cylinders. In the power stroke where the fuel is ignited there is energy generated for this. But in the next stroke where the exhaust gases are thrown out the engine needs to consume power.

Exhaust headers help reduce the power required to throw out exhaust gases. An exhaust header assists in taking away the exhaust gases quickly from a multi cylinder engine. How does it do that? To understand that we need to understand briefly how a multi cylinder engine works.

In a multi cylinder engine in each cylinder fuel is burnt and then the exhaust gases from the cylinder are thrown out. The exhaust gases from all the cylinders reach an exhaust manifold. The manifold is like a gathering place for the exhaust gases. However this is where the problem of back pressure rears its head. Since there are several cylinder sending gases to the exhaust manifold there are usually some gases already in the manifold when gases from another cylinder try to get there. The gases already in the manifold offer resistance and this creates the back pressure.

Exhaust headers offer an elegant solution to get rid of this crowding of the exhaust gases. Each cylinder has its dedicated exhaust pipe which carries the exhaust gases to a larger collector pipe. The dedicated exhaust pipes of all the cylinders are of the same length so that the exhaust gases reach at the same time. This does away with the need to gather the exhaust gases in an exhaust manifold and reduces the back pressure. Reduced back pressure improves the engine performance.

If you are going for car aftermarket products such as high performance body kits you should also consider products such as exhaust headers that improve the car performance.

Performance headers for better performance

Your car is built to perform. And perform it does. However the performance it delivers is despite several components holding it back. That is to say your car can perform even better with the same engine specs if some of the components are modified.

You may wonder why manufacturers do not make these refinements since the car would enjoy a stronger reputation if it has a better performance. The answer to that is that a manufacturer has a strike a balance between cost, look and performance of the car. You as an individual buyer are free to personalize the car and improve its looks or performance or both. That is why custom body kits are popular car aftermarket products.

If you wish to improve the performance in an elegant way that does not increase the load on the engine you should consider performance headers. Performance headers improve performance by making it easier for the engine to perform its reciprocating cycle. This reciprocating cycle consists of accepting fuel air mixture, compressing it, exploding the mixture by igniting it causing an expansion and creation of exhaust gases and finally compressing it again to remove the exhaust gases. This cycle is carried on continuously and that is how the engine generates power for the vehicle.

This last part of the cycle is made easier by performance headers. The exhaust gases have to pass through the silencer and the related pipes to make the exit. Since they can’t get out very fast they create a back pressure. This slows down the engines reciprocating cycle. Performance headers increase the paths available to the exhaust gases to leave and they are able to leave quicker. This reduces the back pressure and thereby improves the engine performance.

Performance headers need to be precision engineered and therefore you should choose a manufacturer with a strong reputation.

With performance headers installed you can enjoy a boosted car performance. If you will compare your car’s performance with that of an unmodified factory built car you will find that your car performs better.