Does an Exhaust Back Box Affect Performance?

Have you been facing a slump in your vehicle’s performance lately? While there are several ways to give it a boost, some people often rely on the modification of the exhaust system to bring about a difference. 

An exhaust system comprises many parts, each playing a specific role to ensure a smooth ride. Turborevs talks about the function of a quality car muffler or exhaust back box in particular below, and discusses whether it has any significant effect on a car’s performance. 

What Does an Exhaust Back Box Do?

Improving the airflow to the engine is one of the easiest and most common modifications made to a car — and an exhaust back box can help achieve that. To be more specific, the high-grade shaft of exhaust back boxes enhances a smooth flow of air by slowing down the hot and fast-moving gases that were produced during the process of combustion. This especially helps in ensuring a much quieter vehicle. However, after-market options are now also tuned to produce specific sounds, ranging from boisterous noises to a gentle purring. 

Hence, if there are any problems with your back box, the first and most obvious warning sign would be the noticeable change in the volume of the exhaust. 

How Does an Exhaust Back Box Work?

Situated between a car’s catalytic converter and the rear axle, an exhaust back box comprises a set of tubes and chambers. They have been carefully designed and tuned to reflect and cancel out sound waves of particular frequencies. They can even be punctured with small holes to allow the sound waves to interfere with each other. This results in the attenuation of sound across a wide range of frequencies. 

What Impact Does It Have on a Car’s Performance?

In a combustion chamber, the air moves in and out when the valves open and close. However, if the exhaust is too restrictive, the gases can just spill back due to back-pressure in the pipes. This reduces the horsepower of a vehicle. Thus, any parts that contribute to a better flow can improve the performance of an engine (at least in theory) — which also include exhaust back boxes. 

It is important to note that a muffler is not sufficient to increase performance by itself. In fact, on its own, it can only bring about a minimal difference (reportedly 10%). The parts closest to the engine, like catalytic convertors or downpipes, are more important in comparison as they determine the amount of air leaving the cylinders, when it is the hottest and travelling the fastest. As back boxes are at the end of the exhaust line, their effect on performance is only marginal. 

For a more pronounced difference in performance, more upgrades would be required in the original exhaust system. The vehicle’s overall condition is the main factor in its performance potential though, even if the exhaust has been replaced with new parts. 

The Bottom Line

While it only has somewhat of a difference on a car’s performance, an exhaust back box is efficient in expelling gases from a vehicle and reducing the level of noise made. Thus, even if you do not opt for a muffler, it would not have a significant difference on the running of your car.