Trends come and go in the automotive industry, but one thing that has always been cool is flames. Sometimes shooting flames is completely unavoidable and sometimes flames are purposely created on deceleration for show, either way, flames are cool. When you combine flames with an awesome sounding exhaust, you have a winning combination. Check out this video below from Topracing Garage. It features their customer’s GTR with a Topracing Garage tune and an Armytrix exhaust. The result is a lot of noise and a lot of flames!
Harrison Performance GTR 1000+ HP Dyno Rip With Armytrix Exhaust
Every year in the automotive space there is one massive show that attracts thousands of event-goers and hundreds of exhibitors. This show is known as SEMA. For many, it’s a race to get their car completed in time so it can be properly shown off in their event booth. Harrison Performance is a well-known tuner based out of Tucson, Arizona, and they’re on a time crunch to get their GTR finished in time.
As you would expect for a SEMA car, there are countless modifications done to this GTR, one of which is a custom-modified Armytrix exhaust. Putting down well over 1,000 horsepower, the Harrison Performance GTR screams on the dyno and is sure to make a big splash at SEMA. Check out the video below!
Employee Spotlight: Armytrix Equipped Porsche 997 Carrera S
There is no denying that the Porsche 911 is one of the most iconic sport cars of all time. It combines power, looks, and great chassis dynamics into one car. Being that the 911 is also aimed at the luxury car market, there is one big thing that many 911s are lacking, and that’s a good sounding exhaust. From the factory, the 997 Carrera S has a decent sound, but it’s hard to hear unless you are right next to it. The problem with many aftermarket exhausts is they’re either too loud or too quiet. Once you install the exhaust, you can’t easily change the sound of it, unless you install a valved exhaust such as one of our Valvetronic systems.
With a Valvetronic exhaust, you are not stuck with a super loud exhaust that will piss off your neighbors, and you’re not stuck with a quiet exhaust that no one can hear. When you need your exhaust to be quiet, you can close the valves, routing the exhaust gases through a muffler to reduce the noise. When you need your exhaust to be loud, you can open the valves and let your car sing! This is exactly what Armytrix USA employee, TJ, decided to do with his 997 Carrera S! Check it out below. Stay tuned for more photos and videos of this 997 Carrera S!
How Does an Armytrix Exhaust System Increase Horsepower?
As an enthusiast, you probably know that an aftermarket exhaust will add power to your car, or at least that’s what the internet says. The idea is that with a less restrictive exhaust your car gains power. What confuses many people is why a less restrictive exhaust gains power. Things like thermal efficiency, scavenging, velocity, and total flow all matter and can separate a great exhaust from a bad one. In this short article, we’re going to dive in-depth on everything you need to know about Armytrix exhaust systems and how they increase power.
As you probably know, exhaust gases are a byproduct of combustion. After the engine goes through the intake, compression, and ignition cycles, it now has hot gases it needs to expel to continue the cycle. The exhaust valve opens, and the piston comes up, forcing the air out of the engine and into the exhaust system. The purpose of the exhaust system is to route these potentially harmful gasses away from the cab of the vehicle and to the rear or sides.
Bigger is Always Better, Right?
Once the exhaust gases are forced out of the cylinder, they flow through the exhaust ports of the cylinder head(s) to the exhaust header(s). The gases come out in pulses, and if the headers are correctly designed, the low-pressure zone behind the pulse can help pull the next pulse along at a faster rate. This is known as scavenging and is one of the critical components to an aftermarket exhaust making more power compared to the stock exhaust.
After the header(s) is the rest of the exhaust system, which is typically comprised of a catalytic converter, mufflers, and resonators. In turbocharged cars, the exhaust gases flow through the exhaust housing of the turbocharger, then exit through a downpipe which mates up to the rest of the system. Depending on the size of your engine, how much power you’re trying to make, and a variety of other factors, the size of the piping will effect exhaust flow. The general idea is that a larger diameter is always better, but the law of diminishing returns applies; for example, a 5” exhaust on a four-cylinder engine is unlikely to make a difference in power compared to a 3” exhaust.
Heat is Energy
In case you didn’t know, heat is energy. As exhaust gas cools, its velocity decreases. Harnessing this energy isn’t extremely important for a naturally aspirated vehicle, but it’s important for turbocharged vehicles. With hot, high-velocity exhaust gases entering the turbocharger, the turbine can be spun faster resulting in better spool times, more power, and ultimately much better thermal efficiency. You can harness even more of the energy by using an exhaust wrap which is designed to keep the heat inside the header instead of it dissipating to the air under your hood.
Back Pressure Myth
All over the internet are “experts” claiming that four-stroke engines need ‘x’ amount of back pressure to run properly. This is entirely false. You see, with less back pressure the gases can exit the cylinder faster, resisting the upwards force of the piston less, and allowing the engine to rotate easier and ultimately make more power. The reason so many internet “experts” claim that you need back pressure is that unless a huge amount of time is spent on research and development, creating an exhaust system with no back pressure, great scavenging, and a great sound is basically impossible.
In general, a well-designed exhaust system is designed with a focus on improving scavenging and back pressure is not as large of a concern. To put it simply, most performance exhaust systems have a small amount of back pressure, as tuning that absolutely nothing is borderline impossible unless you are just running some sort of open header system which will be incredibly loud and is not something you want for the street. The real gains are in improving scavenging as much as possible, with decreasing back pressure also being a factor to power improvement.
How we do it
In general, larger piping diameter means more power, but that does not mean all exhaust systems are created equal. Armytrix focuses on not only improving flow, scavenging, and decreasing back pressure, but also on fine-tuning the exhaust note and keeping the entire design lightweight. Not only will an Armytrix exhaust increase power, but it will also be lighter than the stock exhaust, and our Valvetronic system allows you to quickly and easily change the exhaust note on the fly.
Video: 2018 991.2 Carrera S Spitting Flames with Armytrix Exhaust
As Porsche moves towards turbocharged engines across their lineup of vehicles, including their coveted 911, a lot of enthusiasts were worried that these new Porsches would sound terrible compared to the old naturally aspirated Porsches. Although there may be some people out there who refuse to think turbocharged engines sound good, most of us have accepted this new turbocharged sound from Porsche and have learned to love it. Straight from the factory, the Carrera sounds pretty good, but it’s on the quiet side. The problem with many aftermarket exhausts is finding a middle ground between the exhaust being too loud and too quiet. This is where the Armytrix Valvetronic exhaust comes in, which allows you to change the volume on the fly.
Our Valvetronic system works by using a valve to direct the exhaust gases through a muffler or to bypass the muffler. With the valves closed, your Carrera with still be relatively quiet, but with the valves opened it turns in an absolute monster. On top of the awesome sound under loud, while engine braking these new Carrera’s love to pop and spit flames. Check out the quick dyno run below showing off this exhaust!