i have straight pipe from my headers back... on my 89 civic DX..(no cats at all)i have a flowmaster muffler which i took off today and just comleted the missing link with a pipe.. it sounds real nice but i am not as fast when i raced someone who i usually beat by 1/2 a car .. he beat me by about 1ft 3 times... we raced for 3 blocks.. so will this have any benifit at all bsides sound or should i just put the muffler back on?

thanks
mike

 

i think you answered your own question with the race....
you really need some kinda backpressure, especially if youre running NA. Throw the muffler back on... and if you still have the old cat put that on too and save a spotted owl, new cat vs. no cat only gets(loses) you about 1hp unless you're forced induction...

 

correct me if i'm wrong... but i've read that back pressure is bad, no matter what your application (NA or FI). But what really is more important is exhaust velocity. When you go too big, you lose that. what you want is to have a high pressure exhaust wave, followed by a lower pressure wave that is effectively "pulled" along because of the pressure difference........ (........) hehe. I'm not sure about this, can anybody help?