There are plenty of modifications that can be made to change the sound of your car, from large-scale operations such as exhaust replacements, to smaller jobs like the installation of exhaust tips. This can leave many wondering whether exhaust tips change the sound your car makes.
Exhaust tips do change the sound that your car makes. The sound they help to produce will depend on which type of exhaust tip you choose, with some creating strong, deep tones, and some producing rougher sounds. There are multiple varieties of exhaust tips in different shapes and sizes.
Some exhaust tip types will make more noticeable changes to the sound of your car than others, with shorter wide-walled tips producing louder, deeper sounds than thinner, longer tips. In this article, we will discuss the role of exhaust tips as well as highlighting the different types available.
What Do Exhaust Tips Do?
Installing exhaust tips onto your car won’t affect its performance in any way. Instead, they are an aesthetic component, capable of altering your car’s sound. With exhaust tips applied, your car will produce a stronger, heavier sound, but you can get different tones with different types.
Exhaust tips can make a humble hatch-back roar like a lion, without having to tweak the car’s inner-workings. As well as helping to produce the sort of animalistic tones usually resigned to nature documentaries, exhaust tips offer a visual upgrade to any uncharismatic exhaust pipe.
There are various exhaust tips available on the market, with chrome finishes, forked shaping and much more. The best thing about all of this is that it won’t compromise the performance and effectiveness of your exhaust system.
Do Exhaust Tips Make Your Vehicle Louder?
Exhaust tips do have the ability to make your vehicle louder. This is dependent on the length and diameter of the tips, as not every type will increase your car’s overall volume. Shorter, wider exhaust tips will help make your vehicle louder, while longer, narrower ones can make it quieter.
As they allow for more exhaust gases to pass through, as well as being able to bounce sound waves freely around their wide chamber, shorter and wider tips tend to make your car louder.
Longer exhaust tips with smaller diameters will likely do the opposite, making your vehicle quieter. This is because the decreased space will restrict the flow of the exhaust gases, much like how the muffler works. Exhaust tips with wide, flared ends will be sure to make your vehicle louder, as they will amplify the noise as it exits the car.
Do Exhaust Tips Affect Performance?
Exhaust tips don’t have any affect on your vehicle’s performance. Instead, they are an aesthetic modification, changing the look and sound of your car. This is because they are placed at the very end of the exhaust system, letting air and sound out rather than modifying the flow through the pipes.
Changes in a vehicle’s performance will occur when you tamper with parts further down the exhaust system, such as removing the muffler or tinkering with the exhaust pipes. Aftermarket exhaust parts can be purchased for those looking to gain more horsepower or improve their fuel economy, but they’re beyond the scope of this article.
KEY POINTS
• Exhaust tips are not a performance-enhancing vehicle feature
• They simply affect the noise the car makes
• Short, wide tips usually make it louder, with long, narrow tips doing the opposite
7 Different Types Of Exhaust Tips
The 7 different types of exhaust tips are:
- Single wall
- Dual wall
- Straight cut
- Angle cut
- Intercooled
- Rolled edge
- Turndown exit
1. Single Wall
Single walled exhaust tips are straight in appearance and are characterized by a single layer of metal tubing. Any style of exhaust tip can potentially be a single walled design. They are an affordable type of exhaust tip as they require less metal to manufacture and are very easily available. Single walled tips usually have a less powerful sound than dual walled tips.
2. Dual Wall
Dual walled exhaust tips are exactly what the name suggests. Instead of using a single layer of metal, they have two, making them heavier and more robust looking. Due to their thickness, they are more noticeable than their single walled counterparts, making them ideal for those that want to turn more heads on the street.
3. Straight Cut
Straight cut exhaust tips follow the standard cylindrical form and are cut directly straight at the end, meaning you could stand it up on its edge. These can come in both dual wall and single wall styles.
4. Angle Cut
Angle cut exhaust tips operate in the same manner as straight cut tips, just with an angled finish at the tip. They tend to suit more aggressive looking cars and are often seen adorning the back ends of 4x4s.
5. Intercooled
Intercooled exhaust tips are perhaps the most interesting looking type of exhaust tip. They have two tubes, welded together with thin sheets of metal, allowing air to pass through. While they won’t enhance your vehicle’s performance, they may give off the impression that they do to anyone out of the know. Intercooled tips usually give off a softer sound.
6. Rolled Edge
Rolled edge exhausts are chunky and macho-looking and will make your exhaust appear as though it is flexing its metallic muscles. They are characterized by their smooth inward curves and weighty feel.
7. Turndown Exit
Turndown exit tips are ideal for those who want their vehicle to roar that extra bit louder, as they are angled downwards in a way that bounces sound onto the road and back into the vicinity of the car. They also show off a little more of their metal construction due to the way they are angled.
How To Maintain Your Exhaust Tips
As with all vehicle components, to get the best out of your exhaust tips, they will require some routine maintenance. As they’re based on the end of the exhaust, this maintenance is fairly straightforward, and won’t require you to dust off your old toolbox. However, you will require some basic items in the form of gloves, cloths, a brush, some degreaser, and a bucket of soapy water.
Remove Any Surface Dirt
The first step when undergoing any form of exhaust tip maintenance is to remove any of the dirt that the tips have collected. This will involve wiping a damp, soapy cloth around the exterior of the exhaust tip, removing any trace of visible dirt. For the inside of the tip, use a handled brush dipped in soapy water and scrub the inside of the tips until they have been adequately cleaned.
To get rid of any stubborn dirt, coat the tips with a degreaser and leave it to rest for a few minutes, allowing it to fully break down the most stubborn grime. When you return, scrub off the degreaser solution with a cloth. This may take a few attempts, especially if you haven’t cleaned the exhaust tips for a while. Perseverance is key to this process.
Polish Off The Tips
Once the surface dirt has been eliminated, wipe everything with a dry cloth and apply your metal polishing agent around each nook and cranny of the exhaust tips. Once again, you’ll have to leave it to rest for a while if you want best results. Using a robust cloth, scrub off any residue left by the metal polish. Once these steps have been completed, your exhaust tips should look as good as new.
Keep On Top Of Maintenance
Although maintaining your exhaust tips is already a simple process, it will be even easier if you perform regular check-ups. The prevention of major dirt build-up before it becomes uncontrollable will halve the time it takes to clean and won’t require you to use a whole tub of degreaser each time you clean your exhaust tips out.
Are Exhaust Tips Worth It?
Whether exhaust tips are worth it largely depends on what you want from your vehicle. While exhaust tips won’t alter the performance of your car or motorcycle, they offer positives on an aesthetic level. If you want to alter the sound of your vehicle, then they will do the job sufficiently.
There are also multiple types of exhaust tips, so you will easily be able to find the right fit for your car or bike. Maintenance is also straightforward once the tips have been applied.
Fairly Cheap Process
Installing exhaust tips is also an inexpensive process, meaning you won’t have to pay extortionate amounts for the tips themselves, nor the cost of the labor to fit them on. This eliminates the risk that comes with large-scale modifications such as the installation of aftermarket exhaust systems.
Visually, exhaust tips can improve the overall look of the back of your car. Stock exhausts are never the most exciting part of the car and can look unattractive if left as they are. Having exhaust tips applied will allow you to smarten up the back of your vehicle without making major changes to the bodywork.
Overall, if you are looking to change the performance dynamic of your vehicle, exhaust tips won’t help you. If you want to make aesthetic changes and change the sound that your car makes, then for a low cost, exhaust tips can make a big difference. They are a low-risk modification, making them largely worth experimenting with.
KEY POINTS
• There are many different types of exhaust tips to choose from
• Regular maintenance of your exhaust tips will ensure they last
• They may be worth it if you want to change the way your car or motorcycle sounds
How Can You Change The Sound Of Your Exhaust?
Installing exhaust tips isn’t the only way to modify the sound of your exhaust. This can be achieved with a variety of tweaks, including removing the resonator and/or muffler. The resonator and muffler work together to first change the frequencies of the engine sounds, before then quietening them and reduce the overall noise of the car.
Removing The Resonator Or Muffler
By removing the resonator your car will make a deeper, richer sound. This change in sound may not be drastic, but it will be noticeable, and is an easy way to change the sound of your exhaust. Removing the muffler will make your car sound louder and more aggressive. Do be aware that both changes can affect your vehicle’s performance and may also be illegal in some areas.
Installing A Turbocharger
Installing a turbocharger is another way to alter the sound of your engine. This will increase the mass of air going into the combustion chamber, which will not only change your vehicle’s sound, but also add horsepower and torque, increasing performance levels. A cheaper alternative to this method would be to install a cold air intake. This will draw in more oxygen to the engine, increasing its volume.
Major Changes
Instead of making small changes to your stock exhaust to try and change its sound, you could completely overhaul the entire exhaust system and install an aftermarket product. This will be a more expensive way to get the job done, but it will free you from the restrictive shackles of stock exhaust systems.
Installing an aftermarket exhaust can allow exhaust fumes to flow even more efficiently than they would have done previously. Aftermarket exhausts come in different forms, but if your main aim is to change the sound of your vehicle, then a cat-back exhaust is the best option. With a cat-back exhaust fitted, your vehicle will sound deeper, louder and a lot more impressive.
Another major change would be removing most of your standard exhaust system and replacing it with a straight pipe. This would mean that you’d sacrifice your resonator, muffler and catalytic converter in favor of gaining those sweet rumbling engine tones. This will remove the restrictions placed on your exhaust system, improving airflow. It could well be an expensive process though!
Final Thoughts
Exhaust tips can change the sound your car makes, and they can have a major impact on the visual and audible aspects of your car. They can help to make it sound as though it is more powerful and louder than it would be with stock components, depending on the type of exhaust tips you get.