X & H pipe vs straight dual exhaust

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rod7515

rod7515

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When looking at exhaust I see a lot of x-pipes and h-pipes and was wondering what advantage this gives you if any or is it just a sound changer. I have always just gone straight back to a muffler. I will be using TTI headers and will be running on the street about 1500 miles a year. They sell both x & h pipes that will fit on my 66 dart but it's an expensive option! Has anyone gone from a straight exhaust to one of these pipes and seen a big difference?
Thanks
Rodney
 
I bought the summit x-pipe kit and made my own x-pipe. Since the TTIs don't come out straight, I had to buy some 30 degree mandrel bends, but other than that it wasn't too difficult. I welded mine together.

I used to have just plain duals but I changed my engine at the same time. I do have to say, the x-pipe is significantly quieter.

 
I never have liked the sound any type cross over produces. It takes away some of the crispness of the exhaust note. I guess if you're going for every ounce of power on the track, then great, but you'll never feel 15 HP on the street.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I never have liked the sound any type cross over produces. It takes away some of the crispness of the exhaust note. I guess if you're going for every ounce of power on the track, then great, but you'll never feel 15 HP on the street.
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So Rusty, I often complain when I hear high performance cars that, as I describe it, sound like the exhaust is coming through a 55 gallon drum. I have always blamed it on a lot of the newer muffler designs, but is this what you are talking about? So is my criticism misdirected? Is it really the crossovers instead?
 
on my setup an x-pipe made a noticeable difference in both sound and low end torque.top end felt the same,X,H,or true dual.but the x-pipe produced the best low end.the exhaust note also got smoother and quieter.
 
Many Mopar muscle cars came factory stock with an H-pipe and they all sound great IMO.....I have a Heddman Header X-pipe on my 340 in my 74 Satellite with Flowmasters and love it, it sounds so sexy and mean, always get compliments on it....click on the picture to play the video :-D

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th_MOV05101.jpg
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I had a H pipe put on my car in 1988. It's still on there and I see very little difference in times at the track between open exhaust and through the mufflers. All I can say is that they appear to work.
 
When I did my x-pipe kit from Summit, I put flanges before the mufflers, that way I can unbolt the entire exhaust under the car and still leave the mufflers and tailpipes hanging. I can easily do a clutch change or whatever without the exhaust being in the way.

goldduster318 said:
I bought the summit x-pipe kit and made my own x-pipe. Since the TTIs don't come out straight, I had to buy some 30 degree mandrel bends, but other than that it wasn't too difficult. I welded mine together.

I used to have just plain duals but I changed my engine at the same time. I do have to say, the x-pipe is significantly quieter.

Click to expand...
 
I thought a lot of Mopars came from the factory with H-pipes. It increased low end torque. The factory wouldn't of added it if it didn't do something.

I think there is a lot of opinions on H vs X pipe if one makes more power than the other. Since the location in the exhaust system matters and it could of been placed in the wrong location and therefore wouldn't feel any difference in power. From what I understand is that an H-pipe should be placed right behind the header collector. An X-pipe should be about half between the header collector and the exhaust tip.


goldduster318 said:
Click to expand...

That setup is going to be restrictive. The exhaust is only going to flow as much as the most restrictive area. There are 2, what looks to be 3" pipe, merging into the X-pipe that is only the diameter of 1 pipe at the middle of the X.
 
I went from open exhaust with collector extensions to a TTI X-pipe ending with Dynomax UltraFlo mufflers just in front of the rear axle and the car went faster by between .05 and .10. Headers are TTI 1 5/8"-1 3/4" step on a 360. May require minor rejetting.

It added an extra 60+ lbs to the car, but I removed the weight from other locations to bring it back down to what it was. You shouldn't have to worry about it since you plan on a full exhaust anyway. Room to swap out center sections is limited, but worth it. I plan on using their bullet style mufflers next time to save room and weight, although it may be a bit louder.

To me, X-pipe looks more effective than an H-pipe because not only does it help equalize the pressure between the two sides, but the flow from one side can help scavenge from the opposite side at the X as well.
 
Locomotion said:
I went from open exhaust with collector extensions to a TTI X-pipe ending with Dynomax UltraFlo mufflers just in front of the rear axle and the car went faster by between .05 and .10. Headers are TTI 1 5/8"-1 3/4" step on a 360. May require minor rejetting.

It added an extra 60+ lbs to the car, but I removed the weight from other locations to bring it back down to what it was. You shouldn't have to worry about it since you plan on a full exhaust anyway. Room to swap out center sections is limited, but worth it. I plan on using their bullet style mufflers next time to save room and weight, although it may be a bit louder.

To me, X-pipe looks more effective than an H-pipe because not only does it help equalize the pressure between the two sides, but the flow from one side can help scavenge from the opposite side at the X as well.
Click to expand...
:blob:eek:nce upon a time , I bought the complete drivetrain out of a 68 hemi roadrunner, had 11,000 some on it when it rolled. it had a factory h pipe on it. don` figure it was for low end torque, cause the hemi had more than u could use back then anyway-----just sayin-bob
 
famous bob said:
:blob:eek:nce upon a time , I bought the complete drivetrain out of a 68 hemi roadrunner, had 11,000 some on it when it rolled. it had a factory h pipe on it. don` figure it was for low end torque, cause the hemi had more than u could use back then anyway-----just sayin-bob
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I can't confirm it, but it makes sense...I heard H-pipes were used on production cars because X pipes created bigger clearance and maintenance issues on the car overall. So they compromised with an H.
 
The X is better for scavenging at higher RPM's, and ANY type crossover from one side of the exhaust to the other is going to quiet down the exhaust by partially canceling out the harmonics created by each cylinder firing down a single pipe.
I did a crapload of reading on the differences before I did my 2.5 inch X system.
And as said above, it does create a different sounding exhaust.
 
I had a 426 Max Wedge with the Ramcharger exhaust system. It had an H pipe after the large cut outs exiting under the doors. Man, I miss that car.
 
My latest purchase is a 71 R/T charger with aftermarket exhaust. Friday I ordered a complete stock system from tom swope and had a discussion on what was correct for that car. Originally a 440-4bbl car with no tips and turn downs. The car has been switched to a six pack setup, which made my decision to upgrade the new exhaust to the six pack/Hemi style with the rear resonators and tips. Tom had indicated that the six pack cars did not have an H pipe installed per the blue prints. He indicated some may have made it out with an H-pipe, I ordered it without.
 
...............I have had A,B,C and E bodies and not 1 had a H pipe factory, ofcourse I never had a HEMI car..........I do like the sound with the H pipe thou..............kim.....
 
I had independent 2-1/2 pipes on my gold Barracuda when I put the 360 in it. I just hooked them up to my Spitfires. The exhaust note seemed a little sharp to me so I added an H-pipe. Torque went noticeably up and exhaust noise went noticeably down. Top end didn't seem to change. About a year after I did that a friend gave me a new 2-1/2 exhaust with Borla mufflers he pulled from his Mustang. I swapped just the mufflers to begin with and the exhaust note was mellowed but louder with no other noticeable change. One day I cut up what was left of the Mustang exhaust and welded it, along with the X, to fit the Barracuda. The difference that made was a quieter and more mellow sound and new pipe. My observation would be that the H or X pipe are almost equal improvements over the independent pipes in that they add torque and soften the exhaust noise. I don't think that is anything new, just a personal confirmation.
 
1Fast340 said:
what?

those look nice but no restriction is bull,they are just easy and cheap to make,look into one of those and you will understand the problem.
Click to expand...

Why don't you save us the trouble of buying them and finding out that they are no good by telling us EXACTLY what the problem is with them and how you know?!?!
 
JGC403 said:
I thought a lot of Mopars came from the factory with H-pipes. It increased low end torque. The factory wouldn't of added it if it didn't do something.

I think there is a lot of opinions on H vs X pipe if one makes more power than the other. Since the location in the exhaust system matters and it could of been placed in the wrong location and therefore wouldn't feel any difference in power. From what I understand is that an H-pipe should be placed right behind the header collector. An X-pipe should be about half between the header collector and the exhaust tip.




That setup is going to be restrictive. The exhaust is only going to flow as much as the most restrictive area. There are 2, what looks to be 3" pipe, merging into the X-pipe that is only the diameter of 1 pipe at the middle of the X.
Click to expand...

The pipe is 2.5", then at the X its 3 1/2" wide by 2.5" tall in an oval shape. So, its about 7.5 sq in area vs a 2.5" pipe of 4.9 sq in. Theoretically, there shouldn't even be exhaust pulses hitting the X at the same time, so chances are it's not really restricting anything. Most X pipes I've seen are a bit smaller than 2 pipe diameters at the X.

I would imagine that this would actually help the scavenging effect, which is why you use an X pipe to begin with.

I have mufflers that resemble the AAR cuda mufflers (they are Dynomax Super Turbo), so the entire exhaust will drop off as one big piece if you have to do any work on the transmission.
 
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