Most end up reducing performance and adding weight, or worse yet – adding cost and doing nothing at all. Find out more about this topic by reading our blog on Why Exhaust Drone Silencers Aren’t All They’re Cracked Up To Be. RealTruck is your home for the best products to outfit your build for unforgettable adventures.

All are capable of delivering a race-inspired exhaust note along with more power and torque. And this is why cat-back exhaust systems are considered to be one of the best performance modifications that are rewarding in power and sound and are highly effective for all driving purposes. Aside from maximizing your sound gains, the RSC® technology in every CORSA high-performance exhaust allows for a completely free-flowing air path to optimize your performance with every drive.

In this article, we’ll explain what a catback exhaust system is, what it does, and why it’s different from your run-of-the-mill exhaust systems. There are seemingly endless available upgrades when looking to enhance vehicle performance. It certainly rings true when it comes to your vehicle’s exhaust system. One term that you’ve probably heard if you’re in the market for an aftermarket exhaust upgrades is cat-back exhaust. What exactly does it mean, and how does it change the way your vehicle performs? This 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP is one of approximately 1,830 examples produced, and it has 16k miles.

The amount of horsepower gained from installing a cat-back exhaust system varies by vehicle and the system’s design. However, when combined with other performance enhancements, the gains can be more significant. The primary goal of a cat-back exhaust is to reduce back pressure, allowing your engine to breathe better and operate more efficiently. The factory exhausts come in mandrel bent tubes made of stainless steel or aluminized steel. Besides offering longer durability, the construction also ensures there’s free flow of gases. To improve this, you can opt to replace some parts of the exhaust system using aftermarket performance exhaust systems.

We want to make sure the part fits your specific vehicle so we need a little more information from you. You can find out by inspecting the emissions sticker that is located in your engine compartment.

Next we have the option we refer to as the Cat-back system (sometimes also known as "with Front Pipe" exhaust). One of the most noticeable changes after installing a cat-back exhaust system is the sound. The exhaust note becomes deeper and more pronounced, giving your vehicle a more aggressive tone. The specific sound varies depending on the muffler and pipe design, allowing drivers to choose a system that matches their preference for loudness and pitch.

The first widespread introduction of catalytic converters was in the United States automobile market. The exhaust system is crucial to a car’s performance, especially the catalytic converter which can go bad if it’s overworked. A stock exhaust system strives to minimize the car’s materials while maximizing space. This means that the exhaust system’s performance can suffer, having to work harder with less horsepower.

Straight-through, or flow-through, mufflers have perforated baffles and packing material that provides a conservative level of sound absorption while still keeping sound output moderately loud. Glasspack mufflers perform similar to resonators due to their design and lack of sound-absorbing packing material, so they tend to be louder and higher pitched. For compression-ignition (i.e., diesel) engines, the most commonly used catalytic converter is the diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC). This catalyst converts particulate matter (PM), hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and water. These converters often operate at 90 percent efficiency, virtually eliminating diesel odor and helping reduce visible particulates. These catalysts are ineffective for NOx, so NOx emissions from diesel engines are controlled by exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).

Engines fitted with regulated 3-way catalytic converters are equipped with a computerized closed-loop feedback fuel injection system using one or more oxygen sensors (also known as Lambda Sonds or sensors). Other variants combined three-way converters with carburetors equipped with feedback mixture control were used. An unregulated three-way converter features the same chemical processes but without the oxygen sensor, which meant higher NOx emissions, particularly under partial loads. These were low-cost solutions, typically used for retrofitting to older cars or for smaller, cheaper cars. Axle-back exhaust systems replace only your vehicle’s rear exhaust section, usually consisting of items behind the rear axles, like rear exhaust pipes, muffler, and exhaust tips. A&nbsp