That one inch flow reducer in the OEM muffler

Knothead

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Not sure if anyone else has posted this about the OEM muffler.

I got my muffler replaced with an aftermarket straight through one. I kept the old muffler. Looking down in it with a flashlight confirmed my suspicions. Yes, the one inch opening is there. BUT, before that for maybe four to six inches the pipe is perforated.

Just thought I'd mention that since I see people posting about how the OEM muffler is a bottleneck because of that one inch opening.

The muffler is of course still restrictive just not as much as I was led to believe. With that said, I could tell an immediate improvement in acceleration with this new muffler. The muffler is a cheaper Raptor brand I got at a local exhaust place. It's a straight through though design. I kept everything else stock. It's maybe ~15 percent louder but not bad at all. I got on the 85mph speed limit tollway before and after installation just to set the cruise and compare for drone inside the cabin. I didn't notice any drone at all. I could hear the exhaust. But the wind noise drowned it out pretty well.
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MannyS

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Why would they reduce it to one inch in the first place?
 

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Why would they reduce it to one inch in the first place?
Likely to increase the velocity of the exhaust so as to disburse it through out the muffler equally. Better sound attenuation when more material is involved in the process.
 

MannyS

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Likely to increase the velocity of the exhaust so as to disburse it through out the muffler equally. Better sound attenuation when more material is involved in the process.
Why would they do that?
 

SOHK_Alumni

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Why would they do that?
Increases flow efficiency, decreases noise. Better design and if engineered correctly, does not negatively impact flow or performance.
 


TORQUERULES

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Someone needs to cut open a stock muffler so we can actually see how it's made inside. I doubt very much that that is the only opening for the exhaust to go through at that point in the muffler because a 1 inch opening would seriously restrict a turbocharged engine to the point that it could be damaging. More than likely there are other passages in the muffler that the exhaust goes through and they are tuned a specific way for noise. I could be wrong, but I would be really surprised.
 

MannyS

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Increases flow efficiency, decreases noise. Better design and if engineered correctly, does not negatively impact flow or performance.
so would advise against an aftermarket exhaust?
 

MannyS

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Someone needs to cut open a stock muffler so we can actually see how it's made inside. I doubt very much that that is the only opening for the exhaust to go through at that point in the muffler because a 1 inch opening would seriously restrict a turbocharged engine to the point that it could be damaging. More than likely there are other passages in the muffler that the exhaust goes through and they are tuned a specific way for noise. I could be wrong, but I would be really surprised.
Isnt the CAT system reduced to 1 inch? If it is then will the size muffler make a difference?
 

OKRaptor

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so would advise against an aftermarket exhaust?
"Why would they do that?" Better efficiency for the application (OEM).

Changing out the exhaust will eliminate some restriction and offer better performance. I changed out my exhaust to a Gibson and it's perfect, sounds great and only slight louder than OEM, looks and performs great. :like:
 

SOHK_Alumni

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so would advise against an aftermarket exhaust?
Personal preference -- Ford engineers balance sound quality, sound quantity and exhaust flow to best meet marketing requirements.

Most quality aftermarket exhausts face the same choices and opt for a different balance.

If you want less restriction for better power or economy, you'll likely have to loose the current tone and volume level.

Some want that "sound of power" a different exhaust offers regardless of real or imagined gains. Nothing wrong with it.

Avoid "Bubba's Hack and Weld Exhaust and Dry Cleaning" and you can make your own choice of balance. Its all good!
 

TORQUERULES

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Isnt the CAT system reduced to 1 inch? If it is then will the size muffler make a difference?
I think it necks down to 2.5" or so. I could be wrong, but without taking the down pipe off myself to look I am just going by pics I can find online and I haven't had time to crawl up there on mine and measure. To be clear, I am not saying the factory exhaust is great, I will be replacing mine as soon as I get some other mods out of the way, but I seriously doubt, with the kind of power these engines can make stock and with a simple tune as well, that they are breathing ONLY through a 1" opening in places. That muffler is probably like a lot of factory and even aftermarket mufflers with multiple passages to divert flow and sound. If I am wrong, then I am surprised that aftermarket exhausts do not give this engine more power than they do, stock turbo or not. But hey, someone crack one open so we can all see instead of theorize. I would love to see and I am sure it will make more of us want to replace it (especially if it really is that restrictive). The factory piping is a pretty good size and is nice and straight for the stock turbo, so replacing just the muffler would suffice in many instances unless you had more mods up stream...
 

khyros

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As others have said... the exhaust (and pretty much every other part as well) is a balance of a ton of things...

Things I can think of for the Exhaust...
1) Piece Price Cost
2) Tooling Price Cost
3) Weight
4) Noise Levels
5) Back Pressure
6) Manufacturing feasibility (at scale)
7) Assembly feasibility (as scale)
8) Fuel Economy
9) Performance
10) Serviceability
11) Thermal
12) Not really a constraint, but both Ford and the supplier knowledge base. There are going to be methods and best practices that restrict (and streamline) the design.

Most of these things can be ignored to some degree with aftermarket parts. And the ones that can't, can have different target points set. So that's not to say the aftermarket part is better or worse (though it absolutely can be), it's to say that it is balanced with a different customer in mind.
 
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Knothead

Knothead

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Someone needs to cut open a stock muffler so we can actually see how it's made inside. I doubt very much that that is the only opening for the exhaust to go through at that point in the muffler because a 1 inch opening would seriously restrict a turbocharged engine to the point that it could be damaging. More than likely there are other passages in the muffler that the exhaust goes through and they are tuned a specific way for noise. I could be wrong, but I would be really surprised.
That's what I was saying in my first post. For a good four to six inches before the 1 inch opening, the pipe is perforated. Whoever took that picture claiming the one inch opening didn't see that the pipe was perforated. It definitely isn't just a one inch opening in other words, it has more flow than that.
 

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That's what I was saying in my first post. For a good four to six inches before the 1 inch opening, the pipe is perforated. Whoever took that picture claiming the one inch opening didn't see that the pipe was perforated. It definitely isn't just a one inch opening in other words, it has more flow than that.
My bad, I didn't see the perforated part. Lol. Makes much more sense. I have seen other places, even 5 Star, throw out the 1" thing with no other clarification and that just cannot be completely true. Thanks for clarifying. Hopefully others will read this closely.
 
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Knothead

Knothead

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No problem. I'll try to get a picture of the inside showing the perforated part this afternoon.
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