In this section you will find answers and information regarding common terms of car tuning!

Q. Why do I need a performance exhaust system for my car?

A. The factory car exhaust systems pipe is usually small in diameter. The large quantity of sharp bends leading to the rear end of the car create back pressure throughout the exhaust system, suffocating your engine and robbing your truck of horsepower and gas mileage. By replacing your original exhaust system with pipes that have a larger diameter you can increase your horsepower up to 10%, add an attractive chrome look, and give your car a unique rich sound.

Exhaust headers and Exhaust manifolds are designed with circular steel tubing that bend and fold. This creates a path from each cylinder's exhaust port to the common outlet of equal length. The path is joined at narrow angles to encourage pressure waves that flow through the outlet, not back in the direction of the other cylinders. This helps receiving the maximum horsepower your engine can produce. Exhaust Headers that connect the pipes are carefully calculated to enhance exhaust flow in a particular engine RPM range.

Header-back (or header back) refers to the portion of the exhaust system from the outlet of the header, that go to the final vent, in turn opens the air flow from the header back. Header-back systems are generally produced as aftermarket performance systems for cars without turbochargers.

Blowoff valve (or ABV - Air Bypass Valve) A pressure release system present in turbocharged engines. Its purpose is to prevent compressor surge, and reduce wear on the turbocharger and engine. Blow off valves (BOV) relieve the damaging effects of compressor "surge loading" by allowing the compressed air to vent to atmosphere.

Cat-back, or cat back and catback, refer to the portion of the exhaust system from the outlet of the catalytic converter to the final vent to open air. This generally includes the pipe from the converter to the muffler, the muffler itself, and the final length of pipe to open air. We carry Cat-back aftermarket performance exhaust systems, with a larger diameter pipe than the stock system. If you are not sure what cat-back or full exhaust system you need for your car please call our exhaust professionals at

CPSI is the number of Cells Per Square Inch of a catalytic converter substrate. The lower the CPSI (minimum is 100) the more flow you will get out of your exhaust and back pressure will be reduced which is really good especially for turbocharged engines; however you must always be within the current emmision limits. Usually manufacturer's will use 600 CPSI and more to reduce emissions and filter gasses more efficiently, but this is not good for the performance of the car which drops dramatically. Our low CPSI aftermarket converters are specially designed to be fitted with today's advanced ECU controlled engines without indicating a fault or having a check engine light because they meet the latest emissions standards while increasing the performance of the car. They literally 'let your car breathe'.

Diesel Particulate Filter, sometimes called a DPF, is a device designed to remove diesel particulate matter or soot from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine. Wall-flow diesel particulate filters usually remove 85% or more of the soot, and can at times (heavily loaded condition) attain soot removal efficiencies of close to 100%. A diesel-powered vehicle equipped with functioning filter will emit no visible smoke from its exhaust pipe.

Substrate The 'heart' of the catalytic converter; there are 2 different types of catalytic cartridges that are used, the ceramic substrate and the metal substrate. The metal substrates can withstand higher operating temperatures and are more resistant to failure.

Wastegate A valve that diverts exhaust gases away from the turbine wheel in a turbocharged engine system. Diversion of exhaust gases regulates the turbine speed, which in turn regulates the rotating speed of the compressor. The primary function of the wastegate is to regulate the maximum boost pressure in turbocharger systems, to protect the engine and the turbocharger. One advantage of installing a remote mount wastegate to a free-float (or non-WG) turbo includes allowance for a smaller A/R turbine housing, resulting in less lag time before the turbo begins to spool and create boost.

Most automotive turbochargers have a wastegate, which allows the use of a smaller turbocharger to reduce lag while preventing it from spinning too quickly at high engine speeds. The wastegate is a valve that allows the exhaust to bypass the turbine blades. The wastegate senses the boost pressure. If the pressure gets too high, it could be an indicator that the turbine is spinning too quickly, so the wastegate bypasses some of the exhaust around the turbine blades, allowing the blades to slow down.