Whats the deal I been looking and it seems the cars only have single exhaust or am I wrong? I got some pictures of a car in cali with dual.

 

? All 2004 TL's have dual exhausts just like the 2nd generation TL's only much nicer.

 

Don't know what you've been looking at but all TLs have dual exhausts.

 

All 2004 TL's have dual exhaust, but not as nice as the previous gen.

 

The TL has dual exhaust outlets. The reality is that it has a single exhaust system in that it is one pipe from the engine to the rear of the car where it splits into two outlets. A true dual exhaust system would have two pipes each handling three cylinders.

 

That's true, but in any event, it works well enough given the 270 hp that it produces.

 

A true dual exhaust system would also have a small pipe (btw the cat and the mufflers, usually about half way down) connecting the 2 sides, in order to balance the system and (eliminate/avoid) back pressures.

 

I'm probably going to sound stupid by asking this question, but I don't care...

Why does the exhaust have to be at the rear of the car? I mean, couldn't there be outlets along the underside of the car as well (I assume outlets facing downward would meet with a great deal or air resistance, but one could have rear-facing outlets underneath the car as well.). In fact, one or two exhausts with multiple rear facing outlets along the length of the pipe would improve the efficiency of the system, yes?

 

Well, there's all kinds of reaseons. (and no question can make you sound stupid. Only the way you respond and interact with people can make you "sound" stupid) that's what these boards are all about. You're here to get informtaion. There are many here who can help provide it. One day, we will come acrosss something inwhich you can provide the answers.

One reason for side outlets is noise. If the exhaust is port right under your widow, that make become tiresome in the summer time. Not to mention poising you at stoplights.

One of the biggest reasons gas mileage has gone up over the years, is becasue they found the air the goes under the car, can cause just as much drag as what goes over and around it. Many exuast systems are designed to tle this into aco****. They try to get all of the under body componenets as flush these days. The want the air to slip right by. Anything hanging down canhave a huge effect on the cars areodynamics. The exhuast is designed with this in mind.

Another big issue with exhaust systems is how many bends are in the tubing, and how sharp are they. The straighter the pipe, The more effecient it's going to be. You'd like it to be as straight as possible, but some of those bends are there to "tune" the sound of the output. Folks in this segment want to hear a little rumble. If the piping is too wide and too straight they loose muc of that. It's a very delicate balance.

As for why wouldn't they just put a bunch of holes along the pipe facing backwards. Most fo the exhaust is going to try to get out of that first hole anyway. So ome will usually be sufficient.

 

Regarding Jcxny's original post:

Perhaps you saw a picture of the TL that was off-angle and thought it showed the exhaust as single. Unless you are directly behind the Tl it usually looks like one exhaust. Just take a look at the TL brochure if you have one. Almost every picture looks like a single. Its just the angle of the picture, that's all. For sure there are two exhausts. In fact there is a doctored picture on the Acura.com TL site (I think that's where it is) that shows two exhausts but it has been photoshopped to make sure two show up!!

 

There are very few cars that are true dual exhaust systems anymore. To be a true dual exhaust it would require two cats, which most people do not want to pay for.

 

Thanks for the reply! I wondered if it had something to do with aerodynamics...

And I didn't realize the shape of the tubing was tailored to create a pleasing exhaust sound. Do cars like the ES330 have straighter pipes than cars like the M5?

 

I'm not sure but it seems that some of the TL pre-production cars had only one exhaust.

 

Exhaust outlets are also at the rear because that is the safest from the point of view of Carbon Monoxide getting into the passenger compartment. I have to admit I wondered what is gained by not splitting the exhaust into duals until behind the rear wheels. Seems like just an appearance thing. I remember seeing that when the 98 Accord V6 first came out and could not understand why two mufflers were needed. The first generation 3.2 TL had a single exhaust with two outlet pipes from the muffler, like the Prelude. Is there a good engineering reason?