TTI X-Pipes: Better Breathing Exhaust

BY RICHARD EHRENBERG. Copyright © 2005 Richard Ehrenberg. Reprinted by permission.
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When we began setting up the Bold ’Beeper, one of the items we’d be using was a no-brainer: the awesome TTI headers and fat 3-inch duals. Just as we were screwing the H-pipe setup into place (way back in the October, 2004 issue), TTI was announcing their new NASCAR-style X-pipe design.

Due to an especially clever design, the headers, mufflers, and tailpipes need not change. In fact, even after seeing a moderate amount of road salt last winter, the existing, heavily aluminized H-pipe setup came right apart — so easily, in fact, that with a few whacks of a rubber mallet, we were able to drop the H off of the collectors, and slip the pipes forward out of the mufflers. This little installation shortcut probably cut the wrench time in half.

Once installed, not much was obvious change at first, except for an exhaust tone a tad mellower and less raspy. The car
did, however, feel more responsive and quicker overall, so a trip to the chassis dyno was in order.

Once we looked at an average of a few runs, there was no question remaining in our minds. The X-pipe works, big time!

While some unknown percentage of our gains probably came from the Comp Cams highflow air cleaner, and having a few more miles on the engine, Barton’s generous clearances mean that an extended break-in isn’t meaningful. And, we were up 24 RWHP (!) to 459, and gained 16 foot-pounds on the torque number — using the very same headers, collectors, mufflers, etc., and with several additional bends. Pretty amazing stuff.

This just points up what a black art exhaust design is: At a glance, you’d think that all the extra bends in the Xpipe system would cause more restriction than the seemingly free-flowing H setup. Obviously, looks can be, and are, deceiving.

Source: Tube Technologies, Inc. (TTI), 1555 Consurer Circle, Corona, CA 92880; (951) 371-4878

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