Backpressure ALWAYS decreases power

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Not me.

It's not a true statement. Especially with 2 stroke motors. The sound pulse back to the cylinder increases power.
 

mwmorph

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2004
8,877
1
81
Increased backpressure to a point increases torque. decreased backpower like a 4" or 5" exhaust off a civic or almost any car for that matter will decrease power.
 

Kelvrick

Lifer
Feb 14, 2001
18,422
5
81
Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Mmmm, buffalo jerky. Has anyone else had this stuff?

No, I haven't yet. I want to though. Deer jerky, turkey jerky, beef jerky, all good stuff.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
It's not a true statement. Power is a function of torque and rpm (work over time). In other words, all things being equal, power is the ability to produce a similar amount of work (torque) but at faster speeds (shorter durations of time). An increase in backpressure (to a reasonable extent of course) will actually increase torque and thus power at lower rpms but will hamper the ability of the engine to rev efficiently at higher rpm, thus reducing torque and consequently power at higher speeds. Reducing backpressure reduces torque (and thus power) at lower rpm, but allows the engine to rev more efficiently at higher rpms and thus retain more torque at those higher speeds, hence more power.
 

broon

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2002
3,660
1
81
Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Mmmm, buffalo jerky. Has anyone else had this stuff?

No, I haven't yet. I want to though. Deer jerky, turkey jerky, beef jerky, all good stuff.

Not as good as a Boston Cream Pie...which is really cake.
 

broon

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2002
3,660
1
81
Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
When she's on her back, there's less need for power....and pressure.

Actually you've got it backwards. When you're on your back, there's less need for power and pressure.
 

batmang

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2003
3,020
1
81
Originally posted by: Howard
Who's going to take the bait?

a full free flowing exhaust right from the manafold does not always result in more power all around. you may gain hp but you might lose torque. on turbo cars having a full free flowing exhaust may increase both hp and torque but it also depends on the exhaust size. btw, get this thread back on topic. :)

 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,986
11
81
The very definition of backpressure means is that it's a pumping loss.

By properly sizing the exhaust, you REDUCE backpressure and free up lost power. Who disagrees this time?
 

randay

Lifer
May 30, 2006
11,018
216
106
Loss of horsepower from backpressure can easily be made back with a few vinyl stickers.
 

GalvanizedYankee

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2003
6,986
0
0
Vague question designed as bait :p

A high performance 4 stroke gasoline engine w/o variable valve timming can suffer from
a huge flat spot in it's mid-range when run w/o any backpressure. This hole in the torque
curve is caused by over-scavaging the cylinder, not only causing an increase in pollutants,
but a real reduction of cylinder filling. It can approch 15% or more.

EXUP Valve from a Yamaha FZR1 http://www.motorflash.it/provemoto/r12002/exup.JPG
A smooth strong mid-range is much more important than top end in real world riding/driving.

Google for more info Howard. I *think* BMW is using a similare system in some of thier cars.


...Galvanized
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,986
11
81
Originally posted by: Vic
It's not a true statement. Power is a function of torque and rpm (work over time). In other words, all things being equal, power is the ability to produce a similar amount of work (torque) but at faster speeds (shorter durations of time). An increase in backpressure (to a reasonable extent of course) will actually increase torque
I disagree. If this were true, choking an oversized exhaust at any point (with a physical bottleneck of sorts) would increase power.

In fact, what we are really after is increased exhaust gas velocity, which increases volumetric efficiency (so to speak) because more of the cylinder can be filled with fresh air and fuel. The scavenging effect, as it were. By decreasing the exhaust pipe diameter, velocity must increase because mass flow remains constant.