RICE Citation

[PTmodrod]

Originally Posted by cleverklutz

... It would sound like a pair of Harley's parked on either side of the car when idling!

Interesting thought, though to get t to sound like that I am fairly sure you would need a bigger engine and pretty much nothing in the way of a muffler. I have heard a 4 cylinder running open header and to be honest... they don't sound very good.

[cleverklutz]

Ever hear an old school air cooled VW? It doesn't sound anything like an inline four. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the exhaust is routed or if it's because it's a boxer engine, but this is how it runs.

The cylinders on the left side will fire, one after the other, bang, bang. Then the other side fires, bang, bang. When you have a dual exhaust it's like having two twin cylinder engines side by side. Ever pay attention when a Harley idles? It doesn't have a smooth idle because of the way the crankshaft is designed. It fires one cylinder, then quickly the other, then a pause, and it starts again.

That's what the VW sounds like because it fires the first bank, then a pause, then the second bank. I think you can do that with an inline four, and if you run side pipes, you could break up that annoying smooth buzz of an inline four, and make it sound like a pair of Harleys.

I could be wrong too though, and if it would sound like crap it would be a waste of time since it wouldn't scavenge as good with only two cylinders together instead of all four.

Ben