[39chevy]

What advantage is it to run dual exhaust vs single exhaust when I'm only using my car for street use? I do have a 383 stroker but it seems to me having each side of the headers coming to one single pipe all the way back is a little cheaper, neater and easier! Whats your OPINION? Thanks Dana

 

[stepside454]

if its going to be used for low rpm grunt, towing etc single is fine, maybe even better than duals, but if you go single, go big.
if its a performance situation, than go duals.

 

[jimfulco]

Biggest problem I see is getting a single muffler that will flow enough for a good amount of power without being seriously loud. A single 3" pipe is good for ~350HP, but most mufflers won't flow near what a straight pipe will. Straight-through mufflers will come close, but they are prone to being loud.

 

[MI2600]

If you were running a stock engine, I would say the single, although larger than factory, pipe would be adequate. But, since you've built a 383, I have a sneaky feeling you want some performance. I think duals would be better in the long run.

As to cost, I recently had a complete, custom 2 1/2" aluminized, dual system put on my car for $300, including mufflers.

 

[Dutchman]

What kind of car are you looking to put the duals on?

Some bodies weren't built to accomodate duals and you may have to stick with a single.

Dutch

 

[slowturbo]

No advice, but a little food for thought:

A single 3 in. setup has a cross-sectional area of approximately 7.1 square inches. A 2.5" set of duals combines for 9.8 sq in and a 2.25"x 2 setup would have 8.0 sq in.

However, flow in most pipe is slowest next to the walls and quickest (max flow) towards the center of the pipe (Assuming flow is laminar). Actually, flow next to the wall is virtually zero. Looking at how much total circumference we have with each scenario, we find:

Single 3 in - 9.14 in
2.5" Duals - 15.7 in
2.25" Duals - 14.13 in

So, the setup with the most cross-sectional (flow) area also has the most wall area for flow to "drag" on.

This of course assumes all mandrel bent pipe. If pipe is crimp bent, my gut tells me that duals = twice as many restrictive bends (no science, pseudo or otherwise, to back that up).

 

[comet boy]

I would think two smaller sets of pipes would have better scavenging effects than a single large pipe. so too big of pipe actually gives you less performance. This is also true when it comes to headers.