x-pipe vs h-pipe thread

[benjaminbarton55]

Thanks so much to those of you who answered my exhaust questions on true duals.

Now my question is, which is commomnly asked, H pipe or X pipe? At flowmaster, they reccomend H pipe setup. I watched a video on youtube from summit about this, and it said that an X pipe is almost always better than an H pipe when it comes to horsepower, and exhaust flow.

So I've decided to come back here to the GMT400 forums and create a thread both beneficial to me and other viewers as well. Here we can hear opinions from people on the forums of expiriences and knowledge from those who know and use(d) them.

So, as far as flow, sound, horsepower, etc., which of these applications is best For our trucks?

I'm excited to hear opinions.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[phule]

I may be horribly wrong but I would think it depends on the motor as well x pipes are suppose to work more for horsepower h pipes are for low end...however you also have to factor in backpressure.i put long tubes and an a h pipe on my 305 and lost all my low end. The exhaust out flows my motor.

Adam

 

[Blind]

X pipe sounds like a lawnmower with a flowmaster (or any 'chambered' design muffler). H-pipes deepen the sound, like a stock mustang.

It is also very hard to get an X-pipe properly setup for most power on a truck, unless you are willing to sacrifice ground clearence to put the X right behind the transmission, if you offset it to the side like the stock config on a gmt400 it's much better to go with an H pipe just to gain the benefit of balancing the backpressure.

 

[badazzbulldog]

heres the muffler i have on my truck its an x pipe built into it http://www.dynomax.com/mufflers.php?muffler=ultraflox

 

[SilveradoGuy85]

I'm not sure about if there's any difference, but when I had my X pipe put in I asked the guy there which is better and he said X. Too me it kids of makes sense with the flow, but I'm not sure. I did notice a little bit deeper tone from my 350 with the X pipe so I'm happy with it. My next exhaust setup when I get it redone will be dual exhaust but with just one dual in and dual out muffler which I think will act as the crossover pipe so no need for an X or H pipe. It's basically how the stock exhaust on my truck was I'll just basically upgrade to 2 1'2" pipe, high flow cats and a Flowmaster Super 10 muffler.

 

[Tavi]

H pipe and X pipe are different solutions to the same question. Balance flow between the 2 banks of the engine. And promoting scavenging. On every American V8. There is one cylinder that has an out of balance pulse. This is what gives our beloved V8s the classic V8 tone. The best solution is to cross the header pipe over the from that one cylinder to the collector of the opposite bank. This gives you 180 degree headers. A very even tone. Similar to that of European sports cars. The next best solution is to blend the too. The x pipe will always be better for flow. Air doesn't like making 90 degree turns found in H pipes. However, due to air not liking 90 degrees mixed with the vacuum affect of scavenging. The H pipe tends to help a little, while still maintaining most of the muscle car sound. Of course size of pipe and back pressure will have and affect on this too.
And while on the subject. Back pressure is not a torque booster. What you loose when you get pipe too large is scavenging. Scavenging is a vacuum pulse in the exhaust created by the last cylinder fired on the next cylinder in the firing order. Exhausts are tuned. In some way shape or form. Some are tuned poorly and make no extra power at any RPM. Some are precision tuned. But exhaust will only be optimal at a very small RPM range. The key is velocity. Bigger does not equal better. But fast flow i.e. better scavenging does.
Hope I didn't hi jack the thread