Fake dual exhaust--does anyone know where that came from?

[John105]

I'm pretty sure from memory, even Honda and Lexus had fake duals in the 90's. Who started the trend?

I look at my own cars. All 3 have two mufflers. Only 1/3 is a true dual setup.

When I was installing a trailer hitch, I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have only one muffler? Having two doubles what has to be dropped, and it's non-functional to boot.

I see many cars produced today that either have a single exhaust, or simply fake outlets.

Just curious what created the fake dual craze.

 

[DriveHard]

Funny...my Buick has true dual exhaust, but fake, useless exhaust outlets.

The dual exhaust dumps straight down in front of the fake outlets...

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Fashion Designers, not Automotive Engineers.

 

[Cujet]

I do remember GM doing the fake dual exhausts (possibly even on Corvettes) on their "sporty" cars in the 1970's and early 1980's. It was a common thing to have just one catalytic converter. Then have it split to dual outlets.

Edit: here is a 1980 corvette system.

 

[Pablo]

1.5L L4 T in the CR-V, fake but functional dual.

 

[Skippy722]

It looks more symmetrical, which is subconsciously more pleasing to the monkey part of our brains.

A lot of the time though you’ll have a muffler (generally the bigger one) and a resonator (smaller). On various Mopar’s deleting/replacing one or the other is popular. I replaced my muffler with a flowmaster 40 series but kept the resonator to keep the drone down.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

I do remember GM doing the fake dual exhausts (possibly even on Corvettes) on their "sporty" cars in the 1970's and early 1980's. It was a common thing to have just one catalytic converter. Then have it split to dual outlets.

Edit: here is a 1980 corvette system.

Cujet is spot on. GM used duals from the cat back on many of their cars in that era. It was also less expensive for them since they did not have to redesign or go to new or different muffler designs for those models (Corvette, Camaro, Firebird). Also early GM cats were designed to have the palladium pellets removed and replaced. This was the Gen 1 design before cats adopted the honeycomb ceramic interior designs.

I think GM did this because at the time, no one was really sure how long cats would last under real world driving conditions. All of those converters had a hex plug on the bottom that could be removed to take out the ceramic pellets.

Several other OEMs used GM cats. Jaguar, Rolls, and Bentley used them as well as I recall.

 

[PF52]

It looks more symmetrical, which is subconsciously more pleasing to the monkey part of our brains.

This, exactly.

Is there any other reason for, say, a Camry to have dual exhaust tips? It's strictly for looks. Used to be, the tips were unplated, and mostly hidden and/or pointed down at the ends. Now they're a styling feature, all chromed and such. Having just one sends a signal to the Joneses that you bought the base model.

 

[OVERKILL]

I do remember GM doing the fake dual exhausts (possibly even on Corvettes) on their "sporty" cars in the 1970's and early 1980's. It was a common thing to have just one catalytic converter. Then have it split to dual outlets.

Edit: here is a 1980 corvette system.

Yep, the F-body was definitely one such vehicle that had a Y-pipe off the engine, then a large single, then it split back again at the rear.

The current trend with two "tips" but one of them fake is even wilder as you see them in the winter and there's only exhaust coming out the one side, lol.

 

[BrianF]

While not the origins of the fake duals, the 2009 to at least 2018 Ram 1500's had them.

I had the single exhaust Outdoorsman while a friend had the "dual" exhaust on his sport version. He was bragging about it so I looked under and saw a lone muffler with a single in and dual out. Wow that smelled of performance.

 

[RamFan]

View attachment 112179

I wish the Regal X would've caught on. Truly a great car. Jealous you've got one.

 

[OVERKILL]

While not the origins of the fake duals, the 2009 to at least 2018 Ram 1500's had them.

I had the single exhaust Outdoorsman while a friend had the "dual" exhaust on his sport version. He was bragging about it so I looked under and saw a lone muffler with a single in and dual out. Wow that smelled of performance.

Even the aftermarket kits for them are the same, that's the way our DT is, it has a big single pipe that then Y's into two mufflers in the back.

 

[BrianF]

Maybe I should get duals on my 3500 with the Cummins.

 

[OVERKILL]

Maybe I should get duals on my 3500 with the Cummins.

I'm sure they make a kit, our Ecodiesel had "duals" too, but there was no front Y-pipe because of course it was single coming out of the turbo.

 

[kschachn]

Is there any other reason for, say, a Camry to have dual exhaust tips? It's strictly for looks. Used to be, the tips were unplated, and mostly hidden and/or pointed down at the ends. Now they're a styling feature, all chromed and such. Having just one sends a signal to the Joneses that you bought the base model.

Another styling feature.

I wonder if they sell a fake one for the other side like Overkill mentioned?

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

A lot of second-generation Camaros and Firebirds had the "transverse" muffler behind the rear axle, with a single inlet and dual outlets.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

Another styling feature.

I wonder if they sell a fake one for the other side like Overkill mentioned?

View attachment 112190

The hitch seems to have lost its Rocky Mountain oysters.

 

[nomas]

They go along with that huge wing on your trunk lid ..

 

[aquariuscsm]

I think dual exhaust makes the back of the car look more balanced and symmetrical.

 

[TiGeo]

Cheaper and stays clean. Our Atlas has it and my Sportwagen did until I got rid of that nonsense.