How Much Thrust a Typical Exhaust Can Generate?
Exhausts are a vital part of a car. It is mainly due to the fact that they have to transport combusted gases from the engine efficiently. Having an exhaust that doesn’t transport the gases isn’t the best one. One of the reasons is being that your car may not run on full power at all. The other being that gases not transported efficiently will eventually stick to the inside of the exhaust making it even worse. People also tend to ask whether or not an exhaust pipe generates any thrust. The answer is yes it does. How much thrust it generates depends on the engine of the car itself.
What Is A Thrust Force?
First of all, thrust is a force that is pushing the car forward. It is produced by the engine to move the wheels. But here we are talking about the thrust that is generated out of the exhaust which is a different thing from the engine thrust.
Some Relatable Examples
Let’s take an example of a Rolls Royce Merlin v12. It can easily produce about 2000 horsepower. The gases exiting the exhausts can be as fast as 1300 Miles per hour. Another example is the Mini Cooper S Exhaust system. It won’t produce a lot of thrusts mainly because of its engine size and changing its exhaust will only add a slight difference to it.
Unlike planes, cars are not made to be run by thrust like plane engines which produce enough thrust to make a plane fly, and exhausts aren’t made to produce thrusts either. They are supposed to transport gases out of the engine efficiently.
When buying a car, it is preferable for a common man to not buy a car with a bigger exhaust because you think you will go faster than others with the thrust that the exhaust produces, but that would be a big mistake. This is because your car isn’t going to go fast because of the thrust of the exhaust but the engine. Don’t waste your money on this, but spend the money you save on buying a cheaper car and modifying it further.
In general, small amounts of direct thrust will be generated from the exhaust, but not too much. The properties of a usual car are not really that ideal for producing a forward-facing thrust. There is a significant amount of thermal energy present inside an exhaust.
On the other hand, if you come to the subject of rockets and jet engines, it’s a different case since it generates a lot of backward thrusts which enables them to fly at higher altitudes.
Keeping all of these in mind, it usually depends on the type of exhaust system which is being considered. It can be having a significant amount of thrust or on the contrary, a very low amount of thrust. Therefore it is advisable to research it further and consult experts of exhaust before thinking of getting one for your vehicle.
