"Corolla S"

"Hermann" (hermann) 09/03/2013 at 07:46 • Filed to: None

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Spotted while driving to work. Dat chrome. Sorry for the crappy pic.

GhostZ > Hermann 09/03/2013 at 07:49

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There are so many of these around my campus. I count 2-3 a week. I think it's because a lot of people (at least around me) are brainwashed into a buying a Corolla, but to make up for getting a "cheap" car they get the highest-end version. As if S stands for "Superior" or something.

Hermann > GhostZ 09/03/2013 at 07:53

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But is this S an actual version? I had never seen one. I had only seen the XRS for the current generation.

What got my attention was this fake spoiler, the chrome and the farting exhaust (I heard a weird noise and couldn't figure where it was coming from until I drove past this guy).

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Hermann 09/03/2013 at 08:05

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I think the owner of this car wasn't beaten nearly enough as a kid.

Pure87 > Hermann 09/03/2013 at 08:52

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It's a real version, but I think it only has additional body cladding without any additional performance.

GhostZ > Hermann 09/03/2013 at 08:56

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Yep.

I even think Jalopnik had it as a #1 for "worst factory body kits" on a AOTD once.

The spoiler isn't fake, it's factory. The kit was so badly done and so poorly integrated to the body that they just looked fake. The chrome is not stock though.

There's been a weird exhaust thing going around recently, a lot of garages (at least around me) are saying that aftermarket mufflers or certain exhaust systems offer better fuel economy. The result is now a lot of 2008-2010 models (cars bought by people who have enough money to afford 2-3 year old cars, are too scared/don't know enough to buy 5+ year old cars, and not rich enough to buy brand new cars) of Corollas, Civics sedans, and Nissan Sentras, with this weird droning shitty exhaust. It's like a garage pawned their worst exhaust systems off on people who don't know what good exhaust sounds like, they just think that it's better for the environment or their mpg.

It used to be that a loud exhaust meant an econobox that was falling apart and rusting, or a riced up civic. Not the case anymore.

Hermann > GhostZ 09/03/2013 at 09:18

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Huh. I thought the only body kitted version was the current XRS. This car is really bad and the chrome the guy put on doesn't help.

What you said about the exhaust: You couldn't be more precise. And as you can see it looks like a worldwide trend because it's happening over here too. People buy these exhausts believing it'll give them 10hp and better mpg.

GhostZ > Hermann 09/03/2013 at 09:37

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The actual mechanical result is simple:

The shape (diameter and length) of exhaust headers is directly tied to the pulse timing of exhaust gases leaving the cylinder. That means for a given RPM, valve size, and exhaust temperature/pressure/velocity, the header/collector/pipe to the cat works most effectively to such exhaust gases out, rather than having them forced out or pumped back into the cylinder.

Factory cars often have either restrictive (for emissions sake) systems, because a 10% power drop is worth being able to pass emissions. Or, they will have exhaust tubes of varying length to get a wider range of efficiency, but lose peak power. Or, they will use ones designed to optimize particular cruising RPMs where fuel economy is calculated with the given transmission and wheels.

Obviously you can see that there are trade-offs present in each, so, theoretically , most cases of car would have some compromise that didn't optimize MPG, power, or emissions, but some combination. That means if you did a lot of research, you might find a solution that makes a huge sacrifice for a small MPG gain if you tune your driving style to the same optimal RPM.

So the idea makes sense, and its easy to sell "factory cars have to cut costs or only have to meet a certain requirement, so they don't have the best system!" except that almost all of these shops are putting out crap exhausts that are worse than stock. Plus, if the headers are the same, the actual exhaust system afterwards doesn't have nearly as much of an effect, especially after the catalytic converter. These effects can make, at most (in my experience), a 10% power gain or loss on a car with precise open-header exhaust. But on a street car, I bet the difference is under 2% power increase for any RPM/throttle level, which is less of a difference as getting all that crap out of your trunk is going to do for MPG.

Hermann > GhostZ 09/03/2013 at 11:54

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Hah!

That's why I love this place! I wish I could print this out and force people to read this. This is all just basic physics and logical thinking.

I sometimes doubt there's any added power on these things, even 1~2%, because with not only very badly designed mufflers that were tuned for noise. With the added vibration and resonance, I wouldn't doubt if someone said it holds more pressure and subtracts power or decreases efficiency.