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The Student News Site of Pella High School

Pelladium

The Student News Site of Pella High School

Pelladium

    The Car Guy Returns! Pelladium.com version

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    The Car Guy Returns

    Hello my dear readers, it is I, the Car Guy, and I have returned for another spectacular article on everything automotive.   Today I would like to discuss the wonderful topic that is the exhaust system of our vehicles.  The exhaust system is in charge of allowing an exit point for the gases produced when the engine combusts. Now I encourage you to take a trip with me back to a world long forgotten, a time when cars rocked massive V8’s and spectacular character. The era I am talking about is the 60’s and early 70’s. In this era, cars were loud and obnoxious, and there was little to no emission control on them. The exhaust pipe was used as an instrument rather than a tool. Now flash back to today, when emissions regulations are trying to kill and harness the raw power of an American V8. Priuses clutter the roadways, my apologizes to my Prius owner friends. But look up ahead! There is hope at the end of the tunnel, yes it is the mighty custom exhaust!

    Today we still have V8’s and decent sounding exhausts, but there are a choice few of us who have chosen to take a step back towards that long lost era by altering their factory exhaust. These changes can be made by either adding things such as glass packs or cherry bombs, which give the engine a throatier exhaust note. There are some that choose to rework the system entirely to make it one straight pipe back, which on normal exhausts there are many twists and turns to both quiet and clean the exhaust. This process removes all of the emissions and makes the engine louder. Then there are some who choose to remove the exhaust system completely and have the gases come straight from the engine, which is a guaranteed way to wake the neighbors up!

    There are also ways to change the exhaust appearance. One is able to do this by adding exhaust tips which normally do not do much for sound. A change in your exhaust is a way to alter your vehicle and make your vehicle unique. An exhaust tip will change the look of your exhaust from the rustic factory color to a possible chrome appearance. Often today in society we choose to make our vehicles just tools for hurrying from place to place without much thought of the experience of driving. It is not the destination, but the journey. So another topic I would like to discuss is what ever happened to driving for fun?

    I drive for awhile to clear my head, and sometimes that requires me to bury the throttle and just listen to my engine for awhile. Talk to your grandparents or even your parents about Sunday drives, and they will tell you about driving just for the fun of it, to sightsee and maybe hook up with a few friends that you meet along the way. There was no rhyme, reason, or destination to the drive, just to get closer to your family.

    Maybe we stopped driving for fun because gas prices went up. Maybe it is because we do not have time; we are too busy. I understand the gas price argument, but answer me this: we take time out of our day to scroll through some news feed and start a hour discussion on whether some dress is blue and black or silver and gold, but we do not not have time to stop and turn the phone off and just drive? I understand that some people do not like driving, and that is perfectly ok, but when people say that they are too busy to do stuff like that, I ask them to reevaluate how they spend their day.

    When was the last time you took the long way home, just for the heck of it? We are too busy, and we swamp ourselves with mindless information that results in just being a time killer. I am not saying I have not been guilty of this, because I am. I spend time scrolling through a news feed or watching mindless TV. However, I encourage you, make some time, shut your phone off and just drive for awhile, relax and think or go out and add some flare to your car.

    Until next time my fellow enthusiasts, this is the car guy saying

    “Ask not what your car can do for you, ask what you can do for your car!”

    • Chandler Jahner

    ([email protected])

     

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    The Car Guy Returns! Pelladium.com version