This project might seem silly, but it’s surprisingly in-depth as he builds different exhaust crossovers and unique header layouts to complement the firing order.
I know some folks geek out about high-end exhausts like you’ll find on V10 Lamborghinis and V12 Ferraris, but if you ask me, this is way more interesting. Notice I didn’t say “better-sounding,” but “interesting.” This YouTuber is building just about every type of exhaust for his 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V with different header designs to hear how it changes the sound. Sure, it’s still a buzzing four-cylinder, but the results vary quite a bit—especially with the true quad-exhaust. More on that in a second.
The clips on the Haters Garage YouTube channel show a lot of tinkering with a welder, not to mention the same pieces of two-inch pipe being cut and remarried over and over again. It’s done on a budget, there’s no doubt about that, and I’d argue that it makes the project even better. The dude’s just using what he has lying around to see what his car sounds like with a handful of setups.
The Sentra’s firing order is 1-3-4-2. To start, he built a true dual exhaust setup with headers connecting cylinders 1 and 2, then 3 and 4. It sounded much deeper than the four-into-one stock exhaust, rumbling like a Harley-Davidson. Again, not a great noise but a different one nonetheless.
From there, he fabricated an X-pipe—a common type of exhaust crossover. It’s technically better for exhaust scavenging, or evacuating exhaust gas from a cylinder so fresh air and fuel can enter in, but more performance really isn’t the objective here. Instead, we’re just paying attention to the audio and because it smooths out the separate sound from each cylinder, this setup zings with a much higher pitch than the first dual exhaust setup.
Haters Garage via YouTube
That was ultimately fixed with an H-pipe, a different but still common style of crossover. Some will tell you it results in more back pressure, which is better for low-end torque, but again, that isn’t the concern here. What we care about is the deep, lower tone it creates while still smoothing out the sound from each cylinder. This might be the best one of ’em all.
So, up to this point, every exhaust configuration has featured the 1-2, 3-4 header setup. The sound from that is always going to be a little strange considering the firing order (1-3-4-2), which is why he arranged another header layout to combine cylinders 1 and 4, then 2 and 3. This allows the engine to breathe through even pulses as the firing order alternates evenly between both headers. It takes away from the motorcycle sound, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on whether you own a closet full of crotchless chaps. This is also where the sanity ends.
What might be the Sentra engine’s final form of exhaust is a true quad setup that commenters asked for because they would never do it themselves. That’s understandable since it’s actually a lot of work, and it’s quite a tight fit in the engine bay. After removing the radiator and AC condenser, he was able to bolt up the short header pieces. The rest of the welding had to be done underneath the car, and to save himself from more futile work, he simply made a side exit behind the front-passenger tire. The result is as obnoxious and deafening as you’d expect. Still, interesting!
This is the kind of DIY car YouTube content I can get behind. I’m less interested in budget supercar projects by the day, but the idea of messing with your cheap daily for the simple sake of entertainment is cool by me. It’s also educational learning which exhaust layouts do what for sound, even if it’s all a bit impractical. Now I want to hear it done on engines with even more cylinders. Maybe a BMW straight-six?
Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com
