How does changing the exhaust system in a car give you more power?
Long story short, it doesn't. Change it because it'll sound great, not for the 4 or 5 ponies you might free up. New exhaust systems allow exhaust gases to get out of the cylinder faster and more completely. That means there's less pressure on the piston's upstroke and that means less energy is wasted expelling exhaust fumes. Further, it means there are less exhaust fumes in the chamber when the next firing sequence takes place. That allows more fresh air (oxygen) to be in the fuel air mixture, providing a slightly more powerful explosion when the spark plug fires. To get these benefits you at least have to replace the catalytic converter and better yet, replace the headers. A new muffler doesn't do anything but sound different. Breathing easier and pulling air in through the intake are really more associated with two stroke engines. In a four stroke the intake valves are closed nearly the entire time the exhaust valves are open.
RIt dye. Hot water. Find in the detergent section at most grocery and walmart stores. I would recommend just buying red fabric. Its much easier and the if you dye, it will rub on to other fabrics like a transfer and you will not want to wash it with anything. It will turn everything pink. Red is a hard color to get bright. You should try to save yourself the headache. Plus your fabric should be all cotton to even take the dye.
Food coloring is not the best cloth dye . it might work since the fabric is already pink. Mix a full bottle (if the fabric is very large, use 2 or 3 bottles) of food coloring into a large pot . add just enough water to be able to cover your fabric. Stir well. soak the fabric. Then place the pot .fabric and all on the stove and bring to a simmer stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. I think several hours will do the trick. allow water to cool and drain the water. Rinse using a solution of vinegar and water to set the dye.
Not as much as you would think. The street legal and emissions legal systems are what's called cat back systems. These are systems that replace everything from the catalytic converter on back. Guess what. The catalytic converters are where all of the restriction is in a modern exhaust system, not the stuff behind it. A crack in the exhaust system, especially before the catalytic converter can make a difference on how the engine will run. It can effect the readings from the oxygen sensors. This would give bad information to the engine management computer. The computer would give the incorrect amount of fuel to the engine and give the incorrect ignition timing. Also, your engine is engineered from the factory to operate with a known amount of back pressure. This back pressure improves exhaust gas scavenging. The leak in the exhaust changes the back pressure and can effect performance. True story. A few years ago our local stock car track decided to impose noise restrictions on all race cars. The local town was complaining about the noise. The race car drivers were fighting the change because they thought the mufflers would cut their performance. The rule change was implemented in the off season. The following year track records were broken several times in all divisions, including opening night. I guess the mufflers did make a difference, but not how it was expected. Loud does not necessarily mean powerful or fast.
Changing to a less restrictive exhaust system means the engine can move more volume through it in less time, which equals more power, usually.
