3inch X Pipe To Big?

[dandeman]

Is A 3inch X Pipe Too Big For A 302? I Am Going To Longtube Headers And I Want To Run Full 3 Inch But I Dont Know If That Would Be Overkill For My Little 302, Or Would It Make Power.LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

[chrs]

yes it would be overkill i to was going to run that same setup but i heard we make more torque with the 2 1/2 in the long run its what we need on the fox bodys

[droptop91]

I was always told that as a general rule of thumb that you don't need 3" until you get over 450rwhp. You can actually loose hp and tq before that. That seems to be the going consensus on most of the forums I visit, plus, I know several people that have gone 3" and removed them because their cars felt like they lost power by going that big.

[dee_saleen]

3 inch would be too big unless you plan to make hugh horsepower. You still need to have some back pressure for the car to run right.

[jthorn9]

Originally Posted by dee_saleen

3 inch would be too big unless you plan to make hugh horsepower. You still need to have some back pressure for the car to run right.

+1 to all the above, 3" = loss of power and torque on anything less that a race car.

[RyansQuick6]

The main thing with too big is that you lose low end torque. Backpressure on an N/A car actually helps it get off the line, but too much and you lose HP. Having to open of an exhaust will lead to dramatically reduced lowe end torque, but it should have decent high end power, but again, too much can be too much and the high end can be where you'll never reach it.

Now if you go forced induction, mainly turbo, the bigger and more open the exhaust is the better. You want to get air out of that engine as fast as possible so it can move in that much more, any restriction will reduce power throughout the boost range.

[MadDAWG]

Just for a point of referance to back up the other posters.

Dr Gas recomended a 3" into 2-1/2 my my old 342. So thats more cid and a smaller mid pipe than a 3" thruout.