WHY THE HONDA CIVIC TYPE R HAS THREE TAILPIPES

A car with three exhaust pipes is pretty unique, so the new Honda Civic Type R and its triple exhaust outlet is quite a surprise. The tiny pipe in the middle is even more strange from an aesthetic point of view, but it's actually specifically engineered to create a unique sound experience!

At the rear axle of the car, the exhaust splits into three separate pipes - two outer pipes lead to large mufflers, and the centre pipe goes right into a resonator. This creates an effect where the exhaust is loud when you want it to be, but quiet when cruising at high speeds! 

Honda senior product planner, Rob Keough, gave the full explanation.

"Traditionally, these big flow exhaust systems, when you get up into highway speeds, you can get a lot of droning, booming, buzzing - not very comfortable for high-speed cruising," says Keough. 

So, when driving at low speeds and full throttle, some of the exhaust flows through the much less restrictive resonator to make a loud and aggressive sound. But Honda wanted to make it easy to listen to on the highway.

Keough says that high-speed cruising causes the exhaust flowing through the resonator to hit a resonant frequency, filling it with air. The air pressure in the resonator causes back pressure to redirect the exhaust to the larger and quieter mufflers!

An example of great exhaust engineering you can hear both in and outside the car!