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7 Fake Exhaust Pipes That Make Expensive Cars Look Cheap
In
the name of style, manufacturers are sticking all manner of
fancily-shaped exhaust tips to hide much smaller, conventional exhaust
pipes. And guess what, they look naff!
These days, a huge variety of funky exhaust tip shapes have
been appearing on cars. Thin rectangles, ovals, trapezoids…you name it,
and it’s been done, particularly at the expensive end of the car scale.
The thing is, these weird and wonderful shapes often aren’t practical
for mounting onto the end of an exhaust system, so what you’re actually
seeing is nothing more than a fake bit of trim stuffed into the bumper,
hiding a smaller, conventional circular pipe behind.
Sure, there are reasons other than styling for fitting these - some are designed to shield bumpers from heat and soot - but the fakery is at times so obvious, that the whole setup looks naff and cheap. Here are some of the worst offenders:
Sure, there are reasons other than styling for fitting these - some are designed to shield bumpers from heat and soot - but the fakery is at times so obvious, that the whole setup looks naff and cheap. Here are some of the worst offenders:
1. Audi RS6
Oval pipes are something of an RS tradition, but look closely
at any of the modern RS Audis and you’ll see that the ovals are nothing
but heat shields hiding four smaller pipes. It’s very obvious, and
looks poor.
2. Audi R8
What you’re looking at is a pre-facelift, first-generation
V10 R8. These had oval exhaust pipes to differentiate them from the V8
models and their quad setups, but as you can see here, the ‘pipes’ are
just trim pieces in the bumper. Post-facelift models all have the same
round trims regardless of engines, still with a set of regular pipes quite clearly sitting behind.
3. Lexus IS-F
This one’s pretty upsetting, but we’ll forgive Lexus for the transgression. While the new RC-F
features the same diagonally stacked exhaust arrangement, this time the
pipes you see sticking out the back are actually connected to the back
box.
4. Skoda Octavia vRS
Not an expensive car per-se, but it is the range-topping
Octavia, and the naff fake trims bugged me on our old long-term test car
to such an extent that I feel I have to mention them. It’s so blatant,
you wonder why they bothered. It’s even worse on the diesel model, where
only one side actually has a back box hiding behind the trim.
The previous generation Octavia featured a simple, single back-box with two exits, and looked all the better for it.
The previous generation Octavia featured a simple, single back-box with two exits, and looked all the better for it.
5. Mercedes C-Class
All C-Classes have ‘floating’ exhaust trim bits, but - as you
can see above - they don’t even have any gasses flowing through them on
some diesels. Yep, they’re entirely blocked off and are there for
nothing but show.
6. Mercedes-AMG GT
Merc’s performance models don’t escape, either, as those neat
little trapezoid trims on the back of the AMG GT are quite obviously
fake.
7. Ferrari California
Sadly, even Ferrari is guilty of exhaust fakery, as shown by the older, pre-turbocharged California.
Any other crimes against exhaust fashion you can think of? Post them in the comments!
Any other crimes against exhaust fashion you can think of? Post them in the comments!
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