Side exit exhaust systems are a rare feature. It requires unique packaging considerations and other compromises that automakers can’t make. They add weight and affect aerodynamics, but Ferrari has filed a new patent that may solve some of those issues while improving safety.
according to Ferrari depositIts system “does not suffer from the disadvantages” of typical side exhaust systems and “can be manufactured in a simple and economical manner.”
Drawings accompanying the patent show the exhaust system extending from the engine behind the front wheels without large supports, then up and around a member before extending under the front doors to outlets behind the passenger compartment.
Ferrari He says this design can “absorb at least part of the kinetic energy” from frontal collisions and “limit the front wheel’s proximity to the passenger compartment.” Ferrari claims the system also reduces weight because the exhaust avoids the use of auxiliary buffer struts or heavy support frames.
Photo by: Ferrari
This isn’t Ferrari’s first side-exit exhaust patent. The automaker introduced one in 2013 for an asymmetrical system that has an outlet on only one side. This new registration isn’t that way — it’s a tried-and-true dual system that we hope to see in a future Ferrari at some point.
The company will have a lot of opportunities. Ferrari plans to launch 20 new cars in the next five years. These won’t all be brand new cars, and we expect some of them to be low-volume units. Ferrari’s CEO said that “it is better to have more limited-volume models than a few larger-volume models.”
Even if Ferrari did put the exhaust system into a production car, it would likely end up on one of its own limited-production models. It’s the kind of feature that sounds cool but requires people to bypass hot pipes just to get in or out, which we think is totally worth it.
