So the T/A and AAR cars had side exit exhaust, along with other TransAm cars of the day.

Stupid question... why?

It was my understanding that it was a racecar styling cue. Kind of like the race cars used on the track or at least how people perceived them to be.

Others may have better ideas.

I am pretty sure that the higher rear end stance on the AAR & T/A was to give the exhaust tips ground clearance. Looking forward to what others say.

Racecars of that day all had side exhaust.

BTW, no other pony cars made for Trans Am homologation offered side exhaust.

I thought the Javelin T/A has side exhaust as well. Maybe they has "laker pipes".

No lakes pipes. Out the butt like most. https://www.bing.com/search?q=amc+javelin+trans+am

These "Sidewinder" exhausts were an over the counter performance part.

"NO AMX OR JAVELIN LEFT KENOSHA "FACTORY" WITH THESE INSTALLED, PERIOD."

http://www.planethoustonamx.com/main/amc_trendsetter_pipes.htm

Possibly SCCA Racing Homologation? Same as NASCAR, NHRA, etc.,

Same with the fiberglass hoods and big hood scoops or air induction. "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday"

The side exhaust was part of the pre production styling exercise that made it to the production car, it had nothing to do with homologation.

The almost rest of the story is in the link


AAR Cuda Info & History

Marketing

But if it was only a styling and marketing exercise and not a performance exhaust design why did almost all of the Trans-Am series Cuda's and Challenger's use that type of exhaust exit? Always thought in racing especially it should be "Form follows Function"?

T/A and 67 GTX in my opinion were the 2 best looking exhaust on the planet. The 71 3rd.

TA race cars and many others in different classes had exhausts that exited out the side, long before Chrysler did the AAR and T/A.
One of the reasons is packaging the exhaust on a car that's low and often with a large fuel cell.
Many if not most of the TA racecars had tunnels to fit the exhaust; a couple of them that I worked on sure did, all the way into & through the rocker panels.
AMC tried to homologate a hood scoop before Chrysler, but SCCA nixed it - it's interesting that they were allowed for the AAR & T/A, but never re-appeared on Javelins.
Taking in fresh air was accomplished within SCCA rules by ducting it from the radiator support, or for some cars, cowl-induction hoods.

The side-exit exhaust for the street cars was a victory for Marketing; fairly amazing considering Chrysler budget constraints.

If you haven't checked out a Vintage TransAm race, you've really missed seeing some of the coolest cars on the planet.
It's easy to Google photos of the cars & see the on-track schedule.
Here's the Javelin I helped restore & crew...ex-Penske & Roy Woods...

NICE WORK

Me thinks it's also performance, weight savings and maybe racing homologation. Even NASCAR knows that not having to make all of those bends to get around and over the rear axle is better for performance. Also there's a considerable weight savings by the shorter exhaust tubing and hanger hardware.

For what ever it is worth, the exhaust systems on the real race cars looked nothing like the exhaust on the AAR or TA cars.

The real race cars ran the exhaust through headers (at least at some places), collectors or head pipes, then the exit pipes with the 45 degree bends to dump in front of the rear tires.
The AAR & TA cars ran through specific exhaust manifolds, through head pipes into mufflers with the inlet pipes next to the exit pipes. The exit pipes came forward out of the mufflers to the outside f the muffler inlet pipes and made the 145 degree (or so) bends to exit just in front of the rear tires. Those exit pipes were hard to find, hard to install, and didn't last very long. The gas station I worked at in the early 70s had a customer that bought a new TA when they became available (his was the only TA sold at our local Dodge dealer). The car was an expensive toy he could not afford, he didn't have it very many years, then we never saw it again.

I had a friend that bought an original body in white AAR Cuda with the basic cage in it. He never did get it built, but always talked about it (I saw it and its certification tag in his storage building). Years later I saw an ad about a guy needing to sell a partially restored AAR. He needed to get cash fast for it. I knew my friend had the cash on hand (it would have taken me a week to get the money). I stopped by his house, handed him the ad and told him he needed to buy this car then left. 2 days later the car was driven to his house, and I was there and got the first ride after the cash exchanged hands. My friend enjoyed that car for several years before he sold his Mopar collection just before his death.

I had heard at one time that side exit exhaust is mandated in many racing classes because rear exit exhaust causes the rear of 2 cars to overheat. All that heated exhaust pointed directly into the radiator of the 2nd car gave the lead car an advantage.

If you can't draft, you can't pass, if you can't pass, then racing becomes boring and nobody watches it.

Sounds logical to me especially when you look at that AAR above spewing flames.


Man those are some sexy cars above. All of them even the Furds & Chebbies.
Race cars today look so bland and undistinguishable. Save for some F1 stuff.

A12 - Thanks, that car was quite an effort; found a lot of tricks in it - much more than the privateer cars I've worked on - and it's one of the best-sounding cars I've ever been in.
I could tell several fun stories - and a couple of wrestles - about that deal.

IMGTX & Poorboy - it's NASCAR that prohibits rear-exit exhaust for the drafting/overheating. But side-exit is still a packaging issue, plus length factors in.
Bear in mind that most exhaust pipes are at least 3" diameter, up to 4". That's why they're tunneled.

that doesn't work for me.
IMO. the big downside not yet mentioned, it killed an optimum ride height, and that is a killer even on a street driven TA type car.

My memory is side exhaust was the norm until late 60's David Pearson I believe with the Wood Brothers?, first ran the exhaust straight out the back. Not sure they disclosed why exactly they did it, but David won and nobody could draft him for long for reasons stated above, and Nascar quickly nixed that solution. I thought it was first done at Daytona, but I am not sure.

Side exhausts are used in road racing, primarily for safety during refueling at a pit stop. It keeps the exhaust exits away from the fuel cell and the fuel filler located at the rear of the car. I copied the T/A AAR exhaust routing with mufflers for my Mustang, now made street legal after many years as race-only.