alright, i don't know if it's in my head or if it's possible, but a few days ago i hit a big bump on the highway. the road was unpaved and my front tires took a huge hit where the unpaved gravel ended. i thought i bent my wheel..now i've hit a few big bumps and potholes before and didn't think i mightve bent my wheel, but this time it was serious.

i didn't get to check til after i exited. everything seems fine, wheel's not bent, car is acting very normal. now here's the weird part..now it sounds like my exhaust tone is not as loud as it used to be. its the stock exhaust and it used to scream in every gear around 3-4k rpm along with the engine roar.

now its much quieter..less of a scream and deep tone, and my engine roar isn't as loud as it used to be? but the car does feel a bit peppier than before. i don't know, its just very weird to me right now..is it just in my head or can i possibly have damaged/shooken up some part of the exhaust/cat/header from that big jolt to cause this?

 

Maybe you dented a part of your exhaust and the inside diameter of that portion of the exhaust or pipe is smaller than it's supposed to be... resulting in less exhaust flow.

If this is the case, your car shouldn't be peppier though.... it would probably be slightly slower. However, I've found in the past that sometimes my cars sometimes feel peppier immediately after I fix or replace a leaking or rusted-off exhaust.. and I think it is just a placebo affect that it seems peppier because you can't hear how hard the engine is working now that it's properly muffled. When the car is screaming loud.. you are real aware as to how high and hard the car is revving.