The current CSR is quite amusing due to the number of people who absentmindedly included bypass valves on their exhaust without realizing their purpose. While the tooltip does explain that they’re typically for supercars and are used to bypass the muffler, I am guessing that fewer people would have included them if these qualities were expressed through in-game stats.
The loudness of the engine seems unaffected by the option chosen here, and while that might be because the loudness is calculated at low RPM, one would think that if it’s not affecting the loudness value directly, it would still have a negative effect on comfort and possibly other stats in any case. Instead, adding bypass valves can actually increase comfort minorly, probably through the effect on overall engine performance.
I’ll admit that I don’t know much about these (hence my decision to use them), nor do I know what kind of effect they’d have on exhaust volume for engines of varying horsepower, displacement, header choice, etc. But I get the impression that if these had more effects on stats like loudness or comfort, they would reflect reality better and be more balanced overall, instead of seeming like a simple choice for more performance with little drawback.
Let me know what you think, and whether I have this all wrong, which is quite possible. Also for the record I’m not salty at all about my CSR entry (which has yet to be judged). Merely amused, and curious about the game’s handling of it.