Power Loss from an exhaust leak?

I was just wondering what the bad effects of an exhaust leak are on our cars...I've had one that bounces back every now and then, and it really seems to rob the car of some power...it even seems to effect the way the car idles....every time I tighten up the bolts, or replace the gasket the car feels stronger...could I be imagining this? or does an exhaust leak really hurt the performance of the car to a greater extent than I was lead to believe...I was always told that it may cost a little gas mileage, and possibly a couple RWHP, but those wouldn't cause my car to feel that much different....are the effects of a small exhaust leak magnified on a F/I car? I hate dealing with this but apparantly the prochamber legs don't like meeting up with the BBK shorties

BTW: The leak I'm speaking of isn't even noticeable to the ear most of the time...the sound of my exhaust drowns it out until I drive through a tunnel or on a road that has barriers on the side...then I'm able to hear it if the windows are down...and a quick removal/retighten of the midpipe bolts usually makes it go away for weeks at a time.

Hal0ofWINT3R said:

haha, exhaust leak and power loss. i have the same problem. i have bbk long tubes, and a mac prochamber. and when i'm driving between barriers or walls or whatever, i can really notice it. it sputters a lot, and when you give it gas you can hear air hiss a lot. i've also lost power too. my header bolts also loosen, and i have to tighten them all the time. i remember when i put the long tubes and prochamber on it sounded great, and now the sound really sucks. i have a leak or two, but i don't know where. need to get everything tweaked.

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I've never even tried tightening the header bolts...are they hard to get to???...if not then I might do a little maintenance work today....i gotta switch the prochamber legs over to the catted ones for inspection this month