I keep seeing test pipes and no cats for exhausts but here in cali its much tougher and sometimes they will have check points and visually inspect for a cat under the car ...

I was wondering if anyone has thought of taking a test pipe and making the outside look like a cat...Im sure its been thought of but just thinking out loud..

Maybe this is a taboo subject but just wondering what you guys thought of it..Too much work ? Or just run with no cats and risk a crazy fine....

Its tough to think of an awesome 3 inch BUSCHER exhaust and have all the flow hindered by a cat...

but if its only 5hp...decisions,decisions

 

I've seen the opposite. You can carefully cut open a cat, pull out the cartridge, and weld it back together. I dunno if the Evo cat is amenable to this (I've only seen it on a muscle car).

I personally wouldn't run without cats. Evos run pretty rich, so you'll get a constant fuel smell, plus staining on your rear bumper. Not to mention all the hassles with registration/inspection. It's just not worth it for a few HP...especially when a few hundred bucks buys you a nice free-flow cat. Hell, even WRC cars are running cats!

I can't imagine the output of a good high-flow cat would be that much less than running no cat. Check out Magnaflow, for example. They used to sell high-flow cats. I think Summit Racing and even JC Whitney also carry high-flow cats.

Emre

 

My son has a 3" Magnaflow cat in the garage right now that you can see light though. I don't see any trouble with flow on that thing. Keep in mind, that not using a cat on a street car can be a large fine if cought.
check this link out.
http://www.state.in.us/idem/ctap/veh...converters.pdf

 

Anyone else think the guvment is getting outta control? Give me a break they have an official office setup to investegate individuals for selling or having a car without the oe cat? You bet your *** Ill keep it for 15 days and reason for replacement - I ran over the slegehammer that hit it . Hell I might just ship the proof to that office if their so damn interested. We revolted for much less than this

 

why not just buy a 3" high flow cat and punch it out?

 

Why waste the money on the cat just to ruin it?

 

My stock cat has a huge dent in it from running over a large chunk of concrete.. it happened just prior to putting a full Buschur racing turbo back with their 3" Cat.. I am surprised to hear you need a documented "Reason to replace" it though.. Generally if the car runs clean, and you have a cat, and haven't disabled any of the Emissions controls, you should be Ok..

BUt like everyone else has said, there's such a small difference in performance between a test pipe and a high flow performance cat, that your much better off using one.

This really isn't a 'Government Butting into our lives" kind of issue, its an environmental issue, you should at least care enough about the environment to do what you can to minimize the impact you have on the world.

 

I remember some of the Z28 guys would take a chisel and hammer to their cat and smash out the center parts. A few jammed an appropriately-sized straight piece of piping through the center.

It was crude, sounded like hell, but was effective.

 

Anyone know how long the Warranty is for the exhaust/emission controls is on our cars?

 

our area has sometihng that they shove up in your exhaust to check for a cat, I'm not sure if it's a camera or a prob... I don't se how it's a prob if they poke the cat materia with that then wouldn't it damage the cat.... It's only made of thin SS I know i've destroyed a few with screwdrivers