hollow cat question

[paintball4fun21]

i have the stock 2g exhaust on my talon and i was wondering about hollowing out the cat. Im getting catback exhaust in a few months but wanted to hollow it out for a few extra hp. im not worried about emissions but i was wondering about the other pros and cons.
thanks!!

 

[DeeBo]

well back in the day i ran a test pipe and just put the shell of the cat around it incase the cops wanna take a look under

 

[greeneclipse]

buy/make a test-pipe.....save the cat to swap it in for emissions time.

 

[toojung2die]

A hollow cat flows better than a functioning cat but not a well as a test pipe. There's more turbulence in a hollow cat than a test pipe. Hollow cats are free and test pipes are inexpensive. Hollowed out cats can fool the authorities and test pipes will not. Hollow cats and test pipes will cause CEL's if you don't cheat the downstream o2 sensor. Hollow cats and test pipes make your exhaust smell funny. Hollow cats and test pipes are illegal on street driven cars in all fifty states That's all the pros/cons I can think of right now.

 

[420Adriver]

They also sell the high flow cat which is more expensive than the test pipe but it looks cool and the inside resembles a muffler. It is supposed to give more horses than the test pipe and hollowed out cat.

 

[AndrewD5418]

They also sell the high flow cat which is more expensive than the test pipe but it looks cool and the inside resembles a muffler. It is supposed to give more horses than the test pipe and hollowed out cat.

That's the funniest thing I've ever heard... More horses from running a cat, instead of a test.

 

[420Adriver]

That's the funniest thing I've ever heard... More horses from running a cat, instead of a test.

Please don't post if you don't know what your talking about. Its not a real cat and it looks like a test pipe except it is chrome (for looks) and if you look in it, it is not just a straight pipe it has high flow chambers. Also notice I never said it did I said it was supposed to according to vendors I have talked to, also if you read up on it I found out that the test pipe is supposed to give 5-6 horses while the hi flow gives up to 10-15 horses.

 

[nightspeed87]

I dont believe what hp venders claim, because they always claim cars under perfect conditions and the right set up... For instance if they say you get 10-15 horses ill only believe the 10 at best....

Anyways back to the point... Yes hollowing your cat makes you slightly faster and still look legal... But the biggest con everyone neglects to mention is that your messing up the atmosphere, and theres already too many ppl without cats ( And if you cant tell, this world is already going haywire from all the pollution) I say dont do it, not on an everyday driver at least, and just get your self a high flowing model that you will be able to pass emissions with, and also gain hp with. If your running a full 3 in set up anyways you will be ok as far as backpressure and gutting the cat wont be as important as on a stock pipe.. ( I dont want to be a hypocrit because I used to gut the cat on all my cars since theres no emissions in FL, but from now on am going to just go the highflow cat route because I dont want to pollute the enviroment anymore. )

 

[No_Skillz]

If your running a full 3 in set up anyways you will be ok as far as backpressure and gutting the cat wont be as important as on a stock pipe..

Swing and a miss. Your pipe will only flow as much as the area with the highest restriction allows. So, if you are running a 3" pipe, it's probably more important to switch to a highflow cat or testpipe.

Don't gut your cat. They're expensive, it's a functional piece of equipment, and that mild ~5hp gain is god awful for the environment. Please save up for a high flow cat. Although they won't give you more power than a testpipe, the benefits (saving the whales) far outweigh the detriments (losing ~2hp over testpipe).

 

[AndrewD5418]

Please don't post if you don't know what your talking about. Its not a real cat and it looks like a test pipe except it is chrome (for looks) and if you look in it, it is not just a straight pipe it has high flow chambers. Also notice I never said it did I said it was supposed to according to vendors I have talked to, also if you read up on it I found out that the test pipe is supposed to give 5-6 horses while the hi flow gives up to 10-15 horses.

I suggest you read your post again. You don't know what you're talking about?

You're saying, that a high-flow cat, is even MORE high flowing than a test pipe.

 

[andymoraitis]

A hollow cat flows better than a functioning cat but not a well as a test pipe. There's more turbulence in a hollow cat than a test pipe. Hollow cats are free and test pipes are inexpensive. Hollowed out cats can fool the authorities and test pipes will not. Hollow cats and test pipes will cause CEL's if you don't cheat the downstream o2 sensor. Hollow cats and test pipes make your exhaust smell funny. Hollow cats and test pipes are illegal on street driven cars in all fifty states That's all the pros/cons I can think of right now.

Bingo. This is the right answer. Nicely said too.

I have a hollowed cat and I'll be replacing it with a true high flow. It smells nasty and I'd rather lose a few horsepower than choke myself every time I stop at a light.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[420Adriver]

I suggest you read your upost again. You don't know what you're talking about?

You're saying, that a high-flow cat, is even MORE high flowing than a test pipe.

There is three kinds of high flow cats, a straight high flow cat that is just as illegal if not more than a test pipe according to emission laws and there is legal high flow cats that are 100 % carb and emission legal. I ran with a gutted cat for some time and a noticed a whole lot more difference with the 1st high flow I mentioned. He could make a test pipe on his own for as much as they charge (35$), it is just a pipe. My dad makes them all day long for customers for 10$. But like I said there is different styles of high flow cats and this one I am talking about is in no way a cat, it is more of an improvement on a test pipe. There is no limestone in it and it in no way elliminates carbon from the exhaust. It is identical to a test pipe except it has chambers that help the exhaust flow better like a flowmaster or full boar.

 

[andymoraitis]

But like I said there is different styles of high flow cats and this one I am talking about is in no way a cat, it is more of an improvement on a test pipe. There is no limestone in it and it in no way elliminates carbon from the exhaust. It is identical to a test pipe except it has chambers that help the exhaust flow better like a flowmaster or full boar.

I know what you're referring to. They look more like resonators than test pipes. Couldn't tell you if there's a performance difference, but I can verify that they exist.

 

[AndrewD5418]

Bingo. This is the right answer. Nicely said too.

I have a hollowed cat and I'll be replacing it with a true high flow. It smells nasty and I'd rather lose a few horsepower than choke myself every time I stop at a light.

Cheers,

Andy

I like to choke the people that ride my bumper though. Who doesn't like to give them a vapor trail?

 

[pnishr]

Just get a test pipe for cheap. No sense in destroying a cat that you can use for testing, or saving up to buy some expensive-ass high flow. The emmissions effects are negligable. A well tuned car will only fail an emmissions test with no cat because it's not physically there. (visible) At least a Texas one anyway. To save the planet: turn off your house lights. Industrial and power plants put out WAY more toxins than your car EVER will.

And the test pipe will sound nice.

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

or saving up to buy some expensive-ass high flow.

Mine was less than $50.

 

[Dark_Horse]

To save the planet: turn off your house lights. Industrial and power plants put out WAY more toxins than your car EVER will.

Have you ever seen the differences in CO2 readings etc a cat makes? If you had, you would never make that statement.

More than 1/2 of your yearly pollution output is made up from driving your car, with a cat. Take that cat off and you've just increased the pollution spewing out the tail pipe by up to 10x.

I drove without a cat for 1 week and never again. Not even mentioning the amt of extra pollution I created, my clothes/car/garage etc smelled like exhaust. God forbid that I got stuck at a light, the fumes pouring into the cabin could choke a donkey. The car would stink up the entire house if I let it warm up in the garage for 5 min in the AM.

Do yourself a favor, buy a high flow cat, your wife/girlfriend/coworkers/friends will thank you since your clothes won't smell like shit 24/7. The whole 2 or 3hp you lose won't be missed.

 

[andymoraitis]

Have you ever seen the differences in CO2 readings etc a cat makes? If you had, you would never make that statement.

More than 1/2 of your yearly pollution output is made up from driving your car, with a cat. Take that cat off and you've just increased the pollution spewing out the tail pipe by up to 10x.

I drove without a cat for 1 week and never again. Not even mentioning the amt of extra pollution I created, my clothes/car/garage etc smelled like exhaust. God forbid that I got stuck at a light, the fumes pouring into the cabin could choke a donkey. The car would stink up the entire house if I let it warm up in the garage for 5 min in the AM.

Do yourself a favor, buy a high flow cat, your wife/girlfriend/coworkers/friends will thank you since your clothes won't smell like shit 24/7. The whole 2 or 3hp you lose won't be missed.

Can I get an Amen?!

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

Only one correction. Major break down for energy use/pollution is (roughly):

25% = Driving your car

25% = Powering, heating and cooling your home.

50% = Producing your food (assuming you eat meat).

But I agree entirely. $20 and 2-3 hp is NOT worth the drastic increase in toxins out your tail pipe.

 

[Dark_Horse]

Only one correction. Major break down for energy use/pollution is (roughly):

25% = Driving your car

25% = Powering, heating and cooling your home.

50% = Producing your food (assuming you eat meat).

But I agree entirely. $20 and 2-3 hp is NOT worth the drastic increase in toxins out your tail pipe.

I wasn't counting the energy used to produce the food. duh...

 

[t0ny007]

Please don't post if you don't know what your talking about. Its not a real cat and it looks like a test pipe except it is chrome (for looks) and if you look in it, it is not just a straight pipe it has high flow chambers. Also notice I never said it did I said it was supposed to according to vendors I have talked to, also if you read up on it I found out that the test pipe is supposed to give 5-6 horses while the hi flow gives up to 10-15 horses.

I think this is what he is reffering to.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mit-...005QQitemZ150017703035QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[pnishr]

Only one correction. Major break down for energy use/pollution is (roughly):

25% = Driving your car

25% = Powering, heating and cooling your home.

50% = Producing your food (assuming you eat meat).

But I agree entirely. $20 and 2-3 hp is NOT worth the drastic increase in toxins out your tail pipe.

and... that's PERSONAL pollution. Personal pollution is NOTHING compared to corporate/industrial pollution. If you want no pollution, don't buy ANYTHING. You know, like clothes, shoes, car parts, cars, plastics, or anything else. Especially if it's made outside of the US where govt regulations on pollution are even more lenient. But, I digress. I'm sure this guy getting a test pipe will cause another species to become extinct. If yall were that worried, you'd all be driving Honda hybrids and not DSMs, right?

Besides, the $20 and 3hp may not matter to you, but it may to him. I'm on a "free-mod"/stripping excess weight quest right now. Money counts. Money always counts.

Didn't yall see the Stephen Hawkins speech where he predicted we'd anhialate each other before pollution got us. I tend to agree.

 

[420Adriver]

So... that's PERSONAL pollution. Personal pollution is NOTHING compared to corporate/industrial pollution. If you want no pollution, don't buy ANYTHING. You know, like clothes, shoes, car parts, cars, plastics, or anything else. Especially if it's made outside of the US where govt regulations on pollution are even more lenient (since most of it is in 3rd world/growing countries). But, I digress. I'm sure this guy getting a test pipe will cause another species to become extinct. If yall were that worried, you'd all be driving Honda hybrids and not DSMs

One person can make a difference, if everyone had this attitude then thousands, no millions of cars would be polluting the o-zone. This reminds me of the famous saying "only you can prevent forest fires".

 

[nightspeed87]

One person can make a difference, if everyone had this attitude then thousands, no millions of cars would be polluting the o-zone. This reminds me of the famous saying "only you can prevent forest fires".

This is true.....

Just get a test pipe for cheap. No sense in destroying a cat that you can use for testing, or saving up to buy some expensive-ass high flow. The emmissions effects are negligable. A well tuned car will only fail an emmissions test with no cat because it's not physically there. (visible) At least a Texas one anyway. To save the planet: turn off your house lights. Industrial and power plants put out WAY more toxins than your car EVER will.

And the test pipe will sound nice.

Ok one person does it thats one thing.... A million enthusiast do it, then you have a problem... For instance one person litters, no biggie, a million behind you do it you have a mess..... You have to consider the use of a cat on a global scale, not just your own personal view....

Swing and a miss. Your pipe will only flow as much as the area with the highest restriction allows. So, if you are running a 3" pipe, it's probably more important to switch to a highflow cat or testpipe.

Don't gut your cat. They're expensive, it's a functional piece of equipment, and that mild ~5hp gain is god awful for the environment. Please save up for a high flow cat. Although they won't give you more power than a testpipe, the benefits (saving the whales) far outweigh the detriments (losing ~2hp over testpipe).

And this guy completely missed my point about this comment.... What I was saying was a 3in pipe wont be as restrictive as a stock pipe, so therefore gutting the cat on a 3in exhaust system wont be as big a deal and youd get about the same results with a true high flow cat... ( I was suggesting on stock pipe then yea gutting the cat would make a big difference over high flow cat but with a full 3in system youd be ok just with highflow cat... )

But the rest of what he said after the swing and miss part I agree with.

 

[pnishr]

^ that's true. I'll cede to there being some truth about a bunch of people doing it. however, just because it can be done, doesn't mean everybody is going to go out and do it, obviously. But most people with a 3-in. exhaust don't have an option for a cat anyway.

Oh, and what is this smell everybody is complaining about. I run a full 3" exh. and I have to drive with the windows down (no A/C...) and I don't have that issue...unless I'm backing up. If yall are driving with the windows up and having issues of smelling like gas/exhaust, perhaps you have another issue. Like huge holes in the back of the car.

Anyway, I believe the answer to the original post has been found, and the pros/cons given. It's a matter of priorities. Everybody's are different. Whether they be a polluting, power-mad, carnivorous, A-hole damn Texan, or a tree-huggin', veggie-eaten, yankee (or Californian) It's personal preference.

If we are going to have a "how we can stop pollution" thread (which perhaps we should) it should be done in the hangout. Happy DSMing everybody! (damn polluting, gas-wasting DSMs....)