So many cat choices

[gil_ong81]

first off, thanks to belladonna for pointing me in the correct direction.

i have been looking for a cat for a while now since my car came with a gutted cat.


poked around on ebay a bit, and came across these few choices. any ideas on if any particular one would work better than the others??

Catco

(this is what bella has, and IS what started this search in earnest)

Eastern


No Brand, But SHINY


Carsound MagnaFlow

[sheepdog]

If i remember correctly, the high flow cat's two of the WRXs at ecb run is made by TurboXS, if I recall correctly. Could be completely wrong, Ill check. Anyways, whatever it is it works good.

[gil_ong81]

sory sheep dog. you need to rephrase that.

all i'm getting is that 2 WRXs on ECB run cats by TurboXS.

is that the essence of your post? I dunno about TurboXS only cos of cost.

[sheepdog]

Thats the gist of it. Sorry if that was unclear. Anyways, it was expensive, but they are good cats, and the cars pass inspection. It all depends on what you want.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Stromung is completely bolt on. Goes from the headers to the cat-back (resonator). 350 bucks+shipping, and a few extra gaskets, so its around 400 bucks overall. Little pricey, but much cheaper than OEM (1000 dollars!!! )

[Huffer]

Are you wanting an OEM replacement, or a hi-flow with bigger diameter pipe?

I bought an OEM replacement for $275 shipped, deleted the front cat and only uses the rear one...all gaskets and bolts.

[gil_ong81]

Are you wanting an OEM replacement, or a hi-flow with bigger diameter pipe?

yeah. high-flow. 2.25" in and out to complement my MRT headers and midpipe.

[Reason]

Get a Stromung high flow

[gil_ong81]

Get a Stromung high flow

would love to, but that'd require me to replace the whole mid-pipe.

no have so much money, mon.

[Huffer]

if you can't afford to replace the whole pipe, why bother? you'd have to flange the cat pipe to fit the bigger opening for the cat inlet, and then reduce it at the other side to match up with the 1.75" (if that) mid-pipe.

You ideally want to keep consistent diameter, or if you flange up, don't reduce down on the other side.

That'd be like a WRX going with a 3" downpipe and then reducing to 2" mid.

[phi11]

this is my cat back!!!!!

[gil_ong81]

if you can't afford to replace the whole pipe, why bother? you'd have to flange the cat pipe to fit the bigger opening for the cat inlet, and then reduce it at the other side to match up with the 1.75" (if that) mid-pipe.

You ideally want to keep consistent diameter, or if you flange up, don't reduce down on the other side.

That'd be like a WRX going with a 3" downpipe and then reducing to 2" mid.

I currently have MRT headers and a 2.25" midpipe; the only stock item ont he exhaust system is the muffler. The cat was gutted by the previous owner and i want to install a functional one.

[Huffer]

Cool!

In that case, get any old hi-flow cat that meets your needs, then have a shop fab up the correct pipes to match your header and mid-pipe.

With the gutted cat - are you getting a CEL?
Theoretically, the front O2 will read the same as the rear O2, so the ECU will think nothing has changed, and should give you a "Cat inefficiency" code.

[gil_ong81]

Cool!

In that case, get any old hi-flow cat that meets your needs, then have a shop fab up the correct pipes to match your header and mid-pipe.

With the gutted cat - are you getting a CEL?
Theoretically, the front O2 will read the same as the rear O2, so the ECU will think nothing has changed, and should give you a "Cat inefficiency" code.

yeah, i do get a CEL (P0420). but almost exclusively from highway cruising. normal stop and go traffic, or when i'm on and off the gas, never had a problem. curious. isn't it?

[Huffer]

Sort of - it probably has to do with a greater volume being pushed through.

Maintaining higher speeds requires more effort, whatever the RPM.
(unless you have 100% momentum tires )

Have you considered using a spacer on the O2 sensor (rear)? That would lift it out of the exhaust flow a little, might prevent the CEL.

Sorry, kinda OT there.

[gil_ong81]

Sort of - it probably has to do with a greater volume being pushed through.

Maintaining higher speeds requires more effort, whatever the RPM.
(unless you have 100% momentum tires )

Have you considered using a spacer on the O2 sensor (rear)? That would lift it out of the exhaust flow a little, might prevent the CEL.

Sorry, kinda OT there.

considered and even looked into it. in fact, i have 2 of them drilled out and sitting in my desk at home.

looking under my car, it looks like i don't have enough clearance to mount one anyway.

besides, i kinda like the idea of not having my exhaust smell so bad when i'm sitting idling at a light or whatnot.

[legacy92ej22t]

I have to give props to the Carsound-Magnaflow. I run one for emission testing (I run catless 11 months of the year though). Mine's a 3" of course but it works very well and doesn't effect the exhaust note too much.

[gil_ong81]

think i might get better flow if i installed a 3" cat with 2.25"-3" couplers on each side?

[legacy92ej22t]

No.

[Wiscon_Mark]

The Stromung goes from headers to midpipe, and it has adapters built in so it will work with both 2.25" piping (what it actually is) and the stock 1 7/8s piping. This won't work for you Gil?

[Huffer]

Is the stromung stainless or mild steel?

[gil_ong81]

The Stromung goes from headers to midpipe, and it has adapters built in so it will work with both 2.25" piping (what it actually is) and the stock 1 7/8s piping. This won't work for you Gil?

it would, except i really don't see much point is getting rid of my existing midpipe for the sake of a cat when i can replace JUST the cat. it's like getting a new brake system all around when all you need is replace the pads.

besides i can think of lots of other things i could do with the additional $300.

[Reason]

Why would you have to get rid of your mid pipe. Last time I looked you have the header, 2 cats, mid pipe and "axle-back". Now someone correct me if I'm wrong. If you replace the header with a Borla header you lose the first cat? When you replace the 2nd one you dont touch the mid pipe. Is your system custom? I don't remember how the MRT header is but you will be better off replacing from the header back. Have it all done in one shot.

[gil_ong81]

and that's the point, reason. i want to keep what i currently have (MRT headers and midpipe), and replace JUST the gutted cat with a functional one.

[Wiscon_Mark]

[Diagram]

-----------=========---------------========
[headers]......[cat]..........[midpipe]...[axel back]
.......................^
You only have to replace this part with the stromung. It bolts to the midpipe. All you're replacing IS the cat.

[badbasser98]

[Diagram]

-----------=========---------------========
[headers]......[cat]..........[midpipe]...[axel back]
.......................^
You only have to replace this part with the stromung. It bolts to the midpipe. All you're replacing IS the cat.

lol, nice diagram...

This is true, the exhaust is actually four parts.

[gil_ong81]

my mistake. my cat is situated right after the headers. there isn't one in the midpipe.

[Huffer]

Can you do a wider angle pic of that?
It looks like the MRT headers include a cat, or some kind of resonator.
That looks a little small to be a cat...

You also have a flexjoint, which is nice, and unusual to see (for me, at least, on these cars. WRXes etc I'm used to).

[Wiscon_Mark]

no, that looks like a cat to me...where it says "No Flange" it looks to be welded to the headers. After the Flange is the resonator.

[gil_ong81]

edited picture.

surprisingly that IS a cat. and it's welded to the headers on the front, and has a flange on the rear, with a flex joint right after.