Good Morning Everyone,
I own a 2010 Tarmac Black Ralliart. With the exception of a Works modified muffler, and COBB accessport, its essentially stock. I have tried a few different exhausts, and settled on the Works mod since my wife drives this car too and I just couldn't deal with drone on long rides.

Very happy with the car, I have done a few cosmetic items since its off the road for the winter but I am considering a high flow cat. After reading the Magnus article, the idea of reducing back pressure via the cat and not the muffler, seems the perfect fit for my situation.

Ok here is what I am after from all of you seasoned enthusiasts... I love aftermarket, but demand oem quality fit and performance. I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road or constantly dealing with CEL's. Worst yet, I dont want the ration of smack my wife will give me if the new car starts throwing lights while she is driving and she gets stuck. Pull out the old cat, replace it with new and drive- no problems with fit or driveability. I want a few more ponies but not a the cost of reliability.

I have focused on 3 aftermarket cat's so far. Cobb, AMS and Ultimate Racing but I came across an interesting item on ebay by chance. APT racing, which looks like a very high quality product but the cost seems almost too good to be true and I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Evo-X...Q5fCarQ5fParts

I would appreciate any suggestions you folks have. Pretty sure there are RA folks out there who have been down this road and can save me some headaches.

 

In my oppinion "tue good to be true" is something i would follow. If your looking for quality and dont want "smack" from the wife i would stick with something name brand. The three you listed are popular and it wont be hard to get feedback on each of them. i would stick with name brand

just my 2 cents

 

If you dont have a problem going catless you can get a Test pipe, they are cheaper and get or made (link for DIY) an extension for your second O2 sensor that will reduce the chance of getting a CEL.

 

The "too good to be true" products are what you want to avoid. Most of the time its from taiwan or china, which is not quality product and can rust or cause you problems fairly quick over time. UR, AMS and Cobb all make proven quality stuff whichhas proven performance gains and is why the price may not be like the parts you see on ebay (hint why that part is on ebay). If you have a Cobb ap you should aim for stage 2 with the catback, midpipe with mini muffler (this will kill lots of the drone and UR makes them) high flow cat, and downpipe. Make sure to get the lower gaskets and bungs with atleast the high flow cat or downpipe (only one needs it).

Remember:

Cheap and safe isn't fast
Fast and cheap isn't safe
Fast and safe isn't cheap

Good luck!

 

Thanks for everything so far! Yes, I am very leery of imported or ebay parts in general. I tried a search for this person on here, since the ebay listing quotes as being an evolutionm.net vendor with no luck so far.

Anyone with first hand experience please let me know. I am relying on all of your past experience to help me with the right purchase!

 

We don't have emissions in KS. Do you guys know if there is any better gains in going straight pipe/test pipe over a HFC? I just don't want a raspy exhaust once I decide to go down that road.

 

I have considered it, but I do believe in MA a visual inspection is required and I do feel better not being on the fringe side of things.

 

What I have noticed is that some of these high flow cats have different O2 mounting locations. What is the idea behind the extended mounting bung? I assume it is to move the sensor away from the exhaust stream...

So if I went with a non extended mounted O2 cat, such as the COBB, can I expect a higher chance of throwing CEL's?

 

That depends. The reason for moving the sensor away from the stream is so that is sees a reduction in unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas stream, just as it would if the oem catalytic converter were still in place. The codes that fire for cat inefficiency are going to check for a voltage offset range from the pre cat sensor.

So, if the sensor is too far out of stream, the reduction will fall outside of the bounds of the inefficiency check. It will also fail the check if the sensor is too near the stream.

You can also use a sealed 02 bung with a small hole drilled in the main pipe, this allows you to place the sensor nearer to the stream (where space is limited) and use various size holes until you get to the size that works perfectly for the setup. IIRC Ultimate Racing uses this approach on some of the test pipes for the Evo X / Ralliart.

 

I was just looking at Lancershop.com, and found an extended O2 mount with interchangable jets to adjust the exhaust flow to the sensor. Looks like a good idea, but I am guessing over a short time those jets would become very difficult to remove. Anyone use one of these devices in the past?

 

just get the UR HFC, its cheap and it works well, I use it and no problems to report so far.

 

Did you use the ceramic or mettalic converter? Any issues with fit? I want to swap this in an not have to mess with it after the fact, understanding of course that it may need the occasional tweak. My wife and I love to take off for weekend trips, and would like to avoid anything happening away from home...

 

I have the UR metallic HFC too. No issues so far.