I take it you guys don't remember the 70s and 80s in LA? When the smog was horrible and there were air advisorys everydya warning about being outside due to harmful air? And that was only with about half the cars that there are now.

If everyone had the same mentality that some of you do, then no one would run cats and you wouldn't be able to see the sun in LA within a couple years. Seriously, this is like the same mentality of those guys that see that the lane is closed ahead and blows past the 100 cars that have been patiently waiting in traffic.

I was in Taipei about 12-13 years ago and you could NOT see the sun at all because the pollution was so bad. And yes, people wore masks outside. Do you really want it to get to that point before you run a cat?

 

What a good HFC out there? I'm currently runnin the Ur test pipe for the IX, and gettin alot of dirty look from people when there behind me...And once they merge to the other lane and pass me I've always get the "Something wrong with your car dude"

 

I'm very pleased with my Random Tech cat. Being environmentally responsible is more important to me than a few horsepower. I create enough noise pollution in that car already.

 

I think the best option is to run a metallic substrate cat (ie Helix) and a ceramic coated downpipe. The coated downpipe will light the cat off much faster and the metallic cats flow better than the ceramic ones.

 

no cat here no emmisions in my town. I can bet my car still runs way cleaner than my dads 69 GTO. Im getting another car as a DD soon so Ill only be polluting the enviornment on nice cruise days. Mabey a Fit so thatll make up for the year of running catless. High flow cats still let alot of garbage by. Just FYI

 

Get a tune

 

Ultimate Racing, Random Technology and Helix all make 3" cats for our cars. Personally I don't think the 5 to 10HP is worth destorying the environment. In all honestly it doesn't really make you that much faster either. A faster and more skilled driver can EASILY overcome that difference in power on a Road Course, Auto-X or Rally-X course.
Its like when everyone picks up a little trash in their neighborhood the streets become clean and the entire neighborhood becomes nicer. I believe we all need to do our part as responsible adults. Comparing the damage you are knowingly doing over extended periods of time to natural catastrophic events is absurd. There are places in the world where people have to wear masked everyday on the streets and on their way to work to try and stay healthy.
I know that when I do mod my car it will get a Random Tech high flow cat. I know this is the most expensive cat but supposedly it is also the one with little to no power loss compare to a test pipe. If you want that extra power spend a few bucks more and get a Random Tech Cat, I mean come on you guys bought ~ $30K cars.

 

I do have a tune from Tuning Tech

 

+1 you cant tell my car has no cat at all. It dosent smell any different than my girls car or smoke anymore. Your running way to rich partner

 

over its entire life one evo without a cat will put out probably 100x less polution than a single 747 flying one trip from new york to miami. yes all cars should still come with them, but your not exactly going to hurt much by taking it off of every evo.

also, don't forget that the cat acts as a muffler so it will get a little louder if you lose it.

 

use a cat. do you want you children to breath those air???

 

LOL

I recycle so I consider that a bigger step towards a better environment... if nothing else that will help offset the extra pollution caused by a testpipe. Lots of tree's here so I can't say I've ever seen smog

 

Just another bit of info... something like 90% of the 'harmful' emissions is during cold startup, before the cat lights off. This is why all the cats are closed coupled now. Of course, your still pumping CO2, N2 into the air, but the cat converts most of the HC and NOx into the other two (and H2O).

The only time a test pipe is an advantage is at WOT. On a daily drive, how long are you actually at WOT? MAYBE 5% of the time if you're lucky? Probably more like 1-2%. So for that other 95%+ of the time, you're just polluting for no reason.

On a racetrack, where HP does matter and you are at WOT for long periods... Well, only if you're actually racing. If it's just a HPDE or something, leave the cat.

 

I agreed! thinking of switching back to HFC, tired of the smell and the extra noise.

 

agreed. when i have kids and there in there 30s i dont want them breathing that garbage or getting cancer from sitting in the sun. i could easily get away with inspection without a cat, but ill choose a high flow cat. 10hp and 10lbs isnt worth that much. take out your back seat and spare tire and you will lose more weight.