Headers: Catted vs. Catless?

[OppoLock]

Having a tough time deciding whether to get catted or off-road LTs. I want to start adding some power and bump up the volume, but I don't know what would be best for me.

I met with a forum member here that has a Gibson setup (forgot if CB or just mufflers), and he ended up just having the stock cats and flex pipe deleted. It was insanely loud, I could barely hear my Corsa Xtreme CB running while his was idling across from me.

Cat pros:
-quieter, but by how much versus a comparable set of pipes?
-emissions... don't care.

Catless pros:
-more power? Would it be a negligible amount?
-cheaper
-ability to do cam tune if I'd want to in the future

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[jayman33]

The Catted version you will usually net about 10hp less than the uncatted version. Catted is fine when staying N/A, the power difference will be negligible but the sound will be different.

 

[ronnies_mustang_5o]

The Catted version you will usually net about 10hp less than the uncatted version. Catted is fine when staying N/A, the power difference will be negligible but the sound will be different.

10 HP is definitely not negligible in my opinion! I always thought it was 2 or 3 HP. I'm reached the limit with my bolt ons with the exception of an intake manifold. I've been thinking about replacing the cats on my SW Longtubes with catless pipes, Beefcake once posted that it was very cheap to do so. For 10 HP, I'd do it!

 

[Grimace427]

I would run catted to reduce noise and smell when standing still. Unless you're racing for 10ths of a second I don't think you would notice the difference in power.

 

[350sexZ]

I'm running catted with the corsa and it's preety mothalovin loud. Good loud tho but still loud.

 

[SVTFreak]

The biggest reason I stay catted is due to smell. Sure it's louder without. But when you get all dressed up and snazzy and your date is looking hot in her LBD, and then you spend all evening at a nice restaurant smelling like exhaust, well it's not cool.

And with advances in cat technology, you can make just as much power with good cats.

 

[beefcake]

you'll always make a little more power with offroad,

I personally have never felt like smell has rubbed off, but who knows, maybe I'm used to it, but my wife has never complained.

lol

if you have to worry about emissions, then by all means, go catted, but if you want max effort, offroad is the way to go

 

[2015MagneticGt]

I'm running catted with the corsa and it's preety mothalovin loud. Good loud tho but still loud.

Do you have a soundclip? Would love to hear it.

 

[arieso94z28]

I have the SW long tubes without the cats, and I can tell you personally that I have never had a problem with the smell of exhaust. Never ever noticed the smell either of exhaust that people are talking about....

 

[KP6Five]

Yeah I don't buy the smell sell... I can understand no cats with a carbureted motor. It relies on the user to have it jetted , float levels, power valves etc... set correctly. That you would definitely have an exhaust smell. Newer fuel injected cars, working correctly and with a proper tune shouldn't have an exhaust smell. I think it's clearly a sound issue at this point unless you have to go through a state inspection.

 

[Barrel]

I've seen plenty of fuel injected cars with no cats that smell terrible, but maybe they're just running a little rich? IDK. I went catted. Had my car on the dyno with cats, without cats with my SW headers, there was an average difference of about 3-5hp. The noise level was about the same. I'd rather not drive past my local PD and have them smell fumes and pull me over than to gain the extra 3hp.

 

[Grimace427]

I'd rather not drive past my local PD and have them smell fumes and pull me over than to gain the extra 3hp.

That was my deal as well. Lots of traffic and police here. Even with my catted headers you can smell the exhaust and tell it isn't stock.

 

[350sexZ]

Do you have a soundclip? Would love to hear it.

video isn't the best quality, it was the first startup after the install. It gets really distorted as it gets louder. the videos also doesn't capture the low end sounds. but better than nothing. Take it with a grain of salt, video does not do it justice. sounds 225.5% better in person. [ame]




http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19560

 

[AMWill]

Having a tough time deciding whether to get catted or off-road LTs. I want to start adding some power and bump up the volume, but I don't know what would be best for me.

I met with a forum member here that has a Gibson setup (forgot if CB or just mufflers), and he ended up just having the stock cats and flex pipe deleted. It was insanely loud, I could barely hear my Corsa Xtreme CB running while his was idling across from me.

Cat pros:
-quieter, but by how much versus a comparable set of pipes?
-emissions... don't care.

Catless pros:
-more power? Would it be a negligible amount?
-cheaper
-ability to do cam tune if I'd want to in the future

Hey Oppo,

Everyone in here pretty much hit the nail on the head and it really comes down to personal preference. If you are worried about emissions and volume, I would go with a catted setup but if you are looking for the most power you can get, you would want to go off-road!

Personally, I run an off-road system on everyone of my Mustangs and I would never turn back.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions!

-Will

 

[moarhorsepower]

Yeah I don't buy the smell sell... I can understand no cats with a carbureted motor. It relies on the user to have it jetted , float levels, power valves etc... set correctly. That you would definitely have an exhaust smell. Newer fuel injected cars, working correctly and with a proper tune shouldn't have an exhaust smell. I think it's clearly a sound issue at this point unless you have to go through a state inspection.

You can definitely smell a difference. All the riced out Honda's around my area that are running catless have a distinct smell to them when you're within 10 feet easy.

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