Quote:
Originally Posted by
jinsoku3g
JUST TOOK MY STRAIGHT PIPE OFF!
im selling my straight pipe cat replacement by Clear Image if your interested, it definetly freed up some horsepower.. felt much more open on all rpms.. not just the higher rpms, although i will admit that with the stock cat back on the car feels more responsive..if that makes sense lol .. believe it or not i got better gas mileage too..
it took my car 1200 miles to throw a code.. most likely because of an exhaust leak over the straight pipe..
you will be heard. theres no getting around that..
I mean no disrespect, but "feeling" more power at all RPMs and having power at all RPMs is completely different.
You WILL lose some power in the low-end, basically off-idle and into the lower mid-rpm range. This is because the additional back-pressure does improve the lower torque (the "more responsive" feeling you're getting when you put the cat back on).
It's really hard to judge SOTP when the car is extremely loud, and it's making all that noise, and you're nailing the gas...
It's like that old Nissan 300ZX that I saw slamming through the gears. The rear shocks were totally shot, so when the guy would floor it, the car would lurch forward with the front end shooting up and the rear bumper scraping on the pavement. The guy probably thought he was running some ridiculous times, but he was no match for my mid-16 second quarter mile 1997 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan with the 2.4 TwinCam... hahah...
This is different of course for Turbos... since the turbo provides ample backpressure in itself and a straight pipe is the most ideal setup you could get.
Bottom line, if you're looking to make your car more well rounded, (which INCLUDES quarter mile and 0-60 times), then install a high-flow catalytic converter.
I guarantee to you... that a car with a shorty header and a straight pipe is slower in a quarter mile drag than the same car with a shorty header and a higher-flowing catalytic converter (in the case of the Solstice about 150-200 more cfm).
On the other hand, the car with the straight pipe would probably run a slightly better track time at Silverstone than the car with the high-flow cat.
But lets be honest, 99% of the races you do on the street are going to be a drag race (hopefully).