scottGT500 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Hey, with Lethal coming out with a great non-catted X, it is making me think really hard about getting an aftermarket mid-pipe. I am wondering what exactly are the pros and cons of both catted and non-catted. I live in Mississippi so emissions is a non factor. I just want to know the goods and bads of each one. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT500FLYBOY Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Hey, with Lethal coming out with a great non-catted X, it is making me think really hard about getting an aftermarket mid-pipe. I am wondering what exactly are the pros and cons of both catted and non-catted. I live in Mississippi so emissions is a non factor. I just want to know the goods and bads of each one. Scott I can speak to AR headers with race cats - LOUD AS HELL!!! I took them off in favor of stock manifolds and KR mufflers. It cost me probably 40hp, but the sound is great - and the loudness under control. Non-catted? I can't imagine how loud. You'd need some resonators and good mufflers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbr1000 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 I had headers, non cat w/ flowmaster mufflers on my 5.0 Loved the sound, deep rumble. Sometimes smelled like gasoline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottGT500 Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 I can speak to AR headers with race cats - LOUD AS HELL!!! I took them off in favor of stock manifolds and KR mufflers. It cost me probably 40hp, but the sound is great - and the loudness under control. Non-catted? I can't imagine how loud. You'd need some resonators and good mufflers... I plan on keeping the stock manifolds for now. I was also thinking about keeping the stock mufflers as well. The stock mufflers seem to be pretty "tame" so I would hope that the catless x-pipe won't be too loud!? Stock headers + cat-less x-pipe + stock mufflers = ??????????????? Will this setup be very loud? Tell me what you think! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1fever Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Just remember you will have to retune it. Should be much louder and you should pick up 10-15 ponies depending on the other mods you have. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT500FLYBOY Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 I plan on keeping the stock manifolds for now. I was also thinking about keeping the stock mufflers as well. The stock mufflers seem to be pretty "tame" so I would hope that the catless x-pipe won't be too loud!? Stock headers + cat-less x-pipe + stock mufflers = ??????????????? Will this setup be very loud? Tell me what you think! Scott When I had the AR headers w/race cats on - I had to take the KRs off and put the stock mufflers back on. That quieted it down a lot. I ended up putting Borla Touring mufflers on to give it a better sound. Though neither was as good as the KRs with the stock manifold. Stock manifold and mufflers and cat-less - me thinks that would be fine. You still might consider the Borla Touring mufflers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottGT500 Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 When I had the AR headers w/race cats on - I had to take the KRs off and put the stock mufflers back on. That quieted it down a lot. I ended up putting Borla Touring mufflers on to give it a better sound. Though neither was as good as the KRs with the stock manifold. Stock manifold and mufflers and cat-less - me thinks that would be fine. You still might consider the Borla Touring mufflers. So you think this should be okay? I just want the "louder" version of the stock sound...............for now. But I do NOT want to rediculously loud. I have heard the Borla Touring, they do sound awesome. Same great Borla sound just not as nasty as the stingers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT500FLYBOY Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 So you think this should be okay? I just want the "louder" version of the stock sound...............for now. But I do NOT want to rediculously loud. I have heard the Borla Touring, they do sound awesome. Same great Borla sound just not as nasty as the stingers... I would think yes - though I can only share my experience. Others may differ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottGT500 Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Just remember you will have to retune it. Should be much lowder and you should pick up 10-15 ponies depending on the other mods you have. Roger Why exactly will you have to retune? I know that the o2 sensors will freak out and be set off...but what else needs to be done to "keep it safe"? I should be getting a tune very soon, but I may want to go ahead and get the non-catted x before the tune. That is why I need to know the ins and outs on cat vs non-cat. I had a '97 Cobra with a off road H...never had a tune done plugged the o2 sensor (10 years ago). I definately want to take FULL care of this car...It was a large investment so I do NOT want to mess anything up due to ignorance....if you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1fever Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Why exactly will you have to retune? I know that the o2 sensors will freak out and be set off...but what else needs to be done to "keep it safe"? I should be getting a tune very soon, but I may want to go ahead and get the non-catted x before the tune. That is why I need to know the ins and outs on cat vs non-cat. I had a '97 Cobra with a off road H...never had a tune done plugged the o2 sensor (10 years ago). I definately want to take FULL care of this car...It was a large investment so I do NOT want to mess anything up due to ignorance....if you know what I mean. I had an off road x on an 01 gt, 03 cobra, and 06 gt. If the 02 sensors are out of wack and not turned off they will read a lean condition resulting in the engine dumping fuel. This can foul your plugs and will make you loose power. Too much octane means reduced combustion or incomplete combustion which can lead to detonation/preignition. Not good in a supercharged car. Tune it and remember to optimize performance you have to tweak the tune. Respectfully, Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottGT500 Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I had an off road x on an 01 gt, 03 cobra, and 06 gt. If the 02 sensors are out of wack and not turned off they will read a lean condition resulting in the engine dumping fuel. This can foul your plugs and will make you loose power. Too much octane means reduced combustion or incomplete combustion which can lead to detonation/preignition. Not good in a supercharged car. Tune it and remember to optimize performance you have to tweak the tune. Respectfully, Roger That makes PERFECT sense. If I go the off road x route, I will definately not put the x on until I get a tune! Great advice Roger, thanks! I noticed that Magnaflow has a catted X...I can't really understand the pricing though. MSRP is like $1600, discounted to like $600, huh? Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpmurr Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I'd like to know how an aluminized steel off road x-pipe like the Lethal one will hold up? Since most of the x-pipes I see are stainless steal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake18 Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I plan on keeping the stock manifolds for now. I was also thinking about keeping the stock mufflers as well. The stock mufflers seem to be pretty "tame" so I would hope that the catless x-pipe won't be too loud!? Stock headers + cat-less x-pipe + stock mufflers = ??????????????? Will this setup be very loud? Tell me what you think! Scott I started out with Basanni 3" from the manifolds with no cats. With the stock air box and no tune it was terribly loud. The drone was across a large range of rpm. After I installed the CAI and loaded the tune, it changed the sound dramatically, but still had a bad drone. I drive my car as much as possible, and just wasn't happy with how loud it was. I had the high flow cats installed, and had the car dynotuned. That did the trick! I might have given up a little HP, but the car sounds incredible. I have the off road x-pipe if I ever want to install it, I only drone at the 1800 to 2000 rpm range now, which is OK. I am going to do a little sound deadening over the winter. I dont think you would be very loud if you keep the stock mufflers, but IMO I think you are robbing the benefits of picking up HP going with no cats, by keeping the restrictive stock mufflers. Basanni has a great sound, as well as a few others on the market. Man, I think it took me 5 months of watching videos on youtube before I made my decision. Here is a link to what mine sounds like currently. http://s754.photobucket.com/albums/xx188/r...ent=funtime.flv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1fever Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I started out with Basanni 3" from the manifolds with no cats. With the stock air box and no tune it was terribly loud. The drone was across a large range of rpm. After I installed the CAI and loaded the tune, it changed the sound dramatically, but still had a bad drone. I drive my car as much as possible, and just wasn't happy with how loud it was. I had the high flow cats installed, and had the car dynotuned. That did the trick! I might have given up a little HP, but the car sounds incredible. I have the off road x-pipe if I ever want to install it, I only drone at the 1800 to 2000 rpm range now, which is OK. I am going to do a little sound deadening over the winter. I dont think you would be very loud if you keep the stock mufflers, but IMO I think you are robbing the benefits of picking up HP going with no cats, by keeping the restrictive stock mufflers. Basanni has a great sound, as well as a few others on the market. Man, I think it took me 5 months of watching videos on youtube before I made my decision. Here is a link to what mine sounds like currently. http://s754.photobucket.com/albums/xx188/r...ent=funtime.flv Your only giving up about 5hp max. The sound is the reason for the mufflers. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1fever Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 That makes PERFECT sense. If I go the off road x route, I will definately not put the x on until I get a tune! Great advice Roger, thanks! I noticed that Magnaflow has a catted X...I can't really understand the pricing though. MSRP is like $1600, discounted to like $600, huh? Scott Glad I could help . A catted x is always going to be more expensive. However there shouldn't be that much difference, so it sounds like it was a typo. I know Ford wanted 1200 dollars for a catted stock h-pipe in 2001. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpmurr Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 I'd like to know how an aluminized steel off road x-pipe like the Lethal one will hold up? Since most of the x-pipes I see are stainless steal. To answer my own question. I got a PM back from Jared and he said the x-pipe should hold up well. He had a similar aluminized x-pipe on another car for four years. He only had some minor rust where it scraped a speed bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneTrickPony Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Just curious, in Washington State our cars have to pass a Vehicle Emissions Test every 5 years I believe. Do you have these testing stations in your states? Our cars have to pass the test before we can license the vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottGT500 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Just curious, in Washington State our cars have to pass a Vehicle Emissions Test every 5 years I believe. Do you have these testing stations in your states? Our cars have to pass the test before we can license the vehicle. No tests in Mississippi. "anything goes"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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