Going catless?

[Pete M]

Ok, so an Overkill tune is on my future....
I was going to go high flow cats, but they are 699 and I'd rather spend the $$$ on the tune.
My questions are:
Can't I just have my exhaust shop cut the cats out and put in a piece of pipe?
Sure would be a lot cheaper.
Since I live in a "safety inspection" only county and don't have to have the anal probe to the exhaust, the annual inspection is a moot point.
I currently have the MagnaFlow resonated xpipe and glass packs and love the sound of my exhaust.
How much will straight pipes change the tone?
How much gain should I see?
If I do this before the tune I'll get CELs out the wazoo, right?

Thanks

[Pete M]

Originally Posted by BooSTedFoST

You can. It'd be much cheaper than buying a $350 pair of catless downpipes, but they won't be stainless steel and you won't have your factory pipes to fall back to. Also, get the ARH catted downpipes if you want high flows. They are much cheaper at $475.

I'll keep the cats when I have them removed.
I have to wait for the tune to avoid CELs, right?
(I knew you'd jump on this post Sanjay...)
And... How much will the cat delete change my tone?

[ChibiBlackSheep]

Originally Posted by Pete M

My questions are:
Can't I just have my exhaust shop cut the cats out and put in a piece of pipe?

YMMV, but in my state it's illegal to do that, so it is hard to find a shop that will actually do that for you.

Originally Posted by Pete M

Since I live in a "safety inspection" only county and don't have to have the anal probe to the exhaust, the annual inspection is a moot point.

Safety inspections still do require visual inspection of emissions related items. If it LOOKS stock, you are fine. If it is clearly missing a piece, your shop can flag and fail you in some cases. For that reason alone, I have gutted the cats on my one project car instead of just straight piping. You will also fail if you have a CEL.

Originally Posted by Pete M

I currently have the MagnaFlow resonated xpipe and glass packs and love the sound of my exhaust. How much will straight pipes change the tone? How much gain should I see?

I can't speak to the gains / sound change on the LFX. But you will notice a smellier exhaust and much blacker pipes very quickly.

Originally Posted by Pete M

If I do this before the tune I'll get CELs out the wazoo, right?

YES. Luckily Will does retunes, so I would start with the tune, and the removal of those OBD2 codes, and then retune for the new exhaust flow.

[Pete M]

I replaced the stock mufflers with the glass packs and like the sound, but it had a bit of a rasp and was loud at 80mph cruising.
The resonated xpipe really made a difference. Love the way it sounds now and I can have a normal conversation while on the highway..
Since I'm building on a budget, naturally I'm looking at cutting costs, but not so much that I won't be happy with the results

[Magna_Flow]

Originally Posted by BooSTedFoST

Catless needs a lot of help from the rest of the exhaust to be as clean as possible. Mine wasn't bad, but the muffler delete and resonated x-pipe wasn't enough to keep all of the rasp away. It was very loud, too. Especially the cold starts.

This is an important bit of advice. Removing the cats creates a LOT of rasp and some drone, which is not something most people want. You can actually make tons of power on the stock cats without any issues, and it saves you the trouble of dealing with all the other inconveniences that come with decatting.