New Design Solo Hi Flow Cats 2013-2015

[foo.fighter]

Hey everyone

Just wanted to make a quick post/review of the Hi Flow Cats. Im sure nearly everyone knows about them and most also know 2013 - 2015 models would throw a CEL when installing these. It was discussed in this other thread to death lol for anyone who wants a refresher.
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=382179
Long story short, a solution was discovered by using the big daddy extenders... but that of course is an extra cost above the cats... 2010-2012 models were fine using the regular extenders. So why not the 2013s and up? Well I have some good news...

If you want to skip all my rambling just go to the last paragraph

OK so just a quick story of when I got these cats...will try to keep it short as I can.. I am lucky enough to be living in the same city where these cats are manufactured and the shop also installs them as they are a full time Exhaust shop. So I got my first set of cats in late summer of 2014 sometime during August. Drove around for bit with a big grin on my face then BAM! a CEL shows up.... Only reason I initially bought them was because that light wasn't suppose to show up. Anyway went back to the shop and showed the assistant manager Zack, and shop manager Jack, the light. At the time I was the first 2013 that had come through their shop and they were just as surprised as I was. So we hook it up and checked the codes, both banks showing efficiency codes, I forgot to jot down them specific codes at the time. They changed the extenders and reset the codes and I was good to go again but I didn't make it very far before the code was back. I went back and forth a few times to the shop trying various extenders out.. then we tried replacing the cats with new ones but same style..

September came along and I was still throwing codes. Now i'm back at the shop and they decided to install a different set of hi flow cats, a different design.. If I remember correctly, the shop guys were telling me this is what they were running on the G8's... So Drove around with these new ones, and they actually sounded different (more decal pop) for some reason. Anyway the lights were back shortly after, so i'm back at the shop and they are checking for any leaks and things like that. We decide to try some different extenders on these new cats, and of course none of them worked. Some drove farther than others before the light came on but that's about it.. think I got nearly 500km on the longest trip. so maybe some progress? By this time I had stumbled upon the thread about the big daddy extenders and had passed that information along to Jack. This was a worst case scenario solution though..

Fast forward to November because I went on a long vacay in October... Storage time is fast approaching and we haven't figured this problem out yet. They decided to try a third type of cat design out. Sure enough I threw the CEL shortly after.. Looks like the problem isn't going to get fixed. Jack assured me the problem would be looked into over the winter and told me to bring the car back in the spring.

April finally comes and I got the car out again. After an oil change I drive directly to the shop. They got a new design cat waiting for me. We get it all installed up and off I go! I drove around for a while.. a few days turned into a week turned into a couple... Thing are looking great! I went back tot he shop to give the feedback. Told Zack I would be back after a couple thousand Km to get my shorty headers installed if all went well with the cats

Ok so I could have made this post a few months ago BUT I wanted to drive it a lot to absolutely make sure that the light wouldn't return. Its been nearly 5000km and all is well. The car is running perfect with just the newly designed SOLO cats and their extenders. NO Big Daddies installed here and NO CEL. We checked the system and even the permanent code had disappeared.. Finally!!! I recently went back and they hooked me up big time on my shorty install since I was their test subject for so long lol.. Really happy with everything, the butt dyno is very pleased as well haha. Most importantly I highly recommend anyone in the GTA to check out Zorro Muffler if they want to get a set of these cats or some other exhaust work done. Jack and his team looked after me very well the entire time... they were never once mad or annoyed to see me (I came to the shop ALOT, some weeks it was everyday lol) That is some seriously good customer service...

Sorry for the long post, I figured it would save me from answering a ton of questions later.

[vinman]

I've been waiting for news like this, so when ordering can you specify what year you have so you get the right ones now I wonder?

[foo.fighter]

Thats a question your going to have to ask the rep. Is it steve or jeff? I had even asked the shop manager Jack, because one of those guys (steve or jeff?) is who he deals with so the online community is taken care of..

[foo.fighter]

I just checked the sponsor page. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/member.php?u=15042
Contact Steve.

[Mydivorcegift]

Off topic....

Going to see FF in 3 months. Got great seats.

Carry on...

[ChocoTaco369]

This is fine and all, but the solution to fix the CEL issue on the 2013-2015 models is just to double up the extensions. Jeff at Solo will send you an extra set for free. Screw them into each other to double the length and the issue goes away. I've put like 8,000 miles on my Solo's with no issues after doing this. Takes an extra 30 seconds and it's free.

[foo.fighter]

That I didn't know.. but going forward new customers wouldn't have to do that. Good Fix for anyone running the other design though!