tl;dr - was expecting old style cats on x-pipe, got the newer hi-flow ones.
Failed CA smog recently, so I decided to replace my Bassani x-pipe. It's a catted x-pipe, but the cats were hollowed out by the previous owner. To pass smog last time, I installed two of Bassani's hi-flow cats but left the hollowed cats on. Two working cats, but it looked like I had four. While I barely passed smog last time, CA changed their testing rules for manual transmissions - the attendant has to stay in a lower gear now (1st gear for the 15mph test, and 2nd for the 25mph test). This change caused me to barely fail - a couple points above the limits.
While I'm sure I could have used a couple of tricks to pass, I decided to make a more permanent change and just get two more cats. I bought a new Bassani catted x-pipe earlier this week, and since Bassani is based here in Southern California it arrived quickly. When I opened the box, I was quite surprised to see the new hi-flow cats on the x! All the photos on the web show the older style. The Bassani hi-flow cat has part number 25MSC. Here's a side-by-side photo of the two:
Should have taken a picture of the butcher job I did when I added the two other cats to the pipes, but ah well. Both x-pipes are exactly the same size, and the new x fit right on with no mods. Car does sound quieter than it used to, noticeably quieter. Haven't driven it enough to say if I've lost SOTP power.
Failed CA smog recently, so I decided to replace my Bassani x-pipe. It's a catted x-pipe, but the cats were hollowed out by the previous owner. To pass smog last time, I installed two of Bassani's hi-flow cats but left the hollowed cats on. Two working cats, but it looked like I had four. While I barely passed smog last time, CA changed their testing rules for manual transmissions - the attendant has to stay in a lower gear now (1st gear for the 15mph test, and 2nd for the 25mph test). This change caused me to barely fail - a couple points above the limits.
While I'm sure I could have used a couple of tricks to pass, I decided to make a more permanent change and just get two more cats. I bought a new Bassani catted x-pipe earlier this week, and since Bassani is based here in Southern California it arrived quickly. When I opened the box, I was quite surprised to see the new hi-flow cats on the x! All the photos on the web show the older style. The Bassani hi-flow cat has part number 25MSC. Here's a side-by-side photo of the two:
Should have taken a picture of the butcher job I did when I added the two other cats to the pipes, but ah well. Both x-pipes are exactly the same size, and the new x fit right on with no mods. Car does sound quieter than it used to, noticeably quieter. Haven't driven it enough to say if I've lost SOTP power.
