California Legal H-pipe

alot of the major exhaust companies produce ca legal h- and x-pipes, however it depends on whether your looking for smog legal or street legal - see you can just keep you stock h-pipe and use any after market mid pipe and just swap it out when it comes to smog. Howeer you get pulled over and anofficer actauly checks for cats and you ahve none, your screwed. Then you can geta number of aftermarket h-x pipes that have cats and be good for either smog or an officer.
I personally would get bassani's new catted x-pipe, the cats are a new design that are the least restrictive out of all cats on the market. PLus the kit comes with "straight tubes" that can be used when you simply unscrew the cats and place to tubes in for an "off road" performance x-pipe. Its the best of both worlds in just a matter of minutes.

pretty much all h pipes with cats should be ok, bbk, mac, etc.

DO keep in mind, technically you are not supposed to reduce the number of cats on a car. Most ca smog stations may not care, but it is common to run into a tech who will NOT pass a mustang with a 2 catted h pipe, even if it is carb certified. It's probably best to keep a 4 catted h pipe on till after the smog, or search for a station who won't be anal about it.

another vote for bassani new mid-pipe.

88stangmangt said:

another vote for bassani new mid-pipe.

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isnt it the coolest

v8only said:

it is common to run into a tech who will NOT pass a mustang with a 2 catted h pipe, even if it is carb certified.

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No such thing as a 2 cat CARB certified pipe. The manufacturer will say it's "CARB Certified" - BUT only the cats are certified....NOT the entire assembly. In CA, you must have the same number of cats that the car came with from the factory.

cevtv said:

No such thing as a 2 cat CARB certified pipe. The manufacturer will say it's "CARB Certified" - BUT only the cats are certified....NOT the entire assembly. In CA, you must have the same number of cats that the car came with from the factory.

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that sucks!!!!!!!!!!!

cevtv said:

No such thing as a 2 cat CARB certified pipe. The manufacturer will say it's "CARB Certified" - BUT only the cats are certified....NOT the entire assembly. In CA, you must have the same number of cats that the car came with from the factory.

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Very well stated, and easy to understand when put that way.

It all depends where you go, i have the mac h pipe with cats and have passed smog in the regular station and test only. Knock on wood

Yep, he beat me to it. My friend tried passing with a "CARB" 2-cat MAC H-pipe, but everywhere he went he was turned down. No 2-cat H or X-pipe is smog legal. Your best bet is to keep the stocker and swap it in everytime you need to smog it.

there easy to change y not get a catless pipe and switch before smog testing they soud so much better also without the cats

I had mine done (smog check) a couple of months ago and I passed with MagnaFlow catted X pipe and it only has 2 cats. The point is that they can turn you down (if they want) if you don't have all 4 cats is what cevtv was saying.

y would you buy somthing to restric your car

I never realy felt a difference with the off road h pipe and the catted high flow one, i like the tone with the cats compared to the off road, but thats just me. plus i got it as a present

Cats

That's why I like this forum. Damned near everything you guys wrote up there is 100% correct. It's true that there are Cat H and X pipes out there that will enable you to pass the 'Sniff' check. Some of them do even better than Stock!!!! (more surface area on the anode than stock). In California however, it is illegal to remove your stock cats [UNLESS] they are malfunctioning (no way they can prove they weren't) but... (this is the part that does suck) you must replace them with the factory pieces. Someone up there asked "Why not use an off-road pipe when you're not driving to the smog station?" Answer: Cos if the cop decides to be a pain in the arse and looks under the car then it's $1500 per cat! Couple that with a flat foot that may know a little about Mustangs and Wham! You just got a $6000 ticket (That's a 347 Longblock from CHP with all the bells and whistles). Whereas you put a good x-pipe with cats on in place of the stock piece then run yourself through the lanes. Unless something has changed in the last couple years (I no longer live in California) then you get you smog checked at a station that YOU pay for. 99.9% of the time all they care about are the numbers and you'll be fine. If you happen to get that one guy who doesn't like the color of your money then go elsewhere. If you're in one of those places where you must use a state lane well try running it through anyway. If it doesn't pass then go home and put the stockers on then go back. Tell him you had to go get one from a junkyard if he gives you hassle. ONe final note. On 'most' engines that make peak power under 6200 RPM, you'll see over and over on dyno tests that they actually produce more torque than an offroad pipe.... and it ain't bad that it'll keep the cops off your back as well.