catted or O/R x-pipe?

fstylw03

New Member
May 3, 2004
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I have an 03 mach 1 with flowmaster american thunder exaust. I bought an offroad bbk and have decided not to instal it. The question is go catted or O/R. The exaust sounds like there isnt much back pressure now and I dont wanna lose any power or torque, but I definately want it to sound a little louder and more aggressive. :shrug:
 
It's gonna be way loud! Too loud for me for a daily driver. We had a BBK O/R on my wife's 01...yanked it. Sounded great for a month or so, then got tired of it, then started to hate it. Now it wears single cats on each side...a nice, healthy sound, quite a bit louder than my 02 with the Flow AT CB, but not too loud. As close to perfect as we could have hoped. That's what I'm putting on the 02 next - a catted X.
 
power will only get better with o/r. that backpressure crap is a big myth IMO. well I hate cats becaue they cost money. there is a big difference in price between catted and o/r. if you like loud go o/r. flows and o/r sound good but it loud and anoying on a daily IMO. I personally belive in buying an exhaust you like the sound of and putting in an o/r pipe. people who say they like and exhaust better with cats bought the wrong exhaust IMO because cat change the sound of the exhuast. if you buy 50 series flow and run no cats it is cheaper than buy 40series and running cats if that make sense. same goes with magnaflow maganpack. some poeple with complain about packs and o/r pipe.

to me you either buy a loud exhaust and leave the cats in. or buy a nice sounding exhaust and ditch the cats. the later is the better preforming option. so people on the other had just like lound. in that case just bolt the off road pipe up.
 
Get the catted for a daily driver and forget about the mils cats only cost a couple horsepower. :( You'll still beat hondas :D
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put on what you have and if it gets too loud, have a pair of cats welded up. The magnaflow (carsound) catalytic converters sell for about 40 bucks each on ebay from seller performancepeddler or something close to that name. If you do end up having them welded in, you saved some money as this way is cheaper than buying a catted pipe and you will have better cats than BBK uses (I don't think they use the magnaflow cats).
 
i'll toss in my 2cents.

I'm on an 02 GT Coupe w/ SLP long tube ceramic headers, SLP OFFROAD X pipe, and SLP Loudmouth catbacks. It is INSANELY loud right under 3 grand RPM. As an example, I was on the highway, cruising, and there were a PACK of harley davidsons up ahead. I passed them, and dwarfed their sound. It was hilarious.

When I'm driving on a highway that is seperated by a barrier (the opposite directions are seperated by a wall of some sort) the sound of how loud my exhaust is, bounces off the wall, and actually, will hurt my ears, it's so loud, if I have the window down.

There is no drone at ALL through out the whole RPM range.


This car IS my daily driver, and I love it. Once you get the hang of where the "loud" points are on the RPM range, it's relitively elementry to control your sound effectively... When right in front of a cop... Or if you're next to an obnoxious ricer, you just want to intimidate. :nice:


I've had a catted X and an offroad X. The difference is like day and night. Almost as hugely different as changing the mufflers them selves.
 
i have the SLP catted X along with JBA headers and Magnaflow catback. for me, the sound level is perfect. it's loud when i get on it. and mellow when cruising. i love the sound more and more every time i drive the car.
 
go O/R, you'll love it.
The MagnaFlows and o/r was a perfect balance for me.
The car has a nice rumble at idle and screams gettin on it.
Definately an intimidating sound.
You can be beside someone all calm then tach it up real fast
and the look of WTF is priceless.
 
03-s281 said it best, I couldn't have said it better.... the look of WTF is priceless :)

Go O/R!

I have the bassani midpipe....they give you tubes and cats... you can have them on and off in about 20 minutes.... I think they sound better without... still low and quiet if your not on it... but you WILL turn heads a block or two away when you do !
 
fstylw03 said:
I have an 03 mach 1 with flowmaster american thunder exaust. I bought an offroad bbk and have decided not to instal it. The question is go catted or O/R. The exaust sounds like there isnt much back pressure now and I dont wanna lose any power or torque, but I definately want it to sound a little louder and more aggressive. :shrug:
the 4v already lacks in the low low end compared to the 2v gt motor. I'd go catted so you don't notice and loss down low. It will also sound smoother with the 2 chamber delta mufflers in your catback.. I have the same mufflers on my gt with a magnaflow catted X.. sounds veeery smooth, no rasp. You don't gain much more at all with o/r X, maybe 2-4 hp.. but if you want a meaner sound, got with o/r X.

my opinion

-wade
 
millatime said:
put on what you have and if it gets too loud, have a pair of cats welded up. The magnaflow (carsound) catalytic converters sell for about 40 bucks each on ebay from seller performancepeddler or something close to that name. If you do end up having them welded in, you saved some money as this way is cheaper than buying a catted pipe and you will have better cats than BBK uses (I don't think they use the magnaflow cats).

That’s what I did with my Bassani. Now I don’t have to worry it come inspection time.