well I dunno what would pass smog or not, but I looked under my car when I bought it, and said the same thing!!!! WTF!!!!
there are 4 cats, the other two little "cans" are resonaters of some sort. but still, 4 cats!!!! sheesh!
I'd do an off-road H-pipe, and keep the stock one, use it for passing a test, then bolt in the new one, it's not a very difficult thing to bolt in and out... (well it'd be worth it to me anyway! I can't stand catrs, they rob horsepower, kill gas mileage, stink when they go bad, and cost a lot of money!!!
there are 4 cats, the other two little "cans" are resonaters of some sort. but still, 4 cats!!!! sheesh!
I'd do an off-road H-pipe, and keep the stock one, use it for passing a test, then bolt in the new one, it's not a very difficult thing to bolt in and out... (well it'd be worth it to me anyway! I can't stand catrs, they rob horsepower, kill gas mileage, stink when they go bad, and cost a lot of money!!!
Like he said , but if you really want Cats get a magnaflow X-pipe w/2 cats. Afriend of mine has a 98GT and he put on a magnaflow X-pipe w/cats and still passes emissions. The key is to do a oil change and run some fuel system cleaner before your test and always drive your car for about 20min before you goin for the test , because you want your cats to be hot and at operating temp, going in with cold cats is bad.Bill9000 said:
For cars 96 and up in my state, no sniffer is put into the exhaust pipe, all they do is connect to the stock OBDII port and it checks for a "Check Engine" codes. I'm told that as long as the O2 sensors see a 50% reduction between the front and rear O2's, no "Check Engine" code is transmitted, hence you pass emissions.
As far as visual inspections, IF the inspector does ever stick his head under my car, he WILL see my two cats connected to my MRT H-pipe. I highly doubt the average inspector knows newer Mustangs have 4 cats, as long as he see's cat's I'm sure it won't go any father than that.
One last thing, if they do ever notice you have 2 cats instead of 4, all you have to say is the stock H-pipe was damaged by: a rock/tree branch/small farm animal, whatever. It's not against the law to replace a damaged stock H-pipe so long as you replace it with one that has cats & is 50 state legal. Check out this site for Cali:
"A legal aftermarket catalyst is one that is listed in an ARB approved manufacturers catalogue for the year, make, model, and engine size of vehicle on which it is being installed. Manufacturers of aftermarket catalytic converters must obtain an Executive Order for their products from the Air Resources Board in order to be listed in an approved catalogue."
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermkt/aftermkt.htm
As far as visual inspections, IF the inspector does ever stick his head under my car, he WILL see my two cats connected to my MRT H-pipe. I highly doubt the average inspector knows newer Mustangs have 4 cats, as long as he see's cat's I'm sure it won't go any father than that.
One last thing, if they do ever notice you have 2 cats instead of 4, all you have to say is the stock H-pipe was damaged by: a rock/tree branch/small farm animal, whatever. It's not against the law to replace a damaged stock H-pipe so long as you replace it with one that has cats & is 50 state legal. Check out this site for Cali:
"A legal aftermarket catalyst is one that is listed in an ARB approved manufacturers catalogue for the year, make, model, and engine size of vehicle on which it is being installed. Manufacturers of aftermarket catalytic converters must obtain an Executive Order for their products from the Air Resources Board in order to be listed in an approved catalogue."
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermkt/aftermkt.htm
according to the BAR there is only one company that sells approved cats for OBD2 vehicles for Ford. also the vehicle must have a damaged midpipe.
Black Stang: it is illegal for you to modify or remove any of your 6 cats. in CA the only legal midpipe is the OEM one with all of the cats on it, wether it be 4 or 6. if you take an aftermarket midpipe to a shop and they install it they can be fined up to $10,000 for modifying a catalytic converter.
Black Stang: it is illegal for you to modify or remove any of your 6 cats. in CA the only legal midpipe is the OEM one with all of the cats on it, wether it be 4 or 6. if you take an aftermarket midpipe to a shop and they install it they can be fined up to $10,000 for modifying a catalytic converter.
ACSPONY said:
Makes me wonder what my new 02 GT has...maybe like 18 cats?
Black Stang 97 said:
Yeah if you mess with the cats, like getting an off road H-pipe with no cats...then it will trip the check engine light. Thats why you need to get MIL Eliminators that come with most aftermarket H-pipes. This will let you use the H-pipe without tripping the check engine light, because the MILS bypass the light.
As for performance. The Off road H-pipe will give you more HP, but the cats do help with the backpressure to the exhaust that you will not be getting with the H. So your exhaust should be more snappy and poppy. Shouldn't really be a problem.
:OT: bdcardinal, rant buddy, you and JonJon have the BEST avatars!...that episode was one of the best I've seen in the last year...those guys are geniuses...they ripped here apart...okay sorry for highjacking...
BTW, these types of questions will never end...the reason : many mustang owners want that loud performance sound that a catback or welded-in aftermarket mufflers alone can't provide. You love your new Flowmasters/Magnaflows/Dynomax/MRT/Spintech/Warlock/Hooker/Bassani/SLP/Borla setup until you hear a sick-as-hell stang pass by you and realize that you want to be just as loud (in my case louder)...but Johny Law has decided that you can;t do it and sleep well at night...do it and forever look over your shoulders...
BTW, these types of questions will never end...the reason : many mustang owners want that loud performance sound that a catback or welded-in aftermarket mufflers alone can't provide. You love your new Flowmasters/Magnaflows/Dynomax/MRT/Spintech/Warlock/Hooker/Bassani/SLP/Borla setup until you hear a sick-as-hell stang pass by you and realize that you want to be just as loud (in my case louder)...but Johny Law has decided that you can;t do it and sleep well at night...do it and forever look over your shoulders...
Its not worth taking them off - trust me. Get a new midpipe.
I have the same problem...except my midpipe actually IS damaged (I have a feeling the previous owner took the car into a ditch
Anyways back to the topic...I have found that Bassani and Pypes catted x-pipes are both certified 50 STATE LEGAL. I personally am probably going to buy the Bassani this spring. Also thinking about which catback I want to get...not sure yet.
I have the same problem...except my midpipe actually IS damaged (I have a feeling the previous owner took the car into a ditch
Anyways back to the topic...I have found that Bassani and Pypes catted x-pipes are both certified 50 STATE LEGAL. I personally am probably going to buy the Bassani this spring. Also thinking about which catback I want to get...not sure yet.
bassani is not legal for use in CA on 96+ cars unless you can prove that your stock pipe is damaged and you out of the CA required 8 year 100k mile emissions warrenty. if you are within the warrenty then you have to use a new OEM pipe. same goes for Pypes. unless the cats they use are made by TWC then they are not legal in CA. thats the only company i could find with CARB approved cats for Ford passenger vehicles.
ACSPONY said:
That combination will sound awesome. Its allways wise to keep the stock midpipe even if your state has no emissions testing. You never know when you might have to move to a state that does. Do your self a favor don't ever move to California. The reason I'm here is , because I'm in the military. One more thing when you put the stocker back on for the test make sure you run it for a 100 miles and drive the car for 20mins before you take the car for the test, That way the cats will be at operating temp .