If I were to replace the catilytic converter on my N/a 86 gxl, with a straight pipe, and a stock muffler, will I get more power?

 

Nope, probably not. If you're lucky you might get almost 80% as much power as now.










replacing the cat with a straight pipe (although you should be shot for this, 'cause i have to bust my *** in CA to pass ridiculous emissions that you cancel out in 3 blocks of driving without your cat) will give you like 5-6 HP , so there you go. a barely noticeable power increase, more noise, and HUGE amounts more pollution. don't do it.

 

Dude, that guy is on crack. The Pre-Cat's and Cat on your car are HUGE exhaust restrictions! Ditch those puppys for a straight pipe!!!

 

It's so horribley, unfairly true However, if I could do it, and get away with it, I'd do it too! Hell, I'm doing it eventually anyway!

Steve

 

Man getting rid of your cats is what we preach about around here.

 

No, don't violate Federal and State laws just for a few HP, do it the right way.

Get a high flow cat. there are a couple out now that work fine with a rotary. The difference between a High flow cat and an open race track type exhaust is only a couple HP and not worth the illegality of driving without a proper smog system.

Plus then you don't stink up your city and country as much.

I heard that some states that are hard up for funds, back east are starting to monitor boards like this to look for people that have changed their exhaust so they can trace them down and ticket them.

And Ryde _Or_Die only irresponsible people preach that

 

but for the cost, the straight pipe makes so much more sense, and tough luck u live in cali, i can tak emy cats off cause i live in Canada and my car is old enough, but i can only drive it for half the year. i think that 's a fair deal

 

cool, will a high performance muffler help get more power too?

 

Environment? I released my A/C referigerant into the atmospehere, I have no emissions, and I have a header/presilencer. Do I feel bad? Yes. Am I gonna change it? No. A high flow muffler will also add a few hp. But remember, a less restrictive exhaust = less back pressure. Less back pressure = less torque.

 

Are you planning on still using the 6-port actuators? If so, then you gotta keep your main cat or a high flow one for correct operation of the actuators. Otherwise, go for a straight pipe. On my GSL-SE, I could not get enough backpressure with a hollowed out cat, well only at very high rpm anyway, so i had to wire the ports open.

 

Well here there are no emissions testing at all. I really don't think that I am going to hurt the environment too much, ever see those damn semi's exhaust? Now that is like 500 cars with no emissions put together. Someone needs to crack down on that ****.

 

Emissions laws are a joke! Why should we feel guilty about emissions from an rx-7? So many people running around in 6-7 liter SUVs and diesels only because they are judged by a different set of rules. They pollute far more than a rex but emissions are based on concentration of HCs per unit of displacement. Convenient little arrangement isn't it? Our rx7s get the shaft cause they are rated at 1.3L.
Gawd, I hate SUVs!
Ok, rant over.

 

Less back pressure != less torque
Slower exhaust gas velocity = less torque

Base on the same diameter piping, less restriction = higher gas velocity = more torque, hence overall faster. But bigger diameter piping will have slower gas velocity in bottom end, hence weak low end, but will gain it back up top.

 

Spoken like a true Texan. Texas is the routin'-ist, toottin'-ist, polutin'-ist, executin'-ist place on earth!

BTW: I'm probably putting a mid-pipe in.

Here in Canada personal automobiles account for about 13% of our national CO2 emmisions. (I realize cats don't do anything to improve this) In the US it got to be substantially less (fire up those coal reactors that were exempted from the '75 clean air act baby!). My point being autos, are not the main cause of problems. My attitude is that we (and you) should make hardcore changes like those in the 70s. Not likely with a Texan Repulican in the whitehouse with 70%+ approval (that makes sense...) and Repulicans dominating the congress. Baby steps are useless.

 

IMO anybody that just ditches the cats helps create the problem of smog and deserves to be fined or arrested. I am glad I live in a state like CA or NY that cares about the enviroment and has smog restrictions. I can get good HP without bypassing the laws.

Man, the United States and Canda together are the greatest CO2 contributers in the world. We are creating global warming, we are poluting the atmosphere for our children. I can see that the couple of extra HP, or saving a couple of bucks mentality from Ryde _Or_Die, and I am sure I am gona be called a tree hugger for it, But the laws are there to protect the world from our mess.

I am sorry that "couple of extra HP, or saving a couple of bucks mentality" sucks, and you obvously don't care about the world. I guess I won't care when the next global warming induced super Huricane hits FL and whipes it clean.

 

heheh im in CA and i did it hehehe

-josh

 

So I'm assuming you have contacted your state and federal senator and congressman and told them that you want Kyoto radified and then some? Ever voted repulican before?

In all fairness, I really admire what CA has done by setting the standard in auto emmisions, etc. However, I think even their ULEV standard doesn't go far enough. We have to make radical changes or else it's pointless. The rate that we're going right now it really doesn't matter if everyone rips their cats off. It makes no difference. The US and to a lesser extent Canada have been pathetically stupid when it comes to greenhouse emmisions and such things. Is there any reason why we shouldn't all be driving atleast Hybrid Electrics and turbo diesels getting 40+ MPG city? I love my 7, but we need to make big sacrifices. Judging from the state of the VW TDI, I don't think enthusiasts will have to settle that much. That sort of change would be considered a first step and needs to be implemented almost immediately.

My point in the other post about autos being a small part is part of this too. We have to change the way energy is produced. Some substantial changes can be made that cost virtually nothing. eg. The city of Toronto (civic gov't) reduced it's emmisions under Kyoto by 67% which translated into about 1% (I think) of Canada's total. They did this by capturing the methane given off by some of their landfills and burning it for power. They made money off this!

The biggest problem is that people are ignorant and don't care to know anything about any issue. eg. Enron: Dubya (especially) and other US politiatians were in the pocket of Enron. They had trouble even gathering enough senators who had their hands clean for a hearing. Enron has gotten off scott free. My point being, if people stand idley by in this situation, why on earth would they go against an energy company when setting policy, if the public isn't even interested?

 

actually no... I vote independent of poltical party.

I see the political party system no different than Unions... they had their place one time, but hinder the average Joe and consumer today.

And yes I spoke to several congressmen and senators, and even know one or two well enough to walk in their door, but big industry is once again in control and little would/will change. IMO very few politicans stay pure to their beliefs. You should have heard what congressman Issa had to say when I said the movie "Dave" should be manditory yearly veiwing for any politican above the city councl level.

as far as Kyoto, I think it was the wrong approach, and there were too many loop holes for developing countries. North America (and too a minor extent Europe) has already made the mistakes, and it makes no sense to allow 3rd world nations to make the same mistakes.

But it was at least a start!

 

I read a report online at some news page and it said that the global warming theory was not acurate. Infact over the past 3 years, the polar icecaps had grown in size and overall temperatures were colder.

Proud Republican

On the cats/pre-cats portion (to keep it on topic) I recommend a highflow cat if you live in CA since you won't have to switch your exhaust to pass smog. Make sure it is CARB approved if you live in CA or it won't pass. If you live someplace like Florida, then your car can spit fire from the unburned fuel all day long with no problems

 

I'm glad your have made some some stides in this direction. As for parties, I cannot honestly think of a way of keeping groups of politicians alligned. I like the fact that US polititians get to speak their own minds, but on the other hand it is why they are slaves to those who give them money. They become privateers and have to spend their time making sure they have their money so can be elected again. I mention the republicans before because there is a substantial contingent that have few if any positive positions.
John McCain's finance reform might solve this problem, but will it ever get passed? Dubya benifited from soft money to a ridiculous extent.... Canada, with our parlementary system, has been getting a lot worse the last while.

Kyoto wasn't perfect, but like you say, you have to start somewhere. I think that guys like Dubya complaining that 3rd world countries don't have to abide by kyoto is a cop out. Who caused the problem? Who can afford to fix it? Dubya complains that the US can't afford it, but the 3rd world can? I think there should be restrictions on developing nations, but they can't be expected to abide by exactly the same standards we are. Imagine trying to implement something like a hybrid electric system in a vehicle in a poor nation.

BTW: In case you can't tell, I don't like Dubya.

 

ok back to mazdas, what is a good muffler to replace the stock muffler, on a single straight pipe, and how much would this aproximatly cost???

 

i live in saskatchewan. i can see smog being a problem in a california, toronto was pretty bad. but out in the middle of nowhere where i live, i could stick my mouth on the tailpipe and still be breathing fresh air. do i feel bad? not really. half the cars here are old farm trucks that spew black smoke. i'm pretty sure my smelly rotary exhaust isnt nearly as bad as that ****.

 

Stephen replaced his main cat with a high-flow cat and gutted his precat. That along with a cone intake, he dyno'd at 20whp over stock in his 88GXL. Everything else was stock

 

Is there any reason why we shouldn't all be driving atleast Hybrid Electrics and turbo diesels getting 40+ MPG city? I love my 7, but we need to make big sacrifices. Judging from the state of the VW TDI, I don't think enthusiasts will have to settle that much.

Well, ironically VW turbo diesel sales were halted in CA because they failed to meet diesel emmision standards- which aren't even up to gasoline emmisions standards
I had been thinking a TDI bug w/ propane injection would kick ***!
Diesels suck *** for emmisions! They do get better MPG and we have to use all the crap fuel left over from cracking oil anyways though.
Replacing highflow cat w/ straightpipe has shown around 0-2 hp in all the magazine dyno tests I've seen. They are pretty cheap now, put one on if possible- its the precats that really suck as they are a liability w/ clogging issues.