Anyone ever think about this? (Cat-back exaust)
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*Disclamer* these thoughts will apply to people that do not have $500 to spend on a cat back and are only looking to add "Basic" mods to their car. If you are going all out, plan on using FI or Nitrous you will benifit from the 2.5"+ Cat-back systems.and generally should not bother trying to mod your exaust with the following thoughts because you will be changing out all the piping to a bigger size. But I guess you could use this mod untill you have the money to add a full cat back and FI. in the end it is allways up to you!
First off does everyone agrees that just getting a muffler four our cars will
yield about the same power as the cat backs right?
Well After looking at some of the catbacks for the eclipse, I found that some of them still use the 2.25" dia tubing. So what about this idea?
If the stock tubing is 2.25" and the "cat back" is 2.25" Why don't we just replace the bends of the exaust with some manderal bent parts? Now stick with me here. Everyone is always talking about the "tuning" aspect of a cat back. Well what other than the bends in the exaust would change from the sock system? NOTHING! The bends in the exaust, if they are manderal bent, would be the ONLY advantage of a $450 cat back than the stock system. We have a "Tunnel" under our cars that the exaust runs through, And so does the eclipse, so the exaust can only be routed one way to the rear of the car.
So if the Exaust LENGTH is allways going to be the same on our cars, and all the BENDS in the exaust are going to be same, How will one company's cat back change from the other? By the muffler. The flow properties of the muffler that you buy will be the ultimate decision on how much power the exaust makes. Right?
Now The only advantage that I can see the 2.5" piping having over the 2.25" piping is if you are using some type of FI. Then and only then would you really see a difference in HP by using 2.5 over 2.25. or hell you might even want to think about using 3" pipe if you are really pushing some HP. So if you have FI then just replacing the stock bends with manderal bends would help a little but not as much as bigger piping would. This would be a reason to spend $450 on a cat-back that is at least 2.5" in pipe dia.
So the way that I see it, the only way to improve on the Stock system is (if you are not using FI):
1. Replacing the "stock" bends with manderal bent parts
2. Replacing the stock muffler with the one of your choice
I think that this would be a MUCH cheaper alternative for 80% of the people on this board (everyone not using FI)
Re: Anyone ever think about this? (Cat-back exaust)
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Originally Posted by 00GTZ00
So the way that I see it, the only way to improve on the Stock system is (if you are not using FI):
1. Replacing the "stock" bends with manderal bent parts
2. Replacing the stock muffler with the one of your choice
I think that this would be a MUCH cheaper alternative for 80% of the people on this board (everyone not using FI)
if you are gonna replace the stock bends, you might as well replace the whole thing. i mean probably you'd take out the stock resonators. and then if you cut out all the stock bends and weld on some "better" bends in the end, will it be better?
i know with some companies like borla for example, have awesome warranties with their exhaust. a million miles is alot. yea it might cost alot in the beginning but think of this. you hack up your stock exhaust. you put nicer bends lets say. maybe add a pipe here and there. and bam, your exhaust is filled with welds everywhere. we all know that your exhaust is the weakest at the weld. so lets say after a few years, your exhaust turns into rust, and you get things redone. thats another cost. comparing to maybe like a store bought cat back where its like one big piece of pipe thats bent. maybe it will come in several pieces but its a buncha big pieces taht have flanges on the end so you can just bolt it together.
so yea, you're right about having a minimal gain with a store bought system but looking at the big picture. things now and later, maybe a store bought cat back isn't a bad thing.