Aftermarket Cats

[bimmabimma]

Metal Cats are probably the best high flow cat you can get on the market... and ironically enough in this case they are the cheapest. here is the auction on ebay for $180 USD

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Metal-Cat-c...VQQcmdZViewItem

and some pics...

enjoy

[Stuart]

Metal Cats are probably the best high flow cat you can get on the market... and ironically enough in this case they are the cheapest. here is the auction on ebay for $180 USD

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Metal-Cat-c...VQQcmdZViewItem

and some pics...

enjoy

Just wondering but what makes these better in your opinion than other metallic cats?

Stuart.

[esprits4de]

Anyone know howmany cells / inch ?

A race metal cat has 200 down to 100 cells. The one I am looking at has 100, made by HJS Germany, used on most GT racers.

The price of that MelaCat is killer, but from the looks it is a 400 cell mesh.

[wpowell]

Stuart,

I have just fitted a pair of 100 cpi sports cats to my 2002 V8. I got these made from PNM for a total price of

[Stuart]

Stuart,

I have just fitted a pair of 100 cpi sports cats to my 2002 V8. I got these made from PNM for a total price of

[Artie]

Will,

I think this is the way that I'll go as well.

What was the lead time?

Stuart.

Stuart,

I just found this thread, I feel your pain as I can't offer any performance addition, but when I started restoring my Esprit I found that many people didn't dyno their cars at different times during it's ownership, thus having very "ambiguous" assumptions of "seat of the pants" performance gains. On a side note, a high flow cat will definitely increase the output of the car simply by reducing the back pressure on your turbos. Also will help reduce the underhood/bonnet temps by allowing the heat to escape thru the turbos! Good luck. Post up your findings as to your experience. Have you dyno'd before?

Artie

[wpowell]

Will,

I think this is the way that I'll go as well.

What was the lead time?

Stuart.

Stuart,

The lead time was about 7 weeks, the reason for this long was that PNM's supplier for the Cat element was having problems getting hold of them. However I think that this problem may be solved now but if you give Peter a ring at PNM he will be up front with you and tell you how long it will take for you to get them.

Will

[Backmarker]

Guys,

Will any of these Hi-Flow/Sports Cats get through an MoT?

Not a problem if you keep the stock items, but could be a burden if you don't or if they're already shot.

Graham.

[superdavelotus]

All the V8 high flow cats pass the MOT without any problems Graham.

[Backmarker]

Thanks Dave.

See you soon.

Graham.

[bimmabimma]

The Metal cat is a 200-300 cell cat i believe (i think closer to 300). Its much freer flowing than the stock 600cell (i believe stock is 600). Cats. They are also metalic so they will not burn up like ceramic cats and also they are take up very little room and are very easy to install. if you are paying more than $300 USD for cats you are getting ripped off plain and simple.

[superdavelotus]

Update, there's no problem with lead-in times anymore. PNM have resolved it and now delivery times are much reduced. If anyone ishaving problems contacting PNM, then drop me an email at dave@acsdesign.org and I will get Pete to ring you. They are only a couple of miles where I live so I can pop down at any time to pass on messages!

Dave walters

[JNemeth]

I just switched from the stock Cat to straight pipes and there was a definite performance improvement. I'm chasing several other issues that my car is having but since I put Pilot Sport rubber on the car (295 35/18 on the rear) I haven't been able to break the tires loose in second gear. As soon as I went to straight pipes, I could once again get the rear end squirrelly. The sound is MUCH better also. It now has a throatier tone where you can almost hear each cylinder firing. Before, it was just a dull rumble. I've been running without a muffler in both setups. Of course in the states, we don't have this MOT thing that you have to wrestle with.

Now if I can just chase down the rest of the gremlins...

Jay

[wpowell]

Guys,

Will any of these Hi-Flow/Sports Cats get through an MoT?

Not a problem if you keep the stock items, but could be a burden if you don't or if they're already shot.

Graham.

Graham,

I've taken my V8 for an MOT today, c/w 100cpi Sport Cats, and it failed. The guy at the MOT station told me to take it for a good burn out to raise the temperature of the cats but still couldn't get the CO down enough to pass the MOT.

I refitted the old n/s stock cat as this was still in good condition but couldn't refit the old o/s stock cat as the ceramic element had broken up. I took the car back with one side stock and the other side 100cpi sports cat and the CO was well within the limit but the Lamber reading was now initialy at fault. Finally it passed.

It appears that the answer to your question is the 100cpi cats wont get through an MOT.

My advice to anyone fitting new cats is to fit the 200cpi to make sure it passes an MOT.

Anyone else had problems like this with 100cpi cats.

I now need to prepair for next years MOT and get my old o/s stock cat refitted with a new cat eliment.

OR

Has anyone got an old o/s stock cat for sale.

Will

[scoule]

Are you sure it was the cat at fault? My car failed emissions simply because the joints between the standard cats and the exhaust box were loose and not airtight. The dealer removed the exhaust box and used some snazzy F1 (they claimed) sealant on the cat->pipe joints and refitted the clamps, it then sailed through!

[wpowell]

Are you sure it was the cat at fault? My car failed emissions simply because the joints between the standard cats and the exhaust box were loose and not airtight. The dealer removed the exhaust box and used some snazzy F1 (they claimed) sealant on the cat->pipe joints and refitted the clamps, it then sailed through!

Steve,

I fitted the Cats myself and made sure that there were no leaks, so this makes me think it was just the 100cpi cats that caused the CO to be too high for passing the MOT.

I would still like to here from anyone who has 100cpi cats fitted and taken theirs for an MOT to see how it got on.

Regards

Will

[vlad]

In case this helps, Prodrive fits metal substrate cat in their upgrade packages for Subaru. Prodrive sells upgrades in packages through the dealer network, in UK, with warranty, passing your MOT.

I have this on my Subaru, in US. It passes emissions, no problem. The HP difference between the Prodrive stage retaining the factory cat and the one that replaces it with a metal substrate one is about 30 HP, taking you from 260 to 290 HP at the crank (with some other changes as well), for my car.

In their explanation as of why they chose metal substrate, I recall reading that higher exhaust temperatures are possible with these. This in turn allowed them to raise the boost pressure to 19 PSI, from 16 in the package with stock cat. The stock cat would disintegrate because of the higher exhaust temperatures generated by running 19 PSI, in a relatively short time, from what I remember reading. Well, there's more to it, because the fuel system was left stock, but that's irelevant to this posting.

I hope this helps

Vlad

Edited August 14, 2007 by vlad

[Esprit Nutter]

Graham,

I've taken my V8 for an MOT today, c/w 100cpi Sport Cats, and it failed. The guy at the MOT station told me to take it for a good burn out to raise the temperature of the cats but still couldn't get the CO down enough to pass the MOT.

I refitted the old n/s stock cat as this was still in good condition but couldn't refit the old o/s stock cat as the ceramic element had broken up. I took the car back with one side stock and the other side 100cpi sports cat and the CO was well within the limit but the Lamber reading was now initialy at fault. Finally it passed.

It appears that the answer to your question is the 100cpi cats wont get through an MOT.

My advice to anyone fitting new cats is to fit the 200cpi to make sure it passes an MOT.

Anyone else had problems like this with 100cpi cats.

I now need to prepair for next years MOT and get my old o/s stock cat refitted with a new cat eliment.

OR

Has anyone got an old o/s stock cat for sale.

Will

Hi Will,

Just orderd a new set of cats from Larini (

[Stuart]

Will,

Sorry to hear about the MOT failure.

Just out of interest, who supplied your cats? Also how much did they fail the emissions test by?

I am due to get some next week and was about to plumb for a set of the 100cpi ones, if they don't cut the mustard then I'll have to re think.

Hope you get the car sorted sooner rather than later,

Stuart.

[hedgerley]

I am just about to refit a new set of Larini Sports cats - can anyone supply info on the sealant mentioned? The garage re-did mine with boggo exhaust goo and I wasn't to impressed. It soon 'perished' and started coming adrift. BTW, it passed the MOT no problem, with the Larinis.

While I'm here, can anyone help me source a set of turbo to cat studs and nuts for the Garrett T25s? All mine bar 1 came out as the nuts were seized and I'd like to replace them all with new. I've got several enquiries out to various turbo specialists but no luck yet. Cheers.

[Nautilus]

With my Elise I run a bypass pipe & keep the Cat in the loft wrapped in bubble wrap with silica gell packs & only refit for the MOT.

Can the same be done for the Esprit? As they seem to be a consumable item why not only use them for the minimum amount of time?

Appreciate that this may not fully comply with emissions laws though

[oneshot]

Appreciate that this may not fully comply with emissions laws though

Or insurance?? Any excuse not to pay out!

[Nautilus]

Or insurance?? Any excuse not to pay out!

Not really, the cat bypass is one of the declared mods on my car

[wpowell]

Will,

Sorry to hear about the MOT failure.

Just out of interest, who supplied your cats? Also how much did they fail the emissions test by?

I am due to get some next week and was about to plumb for a set of the 100cpi ones, if they don't cut the mustard then I'll have to re think.

Hope you get the car sorted sooner rather than later,

Stuart.

Stuart,

I got my cats supplied by PNM and if I remember correctly the emmissions were around 0.5 after taking the car for a hard run to get some heat into them and the limit should be as low as 0.2

My advice to you is go for the 200cpi cats so not to have any problem when taking it for the MOT.

Regards

Will

[th4neuk]

So out of interest what would be the % power increase that fitting the sports cats would give?? 5% maybe??

Also I assume that the high flow system would br louder than the standard ones and if so again by how much. I have the federal centre exit exhaust so it has no silencing anyway!!.

If going with these cats as well would I have to worry about any increase in flames out of the back?? My 4 cyl used to flame at virtually any oppurtunity but that didn't have a cat at all??

Cheers