But what about the fact that my cat is probably plugged a bit. This guy mentioned that a lot of the headers and whatnot for imports now are all built in the same plant and have different stamping on them. Plus let's remember I am talking Canadian dollars. I have yet to see a price on a Greddy catback exhaust or even Magnaflow for under $650.00 Canadian.
Originally Posted by AcsRcool
NOOOOOOOO!!!!
Don't do this. . .You're gonna run into a number of problems.
1. Your Exhaust O2 sensor plugs into the catalytic converter. Your system can't work correctly without a properly functioning O2 sensor and the ECU is designed to take information from that specific location.
2. You're not going to see a significant performance gain in a 5th gen accord by running a straight pipe in your exhaust. You might even see a significant drop in torque when you lose the back pressure created by the Cat in your exhaust.
3. For 450, you could get a really nice mandrel bent system like DC Sports or Apexi WS. Look around, there are fantastic deals to be had.
4. For your header, check this and other honda boards. You can get a used DC header (I have a 4-2-1 stainless in my 5th gen and the gains and throttle response were very noticeable) for less than what you'd pay for new Ractive pipes. Alternatively, you could upgrade the quality of your product significantly by spending another 100 on the header.
Anyways, the point is that you shouldn't cheap out. For what you are paying, you could get some excellent aftermarket products and you'd be running at a higher performance level without pumping CO2 into the air.