Originally posted by 98AccordEX
its illegal to have an aftermarker exhaust. did it stop 95% of the people on this board? pretty much any performance mod you do creates more pollution. the more power you make the more fuel you burn which in turn is the more exhaust gases released. so should eveyone stop modding their cars? from Honda making the Accord go from 200hp to 240hp it created more pollution
and its useless on an NA 4 banger. with a turbo its night and day with and without a cat
The poster made no mention of a turbo, and in that case there are high flow cats as well.
Also at least here in NYC aftermarket exhausts are NOT illegal, and there is no code to have your car confiscated for removing your muffler. All you'd get is a ticket for the noise. Remove your cat on the other hand, and you could lose your car.
Also who said a high flow cat or no cat always gives more power??? Ive been on this board a looooong time and seen a ton of info on it. On a NA 4 banger Accord, dropping the cat for a straight pipe, or using a highflow cat will give negligible, no gains or even a loss in power. For the money, time and effort, its a pointless mod even with Headers, Intake and Exhaust.
Ive seen dyno's on 4 cylinders putting out more power than the Accord which LOST HP with a highflow cat, and more with a staright pipe. SCC did a test within the last 2 years which showed the same.
Even on turbo cars, unless you really pump up the boost, swap out for larger turbos, or drop a turbo in a NA car whose exhaust would then be too restrictive, you really shouldnt get much gains from a straight pipe vs a highflow cat or regular cat. The much longer crush bent exhaust is the real bottle neck.