well i haven't posted anything about any of my recent installs

about a week ago, phil (desert pearl) and i installed the rsb (mainly phil)...overall i am very happy with it...doesn't make as big of a difference as everyone seems to make it out to, but you can defenitely feel the difference...i would reccomend this

next up, i put a straight pipe in place of my cat...it took awhile to install since some bolts were stripped...after install, i really didn't notice any power gain...just a little noise gain...after a full day of having this on (about 20 hours after instal) my service engine light comes on as i'm cruising...any ideas? i reset the battery and that turned it off...until tonight


next up, today, phil and i i nstalled the pr cai...it was a slight pain but not too bad...took us over 4 hours including the test drive and cleanup...we had trouble drilling the hole because the drills phil has aren't strong enough to cut through the metal...we just drilled a bunch of small holes in a circle, punched the hole out, and sanded and filed down the edges...after that, install wasn't too bad...pretty straight forward...so far i am very happy w/ the cai...a few hours after i left phils, i was out cruising around and my service engine light came on...my car is in the garage w/ the battery unplugged currently...i'm not sure if it came on because of the exhaust or the intake or anything...but i didn't notice any performance decrease when the engine light came on

 

The light is probably because of the cat not being there. You have a fed spec maxima right? The O2 sensor behind the main cat checks emissions to see if the cat is there.

 

well the o2 sensor is still there in place...adam got the same setup and he hasn't had his check engine light come on yet...we both got straight pipes, the only difference is he got one that replaces his b pipe so he plugs his o2 directly into the straight pipe whereas i already had an exhaust with the o2 and i just replaced my cat and part of my new b pipe before the o2 sensor

well my friends friend owns a shop and he has a computer that you just hookup to the car and apparently he takes it for a run around the block and the computer says everything about the car...what is running good/bad etc. so i'll probably give that a try...i don't want to keep resetting my ecu, though...i think after this time if it comes on again i'll just put my cat back on

btw, before adam put on the straight pipe, we gutted his cat completely and he didn't get any sort of check engine light

 

hmmm...you have a y-pipe right and Adam does not? The y-pipe has the pre-cats there and they function like the main cat. If that is the case, that is maybe why Adam has no light on. Since you have no cats in your y-pipe and no main cat, there is no emissions equipment there in your exhaust path at all. That may be why the light is on. Anyhow, if that is the only reason that the light is on, it will not put the ECU into safe mode and you probably will not get reduced performance. But, get it checked out and see what it means....let us know the results

 

I say put it back on , also you are polluting the air, i mean all the gases the engine makes just go straight into the air.

 

There really hasn't been any proven gains from taking the main cat off that I have heard of as of yet. I say put the stock on or at least an RT cat on just for the sake of pollution, engine light problems, extra noise etc..

 

im starting to like all the noise though, above 4k it sounds like a ferrari I **** you not.... I think alot of the noise for me comes from the replacement of my b pipe though.. but all you tree huggers can stop whining because im gonna have a different b pipe made and put in an RT cat so when i get a y pipe i dont get a fine for emmissions...

Adam

 

well i brought it to my friends shop today...he hooked up his little computer to it and sure enough, it said it was the cat...i'm leaving this straight pipe on for now so i can go to the track with it, but after tonight i will either change back to stock or get an rt cat

 

Zach,
It would be nice if you DYNOED the before and after so we could put the cat or NO cat power increase debate out of its misery. Or at least mine. Plus, it would be nice to know how much hp/tq you are getting to the wheels with your laudry list of mods. Keep up the work!

Adam,
A ferrari? Come on!

 

Like i said man.... I **** you not!!! IT has a nice raspy deep growl to it, alla Ferrari.....

Adam

 

Alex, have you heard the "outside" recording of my car? You can find it on my main site (see sig below). It sounds MEAN!!! You can hear my Max popping and crackling like an italian exotic! Too bad this was mainly from the microphone being overloaded, but it sounds great none-the-less.

 

adam, you should drive some ferraris once in awhile (just abusing my bragging rights)...the older 308's (aka crap) had a very deep sound as my current exhaust setup has...however, newer ferraris such as the 360 at high rpms has a very very high pitched whine...trust me on this one

and alex...i didn't go to the track tonight, but i'd like to go again sometime soon to test out my cai...email me mrburner@qwest.net your phone # and i'll give you a call next thursday or something

i took my straight pipe off tonight and put my cat back on...i feel better acceleration...and no check engine light 'yet'...so i'm considering moving upto a rt cat, but i'm not sure if its worth the money

tonight, i also removed my hyperwhite rear turn signals and gave the apc 1156 l.e.d. red bulbs a chance...at night, they are an almost perfect match to the brake lights but i'll have to see how they look during the day before i decide whether to keep them or put my hyperwhites back in...the only weird thing about these bulbs is that they make the blinkers blink at least twice or three times as fast as normal (even though the front and the back are working at the same time) but the hazards are just normal speed...i'm deciding if i should get a small engine dress up kit or new horns tomorrow...