A few years back, I was pulled over for having a loud exhaust and got caught with a catless downpipe. I'm not sure whether the cop knew it was catless or not, but I got a ticket for modded emissions . Went to court and paid a ~$300-400 fine. As long as it looks modified, I'm sure the cop will give you a similar ticket nowadays.

 

Buy a older car, then you will be legal.. It's that simple..

 

I'm running around catless with an EWG.

 

As stated in a few posts...

Catless is not what it used to be. Back when subarus had catted up-pipes. I'd say yeah get that thing out of there, save your turbo and increase spool. But 2006 and newer cars do not have up-pipe cats. And as such, You can adjust spool playing with the avcs cam timing. So going catless is more of just saying you are catless. Now if you are running 450whp+ then I would say ok if you are trying to sqeeze out the last amount of power.

There is more ways to increase spool as well. Bigger IC and IC pipes, shorter ic pipes, better turbo, different header or up-pipe. ceramic coating of parts, TGV's There is a huge list.

There is also a post on here by a local CHP about catless = tow Also back in the day when all the teenagers didnt own wrx's or STi's they all had Hondas. Now that the F&F4 and all the attention has grown with the subaru world. We are rolling targets for inspection. Cross the wrong path and your dice number has been played.
Catless is not what it once used to be. And its very easy to spot a catless car. You can smell it, see the stains on the bumper and when it afterfires out the muffler.

I have spent $$$ on mods over the years. And the best bang for the buck after a good tune is the turbo inlet and a larger tmic. The inlet being the huge bottle neck in the system.

Why risk being towed? Why worry anytime you see a cop or have to drive with an eye over your shoulder. Our cars have been and will for ever be a rolling target for hood pops. The good old days are over of flying under the radar.

 

The right cop that knows your car needs a Air Pump and your little 510 will get a ref ticket. Would they do it? maybe not. But its still required by law. If the cop wanted to be a dick about it. Your just lucky you do not have to smog every other year here in California. Arizona you would be doing smog on that car.

 

knock on wood but it's been 7 years for me, keep a low key exhaust and you will be ok. I love my maddad whisper, quiet and a full 3" catback

 

Do it and show me. Cause last time I checked intakes do barely anything unless bigMAF on a tune with a bigger turbo wait also, until you hit 450 its still useless just better mapping maybe. The cross over that eq made yielded about 5-7whp on an aftermarket TURBOBACK. Also the stock sti intercooler flows just more than enough to push about 400 once again here... Not enough airflow with our hoodscoops still, unless 08+.

Intake FAQ: Read if you are thinking of buying one! - NASIOC

TMIC FAQ: Read if you are thinking of buying one! - NASIOC

https://www.i-club.com/forums/engine...s-pipe-223740/

I hope this changes your views.


OP this should help you in what to do.

 

Be catless. Drive in front of Prius's

 

anyone know the power diff between a catted turboback and catless??? i would be bolting the downpipe up to a P&L catback

 

Downpipe FAQ: Read if you are thinking of buying one! - NASIOC

Low-end with more backpressure (Catted)
Top-end with less backpressure (Catless) Faster Spool

 

exactly
I had CHP in the front of me, on the side, behind me....my car is catless, smells like a raw fuel and it's loud, never got pulled over....don't know, had to be luck

 

Just got pulled over today (most likely for tint) he asked me what dept I work for then said oh merge back in when its safe and said see you later. Didn't ask about the smelly 93 octane he could smell

 

This is not always true. How much pressure a turbo needs to spool or do well in the topend depends on the size and type of turbo, header, and anything else that has been done to improve exhaust flow...among other things.

OP: It is pretty basic really. If you are willing to risk getting a ticket, the smell and **** on your bumper, and other negatives for minimal gains in power and torque then go for it. I did very well with the Cobb catted DP and other mods to increase efficiency of the entire system. Most of them have already been mentioned.

 

Baby Steps... you don't just wake-up with 450HP in the morning. We are talking about taking steps to achieve a goal. Just bolting on a catless downpipe isn't going to magically give a 150HP increase.

I can tell you first hand... a single 3" Cat will support 600HP. I'll find pics of the 94 Vette I helped build at Speed Merchant if you wanna see.

 

This thread has made me even more confused about wanting to go catless vs catted. I mean I have the stock downpipe so I can always go back to stock but at the same time I don't want all that black crap all over my bumper and my car to smell weird.

I'm thinking about buying a catted downpipe for now and using it until I start making more power and then just picking up a cheap catless downpipe from someone on the classifieds.