Does a high-flow cat really help, or would it be a waste of my time to purchase one?

 

Yes, it does help from the very restrictive stock cat. However, nothing will help as much as an ORP. But if you have emissions I would definately recommend getting one.

 

I'm not interested in losing power or interested in a quiet exhaust. I'll stick with the one I've got. I paid $935 for noise, I want $935 worth of noise.

 

A high flow ABSOLUTELY flows better than the stock cat. I read research on them and the Carsound 3" highflow cat flowed around 440cfm, while the stock cat flowed around 310-320cfm. It is possibly worth a few horsepower, I would think especially if you are running a cutout and that is your biggest bottleneck. I just had my Carsound cat welded on for $30, bought is for $46 shipped off ebay. It made my car, with the cutout open, louder and still not raspy and crackling. Cant tell you on power, its not enough for SOTP.

I will look for that link on the flow tests.

Eddie

GOT IT! It looks like the testing is on LS1 stuff, but you get the idea.

http://www.installuniversity.com/ins...n11.122001.htm

Damn, just saw you are from Fredrick, I am originally from Laurel. I would definitely recommend getting a Carsound cat if you are still running the stocker.

 

i put a high flow cat on my 2.4 nissan and a flowmaster. the difference was huge on the highway. before i had it i used to downshift to get up the hills and now i don't have to at all i actually have to let off the gas a little cause it wants to pull.

and i used to live in Bowie.
sorry i thought i would get in on your little MD fest

 

Well, if it does make a difference, maybe I will go ahead and get a high-flow cat.

 

the cat isn't going to quiet it down robvas
but i'm guessing you're comparing a high flow to an orp
it will be a little deeper and louder sounding with a high flow compared to stock cat
orp being the loudest

sorry robvas, your post confused me a little

 

Yes=Catco Problably around 5 horses or so.It all adds up.

 

A high-flow cat is definately better. The key however is
not the name, it's the cross sectional area of the catalyst.
Lots of cats are called high-flow, like the little buttets, but
the area of the catalyst is small. Go with the largest cross
sectional area you can get. This will result in less velocity
in each passage which in turn will be less pressure drop.

 

Let us know what difference it makes.
What makes up the rest of your exhaust system?

 

All Hooker- Hooker catback, Hooker Y-pipe, Hooker longtube headers.

So the high flow cat will help? Someone earlier said it would cause the car to lose horsepower and be quieter. So what's the deal?

 

they only lose hp to the orp
orp= most hp
high flow= less
stock cat= least

compared to the stock cat, it will make the exhaust deeper and louder, albeit not that much
the orp will make it even louder, not so sure about deeper really

 

Ummm, I must be outta the loop, but what's an "orp?"

 

Off Road Pipe or Straight pipe,not emissions legal.

I have a Carsound Cat,cheap and flows good and will not quiet the sound that much.

 

Since your exhaust is larger diameter than stock, I would expect the stock cat to be a bottleneck in the exhaust. Changing to a cat with the same size in/out as the rest of the exhaust can only increase flow. I can't imagine any drawbacks to changing to a matching size cat.