Is there a good catted header?
 

Please feel free to send me to another thread, I didn't really see one in my searches.

With the feds cracking down on tuners defeating emissions equipment (see Cobb, APR, and others), I think the right decision for me is to put a catted header on my car.

It's hard to get a read on the quality of the cats on these, and it does make a difference obviously.

It seems the choices are:
FTSF: UEL
Magnaflow: EL
HKS: 4-2-1
JDL: 4-2-1

Anybody got strong feelings for one or another? Thanks,

Might was well stick with stock. Catted headers don't give you much hp if any.

No doubt you'll get better performance from a non-catted, but I'm sure there's still something to be gained using a good cat... 200 cell catalysts can flow pretty darn well.

Thing is, I don't think anyone uses anything that great, which makes your point all the more valid.

JDL is working on a GESI catted 4-2-1 EL header. They already have a catted UEL and HKS has a catted version as well.

Catted doesn't equal legal.

Just added a ft86 factory catted unit this weekend and bumped up the OFT tune to stage 2 and will tell you it definitely feels different, doubt I'll bother getting it dyno'd but their site shows the gains with a tune. Car is stock otherwise from an engine/power standpoint for reference. Also there's little if any difference from a noise standpoint, something I was interested to know as it seems almost nobody went the route of adding a header but leaving the rest stock.

Well not being catted is 100% guaranteed to have the CEL on or turned off through the tune, so there's that. You'll see more and more tuners have their software changed to disable turning off CELs for smog equipment.

(Not sure where that leaves race cars, obviously)

Catted aftermarket headers are not a guarantee that you won't get a p0420 either. There are quite a few threads on this.

Tuners ALWAYS disable p0420(cat efficiency) without the stock cats in place. If they don't, they are just creating more work for themselves in the future.

Running a ceramic coated and catted ft86sf with e85 tuned by xerolimit on ecutec.

I like it a lot. It's very discrete, throws no cel (even without tune) and sounds good.

I'll have to trust your word on that on this platform, because it's not been my experience on others about the tuners always tuning out cat efficiency. Catalysts aren't a hill I'm willing to die on, but if there's a way to stay semi-legal, I figure I'll try that first.

If it triggers a code it disables cruise control. So even with a catted header it is easier to just disable p0420 then worry about if it will trip. You can mess around with those o2 extenders IF you get the code.

Honestly, I think it would be less of a hassle to just swap the header and flash to stock for inspections if that is something you have to do in your area. I don't, yet, so I don't worry about it.

I run a gesi catted JDL UEL header, certainly felt a little more power over stock with a tune and i passed emissions with no issue. (still have the stock front pipe)

I just installed a catback aswell that responded well with the existing mods.

The cat itself is very much a get what you pay for component. Don't shop specifically by cell count because a larger high end 400 cell cat can perform better than a cheap 200 cell cat. As far as emissions goes, same deal. A higher end cat will have better materials and coatings for improved chemical conversion (cat efficiency). So don't assume any cat will solve the P0420 dilemma. Look for EPA, CARB, or Euro emissions certification numbers. 'Race' cats are next to useless when it comes to emissions. A high dollar performance cat will perform best and leave the least amount of power on the table. Will it leave some on the table vs non-catted? Yes, but not anything like it used to 15-20 years ago. The performance gap has shrunk with improvements in manufacturing processes and materials.

I think the bigger question is what is it worth to you? Some will balk at a $1,500 header that does each OK, but many more would likely be a no-go for a $3,000 header that does both well.

That will be a thing of the past, as it is with pretty much anything that isn't a full stand alone on just about all other platforms.