Has anyone put the Cat back on?

[ben parrish]

I put a gutted cat on my car years ago but lately I can't stand the smell of the exhaust. It did not smell like this back then. Come to think of it, my mower and other motors also smell worse...must be the crappy gas we are supplied with today.
Anyway, has anyone gone back to a cat and noticed a reduction in power? Is there any benefit in using a new universal cat over the stock unit..other than weight?

[Nine9six]

Ben,
I had a fabspeed cat bypass piped into a, one in, two out fabspeed sport muffler. In a cab, I found it to loud, and put the OEM cat back on for audible comfort purposes. I cant say I have noticed a power loss, but I am running a Wong chip as well. I have had no issues with smog certification here in CA, and I even passed emissions with the fabspeed cat bypass in place. (Inattentive SMOG Pro)

[ben parrish]

I also have a wong chip and a dual out muffler; although I usually keep the right side capped because it is too loud for every day use. The car is tuned well and the wide band A/F meter confirms mixture is great across the RPM's. I just can't take the odor any more...smells like an old Dodge pickup.

[tcar]

The smell is not from the lack of a cat.

Check your mixture, I'll bet it's running rich.

[ben parrish]

Originally Posted by tcar

The smell is not from the lack of a cat.

Check your mixture, I'll bet it's running rich.

nah, the mixture is right...14.7-14.9 at idle. Down to12.5-12.9 at full throttle and full lean coasting down from red line. I have a Dynojet wideband with the sensor installed in the O2 bung on the cat.
When I have I used race gas in the past, the smell is sweeter and not as obnoxious.
I am up for any suggestions but I have heard quiet a few other 3.2 owners complain of the strong exhaust smell w/o a cat.

[ben parrish]

any other opinions?

[porsche930dude]

quit sniffin the exhaust its bad for you.

[herman maire]

I have to agree, I removed the cat on my 993 and the exhaust smell was nasty.... nasty to the point where if the car was left idling to warm up and you walked through the fume cloud, the stink would get into your clothes.

My brother also removed the cat on his track car and that stinks just as bad.

In the future I will not be removing a cat ever again but will put in a sports cat or something similar, I dont care if I loose 1-2hp or whatever it is.

[Bob Kontak]

Interesting. My SC stinks ok when dialed in correctly with a cat bypass. Not arguing. Just intrigued by what causes the stink.

[ben parrish]

Well, put the cat back on as well as as a new 4 wire 02 sensor...grounded the sensor to the grounding point on the intake. Oh, man..soooo much better. I can't feel any power difference; perhaps a little more low end torque.
Curious though about something. The smell was gone instantly..from the second she started. I thought the cat had to be hot to work; yet the odor is gone from stone cold. Wonder why that is?

[ivangene]

new gas formulations are what you are smelling - the new gas stinks!

old gas - 5, 10, 30 years ago smelled different

[ben parrish]

yeah..I pretty well knew the gas smelled differnt now....I miss the old, sweet smelling pink stuff.

[ivangene]

you know when you get behind some old pick up from the 60's that is running rich...the smell is SOOO bad and you think...was it always that bad and we smelled it more so we were use to it? or has something changed....?

it changed in a big way - NASTY !

[UrQuattro]

maybe it is the brand new o2 sensor?

just a thought
michael

[gunlover05]

Yes, i put my cat back on...i have a M&K one in one out, with SW chip. I had a bypass on there for about a year...a bit loud. I put my cat back on and really didn't notice much power loss, and much quieter, i would say about perfect for me @ street driving...without it i would not drive my son to school as it would be embarrassingly loud.