Hi everyone,

Ran across these on the internet - did some research on the C8 corvette forums and it seems like they are well received. Construction looks very solid and welds are pretty nice.

https://shop.2mfabrication.com/produ...ters-2017-2019

I am thinking of getting them to test out, wondering if anyone else has purchased them before? It is a relatively new offering by 2M fabrication.

 

Haven't heard of them

SOUL, Vektor, Kline yes....

Not sure I'd cross shop C8's to 911s... not from a snobbery standpoint but more so they're generally targeting different audiences.... give it a shot and let us know what you think I guess is the best option if you're set on em?

 

Yeah - for such a simple cat setup on the 3.0T motors how much "better" can the SOUL cats be? I might give these a shot and report back. If we are talking about full exhaust/headers then sure, the more well known brands may be a better fit due to fitment and testing.

 

My (limited) knowledge gained through discussion and osmosis is that the cats can blow out if quality control requirements aren't met and from a performance standpoint better flow... not sure of the exact how's and why's... @Soul Performance thoughts?

Do agree with your point regarding fitment / testing... last thing you want to deal with is an annoying CEL light after wrenching for hours or shelling out a few $'s for install

 

You're paying for the quality of the cat. The reason why Soul, Fabspeed, Kline, high flow cats are expensive is because they use super expensive HJS high flow cats which are top notch.

These are more than likely using cheaper sourced 200 cell metallic cats, not anything like HJS quality. Metallic cats will still reducesnoise and smell, but not as well as an HJS (I had a 200 cell metallic high flow cat on my previous car and it did a pretty good job for the price).

 

You can't get a set of HJS HD 200 cell catalytic converters for their asking price - we'll have to disagree with their rather aggressive statement about quality. Without closer examination of the inside of the welds and construction of the catalytic converter it's hard to get the whole picture on them. We did notice a lack of inside weld around the turbo flange on their cat bypass pipes.

 

It's all about the robustness of the core. You can buy a cheap core from magnaflow for like $200. An HJS core is like $600 from distributor fabspeed. In the S2000 world, there is a common low-cost high flow cat option which I'm pretty sure uses the magnaflow core. It only lasts a handful of track days before it falls apart. HJS cores are used in professional motorsports. They hold up to anti-lag which burns super hot.

Edit: for reference
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/california-southern-california-s2000-owners-16/berk-high-flow-cat-fail-649272/page7/

 

I second this comment. Here is the response I received from 2M Fabrication when I asked who manufactured their cats..."Under our wholesale purchase agreement, we are not able to disclose the name of our supplier. What we are allowed to say is that the catalyst core is manufactured in Illinois by one of the largest catalyst companies in the world with sales of between 10 and 20 billion dollars per year."

Why is it that 2M Fabrication is the only exhaust manufacturer that I know of that is "...not able to disclose the name of..." its supplier.

So, as my dear old dad used to say..."you can't cheat an honest man." Meaning, that if you are not looking to pay way less than what something is really worth, it is difficult (not impossible) to cheat you. Just my $0.02.

 

Makes sense pricing is much lower due to the lower quality cores.. but what about the bypass pipes? Maybe I'll give those a try and then grab some SOUL cats later on..

 

probably in-line with other products they offer? always better to shoot once and get the right item than go through the frustration of shuffling parts/spending more

 

There are many examples of agreements between supplier and re-sellers were they are prohibited from disclosing their costs, esp when they are getting a product for less versus their competitors.

High volume sales may account for this, i.e. if you are purchasing 10-100x the number of catalytic convertors you will likely be able to get a better price than others purchasing a much lower volume. But a condition of this agreement is that you cannot disclose your costs.

Who knows how many cat cores 2M Fabrication buys and sells per year? Perhaps they can actually negotiate a HUGE discount. Wouldn't be the first time I have seen that. I have been in this exact situation where I was able to secure costs 1/3 that of other users just due to the volumes/sales, but in the contract we were prevented from disclosing our costs. Meanwhile, people the next town over were thinking they got the best deal by a long shot.... they had no idea.

 

Respectfully, I think you missed it. It’s not about disclosing their costs. I don’t expect ANY manufacturer or retailer to do that. It’s, quite frankly, none of my business. I asked WHO MADE THE CATS THEY USE IN THEIR BUILDS. They said they can’t disclose. That’s likely B.S. I have NEVER heard of an exhaust manufacturer refusing to disclose who manufacturers the cats they use in their builds. That’s the point I was making. Has nothing to do with their costs.

 

My bad.

Who knows? Perhaps they are being sold product at a fraction of the cost and items are non-branded from the supplier.

But also could be a cheap core, not just in cost.

Best example of this is a dining table that I bought at 1/2 price, thought I was getting a deal. Then on a vacation visiting in-laws find out I could have saved some $$$.

By pure coincidence my wife's uncle built cardboard shipping boxes / furniture in Vietnam for the company that supplied the tables (among other things). The EXACT table I bought was manufactured at less than 5% (by the uncle) of the cost, and I saw it for sale in Asia at 15% of the cost I paid. The uncle knew the owner of the shop (as he supplied them with boxes and furniture), but the owner of the shop would not tell us where the tables were manufactured / who made it. But the Uncle told us that he had a contract with the owner preventing him from disclosing his supplier (the uncle) as the main re-seller (a Scandinavian furniture store (not IKEA) did not know that their product was being sold elsewhere in the world at a fraction of the costs.

tldr: Uncle makes high end tables. The most famous re-seller is a HIGH end furniture store selling tables for $10k prices. Uncle is selling the same tables to Asian stores at fraction of the price (non-branded), and has agreement to NOT disclose the supplier. i.e. you are buying a nice table that is no-name.

 

You could certainly be correct. It is possible that the 2M Fabrication Cats are good quality. I just don’t want to be the one to experiment. Maybe someone will install a set and we will all find out. It just strikes me funny that nearly all of the known quality brands are $2600 + (largely because they all use HJS 200 cell cats), but 2M is $900. Could be an enormously good deal, or could be crap. Although, they do claim to have a lifetime warranty.

 

Respectfully to all... a cat is very much a get what you pay for product. Similar to many other things, but some more than others. Intercooler cores also fall into this category.

If you are building cats using machines/technology from 20+ years ago, the time it takes and the performance aspects of the cat are vastly different than a high end modern variant. Another method is less complex manufacturing processes and very inexpensive labor. There is NO WAY this is an HJS cat. There is no quantity/pricing structure that is going to get costs to that point, especially in the current market conditions where materials for nearly everything are in short supply.

I can say this with certainty... There are TONS of knock-offs out there, and inexpensively made products. We get e-mails from China multiple times per week, wanting to make/supply our products or the materials (flanges, tubing, machined parts, 3D printed parts, etc...) to make our products... and for dirt cheap. I've seen "EPA compliant cats" for less than $100. It's not our thing, but it certainly can be for someone else.

Complete speculation on my part until 2M responds, but my guess is that they are looking for a piece of the market, and feel that making a product that serves a more budget sensitive shopper is the ticket. There is nothing wrong with that. All of us manufacturers have our reasons for the what and why we do what we do, and this is theirs. Comparing to products at the other end of the spectrum isn't reasonable, unless you view a product like this with a singular approach "it's only a tube and they are all the same", and some will for sure, and some won't.