MarkD

yes

Quadcammer

Thanks mark.

do you mind sharing with us how you select the cat material for your sport cats.

Any input into your choices for this product would be great.

Thanks!

MarkD

sure...

We didn't want to go as low as 100 cell to avoid any risk with smog cert, especially in Ca., so we decided 200 would be it. As most here know, 100 cell is usually just fine.

We wanted to gain maximum flow with the available space so we had a company here in California manufacture 130mm (approx. 5") diameter cat inserts.
We also had them make the piece considerably shorter than the OE cat insert. Almost half as long... again, to maximize exhaust flow

We also wanted to maintain the stock pipes and keep the cost down

Kevin

Proper 100 cell METAL cats do not fail. I have yet had any failures> neither have I seen any RUF failures/Gemballa or Techart failures. Large 130mm METAL 100 cell units engineered to meet the engine displacement and CFM will not fail. Getting the maximum efficiency and strength is key.

We do see 100% failures with ceramic cartridges in these cars. Most aftermarket ceramic cells sold in the US are cut and packaged or processed. However, the manufacturing is usually done in another country.

Quadcammer

kevin, do you have a source for these 100 cell cats that you sell?

MarkD

I hadn't kept up with all of the posts in this thread. Certainly did not intend to upset anyone.
I never said 100 cell cats fail (see post above).

so... anyhow, now that I HAVE read all of the posts:
200 cell METALLIC Catalayst Material
130mm diameter
Made in the USA

Ceramic coating is also a nice option to reduce radiated heat

Ciao!

Basal Skull

no problems with rolling road aircare/smog with the UMW cats/stage2 kit/5bar on a couple of tests now

DM993tt

Come to think of it, maybe you don't but I'll tell you a quick story about doing that work with the bumper cover on. I acutally removed my cats with the car on jackstands at watkins glen one afternoon and put on the AWE test pipes. When I was drilling out one of the broken stud ( I would wager 2 of 6 will break on you) so a tap & die kit is probably in your future. I was lying on my back and a microscopic shard of metal fell into my eye. It took me until the next day when it became unbarable, and I had to go to the medical center and have an 80 yr old doctor with shaky hands and stone tools digging into my flourescent dyed cornia to finally get it out. Not a pleasant experience.

Work that would have been far easier with the bumper cover removed - and would have saved me a trip to the ER.

The cats are put together like a pretzel, the one on the left come from the right bank and vice versa. Not sure if you have mufflers on there or muffler bypasses, but like everything else back there it is all shoehorned in and just getting a wrench on some of that hardware is enough to drive you mad. So while you are busting your knuckles trying to remove the fused on bolts you are going to want as much space as you can get, and an extra set of hands to help you untangle them. I would argue that a fresh respray on the bumper is more of a reason to take it off. I have a euro bumper cover on mine - so its a little different, but a couple clips remove the lights, a couple bolts to the bumper and get it out of the way.

Quadcammer

Dave, point taken.

I have the euro bumpers too and will simply take it off when the time comes. Doesn't seem too difficult.

Quadcammer

Ok folks, I finally got some time to put on the FDM sport cats.

Install was fairly straight forward, with the exception of those stupid exhaust studs and some extremely rusted cat straps. Couple of quick tips:

1. Put some blue painters tape on the lower edges of your fenders from wheel well to rear to prevent scratches when removing the bumper. I did it alone, so I didn't have the most control.
2. PB blaster or similar on those turbo studs as many times as you can with a decent amount of time in between.
3. If you snap a stud with some of it sticking out of the turbo, get this: http://www.dynamitetoolco.com/Produc..._7cLIL_d_19250
Worked like a champ when my vice grips/pliers had no chance.
4. lubricate those worm gear hose clamps. Its a little snug in there with a screwdriver, so the easier these things turn, the better.

No for the impressions:

I'll be honest and say that I had some slight issues with the fit of these pipes. While they are stock take off pipes that had new cats installed on them, I guess the fit from car to car is a bit different. While the pipes fit the turbos fine, the heater cans were slightly off on my car. This made getting those silicone sleeves back on a bit of a challenge. This is nothing major mind you, but a bit of an annoyance. Could just be that my junk is a bit tweaked.

The actual work done by FDM was good. Welds were clean, the pipes were well packaged, and they look stock to the point where no emissions inspector would have a clue.

Sound:

I'm running these with fabspeed muffler deletes. The cats added a deeper tone and gave it a bit more of a "yeah, its modified, but I don't need ear plugs" noise. Its enough to be aggressive, not enough to be annoying. Sounds a good bit more throaty under wider throttle openings.

Performance:

Well, hard to say. It may spool a bit earlier and pull a bit harder, but you won't need a change of boxers or anything.

Overall:

I'm happy with the product. Is it worth the $1450...hard to say. If you had clogged/broken stock cats, I'd say absolutely. If you have stock cats and want more sound, I'd say yeah. If you're doing it for performance, I'd say no.

Chuck W.

Thanks for the write up Oliver. I believe you are now ahead on our mod race now. Nice job.

Quadcammer

haha, thanks chuck.

Sadly I believe your car was nicer to begin with, so I have a ways to go.

I'm kinda digging the idea of the red seatbelts, so please let us know what you find out.

Thanks!

Chuck W.

Will do. I believe the DIY will be great.

Quadcammer

the sound seems to be getting better. Its the perfect volume and deep throaty sound.

I think my exhaust is just about perfect now.

Really like it!