cat-back exhausts

[alphabeatsco]

i want to know....
will a cat-back exhaust will performance? or it just makes noise?

also what size will be good...for Ek4...

[Phantasm]

Although probly posted somewhere i am also interested in this.
I was told by an exhaust shop that my cannon on the back of my standard exhaust was losing me power, and that a cat back system any larger than
2 1/4" would do the same.
Does this mean that the standard system isnt to shabby, or the exhaust guy was full of shit?
I drive a ek4 civic vtir.
Id love the sound of a 3" system but i can see how on a non turbo that would lose power.

This is not an attempt to hijack the thread, but if it proves successful what the hell....

[Speeder]

whats the stock size of the piping?2 '? well 3 inch for a na will most likely loose back pressure therefore loose power, but im not sure about just the muffler? i though its more about the piping then the canon?
can someone correct me?

[speedracr]

it depends on what cat-back you put on your car. I don't understand why people associate back pressure directly with gains in power. Think of exhausts this way: imagine you have a hose of a very wide diameter and you shoot X amount of water through it. Now imagine if you have a hose with a small diameter, and you shoot the same amount of water through it. The latter will squirt the water out faster, but can't flow as much.

So you ultimately want an exhaust diameter that is the best compromise between adequate gas flow whilst still maintaining sufficient gas velocity.

A 2.25-inch cat-back would be a good sized exhaust for an EK4. That said, I have run a 2.5-inch cat-back (albeit on a B18C1 EK), and made more power than I did with a 2.25-inch system

[wynode]

Don't expect any gains.

Your headers/cat are still a restriction so you need to upgrade them in order to gain any performance.

A cat back is just an excuse to have a nice sound :)

[SiR JDM]

get the catback with a set of headers and gut ur cat >=D

[luzinit]

please dont gut ur cat..... it gives u 0.1hp and just harms the environment. also u may recieve a hefty fine. catback, its mainly noise imo. i got a trust PE II on my ek4, not that much of a difference to stock to be honest, nothing dramatic neways, maybe free top end up a bit.

for ek4, good performance for daily driving - 2" as some would suggest, but if u want to see gains in vtec rara, 2.25 - 2.36(jdm 60mm piping).

my opinion - b16as are gutless down low anyways, so no point trying to improve it, just get 2.25 - 2.36" piping, and have more fun in VTEC!

[geo41e]

amen tony!

[wynode]

Is it like a 5K or 10K fine if you gut your cat?

[Jay]

i would agree with most pplz so far 2.25 is proble the best way to go
as i have found out over the research ive done so far

[SiR JDM]

From the reaseach ive done (reading old threads, talking to people, exhuast places etc etc) i find if you jus want some sound with no plans of performance then grab a 2" catback and big milo tin!

If your planning on some power gains (ie i/h/e) then a 2.25" mandrel is the way to go for a b16 with a low restiction muffler...

btw the cat comment wasn't serious - vote greens! :P