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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 10:21 AM
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Default High flow cats

I have a stock 2006 with Corsa extreme exhaust. My question is will i gain anything by installing high flow cats? Will it increase exhaust sound and increase hp.?

Last edited by Don07; Feb 18, 2026 at 11:01 AM. Reason: added info.
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 10:52 AM
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Other than noise and rasp and maybe smell…. No.
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 11:34 AM
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Originally Posted by Don07
I have a stock 2006 with Corsa extreme exhaust. My question is will i gain anything by installing high flow cats? Will it increase exhaust sound and increase hp.?
The hi-flow cats themselves will add exhaust sound but will not increase HP. You should take a look at adding headers like ARH with their X-pipe & hi-flow cats. That set up with your Corse exhaust will add approximately 20-25 hp.
To get maximum advantage, you should also get a dynamic tune from a reputable Corvette specialty shop.
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 11:55 AM
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Stop with the “maximum advantage “ thing.
The gain is the same whether the car is stock or has headers. There is no such thing as “taking advantage” of an exhaust mod
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 01:17 PM
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Get long tube headers.
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 02:17 PM
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If you get long tube catted headers, I'd say its worth it. We have some Kooks in stock.

-Josh
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 08:20 PM
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Nobody makes a bolt on-high flow cat for this platform. You would have to do headers with a high flow catted xpipe. I've seen customers gain 20-40rwhp more or less depending on supporting mods & how spicy the tune is.
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Old Feb 18, 2026 | 09:28 PM
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Hi there,
Yes go with long tube headers and a new X pipe with high flow cats. I have Kooks all the out to the NPP Chevrolet exhaust. Sound great, cruises quiet until you open the throttle. That's when it sounds best! I also have an on/off switch to keep the pipes open at all times. Good luck!

Mike F.
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Old Feb 19, 2026 | 05:24 AM
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Most "high flow cats" are junk & don't have enough precious metals in them to do a good job, an exception to this would be Kooks "green" cats, they are of oem quality....a headers/x pipe/ tune would gain you some horsepower, just changing out the cats will not
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Old Feb 19, 2026 | 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by 449er
Most "high flow cats" are junk & don't have enough precious metals in them to do a good job, an exception to this would be Kooks "green" cats, they are of oem quality....a headers/x pipe/ tune would gain you some horsepower, just changing out the cats will not
Where's the data for this? Not saying the Kooks cats don't have more to them, but who says they really do and looks just realizes that people already spending $2-3k on headers are easy to sell expensive cats to?

Then again, what does "enough precious metals.to do a good job" even mean? Are they going to catalyze as much as the OEM low.flow cats? Certainly not. Will they catalyze a non zero amount of exhaust? Absolutely. My point here is that there is no data testing most of these aftermarket high flow cats, and you can't just say "price = goodness".

I believe the looks cats to be better than the $30 ones I bought for my C4 race car. I don't believe the $40 ones will do nothing, and I do believe they'll.keep.thenfes down some. I also don't believe that it will do as good of a job as new OEM cats. I do think it will work similar to the very old and very degraded factory cars in my 92 with 140k miles and one cat rattling inside, lol.

At the end of the day, your choice to run a high flow, no, or OEM-like car is between you, your local regulators, and God. Do what you feel is best.
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Old Feb 19, 2026 | 10:19 AM
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I would say my proof is my Pa state emission test, oem & Kooks green cats will pass, the cheap high flow cats will not
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Old Feb 19, 2026 | 11:58 AM
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My car also has Cat back, Corsa exhaust. I removed the resonators and it made the sound louder and nicer. You get the best of both worlds doing that. You keep the original Cats and get a nice rumble too.
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Old Feb 19, 2026 | 12:23 PM
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There is a reason Kooks green cats cost what they do.
Agreed on cheap cats being a waste of time. Mostl to pass visual to be honest.

Resonators typically reduce bad frequencies like rasp. They shouldn’t make a tone or loudness difference.
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