High Flow Cats or Cat Delete?
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2025
Posts: 26
Likes: 2
From: Los Angeles
High Flow Cats or Cat Delete?
I'm thinking about putting this Hotlicks Exhaust mod on my C7, one of the requirements says that you need to have a cat delete on the car for it to work properly.
Problem is, I live in California, where smog checks are extremely strict.
Slight good news is, that it may possibly work with a high flow cat, but it will most likely just burn out in the end.
So should I just get a high flow cat and watch it burn out? Or should I get a cat delete and watch myself fail the smog check.
Problem is, I live in California, where smog checks are extremely strict.
Slight good news is, that it may possibly work with a high flow cat, but it will most likely just burn out in the end.
So should I just get a high flow cat and watch it burn out? Or should I get a cat delete and watch myself fail the smog check.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,344
Likes: 4,008
From: Texas
Doubt it works on newer Gen cars like the C7. As soon as you press the button I’d expect the PCM to generate error codes. In addition, the fuel pressures on a C7 are an order of magnitude higher than old fuel injected engines.
Bullet cats fail in CA as do no cats. With no cats you’ll get errors for the aft o2 sensors. Program the errors out and CA will fail you for a modified tune.
Bullet cats fail in CA as do no cats. With no cats you’ll get errors for the aft o2 sensors. Program the errors out and CA will fail you for a modified tune.
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Joined: Apr 2016
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From: Pittsburgh
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DON'T do a cat delete, your car will smell like rotten eggs anytime you sit in traffic or at idle....most "sport cats" are junk & not worth the price. Modern OEM catalytic converters are very efficient & a very minimal horsepower gain is achieved from removing them
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,344
Likes: 4,008
From: Texas
OP wants to shoot flames out the exhaust Fast & Furious style, not make more power.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,323
Likes: 420
From: Eastern NC
That being said, OP seems like its going to be a pain to have a California registration and do fun stuff with the car. Maybe change the registration to another state and bypass all the dumb regulations.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 190
Likes: 84
From: Tucson AZ
I'm thinking about putting this Hotlicks Exhaust mod on my C7, one of the requirements says that you need to have a cat delete on the car for it to work properly.
Problem is, I live in California, where smog checks are extremely strict.
Slight good news is, that it may possibly work with a high flow cat, but it will most likely just burn out in the end.
So should I just get a high flow cat and watch it burn out? Or should I get a cat delete and watch myself fail the smog check.
Problem is, I live in California, where smog checks are extremely strict.
Slight good news is, that it may possibly work with a high flow cat, but it will most likely just burn out in the end.
So should I just get a high flow cat and watch it burn out? Or should I get a cat delete and watch myself fail the smog check.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2014
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From: Atlanta GA
Dave
Last edited by Dcasole; May 25, 2025 at 09:41 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 8,665
Likes: 2,722
From: Atlanta GA
I'm thinking about putting this Hotlicks Exhaust mod on my C7, one of the requirements says that you need to have a cat delete on the car for it to work properly.
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Dave
