tbirdscwd

I have a stock mid-pipe sitting in storage for those pesky smog checks. For the rest of the time, I have a bassani catted x

kast1376

This is exactly what I do every 2 years in Ca. Stick the stocker back on, run the hell out of it, and go pass. Then I put the aftermarket catted X back on.

TRUEBLUE3934

As others have stated, you can swap on your catted pipe just to get the inspection done. I do this every year. The cats don't go bad from not being run on the car.

Almost every inspection I have had over the past several years, the tech has tapped on the cats to make sure they were not gutted. I had a shop fail me this year because my aftermarket catted mid-pipe has only 2 cats and the factory installs four.

I checked with a couple of local performance shops looking for a relaxed shop to get my car inspected at. Turns out the manager of my local O'Reileys parts store hooked me up with a local shop that plugged into my ECM, as required, and absolutely nothing more. I was literally in and out of the shop in less than 5 minutes.

It pays to ask around and find a laid-back shop. I wasted my time even installing the cats this year. Next year I'm getting 20% tint since I no longer have to worry about passing that aspect of inspection (NC law is 35%).

99GTM

Wow, overwhelming response. Thanks guys, really puts it in perspective. I would say I would go with high flow cats, but I believe my car came with 6 cats stock. Anything less would get me failed in this strict area I'm sure. I really love the tone of an off road x though. We'll see how it goes.

lizzyfan

Sounds like crap with Flows

Dteal23

been catless since 03 no probs. got a modified exhaust ticket because he couldnt write me up for anything else, dude didnt even look at my cats and they prob never will lol.

Dudewright0715

+1 to JC316.. I agree..i had an off road h since ive owned my car...i live in the ghetto so i dont have a problem with that but ...

some places have to check for emsissions id recomend taking it to a ghetto place ...or for one day go put your stock h pipe on (if you have it) then pass then go put you O/R back on..

99GTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FntrLX86CHI

That video makes me beg to differ. He has the same setup I do, just with the O/R X installed. It's all a matter of opinion though. I happen to like the way that one sounds.

99GTM

That seems to be the general consensus is to just keep the stock H pipe and swap it before emissions inspections. I'd probably still get pulled over and questioned where I live though. We'll see what happens. Thanks for the opinions.

TRUEBLUE3934

I guess you need to take into account what mufflers and mid-pipe configuration you will be running. If you plan to run an O/R X with any chambered muffler, you will get a high degree of raspy resonance which I personally couldn't stand. I added two high flow cats to get rid of that characteristic. If you will have LOUD mufflers with your O/R pipe, you may be correct in assuming you will draw unwanted attention.

There are some combinations that are not too bad though, so it is up to you to decide what approach balances your risk aversion with your happiness.
GOOD LUCK!