View Poll Results: Does removing the catalytic converter increase performace and mileage?
Voters: 80. You may not vote on this poll
Is taking off the catalyctic converter such a good idea?
08-26-2006, 05:42 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 153
Is taking off the catalyctic converter such a good idea?
FYI: Here in Mexico there are no laws against taking it off.
Some guy at work tells me that he will take it off my car for free to sell the part. He insists I will get much better gas mileage and power.
Is that so? Will I really get much better performance?
Some guy at work tells me that he will take it off my car for free to sell the part. He insists I will get much better gas mileage and power.
Is that so? Will I really get much better performance?
08-26-2006, 06:42 PM
#4
Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 36
since you have obd2, taking it off will throw a code and make the car not run 100% but you can get an O2 simulator. even though i have never put one on my maxima, the are supposed to work well. a friend put one on his civic a few years back when he removed his cat and its still working to this day. and removing it will make it sound bad.
08-26-2006, 06:45 PM
#5
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Long Island, NY/Tampa, FL
Posts: 533
Depends on a few things. First off, taking the cat out is illegal anywhere. It is a federal law and applies to every state. Most likley you wouldn't get caught anyway if you don't have inspections. I don't know what to tell you as far as gains. I've never taken mine off even though I planned to after I get enough cash for a full cattman system. Most people i've seen on the forum seem to be against it claiming it's not worth the hp and is illegal. Custommaxima.com sell a resonated test pipe which they claim adds around 11-12hp. But other sites i've read say it only gains you around 1-2hp and is not worth it. Hopefully someone else can chime in and let you know about the gains.
08-26-2006, 07:26 PM
#6
u 'might' not get caught at emissions but there is a good chance you will. whenever I get emissions the guy looks under the car for the cat. and if whoever does yours and knows what hes doing he will prolly ask where yours it..but 'maybe' not
08-26-2006, 07:28 PM
#7
A few things:
- you get zero gains that you will notice. The Max cat is already free flowing
- you're polluting the environment, as if Mexico needed any more pollution
- You'll likely trip the CEL
- You car will sound bad
- you get zero gains that you will notice. The Max cat is already free flowing
- you're polluting the environment, as if Mexico needed any more pollution
- You'll likely trip the CEL
- You car will sound bad
08-26-2006, 10:44 PM
#9
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 21
you can make some money from the metals in the cat, but it is not worth it!
08-27-2006, 09:21 AM
#12
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 16
I took my off my 96' and hated it, sounded liek ****, smelt like ****, ran like ****. And never was able to rig my sensor to not make the engine light go on. That guy can sell it for 200$ at least..so dont believe him.
08-27-2006, 09:41 AM
#13
Originally Posted by olsona5
you can make some money from the metals in the cat, but it is not worth it!
08-27-2006, 01:48 PM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,883
Originally Posted by scubasteve
yea lets pollute and make the car sound like crap for $2.50. Thats retarded posting.
08-27-2006, 02:15 PM
#15
Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 57
it's not a good idea there is no gains whatsoever and it's really bad for the environnment and i,ve been to mexico, if you're out of shape and high up you will get exhausted just walking up the stairs, do everyone a favor and forget it, and also the guy can make so much money off that piece it,s just not worth it.
08-27-2006, 02:20 PM
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 1,066
If you had a v8 in your max i would say go for it, I have owned mustangs in the past and that's the first thing on the "to do" list, a off-road exhaust sounds awesome plus gives extra hp........ But with the maxima your performance gains will not be even worth the trouble and also it would make the car sound too ricey.. My advice for you is leave it on!
08-27-2006, 03:08 PM
#19
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 153
Originally Posted by Chickan
no gains, I've done it on three cars (Dakota, 300ZX, Maxima), exhaust stinks, all three I put high flow or regular cats back into it.
DO NOT DO IT!
DO NOT DO IT!
Quite useful.
I agree with the stink. Through my research on the net, I found that the cat works only after the exhaust gases have reached a high temperature. I do notice that when my engine is cold the fumes are smellier. Later when it is nice and hot, the smell dissapears. Proof enough that removing the cat will leave a permament stench on the fumes.
I will follow your advise. In my do-it-yourself maintenance manual there is a vacuum test to check if the cat is plugged. I suppose if my gas mileage ever drops, I will check the vacuum first.
08-27-2006, 04:02 PM
#21
I got a free test pipe with my budget y pipe, so i put it on because i didnt want to mess with undoing even more rusted bolts on the cat/ypipe connection. The car does smell a little more than normal, but it does NOT sound ricey like people insist. My setup is budget y, unresonated test pipe, stock o2 sensor pipe, stock catback, dynomax superturbo muffler, and it sounds pretty damn good and really quiet, can hardly tell anything's aftermarket when accelerating. From the outside, its a deep sound throughout the whole power band. I'm thinking of putting the stock Cat back on though, but it's going to be a PITA so i dont know what im going to do...but the claims about sounding bad are pretty much wrong.
08-27-2006, 06:53 PM
#24
Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 79
If you dont mind not passing your emission test go for it buddy.
08-28-2006, 09:47 AM
#25
Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 53
Don't take off!
I bought a 99maxima a few weeks ago and it did not have one on it. Someone had removed it...from my experience it sounds like crap when you don't have one, i did not have to take it through emmissions but I want it so the car will sound a little quieter.
08-28-2006, 10:30 AM
#26
Originally Posted by 95bluse
A few things:
- you get zero gains that you will notice. The Max cat is already free flowing
- you're polluting the environment, as if Mexico needed any more pollution
- You'll likely trip the CEL
- You car will sound bad
- you get zero gains that you will notice. The Max cat is already free flowing
- you're polluting the environment, as if Mexico needed any more pollution
- You'll likely trip the CEL
- You car will sound bad
08-28-2006, 10:47 AM
#28
Originally Posted by loverholic
now lets tell that to him in spanish......anyone?.......anyone?....lol
- Usted obtiene cero las ganancias que usted advertirá. El gato Máx es fluir ya libre
- usted contamina el ambiente, como si México necesitara cualquiera más contaminación
- Usted hará el viaje probable el CEL
- Usted coche sonará malo
01-30-2007, 08:55 PM
#30
yea i would keep the stock cat on, mexico already has enought environmental issues...lol along with the rest of the world! but besides all the tree hugger Bull$hit, there are very little to NO gains...get a Y-pipe if you realy want some extra power...
01-30-2007, 09:33 PM
#31
no its not. sounds awful, plus your not gaining anything besides a pain in the *** when it comes to inspection time. plus most stock cats on newer cars are high flow cats anyway, so theres no use in buying a high flow cat either.
01-31-2007, 07:45 AM
#33
My feelings on this thread...
Post of the day:
Frank is always good for entertainment...
Now the proper info:
And for the ESL folks:
That about covers it. Thanks for playing! Move along now! 
Post of the day:
Originally Posted by Frank Fontaine
Since when was there an intelligence requirement for posting on this forum? I've seen so much information that is simply wrong here. Like people saying a Maxima aftermarket rim is "deep dish." Guess they never noticed a Lincoln Town Car, Ford Mustang, Geo Tracker, Ford F350, tractor trailer, BMW with sport package, etc. By virtue of the FWD a "deep dish" rim wouldn't even fit a Maxima. What happened to those c***** looking fake dual exhausts for the 4th gen? Did that fad fade away and LED tails took over? Fake duals are about as smart as removing the CAT imho....
Now the proper info:
Originally Posted by 95bluse
A few things:
- you get zero gains that you will notice. The Max cat is already free flowing
- you're polluting the environment, as if Mexico needed any more pollution
- You'll likely trip the CEL
- You car will sound bad
- you get zero gains that you will notice. The Max cat is already free flowing
- you're polluting the environment, as if Mexico needed any more pollution
- You'll likely trip the CEL
- You car will sound bad
Originally Posted by Dubbya
Unas pocas cosas:
- Usted obtiene cero las ganancias que usted advertirá. El gato Máx es fluir ya libre
- usted contamina el ambiente, como si México necesitara cualquiera más contaminación
- Usted hará el viaje probable el CEL
- Usted coche sonará malo
- Usted obtiene cero las ganancias que usted advertirá. El gato Máx es fluir ya libre
- usted contamina el ambiente, como si México necesitara cualquiera más contaminación
- Usted hará el viaje probable el CEL
- Usted coche sonará malo
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
CorollaULEV
7th Generation Maxima (2009-2015)
30
08-09-2021 08:11 PM
SmokinMax02
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
18
09-11-2015 12:25 AM
yat70458
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
2
08-03-2015 01:16 PM