I am thinking and researching to start a thread on the legal, environmental, and ethical issues with deleting your catalytic converter. That will take a while. Like you, I recycle and work to minimize my environmental impact, and my next car will be a Tesla. I'd drive a Model S now if I could afford it, just because it is a beautiful car and as an engineer I can appreciate the efficiency and execution of the design.

But to your arguments - saying "look over there, commercial aviation / farming / etc. is much worse than my little Mini without a cat" is missing the point. The reason modern cars have made such gains in efficiency and emissions reductions over the last 40 years is because of US emissions regulations, not in spite of it. Auto manufacturers threw tantrums saying the goals were impossible, then the engineers and scientists got to work and made it happen.

If you're under 40 you probably have no idea how bad air quality was in major US cities in the 60s and early 70s. If you're under 30 you probably look around and ask "what's all the fuss about?" Try a quick Google search for "Los Angeles smog then and now" and check out the pictures. Even now it can be pretty bad when the inversion layer is in place. California led the way with emissions regulations, and it WORKED. I'm not a left wing liberal environmental tree hugging whacko (I have my sister for that.) My political views are libertarian, and in general I'm not a fan of government regulation. But reducing pollution is one area where government regulation is absolutely essential, because the free market isn't going to do it by itself. People and corporations have historically taken the short term approach, arguing that it's too expensive, they can't be competitive because the other guy isn't doing it, etc. That's why government has to regulate to solve this problem.

A more polite analogy than my previous one - you use reusable bags at the grocery store instead of the one-time use plastic bags. Well, deleting your cat and arguing that the increase in emissions is insignificant is like using a one-time use plastic bag, and then throwing it in the ocean. Just one little bag in that huge ocean, it won't make any difference, right? Tell that to the sea turtle who thinks it's a jellyfish.

 

Guys seriously, stop with the debate on what's morally/ethically/politically correct on the necessity of a cat vs decat downpipe. This was not the purpose of the original post.

Open your own thread to "rant" about this.

This thread should really be closed because it's completely off topic at this point.

 

You're right, I thought about that but went ahead and posted anyway. My apologies to the rest of you. Mods feel free to delete the off topic posts.

Debate it over here if you wish: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...converter.html

 

Seems like the self righteous tree huger who thinks those who remove their cats are less than...
Sure you have the right to walk around as a neutered would be good doer decrying those who have this desire to test the extremes as to what their car can do.

It seems like the money is a issue too for some reason??
Yes we can get fines, yes there are laws and rules but sometimes it seems to me like the government oversteps its boundaries on certain things and ignores much more perilous issues like say gun violence and control.

Do you really think a few folks modifying their cars is ethically, morally and legally more vexing than the senseless murders of innocent children in schools?
I mean pick and choose your battles but in the grand scheme of things, a few cars without cats is not going to ruin the environment.
This is America after all. Freedom was technically paramount!

 

This debate could go on forever, but I'm very aware of the happiness and negatives my DP's do. To offset my "footprint" I recycle, have low flush toilets, carpool, pick my dogs poop up...etc. I'm far from perfect, but cars are my weakness

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

Anyways, getting back to the original point... I'm interested to know if there would be any difference in sound between the S DP and the JCW DP. I'm sure that the performance gains are minimal if any at all.

Every thread I go to ends the same way. "Get a BorlAkraMagna exhaust..." I'm not interested. I'm looking for the best I can get with OEM parts to keep with emissions standards. My state does use a sniffer.

 

I removed my GP2 DP the day after I bought the car and it looks identical to every other MCS I have seen. No difference

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

I checked out the part number differences...

JCW w/ N14 - 18307583146
JCW w/ N18 - 18307599436

MCS w/ N18 - 18307599436

Other than a part number change, the N14 looks like it's basically the same DP as the N18. Also, the N18 uses the same DP whether its on an S or JCW. I guess that answers my own question. There is no difference.

 

Still have the catalytic converter for sale.

price drop. $400 shipped

That's cheaper than a catless dp + ceramic coating+ tune to shut off CEL.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ic-coated.html

 

But if you ever drive by one of the RANDOM spot inspections set ups at the highway on ramp you can get summoned for a sniffer test. And I don't think the cat check is "1" of the items you can have not ready, evap is as that is seen often not ready.

 

We don't have sniffer testing or random spots on roads. I don't know about the cat check counting or not.

 

We have the random sniff test, that look like DUi check points. They are volunteer and you can say no and drive away. Most people just do it because they are nervous. Also, my car is way too low to go on the ramps, too much liability for them.

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

don't travel to Dallas or Houston, I know they do.

 

Our random tests are setup to sniff you as you drive by, you DON'T have an option to say no thanks.

 

I was in the DFW area off and on for two years while a UTA and never saw anything that resembled a testing station. Took an air quality class as part of my degree program and saw examples of remote testing labs, but that was for general air quality, not roadside emissions. I drive to Houston a lot for work and again haven't seen anything on roadsides, but then again I'm not strictly looking for them. I would think they would have to be manned to be able to summon you for a check, and that would stick out. Either way, inspections don't do sniffer tests to begin with, so if you got a ticket and told to fix it, how would they know if the ECU checks out?