floodofnoise

I have a 2002 WS6. Ever since I bought my car people have asked if I have an aftermarket exhaust because it is pretty darn loud. I backed the car up some ramps to take a look under and it seems to be a stock exhaust to me. There are no logos or markings anywhere on the mufflers and the only thing that is stainless are the tips. I looked at the cats and each one of them has an X marked on it with either paint or a marker of some sort.

So now I am wondering if the cats are gutted (or bad), not sure if there is a way for me to easily tell. Any advice?

Also, if I were to upgrade the exhaust at this point should I replace the cats as well? I'm guessing the previous owner wanted a louder exhaust tone without buying a new exhaust.

Rare96LT1Formula

iTrader: (32)

You're going to get mixed opinions on weather or not to run cats. If you're looking for all out loud and emissions aren't too strict, go without cats (ORY). Just know your car will likely have the race car smell to it with that setup. Personally, I prefer exhaust systems with high flow cats. They don't really hinder performance and there is normally minimal rasp. That's what I'll be going with on my car.

Check out www.LS1sounds.com if you haven't already.

The Mighty Texan

iTrader: (4)

The only way i know is the knock on them with something and see if they sound hollow. Maybe someone will post a more certain way for ya

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

You can easily tell with an IR (infrared) gun. If the cats are gutted, their temps will be similar to the surrounding pipes. If they are not gutted, they will be significantly hotter than the surrounding pipes.

You mentioned "mufflers". If you have more than one muffler, that is definitely not stock.

I'm not a fan of cats in general. I normally don't remove them from a stock car, but if I'm going to do headers, I see no reason to buy a Y-pipe with cats (unless you have strict local emissions inspections to pass). They sound better without cats (IMO), when the proper muffler and/or race bullet combo is employed. And no matter how "hi flow" the cats are, they will never outflow an open pipe, so you'll be spending more money for less flow; that is counter-productive to the purpose of doing headers IMO.

As for the unfiltered smell, well that just doesn't bother me personally. Then again, I'm also the kind of guy that drives around an old, stinky muscle car with a 4-barrel toilet bowl, so I'm used to it.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

you should have a gas smell if your cats are gutted as mentioned above.

The Mighty Texan

iTrader: (4)

Isnt it more of a sulfer smell than gas? And can a car (say running rich) produce that same smell if the cats aren't gutted?

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

if you smell fuel that bad i would think it would be running like ****?

The Mighty Texan

iTrader: (4)

Ahh, u must have not seen my thread in the general maintenece/repair section Actually it was running really good when i would smell that, for ~ 2 years (long as i've had the car)

floodofnoise

Thanks for the responses everyone! I do believe they are gutted because I sometimes do smell an exhaust/sulfer smell in the cabin. It's not too strong so I don't mind it so much. I only have 1 muffler and I am assuming this is stock:

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

That is definitely NOT a stock muffler. It looks similar to a Flowmaster 80-series replacement muffler, though it doesn't have the seam down the middle so it's probably a different brand.

Either way, I'm 100% certain it's not stock (stock muffler is much larger and shaped a bit differently). This explains why it sounds so loud.

The Mighty Texan

iTrader: (4)

Yeah not the stock muffler, missing the seam and the stocker is a lot bigger and uglier looking haha

floodofnoise

Thanks guys! I would have never known and just assumed it was the stock setup. I did check out some sound clips of the flowmaster 80 series and it indeed sounds just like my exhaust-- I think this mystery is solved, lol