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How Bad are Mac Headers w/ there catted Y Pipe.

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Old Sep 14, 2005 | 03:07 PM
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Default How Bad are Mac Headers w/ there catted Y Pipe.

I Just purchased Mac Mid system w/their cats and Y pipe to go on my 2002 A4 WS6. Did I waste my money? I heard the headers are pretty Good, but I also heard that there cats suck. Are they worse than stock, or a little better. Mac says they are high flow cats. What do I do now. Thanks
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Old Sep 14, 2005 | 06:21 PM
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They are not bad headers. I would replace the cats with some better flowing ones though. The headers are better than SLP.
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Old Sep 14, 2005 | 08:29 PM
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Thanks for the info
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Old Sep 14, 2005 | 11:26 PM
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I thought installing MACs would be easy, but they were a pain. I did not think about unbolting the tranny mount, at the time, but, it would have been helpful. I got a good gain. My brother, with almost the same set-up, minus the MACs, was running about 1.0 to 2.0 MPH lower than me, on the same night. I believe they are worth between 10-20 RWHP.

Even though I have been lucky enough to switch, I think they are still good, for the money, and clearance
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Old Sep 15, 2005 | 12:03 AM
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Originally Posted by radz282003
I thought installing MACs would be easy, but they were a pain. I did not think about unbolting the tranny mount, at the time, but, it would have been helpful. I got a good gain. My brother, with almost the same set-up, minus the MACs, was running about 1.0 to 2.0 MPH lower than me, on the same night. I believe they are worth between 10-20 RWHP.

Even though I have been lucky enough to switch, I think they are still good, for the money, and clearance
Hi
Just curious, were you able to gey your tunnel brace back on after installing the MAC cat Y pipe? I had to leave mine off.

JA
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Old Sep 15, 2005 | 04:07 PM
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Mac cats flow worse than even the stock cats. Replace them with some higher flowing ones like CarSound or Random Tech. The midlength headers themselves are roughly equivalent to LTs, with LTs having the advantage of freeing up a little more power under the curve.

See the exhaust FAQ for a dyno comparison.

I left the tunnel brace off my car too.

Rob (Bad30th)
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Old Sep 15, 2005 | 09:19 PM
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Not to hijack this thread, but has anyone attmpted to weld in cats into MAC ORY?

I have MAC with ORY, but I hate occasional rasp, and smell of sulfur from the fumes.
I was wondering if I could get some 2.5 inch carsound cats, and have those welded in... ?

Any responses, greatly apprciated !
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Old Sep 15, 2005 | 09:39 PM
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Had Mac mids w/ catted y-pipe on my SS when it was a heads/cam car back in 2003. Made 428rwhp w/ tea heads and 224 cam, not to shabby.
then put those macs on my old 99Z a4 w/ f11 and did 388rwhp.
there pretty decent headers/y-pipe imo
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Old Sep 15, 2005 | 10:02 PM
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There you go Macs are not a bad set up then.Those look like pretty good numbers too me.
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Old Sep 15, 2005 | 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by AdamSS
Not to hijack this thread, but has anyone attmpted to weld in cats into MAC ORY?

I have MAC with ORY, but I hate occasional rasp, and smell of sulfur from the fumes.
I was wondering if I could get some 2.5 inch carsound cats, and have those welded in... ?

Any responses, greatly apprciated !
Hi
I know it will fit on the passanger side, but the driver side is a bit of a wild card. It depends on how close the pipe is to the floor on the drivers side. The MAC Y pipe comes in 3 pieces, so worst case most likely means refabricating the driver's side section only. Any good custom exhaust shop can do it and the extra cost should not be that much more.

Switching to cats will mean loosing some ground clearance on the drivers side, as there is simply not a lot of room for a cat there. My car has stock ride hight and I hit the driver side cat on speed bumps all the time. I have the MAC cat Y pipe. Make shure that you use a shop that will take the time fo fit the cat in up as high as it can go. Once again use a good custom shop and it should work out for you.

JA
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Old Sep 16, 2005 | 12:07 AM
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Thanks for the reply, I am getting the Headers coated and will be having them installed soon.What kind of Horsepower should I see about (20rwhp).
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Old Sep 16, 2005 | 08:59 AM
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I welded in CarSound 3" cats, and my heads/cam motor made 410rwhp/415rwtq through them, with an LS1 intake (that wasn't too shabby way back in 2001, heh).

I used a muffler hanger to keep the y-pipe from banging the floor.

Rob (Bad30th)

Last edited by Bad30th; Sep 19, 2005 at 09:27 AM.
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Old Sep 16, 2005 | 02:54 PM
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I did have SOME trouble with the floor brace, but it just takes a little adjustment.
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Old Sep 16, 2005 | 02:57 PM
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The coating sucks!!!! it will flake off in 3 months
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Old Sep 16, 2005 | 08:56 PM
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Hi

I did not dyno before and after so I have no real idea of how much I gained. All I can say is that the MAC headers and cat Y pipe realy woke up my car. I am happy with the gains, so the cats can't be too bad. I do plan to upgrade to Magnaflow cats at soom point in the future, but it is low priority for me now.

JA
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Old Sep 16, 2005 | 10:32 PM
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Thanks for the input guys, I fell better now, cause I thought I wasted my money with the Mac set up but I know I should see some decent gains though.In combination with the Yank 3200 stall
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Old Sep 17, 2005 | 09:15 AM
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I put down 310 to the wheels with macs and air lid only, through stock SS exhaust on an A4. This was also through the mac cats. Not to bad for mid lenght headers.
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