Mac Headers with catted Y Pipe
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,410
Likes: 11
From: Port St. Lucie, Fl
Mac Headers with catted Y Pipe Just wondering what kind of gains will I see with this set up.Alot of people on this form say there cats suck, maybe they improved them for 2002 f bodies. Will restriction be bad?Are they worse that stock Cats? Some people use this set up and see about 20rwhp?
I have a Blk 2002 WS6 Auto with SLP Lid K/N air filter smooth bellow Yank 3200 Stall and custom computer tuning from Vinci Handheld programmer. What Kind of 1/4 Mile times will I see with this set up. Thanks.
I have a Blk 2002 WS6 Auto with SLP Lid K/N air filter smooth bellow Yank 3200 Stall and custom computer tuning from Vinci Handheld programmer. What Kind of 1/4 Mile times will I see with this set up. Thanks.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2005
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Hi
I just put MAC headers and cat Y pipe on my 98 Z28, A4. I already had a K&N intake and Borla cat back. I was supprised at thow much power and torque I gained. I have no dyno figures, but the changes really woke up my car. The cats can not be all that bad. I may upgrade to Magnaflow cats in the future, but for now I am happy with it.
On the down side I have a few minor complaints. The cat on the driver side hangs down quite low. The fact is that there is not alot of room at the floor on that side. You will loose a fair bit of ground clearance. I often scrap that cat on speed bumps and my car is stock ride hight. Also, the Y pipe comes down quite low in the tunnel and I could not fit the tunnel brace back on. I can see no reason for this, other then it is made with a generic bolt-on type fit. It could tuck up neater and tighter.
I suppose if I did it again, I might use the MAC headers, but get a custom Y pipe. This would get better cats and a better fit. However, the cost of a custom Y pipe is more then the entire MAC system over the counter. It depends on how much you want to spend. I still recommend the system. I love driving my car with the new headers.
JA
I just put MAC headers and cat Y pipe on my 98 Z28, A4. I already had a K&N intake and Borla cat back. I was supprised at thow much power and torque I gained. I have no dyno figures, but the changes really woke up my car. The cats can not be all that bad. I may upgrade to Magnaflow cats in the future, but for now I am happy with it.
On the down side I have a few minor complaints. The cat on the driver side hangs down quite low. The fact is that there is not alot of room at the floor on that side. You will loose a fair bit of ground clearance. I often scrap that cat on speed bumps and my car is stock ride hight. Also, the Y pipe comes down quite low in the tunnel and I could not fit the tunnel brace back on. I can see no reason for this, other then it is made with a generic bolt-on type fit. It could tuck up neater and tighter.
I suppose if I did it again, I might use the MAC headers, but get a custom Y pipe. This would get better cats and a better fit. However, the cost of a custom Y pipe is more then the entire MAC system over the counter. It depends on how much you want to spend. I still recommend the system. I love driving my car with the new headers.
JA
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,410
Likes: 11
From: Port St. Lucie, Fl
Great to hear about the performance aspect, I am kinda glad about driver side hanging low because under hard acceleration, the LS1 Motor fluctuates and the ypipe could hit the flood board if too high up, setting off the knock sensors and timing being pulled.
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From: Tree-Hugging, Bug eating CALI'
I had MACs on my car, and had the same complaints. Left cat' too low, y-pipe too low, blah blah blah... Additionally, they were a PITA to install, AND remove. I never had my car dynoed before the MACs ( by the way, I used Magnaflow cats' ) but after the MACs, through the cats', and the car put down 334RWHP and 355RWTQ. But comparison, my brother, who' s car was set the same to mine, put down 327/350. Of course this is comparing apples to oranges, but an idea. Admittedly, my tune wasn' too good, as it was bellowing smoke out of the tailpipes, like is was running rich, so a better tune would have likely been a little helpful. The quickest MPH I ran was just under 108MPH, if that is any idea, up from about 104-105MPH,
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Originally Posted by corvet786c
Great to hear about the performance aspect, I am kinda glad about driver side hanging low because under hard acceleration, the LS1 Motor fluctuates and the ypipe could hit the flood board if too high up, setting off the knock sensors and timing being pulled.
I agree. I figure it could be up about 3/8" to 1/2" without hitting. It does not sound like much, but if you plan to lower your car every bit counts.
Also, I found the Lakewood drive shaft loop to be a good replacement for the tunnel brace. It fits up overtop of the Mac Y pipe so you do not loose any clearance. It's strong and cheep at about 50 bucks. It's a 15 minute bolt on. It is the same unit Spohn sells, but the Lakewood is about 1/2 the price.
JA
