Hey guys,

Hope someone can assist me. We recently replaced the system on our 2006 WRX (sport wagon) with a H&S system from scoobyworld. When we got it fitted the flange on the downpipe with the secondary cat was knackered so we purchased a decat option as these was readily available and not too expensive, checked with the supplier and there advised that as long as the main Cat was in place we should have no problem with MoT emissions checks. I called my normal MoT place and asked them to do a check on emissions before the MoT next month to be safe and I have now discovered that to pass an MoT cars must now have all CAT's in place regardless of the emissions so my car will fail.

I have spoken to my main dealer today, the part number is 44611AA000 apparently for the downpipe with the cat in situ but the price is £1500, which is a tad high. I am struggling to find a replacement non OEM that does not cost the earth and wondered if anyone has any ideas? All search throw up decat (delete) downpipes and I am guessing many will be hit with this new rule that came in last year I am told.

Does anyone have an advice on this please as otherwise I guess I am looking at breaking for parts which is a real shame and not what we want to do but I can't afford £1500 for a part just to pass the newer MoT checks.

Cheers, Chris

 

PPP cars simply had the original heat shields re-fitted over the secondary de-cat pipe

or simply find a more friendly MOT garage

 

There are two things to pass the MOT; emissions, and a visual check that all the cats are in place. No amount of obfuscation will help you pass with the former (if your readings are too high) unless you know someone but the latter can be easily fixed with some heat shields covering the fact the secondary cat is no linger in place, and the OEM plastic under tray being refitted. Did they test the emissions, and if so did it pass on that measure? If it did then just take it somewhere else that you haven't told you've decatted it.

 

My bugeye WRX had the prodrive mods fitted new (intercooler pipe, ECU, back box and the 3rd cat removed)

As mentioned above... The beauty of the prodrive decat is it retains the OE exhaust look and has the heat shields around it so appears to be covering a cat, it is in fact covering nothing.

Any tester looking at that would just assume it’s OE.

 

I've had a second cat delete fitted to mine for the last 13 years and it's never failed an MOT or even
been mentioned, all but a few of these were done at main dealers as well so i think u should be ok.

 

Mine just passed its mot fine, with a 100 Cell sports cat, just one cat, he had to rev it for a while to get the cat up to temp. Does this every year. You don't need an OEM cat or the second cat in place.

Depends on your mot garage, how fussy they are. As some mot places have put advisors on noisy exhausts etc

If you go to a main dealer there fussy, looking for work lol.

Just buy a Prodrive downpipe, removes second cat, but pipe has OEM heat shields in place, will improve performance aswell.

 

This is breaking on e-bay,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-SUBA...gAAOSw0wNeYRVu
Looks like it has a prodrive backbox, might have the full pack fitted, if so should have the decat centre pipe.

 

Never seen a Hawkeye with the Prodrive downpipe fitted.

 

Prodrive sportcat downpipes only fitted to the blobs as far as i know, i thought it was the second cat pipe that was needed.
Only 2 cats on a Hawk, one in the downpipe, one in the small pipe between the downpipe and the centre section.

 

i’ve have no centre cat on 5 subarus and never had an issue , the twist could be some centre sections are not cats they are just silencers , get it mot’d see what they say , my 04 fsti it was not a cat just a silencer so will an mot place really know , i don’t think so , as long as emissions are ok it should be fine 👍

 

My Hawk Spec D have a prodrive CAT

 

Must have been fitted after then, the Hawkeye PPP only included ecu, 2nd cat decat pipe, Walboro pump
and the Prodrive back box if I remember right, the Prodrive sport cat down pipes as fitted to the blob are longer than the hawk
downpipe so if you fit one to a hawk you need to fit the blob 2nd cat/decat pipe as well to make it the same
length.

 

Bugeye and Blobeye models, as you said I think they have a standard cat on the Hawkeye models.

But the Prodrive down pipe will fit the Hawkeye.



quote=Gsi Jay]Prodrive sportcat downpipes only fitted to the blobs as far as i know, i thought it was the second cat pipe that was needed.
Only 2 cats on a Hawk, one in the downpipe, one in the small pipe between the downpipe and the centre section.
[/quote]

 

[QUOTE=jaygsi;12101230]Bugeye and Blobeye models, as you said I think they have a standard cat on the Hawkeye models.

But the Prodrive down pipe will fit the Hawkeye.



Yeah they definitely will fit the Hawkeye, you just need to fit a Blob 2nd cat/decat pipe as well.

 

IM Parts on e-bay have a brand new Prodrive cat for sale at the minute if anyone’s after
one, it’s at £295 at the minute.

 

Cheers guys, turns out the local place I asked to check it before MoT were just being silly, my normal garage have advised as long as it passes the actual emissions test (obviously!) then they are happy and will never fail on a visual alone. Happy days and thanks for the quick responses.

While I am here, anyone suggest a mapper in the south that could remap, only had the the exhaust done and not looking to do anything else performance related but figured it needs mapping. My normal garage only have a 2 wheel drive rollers. Cheers again peoples.

 

Richard at FB tuning is very good , it will more than likely need fuel pump doing which he can do for you , he did my Fsti it is quick and economical when i need it to be 👍 350£ for mapping

 

adding to that , a sports cat helps flow , plus is a few more bhp but 0 to 60 no real improvement and a panel filter again better flow but in real performance on the road terms , no significant improvement , i have one fsti modded cat and filter and one not there is nothing in it performance wise , it may improve mpg slightly when driven sensibly as car working less hard to produce the same power

 

Nice on VRr2010 I shall tap him up after the MoT as not too far away either!

 

Think I might stick the prodrive sports cat on mine, will be fine as it was a dealer option and I’m sure my MOT tester will make sure it’s warm enough to get working.Helps that I’m the MOT tester haha.

 

if the prodrive cat is the down pipe one it will definitely need a re map or the very least a map check , not much point in fitting a sports cat unless you map it as you won’t gain any thing other than possible engine damage , if it’s not already been mapped for that sports cat , if you don’t re map you risk damage

 

Common sense needs to applied here:

No MOT tester will know the exhaust exhaust system in every car and variation between model years with regard to type or number of catalysts fitted. Nor is there any official resource provided to check or confirm what exhaust system a given car will have (bar post 1992 will have a catalyst fitted, that's it).

So as far as a MOT tester can do is a) observe a cat is fitted and not been tampered with (amateur welding indicating it may have been gutted), and b) It passes the emission test. That's pretty much it.

See section 8.2.1.1 here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...ection-8-2-1-1

 

let’s face it , even i don’t know where the cats are model to model on a scooby and i’m fairly good with scoobys , it varied from car to car with my Fsti , then you have the wrx a cat in the up pipe sti no cat in the up pipe , some say mid section is a silencer some say a cat , so it is really all down to emissions , all my cars have sports cats so need to be a bit warm , i remember my 1999 classic that with its standard cat still needed to be warm , one thing i did find out after fitting sports cats or breaking car’s , a standard subaru cat can be worth 190£ or so , the good thing the lovely people who nick cats off cars will struggle getting a scooby down pipe one off as it’s quite high up and not that accessible

 

Thats not right, fitted a sports cat with mine and no remap, improved power loads. My Wrx import had full decat system, full induction kit and no remap, ran amazingly well.

 

may run well , but probably not right could be running rich or lean who knows , a wrx you are more likely to get away with a sports cat a sti very unlikely , is it really not worth peace of mind wise to get it checked or re mapped as said above v a broken engine and a 5500 £ rebuild cost ? why add a mod and not get the best out of it ?

 

As for the stock cat prices, they should be worth more than mentioned above. Bloke on FB the other day offering to buy them for $1000 (two new age dp cats) and pay for shipping to the US so I’d imagine people here will catch on and be buying for more. Early 2000 era cats are getting crazy money. Even the little cat on my 172 is over £600 now!

We’ve had people swapping to aftermarket cats and selling their OE cats in the garage I work at. My 172 for example, £600 for the OE cat scrap and £75 for an aftermarket cat. Doesn’t surprise me people do it as they’re being stolen so I’d rather be the one getting the money than the scumbag thief.

My WRX cost me £500 so it’s kind of cool to think I could sell the cat for what the car cost me. That’s the only reason I’d swap it really.

 

I'm sure your right about running abit rich, but I've bought loads of Impreza's modded with no remap and been like that for years and run completely fine. Seen more mapped versions failing if I'm being honest. £5500 for an engine rebuild, ouch where do you shop.

 

it’s your call as it’s your car and up to you , my thoughts if you buy a not cheap mod you may as well make the best out of it , subaru4u you get a years warranty last build lasted 100k miles and still going strong as far as i’m aware engine sold on , new crank bearings pump head studs block re done heads skimmed etc , where i live it’s either them or fb tuning both a trust subaru4u have done two of my engines so far