Sports Cat Help Please
 

Right, im having a total dilemma about which sports cat downpipe to get for my 2003 WRX and would really welcome some advice from those with experience of any of the products listed below.

By way of background I currently have an aftermarket centre pipe, cat pipe and backbox, all afterburner and all 2.5 inch bore. I want to keep these.

Through research I have established the following 4 options.

• Japspeed Sports Cat – These are going for cheap (£175) on the group buy at the moment and so am very tempted. However given how cheap they are I’m a bit dubious as to whether they are actually any good? Anyone experienced these? Also they are 3 inch, and would have to attach to my 2.5inch centre pipe. Apparently this can be done without any trouble, but would the step cause me any problems?

• Ninja Sports Cat – These are a bit more expensive at around £290 and the main advantage is they are 2.5inch and would therefore fit nicely with my current system. On the downside I believe these are an absolute pain in the ar$e to fit and don’t actually fit the newage properly as they were designed for the classic?

• Exhaust UK Sports Cat – This is priced in between the two above and has a 200 cell cat as opposed to 100 cell. The reason stated is that the 100 cell ones were failing MOT’s. Therefore I guess the main advantage of this one above the other two above (100 cell ones) is that it should definitely not have any MOT problems, but the more restrictive CAT may reduce performance? This is also 3inch and so has the step problem like the Japspeed.

• TSL Thundercat – This is the most expensive at around £400. However I believe it is basically identical to those used on prodrive and I imagine this would be the highest quality of the lot. Im not actually sure of the size of this one, I think its 2.5 inch exit on the downpipe though which would be suitable for me.

Overall I guess my main questions are:

• Would the drop from 3inch exit on the downpipe to 2.5 inch centre / cat pipe cause a problem?
• Why is there such a variance in price, e.g. the Japsport vs the Thundercat, is the japsport that bad? / the thundercat that good?

Thanks in advance for any help

Joe

I haven't any experience with any of the above, only the Prodrive cat which is a cracking bit of kit not too sure about the fitment onto a WRX though.

I would probably go for the Ninja as I have seen loads of good comments about them and Scoobyworld know their stuff.
No problems going from 3" to 2.5 providing the flanges are compatible.
Quality of joints and welds can often reflect difference in prices.

I run a prodrive cat on my my05 wrx and it works like a dream, sailed through the MOT too:thumb:

Hi, On the MOT point I have a Miltek Spec C 3' system on my 2002 Bug, the Cat is a 100 Cell and is in the midpipe not the down pipe, this will pass an MOT but only on the second try and once very warm. A downpipe cat should get hotter sooner. I've also had the pre-cat removed.

used to have a prodrive sports cat on mine have a look around for a second hand one :thumb:

At what power do these sports CAT's become restrictive?

Anyone know what the prodrive one is good for?

I fitted a Ninja sports cat to my 03 WRX recently. looks the dogs B******S however the mounting bracket to the gearbox didnt line up and had to be spaced out with washers by about 20mm. apart from that i was well chuffed with the cat and the service from scoobyworld

as far as I know doesn't make a fat load of difference, depends on your supporting mods etc. the litchfield type 25 runs a sports cat at over 400bhp :norty:

thanks for the replies.

is there anyone who's actually had any experience of the Japspeed ones and passed an MOT with them?

I can recommend getting a used prodrive one, thats what I did had no issues with fit and it passed MOT easily, and it is the only cat on the car

I might see if i can get a used prodrive but im a bit worried i might get a cr@ppy one thats knackered. If i was to buy a second hand one is there anything in particular to look for to assess whether its in any good condition?

I'm yet another WRX owner with a second hand Prodrive sports cat. No probs for MoT for me, either.

The older Prodrive cats had a heat jacket, the new ones have it built in and look a bit different. Look on ebay to tell the difference and try and get a new type one.

Condition wise, you can only go on the outside appearance and use your judgement. A cat that's been on for years will look tattier than one that's had little use.

Expect to pay around £200 for a decent one.

might be willing to sell mine its the newer type in very good condition ;)

This sports cat/down pipe that Scooby401 is selling is a real bargain :thumb: I cannot understand how it has not be sold yet. :confused:

I had the TSL Thundercat on my 03 WRX years ago and it is still on there now. At that time it was nearer £600. LOL.
Has been ok, although i do take it to a friendly MOT station.

why not buy a second hand prodrive loads off people take them off somebody must have one

I got an 05 ppp cat the later type for £170. Very good condition, although the gearbox bracket don't line up presume due to 5 speed box. Only real way to check a cat off the car is to look inside at the honeycomb, it should have no damage and be solid in the downpipe, any rattles when shaking it will mean it is starting to break up. But I doubt you would get a bad 05 onwards cat as the are designed to last a lot longer than that, I would avoid the earlier one as the heatwrap tends to get ripped whereas the later one is a full bellmouth design and the heat shielding is inside. Mine flew through the MOT. Only other issue with fitting is that the turbo heatshield had to be modded to fit over it hence couldn't attach the shield with all bolts, but 12 months on is still fine. I also fitted decat uppipe heat wrapped and then fitted the ppp centre decat at the same time, all in the 3 sections cost less than £250 so was a good worthwhile mod.

i would advise not getting a 100 cell sports cat as mine just failed mot not by much but it did so i am now replacing it with a 200cell from exhausts uk as they do a great price and a good finish

Which 100 cell was that? Was it one of the cheaper ones as i thought the prodrive ones were 100 cell and were pretty much guaranteed to pass MOT?

Did you have it well heat wrapped as one thing people seem to be saying is that its essential that they're really well heat wrapped to pass the MOT.

I really cant be rsd getting one and failing the MOT, might aswell just get a decat if thats gonna happen

Like I said earlier mines a 100 Cell in the midpipe so soes not get as hot and Mine passed (once hot).

you'll need to get the car hot to pass a mot and theres no need to heat wrap a prodrive downpipe :thumb: mine passed with no problems

my prodrive cat has a blanket on it, other wise full decat including uppipe and passed fine no problems

+1 for the prodrive sports cat. It works fine for me, never had any MOT issues and been to 3 different test centres.
dnc

mine aint heat wrapped but it was defo hot as i am a mechanic i knew it had to be hot they even done the long stage test and it didnt pass it was a exhausts uk 100cell which they have stopped selling but i got a 200cell coming from them on tuesday so hopefully fit it and retest tuesday il let u know how it goes

Thanks for everyones comments, looks like its a fairly unanimous vote for a used prodrive one so once ive got that then the only thing ill need aswell for the exhaust is an up-pipe. Is there anything i need to bear in mind with these? Or are the all basically the same? Will they all fit with the prodrive downpipe and do they need heatwrapping?

I have a 2 year old ninja 100 cell and its useless for MOT's they had to leave the engine bouncing off the rev limiter for 5 mins to get it so hot it was almost glowing red and it still barely scraped through. he said he would fail it next time if i dont get it changed.

My Ninja DP is wrapped very well, so it would have nochance without wrapping. Im going to get the exhaustsuk 200 cell one now

I have a haywood & scott uppipe, I pre wrapped it and didnt have any trouble fitting it, apare from the lack of room for a spanner.

The engine bay was a lot cooler after

I have the Ninja Sports Cat. Fitted it myself ( I am only a DIY mechanic ) and it didn't take long ( once all of the bolts had been loosened ). Good fitment apart from the mounting bracket which is miles out of line but the pipe is held in place tightly by the rest of the system. I paid £326 next day delivery from Scoobyworld and I am really happy with it. Hope that helps !

Wilky.

Hayward & Scott Sports Cat, Wrapped. These go for about £550 new.

Passed it's first MOT, mapped and decatted the rest.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u105/BMGC/catd.jpg