De-cat or not

[Gaz85]

I got a quote from my local longlife exhaust garage and they quoted me £643 for a turbo back system that's including vat and fitting, it breaks down as £120 for the down pipe £179 for the cat and £344 for the rest of the system including the tailpipe i want. now i was talking to my mate last night and he said that i could de-cat it to save money but i'm not sure if it's road legal to do that can anyone advise me on this please and if those prices seem ok to you. thank you in advance.

[Jimbo]

Those prices are quite frankly.rediculous
I would maybe try powerflow a bit.cheaper
Or build.one.yourself

And you want a decat really, but get a dummy cat so it looks like its still fitted

[Gaz85]

Those prices are quite frankly.rediculous
I would maybe try powerflow a bit.cheaper
Or build.one.yourself

And you want a decat really, but get a dummy cat so it looks like its still fitted

thanks jimbo i thought those prices were a little to inflated i will check out powerflow as for building one myself i wouldn't know where to start lol.

[anto]

It all depends on your reasons for fitting the exhaust?
Looks?
Sound?
Performance?
Longevity?

For the cheapest option;
1. If its just looks then a backbox will do the job.
2. If its a subtle sound you want then swap the downpipe/ CAT for an early Phase 1 downpipe which never had a CAT and replace the back box with a straight bit of pipe or a different backbox.
3. If its a more lairy sound then fit a complete straight through in mild steel and an exhaust tip for a bit of looks.
4. If its performance then see the point above.
5. If its longevity then take any of the above systems and get it done in stainless steel at Powerflow or any other custom exhaust place.

Point 1 is 100% legal
Point 2 imo is legal, there is no requirement for a CAT on our early diesels, however some might say that if it was fitted from the factory then it must still be there at test time. If that is your viewpoint then you could keep your CAT in the garage and refit it come MOT time.
Point 3 see above point
Point 4 you may have noise issues and there must be at least one box fitted to our exhaust systems

[306pc]

Or £70 in the parts section....

[simonh]

The dearest part of an exhaust like this in terms of the components would normally be the sports cat as even trade pay over £100 for a good 40g + loaded one, which seems a bit of a waste on an older diesel. From the turbo elbow back really shouldn't be any more than £300 all in built and fitted as you really only need one small silencer in the system even with a decat. Most custom centres can weld cat heatshields around a section of your exhaust. This allows it to pass the visual inspection on the mot without any interference in the exhaust flow.

[Tom]

100 quid tops in stainless for all the material. And thats top top, i paid like sub 30quid i beleive for all the metal (mild steel), got a mate to weld up, cheap exhaust ftw!

[anto]

I haven't bought an exhaust for me/ parents/ fiancés cars since I bought my welder 5years ago.
A quick trip to Kwik Fit/ Exhaust place and free exhaust pipe from the junk pile at the back of the shop!

[Gaz85]

Well i have emailed the local powerflow place to see what price i get from them so see how that goes, as for what i want from fitting the exhaust well it's a bit of everything really better performance the looks a little more noise and longevity. I would love to build my own exhaust and what not but i've not got the knowledge the tools or a place to make something like that it sucks to be honest because it would be great to have the ability and knowledge to do it plus it would save me £££'s. im new to the whole modding car's thing in the sense of actually having a car to mod of my own the most modding i have done is custom sound system's for friends cars and of course my own and fitting an after market air filter's. Not very impressive is it lol.

[anto]

If it were me id do the following;

downpipe
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-306-1-...337e31c6e0

standard middle box

straight pipe in place of the backbox with a tip for aesthetics.

A decent sound, cheap, looks ok and easily swapped for standard stuff if the need arises.
Free flowing also for a bit of performance. Itl last well enough as well.

[Eeyore]

Get a new decat off ebay for £45, Then do a mid box to back box conversion. if you want a shiny tip then buy one and get it welded on!

[Gaz85]

Ok so in the five days so far that i have waited for a quote off powerflow i have come to the decision that fitting a back box is a better idea than a new exhaust from the turbo back. So can anyone recommend a make of back box like scorpion or peco etc... i like the letterbox style tip but i am open to other style's. thank you in advance.

[martyn92]

I would highly recommend the downpipe that anto suggested with a back box of your choice

[Gaz85]

I would highly recommend the downpipe that anto suggested with a back box of your choice

ok £40 isn't bad i can do that but is it legal for me to de-cat and if so what sort of benefits will i get from doing it. Anyway this is the style back box i like what do you guys think?.
http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/onlineautosp...662708.jpg

[nominous]

When I decatted my passat which runs on veg it made a massive difference.
Less restriction and no 200K miler CAT stuff full of crud and unburnt fuel.
The car isn't modded, but the response and pickup is greatly enhanced.

Faster you can get the exhaust gases away from the turbo the better, generally.
The CAT is just a restriction in that.

Legalities are mentioned higher up.

[willJspears]

i found when i de-catted my dturbo it made such a difference ( more free flowing),i got mine from an early 306 dturbo for free. i then wanted a bit more noise (tractor like ) so i removed my back box and replaced it with a bit of 3 inch straight through section (welded it all up myself), then got carried away and removed all my bafflings from me mid section, but made it look like i still had one box on the system. so i ended up with full straight through system and sounded lovely. but its all down to preference i spose