a round of questions about catalytic converters

[slam001]

ive searched mx6.com and PT, and it's pretty hard to find answers to these questions that i have about catalytic converters. well here they are:

1. what is the difference between the round catalytic converters and the oval catalytic converters? and which ones fits better on a 93 mx6 ls?

2. i understand how 2way/3way/3way+air cats work, however, i was wondering where does that air tube on the 3way+air plug into? and which of these performs best on our cars (emissions-wise)?

3. i'm looking toward getting a car-sound cat along with a complete makeover of my exhaust system, but im not sure which car-sound catalytic converter is CARB-compliant? i've heard all car-sound cats are CARB-compliant, and i've also heard only some are.

4. are all car-sound cats hi-flow cats? the reason i ask is because i would see the cat on ebay saying that it's a high-flow, but then i'd get on car-sound.com and i wouldn't see anywhere where it stated that it was hi-flow, just "performance". also, how can i tell if a catalytic converter is a hi-flow or not?

thanks guys, ive been researching for the past month for my exhaust system, and it's come down to these last few questions. oh yeah, and by the way, i've checked out their sites as well as other websites, but they're all just so damn vague and confusing. thanks for all your help everyone.

[Wisdom Racing]

Just about the only quesion I can answer is:

Originally Posted by slam001

are all car-sound cats hi-flow cats? the reason i ask is because i would see the cat on ebay saying that it's a high-flow, but then i'd get on car-sound.com and i wouldn't see anywhere where it stated that it was hi-flow, just "performance". also, how can i tell if a catalytic converter is a hi-flow or not?

Just about the only way to make a cat with better "performance" is to make it high flow. From a performance stand point, all a cat is, is a restriction. High flow would just reduce this restriction, but I don't beleive however it can eleminate it to the point that a straight pipe does.


As for the rest of your questions...good luck

[Mazda_MX6_Turbo]

Originally Posted by slam001

1. what is the difference between the round catalytic converters and the oval catalytic converters? and which ones fits better on a 93 mx6 ls?

the difference in the shape, one is round and the other is oval, but both work the same. they usualy use the oval ones on cars since they sit lower to the ground the higher vehicles, and they use round ones on trucks and suv's.

Originally Posted by slam001

2. i understand how 2way/3way/3way+air cats work, however, i was wondering where does that air tube on the 3way+air plug into? and which of these performs best on our cars (emissions-wise)?

a 2 way cat is different from a 3 way cat. but the 3way cat and 3way cat with are are the same. the difference with the one with air is the little tube that sticks out of the side of the cat that u were asking about. back in the late 80's early 90's some car manufacturers found a way to make better emissions on cars that their engines werent the greatest on emissions, so the add a thing called 2ndary air system, in which it pumps air to the middle of the cat converter, to help burn unbrunt exhasut gasses and fuel, and they way it burns down there is due to the high temps of the cat converter. so u might find the 3way cats dont have a tube, and the 3way + air dose have the little tube, u would only use that tube if yourcar has the 2ndary air system and it blows air to that cat. but on your mazda it dosent have that. so pretend like its not there.

Originally Posted by slam001

3. i'm looking toward getting a car-sound cat along with a complete makeover of my exhaust system, but im not sure which car-sound catalytic converter is CARB-compliant? i've heard all car-sound cats are CARB-compliant, and i've also heard only some are.

well i think most cat converters are Carb-compliant, just how long do they stay working after ou buy them is another problem.

Originally Posted by slam001

4. are all car-sound cats hi-flow cats? the reason i ask is because i would see the cat on ebay saying that it's a high-flow, but then i'd get on car-sound.com and i wouldn't see anywhere where it stated that it was hi-flow, just "performance". also, how can i tell if a catalytic converter is a hi-flow or not?

not sure if those brand of cats are high flow, but for a high flow cat conveter, u just would have to look through the cat it self, if u see the honey comb holes are big enough and u can see thorugh them from the other end that means its a high flow, if u get a non high flow and look through it the holes will be smaller and u wont be able to see as much light through it as the high flow. but the difference between both is how much they can perform, im not talking about horsepower performance, im talkin about their emission performance, a regular cat should be able to take care of most of the gasses on the prive of flow and performance, but it will give u alot better numbers for emissions and a clean vehicle, as for high flow, it dose clean the gasses as much as a regular cat would do, but it cleans them enough to keep u at the endge of passing smog so u can gain a bit mroe performance, and sometiems those high flow cats cant clean gasses enough to make u pass smog. so u are taking chances on them sometimes.


hope that answers most of your questions

[SixSick6]

Magnaflow is the parent company of car-sound. Being that your car is a 93, you're in luck that you don't have to replace it with the OE cat and can use a universal. If it were 96+ you'd have to buy the exact cat that goes with the car.

If you're planning on buying a magnaflow/car-sound cat, look no further than www.fle-online.com

[dmark101]

Originally Posted by SixSick6

Magnaflow is the parent company of car-sound. Being that your car is a 93, you're in luck that you don't have to replace it with the OE cat and can use a universal. If it were 96+ you'd have to buy the exact cat that goes with the car.

If you're planning on buying a magnaflow/car-sound cat, look no further than www.fle-online.com

other way around damian. carsound is the parent of magnaflow. confirmed the last time i visited their facility.

[SixSick6]

You used their toilet?

[dmark101]

Originally Posted by SixSick6

You used their toilet?

rating: 1/4 knee-slap.