opened up the downpipe a few days ago and my rdx now puts an even bigger smile on my face. thoughts? (new to az forums btw)

 

What exactly do you mean when you say "opened up"?

 

Gutted the cat, that what he means.
He did the mod, but he doesn't bother telling us what he thinks of it.

 

why someone would bother with all the effort to take the downpipe out and not replace it with a real downpipe is unreal.....

I'm starting to think this forum is full of 17 year olds who have never modded a car in their life and have resorted to ghetto modding it.

 

Actually he is 18 ~ lol.
Yeah I am not sure why would anyone go thru all that work and not replace it with the real deal.

 

maybe it solves the CEL issue without the foulers and the steel wool and gives the gains.

 

the overall design of the stock DP is extremely restrictive. Even gutting the pipe will still leave a pipe with horrible bends.

and I will say again, why spend the time and energy to take the cat out and replace it if you are going ot half a$$ it.......
I'm at a loss.

 

I am sure it will give you some sort of gain because it doesn't have the first cat anymore.
But why go half @ss when clearly Ron install the down and mid pipe and advise to get the 3 ft 02 extension.

He hasn't got the cel ever since then.
It like you driving with the stock top intake box off.

You are going to get some gain but why wouldn't you just get a aftermarket intake or a better filter.

 

Heh heh........ We also have to make sure that Marcus is talking about the Down-Pipe and not the Mid-Pipe too. I don't see why gutting the Down-Pipe wouldn't set a CEL.

 

It's his first post, he probably doesn't know about the custom made downpipe amd midpipe, I would post a Link to it, but I'm using my cell now.

 

Agreed. This is a huge design flaw in the first place. It can't imagine that the first cat was CNC designed, but probably just used the prototype version that "Timmy" put together to get a functioning car for show.

OP, did the wife put you on a tight budget like me? https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-rdx-performance-parts-modifications-162/rdx-down-pipe-cat-delete-818921/

 

18 Years old. First Post.

Just gutted a $669.51 catalyst.

Dad's not home yet......

 

There are a few and very informative threads about downpipes amd midpipes, read them all and you'll learn a lot, now that you have the mod bug, you need to know as much as you can before doing stuff.
Btw; best performance mod is the Hondata ecu tune.

 

Lol+1

I just nuked the airbag for my car, can't wait to see kids reaction. Even better, the wife's gonna love the door stuck in the wall like a ninja star. Almost made it to the siding.

Next time I'm use a roman candle to light the gas fireplace this winter.

 

what i mean is, i unbolted the two bolts at upbend part of the downpipe and let it hang down on the cross bar underneath it. there is still some sort of rubber gasket inside the pipe so its more or less "cracked" then opened up. it didnt throw any sensors and i didnt notice any loss or gains. my rdx just sounds like a boosted v8 now and has the sexiest backfire when i shift gears. sorry i wasnt more specific when i posted at first.

 

Ok so its the secondary cat that you gutted!

That was what I thought you meant

 

He unbolted the down pipe from the secondary pipe. His exhaust is going from turbo > downpipe > atmosphere.

To OP - I'd be careful with that. The downpipe opening is right by the transmission case. Exhaust coming right off the turbo will be extremely hot and this will heat up the transmission. While this may not actually "hurt" it, the increased heat MAY place an additional strain on the transmission fluid and MAY decrease performance due to the transmission running hotter. If you plan to do this for an extended period of time, I would consider having a pipe made to run the exhaust down and out the hole in the subframe you used to unbolt it. This will keep those hot exhaust gasses from getting trapped in the engine bay.

 

Oh I see now.....I guess its really an "open exhaust" then eh! That would account for the V8 sound too

 

Whoa-a, my exhaust sounds so-oo cool!

Everything's kinda dreamy and pleasant. Feel's go-ood!

Dude...wonder why my fingernails are turning cherry red???

 

Omg! My.. firewall.. is on fire.

Ok i applaud open headers wish everyone would do it! Seriously this might damage your RDX. Now I really want to try this one out, except I'll go bigger. No.. Down... Pipe! Next you'll see someone one up me! No turbo... This will be so much fun.

 

I got a 3" turboback and get back fires too (usually because no polish/porting work has been done). Best thing is to open it up after the downpipe though, not before, preferably with a dump valve. Works great and you see it all the time at the track on turbo engines.