ive been looking thru a lot of forums about the atlp ,VR6 and the XLR8

that being said the atlp is one of the easiest ones to install leaving the 3rd cat ? Which also gets its gains towards high end rpms.

Vr6 gets its gains about the early rpms which also deletes the 3rd cat

and the XLR8 which get gains in the middle of rpms 4 to etc

some come with heat shields others with high end performs cats . I have the stock exhaust so I'm not planning to hear a big difference I just have a short ram in my car besides when the vtec kicks in about 5k rpm it's loud .

My question do you guys that may have these installed . Does it still pass smog deleting the 3rd cat . Will it be best to get a side pipe like a racing pipe or other car when I Remove the stock one , or if it's needed . Also which do you recommend and which is hardest to install .

 

they are ALL the same to install.
it doesnt matter of the ATLP , cuz you have to unbolt stock and bolt up aftermarket...the install is the same.


and since there is no sensors on the third cat, no check engine lights. which means you will pass emissions


and regarding the differences in RPM, i guarantee you wont be able to discern the differences between the three

 

Depends where you live for emissions testing. Some shops will notice you took away the third cat and fail you. I chose atlp because I could leave my cat in place for emissions. Then I purchased a high flow third cat that still has bolts for the heat shields so it looks like the oem cat.

Just deends how strict your state is on emissions. You only have to worry about visual

 

As far as emissions goes, 1. they have to look under the car which is rare in itself, and 2. they have to know what actually belongs there. In most cases they just pop the hood, and with the TL they'll probably be satisfied with seeing the precats coming off the heads. The functional concern would be a sniffer test- and do they even do that any where any more?

I have an XLR8 V2 J and all they did was pop the hood and scan for codes. I'm in Nevada now but the process is the same in Cali. Not sure where you are. I just went for it though, hoping I wouldn't have to swap the factory J back on. I was also throwing an p0430 at the time too and installed a defouler on my bank 2 downstream sensor so I had that in the back of my head too lol

 

The Jpipes don't usually present emission issues by themselves, in fact people make it through (somewhat) often.

You will not pass if your state does a visual inspection and they look for that third cat, or if a sniffer test is done. That being said we have a customer who made it through emissions in New York with our exhaust and Jpipe! Getting by emissions with a Jpipe is something that has been done, but it can't be guaranteed.

Our Jpipes do not have CARB approval and are sold for offroad use only, so emissions at your own risk!

Just a little insight, we'll keep our fingers crossed for everyone!

You can find our Jpipe here: XLR8 J-Pipe - Excelerate's Honda & Acura Store - Japanese Performance Specialist

 

I have the ATLP J-Pipe which did not remove my 3rd cat, but i also purchased the test pipe which would remove my third cat if i wanted to. I have yet to try out my test pipe. Was wondering if i would feel any gains in power by removing the 3rd cat, or sound ?? i also have the ATLP Full exhuast.

 

The test pipe will offer a little bit of a number increase over the HFC.

The sound will also change a bit as well since you're continuing to remove cats, making it closer to a straight pipe. You may notice an increase in rasp.

Happy modding!

 

anyone in texas pass emissions with a jpipe removing the 3rd cat?

 

I passed. Removing the 3rd cat doesn't throw an CEL, I have PCDs & Jpipe. But I'm sure I would fail the visual inspection if they looked. Like what other members said, just depends where you live & where you go for inspection. The place I go to doesn't do a visual inspection, they just plug their computer into my OBD port.

 

i'm in houston, player
i pass inspection and i'm fully catless. as long as the car doesnt throw a check engine light, you're fine.
p.s. the third cat does not have any type of sensor, so there wont be any check engine light.

 

You're fully catless and throw no CEL, or any codes? I'm assuming you've got a tune and your tuner nixed those codes associated with O2 sensors and such, right?

New to the Acura TL family, trying to research what all's out there in regards to performance.

 

Assuming he has RV6 PCDs, then he wouldn't need a tune (although he may have one). The PCDs come with defoulers to move the o2 sensor out of the stream so it can get a "proper" reading, which results in no check engine light!

As mentioned previously, the third cat is unmonitored, so deleting that will never give you a check engine light! Whether or not you pass emissions will be really be dependent on your testing center.

 

From what I understand, the removal of the 3rd cat drops the cars emissions rating from ULEV (ultra low emissions vehicle) to just "LEV" (low emissions vehicle).

Here in Utah they give us a readout of the different gases and I'm still way under the maximum allowance without the 3rd cat. I compared it to the numbers last year and only the NOx went up, and only by about 10%. They hydrocarbons and CO/CO2 were about the same.

 

I have the XLR8 v2 on my Accord, no issues passing 3 times in a row now. All they check here is for engine codes (you won't get one) and gas cap integrity. My G35 is completely cat free and since Motordyne has a great routing for the secondary O2 sensors, I don't have a CEL on that car either.

 

Lol, I'm sure you have many customers who made it through emmisions in NY. I never had a single issue passing in NY from 2011-2017 with RV6 HFPCs, Excelerate V2 J pipe and catback.