ive heard you can get up to 30 hp with headers on a g2 tl but my question is would i get the same results if i got different headers on my 05?

 

you absolutely would get the same results on your 05.................if you had the ability to run headers!

 

While they don't make traditional "headers" for the 3g TL, you can still get the equivalent which are referred to as PCDs or, Pre-Cat Deletes. The difference with our cars is that instead of having individual ports on our heads for each cylinder, we have a single, large collector cast into the head. That's where either the stock pre-cats, or a set of PCDs bolt up. I wouldn't expect to see 30hp from PCDs, but I believe people have posted results which are in the range of 15-20.

 

oh wow, guess im a noob, but thanks for the reply, btw do you have any favorite brands of PCDs?

 

I believe that Richie's are the most popular. if you go to: r_v_6-p.com (remove all of the underscores '_') you should be able to find what you're looking for. I'd stay away from the earlier versions (v1 particularly) as they had problems with the pipes cracking, but the V3 design looks to be significantly improved.

One thing to keep in mind that I didn't explicitly mention above is that they do exactly what the name implies. They remove the pre-cats from your car. The pre-cats help with the exhaust smell and also with quieting down the exhaust tone. Some guys have mentioned that they've picked up a rasp with PCDs. The 3G TL does have 3 cats though, so one will still remain in tact.

If you live in a smog controlled state, you may not be able to pass inspection unless you swap in your cats each time before you go. I cannot speak to this first hand though. There are probably a few dozen posts on here regarding PCDs. Just do some searching before you pull the trigger and I'm sure you'll find all the answers you're looking for.

 

LOL... He's exactly right. The headers on the TL are cast in the head. You can get near 20hp with the downpipe.

 

PCD's really opened up my exhaust. definately recommend them.

 

^^^^^Agree with all the above.

OP try searching because all your questions have been answered numerous of times.

 

yeah sorry about that, i found some threads after i posted this. Ill do some research before starting threads.

Now with that in mind, ive been looking for some threads that go into depth about the emissions, and none of them are really state specific. if anyone in CT has done this mod and passed could you let us know if you replaced your third cat with a high flow cat or something.

 

Long tube 4 into 1 headers, add 50RWHP do it.

 

If you go High flow you should be fine. However, check your local state emissions to see what are their standards.

 

I have hi-flow cats at all 3 locations. I have passed the California sniffer but not by much. I think I could loose the 3rd cat but it would be very close. If the tech is on his game they will not pass visual inspection.

 

yeah, do that.

 

well after some searching i found that CT doesnt have a sniffer on newer cars, but they check for codes and theres a visual inspection. So im hoping for a lazy inspector and maybe get through with 1 high flow third cat.

 

I am running 0 cc's and you are correct. You have to hope for a lazy inspector or one that is in to modding cars. I lucked out as no one even looked under my car. Try to find a place that has a low machine so it's difficult for them to look under the car :wink:

 

The pre-cats are clearly visible from the top (under the hood) so that won't help you there. Nice and shiny tubes running from the heads won't help your case.

 

Good point. I got pretty lucky because no one at the place I took the car noticed; although I'm not sure every mechanic would recognize PCD's as being just that lol.

 

The other thing that the OP could do is consider running Richie's HFPCs (or, high flow pre-cats). They look more similar to the stock cats, but likely flow MUCH better. I don't know what the cell count is on the stock cats, but I can tell you from experience that it doesn't take much for mods to exceed their capacity.

The other thing you could do, either with the PCDs or the HFPCs, is to weld tabs on to them which would allow you to mount the stock heat shields back up to them. It's probably enough to fool the average guy doing the inspections.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

after a few hundred miles, those shiny pipes turn into brown looking pipes.

 

I believe the base cell count is 900, Type S is 600 and HFPC is 200. Could be wrong though.

 

Alright, so from whats been said, Im probably going to do PCDs with a high flow 3rd cat. i think that i will be able to pass emissions with that setup. I also think that i will try to get the original heat shields on the first cats, just in case i get an inspector that actually cares.