bearhart

I currently have the RV6 J-Pipe and K-Tuner software installed on my 2012 AWD TL. I was wondering if I add the RV6 HFPC's will I get any increased smell from the exhaust? In the past I have installed various test pipes and high flow cats to my other vehicles resulting in differing amounts of increased exhaust smell.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

essentially; the HFPC is a magnaflow cat with low cell counts.

i'm not sure about the 4th gen TL, but the 3rd gen TL had two different cats for the base and type-s...the base had something like an 800 cell count while the type-s was somewhere around 600...then the RV6 highflow pre-cat is somewhere in the 200-300 cell count range.

dopeboy1

Yes they do but not that much.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

If it does I've never noticed it. I can easily tell when I'm behind a car that's had the cats removed. Usually it's some civic or STI with a fart can. The smell is obvious. I don't smell anything like that with the HFPC's.

bearhart

Thanks for your replies! I think I am going to go ahead and order them. The reviews seem positive.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I'd say go for it. The only downside is the potential of an inspection station to identify them as aftermarket, in which case they might fail you if they're real sticklers. I've never heard of this happening though. Between the fact that very few states have inspectors visually look at the exhaust system and them having no idea what the stock vs. aftermarket cats would look like, it's highly unlikely you'd have a problem. Even if your state has a sniffer test on the exhaust you shouldn't have a problem. The HC, O2, CO and CO2 results between my stock cats and the HFPC's was pretty close when they did a sniffer test on my 3G.

The other downside might be install. It's not particularly easy. I'd say labor-wise it's probably at least a 3-4 hour job. And that would be for a relatively experienced DIYer.

It involves removing the radiator fan
connecting and disconnecting O2 sensors and the EGR connection (from the front cat)
removing the top sway bar
removing the heat shields from the rear cat while it's still on the engine (otherwise it won't fit past the engine and firewall).
unbolting the cats from the j-pipe which can be a pain if the bolts are rusted.
working on the rear cat as a whole. It's the most troublesome due to it's location. Hopefully you don't have big sausage fingers like mine otherwise the job is that much more difficult. There are going to be times where you're going to have to feel for bolts rather than visually seeing them.

There are 4 bolts on the heatshield, 3 on the cat-j-pipe connection, 4 on the cat-engine connection and 2 on the egr-cat connection. And of course the O2 sensors (4 total, 2 on each cat) which will require a special socket for O2 sensor removal OR muscling it off with a pair of vice grips or something like that.

I'd say there seems to be about a 50/50 mix of guys on here that do it themselves vs. getting a mechanic to do it. I want to say I've seen costs between $200-$400 to get a mechanic to do it. I believe there's a write-up somewhere here or on the 3G forum on how to do it. It's close to the same on the 3G as the 4G.

But all in all I'd say it's worth it. Especially if you get a tune afterward. I did it on my 3G and 4G and would do it again.