Just installed the SnakeOyl catbacks last night, my impression...

[Ulysses]

It does improve the sound quite a bit. Not the full blown monster sound of a complete exhasut upgrade, but pleasant to the ears. But, that was not the intention when I started this project. The original intent was to lower the temps in the side sills so as to prevent further discoloration on the sills due to excessive heat. I have a Steel Grey GTS. The side sills are now very cool to the touch after a drive, unlike before when you couldn't lay a hand on them. However, the area where the discoloration occurs the most is still fairly hot. This is right where the bend in the pipes are at the cats. Although it is still hot in that one area, it is a far cry better than before the upgrade and the rest of the sills are much, much cooler. My suggestion if you are after the same thing, go with a complete upgrade with free flow cats, but if it's not in your budget, this is the next best thing.

 

[Marv S]

Did you get the rear sub assembly or the full cat back with replacement side sill resonators? If so did you go with the 3"?

 

[Ulysses]

I went with the full cat back assembly with the resonators, but I stuck with the stock ID. Staying OE was their recommendation. According to their research, going with a larger ID cat back and stock headers actually caused you to loose HP. If you're gonna open it up, you might as well open it all up. I believe Jon B actually mentioned something along those lines as well. I guess I could've went with the full 3" exhaust upgrade, but I wanted to keep this car as close to stock as possible.

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Ulysses:

Thanks for the feedback. What made you decide to go with this cat back system over the others? The Snake-Oyl people said that you lose HP by going to a 3 inch setup? I wonder what the rationale behind that is? I wonder why they would make a 3 inch system that loses HP?

How much did the system cost, and what was the 3 inch going for?

Thanks for your additional feedback.

 

[Ulysses]

Hi Brad,

There comment was that if you kept the 2 1/4" headers and went with a 3" cat back, that you were likely to lose HP. In the catalog, it says that it has been proven on the dyno and on the track that a 3" cat back behind a factory 2 1/4" cat and header creates a loss of torque and a loss of power. Reason: the backward stepped piping inhibits proper exhaust flow. The example given was a hydro dynamics example of pouring fluid through a funnel backwards.

The main reason I went with Snake-Oyl was through recommendation and some research on cost versus effectiveness and construction. But mainly for cost and construction since my main objective was to get a well constructed system that would help lower the temps in the sills, not empty my pocket book and still give me relative ease to switch back to the stock exhaust if I had to. Effectiveness was a benefit.