RE: Clogged cat?

["Dan Sinclair" <sinclair@prospro.com>]

I think I have to agree with Ti on this one.  It is fact, not fiction, that
modern cars are 7-10 times cleaner (measured by exhaust emissions) than cars
produced in the 1960s and 70s.  Now, granted, Catalytic Converters are only
part of that equation, but claiming that their presence or absence is
inconsequential to exhaust quality is just plain wrong.

Saab engineers captured and tested exhaust gasses emitted from a brand new
engine prior to the catalytic converter being hot enough to operate and
compared it to emissions post-warm-up and found huge differences.  So much
so that they experimented with an emission system that captures exhaust gas
from the moment an engine is started, to the moment that the catalytic
converter is up to operating temperature, where it "reburns" the captured
exhaust.  Saab anticipates a day when they'll make this a production feature
due to "strict zero-tolerance emissions standards on the horizon."

If the internal combustion engine is to remain a viable option, it will need
to be a clean option.  The more people who cut out their cats and ignore the
air we breath, the sooner the EPA and others will demand revisions in the
laws, and the sooner we'll all be paying higher gas taxes, pollution taxes,
gas guzzler taxes, emissions testing fees, and the sooner we'll all be
driving 3 cylinders because V6s and V8s etc. will be taxed out of the
consumers reach.  I'm by no means an eco-fanatic, but the oil lobby can't
keep the emissions issues at bay forever...

Dan Sinclair
1988 Audi 90, 67K mi.
Picture and details online at:
http://131.107.68.28/a4.org/registry/details.asp?car=761

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net
[mailto:owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net]On Behalf Of Ti Kan
Sent: Monday, February 01, 1999 9:36 AM
To: Wm. Josiah Erikson
Cc: jdlarson@ix.netcom.com; quattro@coimbra.ans.net
Subject: Re: Clogged cat?


Wm. Josiah Erikson writes:
>     I also know that every car that I have taken the cat off has created a
> noticeable change in:
>     high-end power
>     throttle response
>     cool sound (IMHO)
>     gas mileage
>     From personal experience, I find find it beneficial, wise, and even
> enviro-friendly to remove the catalytic converter from my personal
> automobiles. Therefore, I do so. However, I don't condone everybody doing
> it and I'm not saying that you should do it to your car. In the state I
> live in, it's perfectly legal to remove the cat from any car manufactured
> before '85. For instance, my GTI.

Josiah,

Enviro-friendly to remove your cat?  On what basis do you make that
claim?  Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's good.  If removing the
cat is really that beneficial then why would you not condone others to do
the same?  Maybe deep down inside you know it's not a good idea?

I have a modded 4000 and for a short while I ran with a "test pipe" in place
of my cat.  It does make more noise and perhaps there is a small increase
in power, but I began noticing nasty yellow-ish soot on the rear end of my
car and immediately the cat went back in.  No more soot.

You may not care about the air that others breath, but it's also the same
air *you* breath too.

BTW In older cars you can often replace the cat with a more modern high-flow
unit and get virtually the same performance benefit as having no cat at all.
I would feel a lot better to know that my added power and economy does not
come at the expense of the air that I breath.

-Ti
96 A4 2.8 quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti@amb.org
 //////  http://metalab.unc.edu/tkan/
///