Re: Clogged cat?

["Wm. Josiah Erikson" <werikson@hampshire.edu>]

OK, maybe it's balogna, but I have heard from several sources that catalytic
converters actually harm the ozone, while making less CO and particulates, so
it's a tradeoff. The high temperatures reached inside cats make certain gases (I
wish I could remember this crap, but it wouldn't really matter anyway, because
I'm not a chemist and certainly can't defend it) that combine with ozone and
create acid rain. Maybe it's not true.
    -Josiah

Ti Kan wrote:

> 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/
> ///