348 test pipes

Noise is raspier.
Power increase is negligible
Smell is definitely HC rich, and very annoying to you and to your fellow drivers
It will blacken the rear bumper in a few months.

I am going back to Cats.

 

Same for me Mitch. I haven't noticed any black on my bumpers but for sure the smell is terribly annoying. I backed into a spot the other evening and when my wife and I got out we smelled like an old repair shop. I've had mine on for about a year and that's about all I can take.

Hyperflows are going back on as soon as I get another tank of normal gas run through. I've been running a mixture of aviation 100LL with premium and want to make sure it's all out.

 

I'm agree with Mitchell and John. I had the stock cats emptied in my 348 and the smell was horrible. I'll add more, my girlfriend always knew when I had been driving the Ferrari due to the smell on the hair and clothes. So, test pipes = no Ferrari enthusiastic privacy

I installed 200 cells high flow cats from Magnaflow and they work great, no smell, no power loss and no emissions. the price was really nice 230€ the pair, just need to go to a shop for they to weld them.

Here is a link of the making of my exhaust system:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355/340978-348-custom-exhaust-system.html

 

reset your ECU's that will help the smell.

any time I work on anything that has to do with the engine I reset the ECU's

 

I have no issues with blackening of the bumper and the smell is negligeable on my 95 355. I'm running catless with Fabspeed headers and Nouvalari exhaust.

Is it a 348 vs 355 thing? Are they that different that the 348 will produce more dirt and smell?

 

It's caused by evacuating the gasses that would normally be heated up and burned off in the cats. The odor is the result of eliminating the cats. It's mostly unburned fuel vapors. I run without cats, and there is a smell for sure. However, I do not find it overly offensive.

 

I have test pipes on my 348 as well... I do notice some smell.. but I liken it to being part of the experience.
Oh.. I forgot to mention I did notice my bumper getting a light black coating last year.
Bug tar remover makes easy removal of that....

 

If you can smell the gas and you are in front of the pipes, imagine the people driving behind the pipes. That is offensive.

 

The noise it makes is music and the smell it makes is perfume...

 

Yah I wouldn't call it offensive.... its a slight odor.... definitely perfume to following a car with a cigarette smoke enjoying his hourly drag with the window down. Or the oil burning maintenance truck.

Each of us offends differently....

Mobilized reply by David

 

Well, I want to don't offend anybody, I appreciate very much this community and every one who writes and reads here; decat the car is a personal choice, not a green one, but a choice. I have been driving my 348 and my Honda CRX Del Sol decated for 3 years, but the smell is a fact. I could live with it for those years, and it's not bad if you're driving through curvy roads of mountains with some friends (car enthusiasts) or spending a day on a track or... but I can tell you that if you arrive to restaurant for a dinner in your 348/355 with your girlfriend/wife, and her hair and dress is smelling like a mechanic overall, that's gonna be really funny. I learnt the hard way

Anyway, I didn't notice any loss of power when installig the high flow cats. If you really want more hp decating the car, you need to reprogramming the ECU on a dyno.

 

If you have the money and want to do it right, get a set of hyperflow cats. Based on feedback from many fchatters, they seem to produce similar sound and horsepower gains as test pipes, all without the stink. I would have gone that route if I had the money to burn. I don't, so I went with the test pipes. The smell to me is a marginal trade off. I actually like it to be honest, it gives the car more character. You can't go wrong either way.

PS- You and I are probably the only 2 people on the planet with both a Ferrari 348, and a 1996 Jeep Cherokee.

 

Well, it's the same brand now....They're both FIATs

 

Well, I took the test pipes off and put my Hyperflows back on last week. After driving around all weekend and enjoying not smelling I decided I rather have it a bit stinky and put 'em back on today.

Why? some might ask.

Because the throttle response is snappier and the sound with the Tubi makes it worth a bit of smelliness. I'm just glad I didn't sell the test pipes as I had planned.