Last Exhaust Question.... I Promise

I have only the Novitec F1 exhaust box with valves controlled with a Capristo valve controller. It is a different tone than the stock box....less hollow/tinny sounding with a good hint of old school F1 note at WOT. I don't think it's any louder than the stock box with valves open....well maybe a bit. I'm afraid sport cats or no cats is the only way to go louder.

 

You got it

Who cares about the CEL guys, enjoy the car LOL

As I said I picked up an Armytrix CEL delete module which plugs into the OBD2 port, will relay
on how it works

 

What will happen if the check engine light is always on? I mean go catless but don't upgrade the ECU.

 

Don't do it!!! Your motor will blow up

 

I'm using challenge exhaust with BMC carbon filter

sounds great!

 

The front 2 02 sensors(up stream of the cats) are the important sensors they are what the ECUs use to fine tune the A/F mixture to be at 14:1. Not only is that ratio what is required for clean exhaust but too much change in that 14:1 is hard on the cats and if there is an out of range reading the front on 02s will trigger the CEL light. The 2 02s on the output side of the cat are there to monitor the effectiveness of the cat, theoritically they would only come on if the cat is not doing it's job. They really have no effect on engine performance, if you don't mind the light being on then you are fine. The only problem I would see is if you have another sensor failure you won't know it because the light is already on and that could lead to problems in engine performance. The best thing to do would be to use one of the secondary 02 devices that are made fake out the ECU.

 

One again Redback MiniCats are a great solution for avoiding exhaust CELs

 

The Ferrari Sport muffler (not sport exhaust tips but the actual muffler) with valves open sounds very nice even with the stock cats. Very loud without being overly obnoxious and has cracks and pops on downshifts. Obviously no CEL as it is a genuine Ferrari muffler.

 

I have the NR cat back system and it is quite a bit louder.

 

I was told by GMG that high flow cats (200) don't trigger a CEL. And it doesn't involve any fiddling with the ECU. Is that consistent with everyone's experience who proceeded with sport cats?

 

They told me the same exact thing and two weeks after
installation I got a CEL, albeit I am running 100aki fuel.

They are great cats though: pop like crazy with the original 2010 ecu
software.

 

Zoran,

I think that it will be louder certainly - and it really isnt a bad idea to give that a shot to start with and then go from there! You can always add later as I have mentioned. I mean take a look at the Akrapovic Slip-On system - that system is much louder than stock with just the slip-on configuration (without the cat deletes) and you can noticeably tell the difference!

Alex

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CDhZeJuR2Y[/ame]

 

Do you also get a CEL with 91-93 AKI?

 

The proper or higher octane rating would have nothing to do with a CEL coming on.

 

I recently ran the car on 91aki and the CEL light came on.

 

In that case GMG are liars; as pretty much every other independent race shop
I have come across..

BBI Autosport is even worse: they started drilling holes in my car before they even bothered to
find out if the electronics of the car could be assessed and claimed that they were able
to take care of them when in reality they did not even bother to do the research.
Luckily for them my Lola loves me and she did not go into limp mode LOL
The cherry on the icing is that they published a story online which assumed they could do
a race seat conversion in an Italia LMAO
However thanks to some honest and professional tech friends she is now fully functional and the
only Italia in the world with fully integrated red Sabelt seats from the 458 challenge car
Ah what a pleasure it is to have the CEL light be the only error light on the dashboard

 

Yeah it really shouldn't have much to do with that at all.

Either way the cat would see higher flow which would result in a cat efficiency code because the cat is flowing much more air through it - and the vehicle is not expecting it and assumes the vehicle's cat is not working as efficiently as possible - and triggers a CEL.

 

So will the cat conversion always trigger a CEL? So far I have heard contradicting responses from shops and customers. Would love to hear if anyone has installed high flow cats and it never triggered a CEL.

 

Sounds like it to me.

 

In some cases high flow cats or even decats do not trigger a CEL, it depends
on the car's 02 sensor's sensitivity. For example I know of a Speciale owner whose
car is decatted and he does not have a CEL, even with original ECU, or so he claims.

In most of these very rare cases a CEL usually appears further down the line anyhow,
as was in my case: I did not have a CEL until about 2 weeks after I installed the GMG race
cats.

The bottom line is this: the only way to be 100% sure not a have a CEL (and to pass smog) by running race cats is by having an anti-CEL aftermarket ecu tune.

You are in a similar case than mine since you want to keep the pops from the exhaust and not
tune the ecu at risk of losing them.

The rub is that the stock cats are very restrictive and muffle the exhaust a lot so putting
race cats or going catless is a must to obtain the full potential of the sound: the problem is
that you most likely have to deal with a CEL unless you tune the ECU.

Another alternative not to have a CEL without touching the ECU is to opt for devices that plug into the OBD2 port under the steering wheel and constantly cancel the CEL's upon startup.
I for one will try the Armytrix CEL delete module that I mentioned in a previous post.
Forum members have mixed feelings about these devices, I will give the Armytrix device a shot
and see if it indeed cancels the CEL on the dashboard automatically as I currently have to do this manually with a portable OBD2 reader which I keep in the car at all times.
One thing is certain about these devices: they will cancel the CEL code on the dashboard but will not help you pass a smog test since the emissions code is recorded by the ECU anyhow.

Lastly, you can take a risk and opt for an anti-CEL ecu tune and hope it does not cancel the pops. If memory serves me right
a forum member had an EVOSmit tune on his decatted 2011 Italia and he did not loose the crackles and pops.
I for one am too wimpy to try lol.

Most importantly: do not believe any aftermarket tuners or independent race shops: they will tell you anything to get your business!
Imho our friends here are the best resource for information as they have your best interest at heart and not your wallet's.

Hope this helps, send me an email if you have further questions

best

 

IPE F1 on the 458 sounds amazing and no CEL

 

Wouldn't extending the O2 sensor away from the exhaust gas stream prevent a code?
I have not yet tried on my Speciale; but I have put anti fowler extensions on the O2 sensors for many of my previous cars, to help prevent CEL's. These cars include my v12 vantage, Dodge Viper, and Corvette. Because the sensor was moved farther from the exhaust stream, the O2 sensor was tricked into measuring a cleaner gas flow. All of the above mentioned vehicles were running 200 cell race cats, no cat deletes. I don't think it would work on cat delete systems however.

 

Lucky: she loves you

 

O2 extenders might work, however I have heard they are glitchy on 458's, I have ordered
a set from Fabspeed which have had very mixed reviews and will try them before I smog it

best