ok, after two G35's and approx. 75K miles, my original Crawford cats have thrown the P0430 engine code and it is time to say goodbye and get some new ones.

car is 2005 5AT with 42K miles and has DC Sport ceramic headers, JIC Y-Pipe and Fuji exhaust to consider going along with the new high flow cats.

not looking for any test pipes. like the way the exhaust sounds now with no drone or raspy sound.

I have not been around forum much lately as I have not done too much to car recently, but looking for some help/advice.

looking for suggestions/recommendations for a replacement. new Crawfords are $500 and was hoping to spend a little less, but get just as great quality and reliability as I managed to get from the originals. lighter weight is also a consideration for anything I add to this car.

thanks in advance for all of your help.

 

I know you said no test pipes but ART pipes are the best thing out there. If you want an HFC the Fast Intentions are probably the best but they're pricey. A lot of negative feedback on here towards the Berk HFC's but a lot of people run them. They are not as expensive as the FI's.

 

does nobody run stillens HFCs?? I hardly see anything about them

 

thanks for the recommendation. I have seen in my searches here that the ART test pipes are very highly regarded here on this forum, but they are not for me. no need for HFC as my car is exempt in PA from emissions since it is driven very little, but want to keep smell down in garage and hope the sound remains as nice as it is now.

I am 47 years old and have had my coupe from new since 2005. the car is driven mostly for pleasure use only...42K miles. no track use or trying to be a dyno queen. car has to just look good, sound good and continue to run like a Swiss watch with no real issues.

I was very happy with my Crawford cats after 2 G's and approx. 75K miles with no issues. would have got them again, but they are a little more pricey and I like to try new stuff, so decided to go with AAM HFC's through Coz @ ConceptZ. what sold me was that AAM are pretty local for me and ConceptZ price.

AAM look like many other HFC's here and appear to use the same Magnaflow cat, but AAM is 200 cell substrate which could provide better flow and sound. not too worried about long term reliability versus 300 cell as my car is only driven about 2500 miles a year. should be able to get many good years from the AAM's if I am right.

 

just in case anyone was wondering, the AAM cats bolted right up with no issues. much cleaner design then my old Crawford cats. more clearance and no heat shields around cat to rust up. was even able to remove that bulky transmission bracket that no longer has any use as the AAM cats do not have a side bracket to bolt up to it...like berk does. it was probably only need to support the really heavy OEM cats. AAM cats are very light weight, really clean design with all the bungs needed for a basic application like mine. car still sounds the way I like it and there have not been any issues so far. very pleased with AAM product and very pleased with ConceptZ for a great price. anyone looking for HFC's, I would recommend this product and ConceptZ.

 

So, no drone or rasp? Not much louder than stock? No check engine light? The o2 sensor bungs look pretty short in the picture. That would concern me with them being 200 cell cats.
My car gets about the same use as yours, just seasonal and even then usually only on weekends. It's parked for the winter and I usually buy something new to bolt on come spring.

 

i had the stillen HFC. i had no problems with them i took them off cause i had to pass cali smog and never put them back on. mine bolted up no prob and sounded good. i am sure stillen out sources for their cats. they just relabel the thing once they get it.

 

no issues so far. just had car out yesterday for a drive and sounded great. you see the exhaust system I have in first post and car is 5AT...no drone or rasp at all. in fact, sounds just like it did with Crawford HFC. the bung on these is no different than most HFC's out there including my old Crawford's. do yourself a favor and shop each brand and look at pics of each...AAM, Stillen, Crawford, Kinetix, FI, Berk and others. you will see the similarities and small differences with each. think they all pretty much use the same Magnaflow HFC, but either 200 cell or 300 cell.