ep3 sports cat? do they exist?

[jamster88]

Hi

I have just joined the PH forum and thought this would be a good place to start, any help would be very much appretiated.

so the question, i have a 2004 facelift civic ep3 type r and want to improve on the original cat.The problem is i dont want to go the de-cat route as i do not have the money to do this properly i.e. kpro etc, so thought maybe a sports cat would be the way to go? only problem is i have searched and searched and no results. Can anyone please advise me if they exist and if so where? I looked through some old threads but could find none cocerning this. Any help much appretiated guys.

[VeeTEC]

Having read several tuning guides on owners club websites, I've never seen one mentioned.

Doubt you'll find anything that's any good. It it existed I'm sure I'd have seen someone do it.

[Jay Dee Emm]

I'm pretty sure a company called piper exhausts does a sports cat for the EP3 civic. However i'm not sure if this needs to be used in conjunction with thier exhaust manifold or whether it can be fitted with the standard exhaust manifold.

Either way the standard manifold is quite restrictive and if your going to the effort of getting k-pro it makes sense to do this before any mapping to get the most benefit.

I hope that helps in some way. Jay.

[Animal]

Why do you want a sports cat?

Power? I doubt it'll be worth the effort on a 4cyl n/a engine, even with a remap and other mods.

Noise? Buy a Buddy Club or similar backbox and sell your OEM one.

[itsnotarace]

jamster88 said:

The problem is i dont want to go the de-cat route as i do not have the money to do this properly i.e. kpro etc, so thought maybe a sports cat would be the way to go?

Without a mappable ECU, you won't see any gains so it would be a waste of money. You would be much better off saving for the KPro and then enjoying the benefits that brings (10bhp increase in peak power, 35bhp increase in midrange power) and then consider upgrading the exhaust at a later date.

[itsnotarace]

Jay Dee Emm said:

I'm pretty sure a company called piper exhausts does a sports cat for the EP3 civic. However i'm not sure if this needs to be used in conjunction with thier exhaust manifold or whether it can be fitted with the standard exhaust manifold.

It works with their manifold, not the OEM one.

Jay Dee Emm said:

Either way the standard manifold is quite restrictive and if your going to the effort of getting k-pro it makes sense to do this before any mapping to get the most benefit.

Agreed

[chiwawa]

Supersprint still does one. years ago I use to run it with their manifold. I think it would fit with a standard one.

http://www.supersprint.com/USP00honciv38.asp

[itsnotarace]

ORLY?

The cat is attached to the OEM manifold

[Animal]

How much?!!

[VeeTEC]

Animal said:

How much?!!

Have you seen how much a standard cat is from Honda?

£1500ish I think

[Animal]

I bought a pair of HFCs from Berk in the US and had them shipped and fitted for £500. That's just ridiculous!

[jamster88]

Hi guys

thanks for the replys been working flat out so first chance i have had to look abd reply.

i agree with what your saying and have decided to save for k-pro and start there and build on this base, seems a good place tp start.

thanks
jay

[geraintevans]

How about swapping the manifold & cat for one out of a DC5 (01-06 Integra Type-R) or the Japanese EP3? The manifold is a much freer-flowing design than the UK EP3, and the cat is smaller. You should see an improvement for less than £200.

[itsnotarace]

DC5 exhaust manifold and cat won't fit without further mods, it's a different shape to the UK one. Hence why you need JDM front anti roll bar when fitting a manifold designed for the JDM cars.

The DC5 exhaust manifold also doesn't offer any more power than the UK one. The JDM cars make more power because of the different inlet manifold, better cams, valves, springs and pistons along with a higher redline and 100 octane fuel.

[geraintevans]

Fair enough re the ARB, I remember something about that but wasn't sure it was essential for the DC5 manifold.

I disagree with you about the benefits though. Yes the K20a2 is in a lower state of tune than the K20a, but the UK EP3 exhaust manifold & cat are terrible.