Hello,
I own a 2009 Avalon. I. I am trying to free up some horsepower by removing some of the restrictions in the exhaust system. I have been scouring the forums for a few week and so far I've found out:
-Headers are a lost cause...
-Performance Y-Pipe/Flex Pipe is a lost cause...
...unless someone organizes a Group Buy, which is incredibly hard to do(I'd be down for both, by the way). That just leaves me with the piping, catalytic converters and mufflers to play with. So far, I've replaced the OEM mufflers with Dynomax Ultra-Flo mufflers. Much to my dismay, the car is still virtually silent when running. Even at higher RPM's, the Exhaust is easily drowned out by the Intake. Please correct me if I am wrong, but that means that the exhaust flow is still very restricted. The mechanic that installed the mufflers says that I need to get rid of the resonator bolted to the flex pipe an install a larger diameter pipe. This leads me to my questions:
1. I know that there are catalytic converters right after the exhaust manifolds. Is that a THIRD catalytic converter at the end of the flex pipe, or is it just another resonator?
2. If it is in fact a third cat, will removing it cause adverse effects on the car or on emissions testing since the car has 2 other cats?
3. Do I need to worry about losing too much backpressure by expanding the exhaust piping even though the exhaust manifolds and y-pipe is so restrictive.
Any light that anyone can shed on this will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help.
__________________
I own a 2009 Avalon. I. I am trying to free up some horsepower by removing some of the restrictions in the exhaust system. I have been scouring the forums for a few week and so far I've found out:
-Headers are a lost cause...
-Performance Y-Pipe/Flex Pipe is a lost cause...
...unless someone organizes a Group Buy, which is incredibly hard to do(I'd be down for both, by the way). That just leaves me with the piping, catalytic converters and mufflers to play with. So far, I've replaced the OEM mufflers with Dynomax Ultra-Flo mufflers. Much to my dismay, the car is still virtually silent when running. Even at higher RPM's, the Exhaust is easily drowned out by the Intake. Please correct me if I am wrong, but that means that the exhaust flow is still very restricted. The mechanic that installed the mufflers says that I need to get rid of the resonator bolted to the flex pipe an install a larger diameter pipe. This leads me to my questions:
1. I know that there are catalytic converters right after the exhaust manifolds. Is that a THIRD catalytic converter at the end of the flex pipe, or is it just another resonator?
2. If it is in fact a third cat, will removing it cause adverse effects on the car or on emissions testing since the car has 2 other cats?
3. Do I need to worry about losing too much backpressure by expanding the exhaust piping even though the exhaust manifolds and y-pipe is so restrictive.
Any light that anyone can shed on this will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help.
__________________
