De Cat Pipe Legal?

[Papalaz]

Hi Guys,

Ive done a search for this but still unsure about it.

Is a de cat pipe actually illegal? A lot of them say Not For Road Use but I know a lot of people on here do have them. Am i going to get arrested for driving with one? Im fairly sure it will fail an MOT but I intend to just swop the cat back on when the time comes.

Guessing the emisions warning light is gona come on as well? Whats the best fix for getting around this?

Also what sort of gains to be expected on a 182?

Cheers!

 

[Steve]

Not road legal as will not pass an MOT.
Will also invalidate insurance, so a risk i'm not willing to take.

 

[gtruk]

not legal, if caught 7 years in jail and a £3549.98 Fine

 

[Chrisjk]

Best off with a sports/high flow cat instead.

 

[mattjk]

not legal, if caught 7 years in jail and a £3549.98 Fine

:lolup:

 

[mattjk]

Hi Guys,

Ive done a search for this but still unsure about it.

Is a de cat pipe actually illegal? A lot of them say Not For Road Use but I know a lot of people on here do have them. Am i going to get arrested for driving with one? Im fairly sure it will fail an MOT but I intend to just swop the cat back on when the time comes.

techinically they are not illegal its just the fact that your emmisions will go up if you remove it because of this and it will likely fail a test which would make it illegal to drive on the roads yes.

Guessing the emisions warning light is gona come on as well? Whats the best fix for getting around this?

Yes it will could take 2 weeks could take 2 months or never at all... best workaround - remove dash and cover LED with black tape

Also what sort of gains to be expected on a 182?

Minimal power top end, low down is improved 5k "kick" less pronounced worth doing IMO its easy to swap around for the MOT

Cheers!

 

[KrissJ]

Sports cat is a nice idea but they cost a fortune. Your car will fail an MOT emissions test with a decat fitted, but they won't void your insurance as long as you've told them. They'll then class it as having a full exhaust system on.

When my 106 GTI was written off insurance paid out and had checked the car, which had a decat fitted.

A decat will arguably give the biggest gain of any other part of the exhaust system as they cause restrictions and sap power. Not sure about exact figures, and as with other exhaust/breathing mods, the gains will be subtle, but at the end of the day, they only cost about fifty quid.

 

[Steve]

^^ how come Greenlight who are very mod & track friendly won't insure you if you have a decat??

 

[Papalaz]

c**k it, Im with greenlight, Ill give them a call tonight and see what they say

 

[fuel_slut]

c**k it, Im with greenlight, Ill give them a call tonight and see what they say

I'm with Green light and they will not insure a de-cat as the car is not road legal/worthy and is not capable of passing an MOT.

They will pretty much insure you for anything else except a de-cat.

 

[Papalaz]

Yeah Greenlight state they will insure it if you can prove your car passes an MOT Emissions Test without the cat, which Im guessing aint gonna happen lol

O well, dont really wanna risk voiding my insurance so no de cat pipe for me

 

[fuel_slut]

Yeah Greenlight state they will insure it if you can prove your car passes an MOT Emissions Test without the cat, which Im guessing aint gonna happen lol

O well, dont really wanna risk voiding my insurance so no de cat pipe for me

Dont worry about it mate there are pleanty of other mods to do.

In fact I know one guy who had his 182 RR'd and it was down on power. The technician said that the de-cat was not providing enough back pressure. Maybe the de-cat pipe has to be well tested and tried.

 

[ForceIndia]

It's a minefield. AFAIK it's a grey area, it's not legal on the grounds of mot etc, which is true. But, you can pass an mot with the decat on. So, if you pass the mot with the decat on (the decats not an mot fail, only emmisions can be), where do you stand??

 

[superbenji88]

Some older cars dont have CATs on them

 

[Limca]

wouldnt wanna drive with a decat in london now!! lol with all these emission cameras fooking everywhere.

 

[Rob.]

My 91 Clio never came wit a cat

 

[fuel_slut]

Some older cars dont have CATs on them

Whats your point? Its not a legal requirement for older cars.

 

[Papalaz]

Think 92 was the cut off year for CATs having to be fitted

 

[Rob.]

Think 92 was the cut off year for CATs having to be fitted

Belive it was Pre-J reg cars so yer 92

 

[franx]

i've also heard of the 182 not gaining power with decat, seems better with the sportcat !

 

[stooby]

Ive got a staight through pipe and when mot day comes just put your cat back on.. ive been pulled twice in the car and neither times have they said anything about the exhaust. A friend has had it noticed that his xsi doesnt have a cat and he was given a 14 day fix it.. just dont get rid of your old cat and make sure it not too much hassle to swop the two for mot time

 

[Papalaz]

I thought the 182 already had a very decent sports style cat as standard?

What would be a decent aftermarket sports cat to look at?

 

[Steve]

Ive got a staight through pipe and when mot day comes just put your cat back on.. ive been pulled twice in the car and neither times have they said anything about the exhaust. A friend has had it noticed that his xsi doesnt have a cat and he was given a 14 day fix it.. just dont get rid of your old cat and make sure it not too much hassle to swop the two for mot time

If.......your mate has a serious accident & harms someone he will not be insured!

14 days or not.

Not very clever me thinks.

Why do you think 172/182 pay high tax??

It's the emissions they create, niether will pass a genuine MOT test without CAT.

 

[mattjk]

You can tell the oldies from the youngens here. I'd never declare anything I have my own reasons for doing this maybe when I'm more grown up I will change my mind, time will tell

 

[stooby]

Ive got a staight through pipe and when mot day comes just put your cat back on.. ive been pulled twice in the car and neither times have they said anything about the exhaust. A friend has had it noticed that his xsi doesnt have a cat and he was given a 14 day fix it.. just dont get rid of your old cat and make sure it not too much hassle to swop the two for mot time

If.......your mate has a serious accident & harms someone he will not be insured!

14 days or not.

Not very clever me thinks.

Why do you think 172/182 pay high tax??

It's the emissions they create, niether will pass a genuine MOT test without CAT.

I fully agree about the emissions part, my friend owns an mot station and we tested it with the straight thru just to see how it fared and the results were:

Fast Idle Test
CO 0.67%vol FAIL
HC 72ppm PASS
Lambda 1.03 Pass

2nd Fast Idle Test
CO 0.77%vol FAIL
HC 74ppm PASS
Lambda 1.18 FAIL

Natural Idle Test
CO 0.80%vol FAIL