Mini Maps and de-cats

[ClarkeyST]

Bought my '8 a couple of months ago and I'm looking to be doing a couple of mods over the next few months to help keep it in good order.

First up will be a mini map primarily for a cold rev limiter and an increase to the OMP. Are there any that anybody particularly recommends?

I'll also be looking at a decat and was curious if there are any that are better/quieter than others? It will eventually be paired with an aftermarket exhaust, probably a racing beat, but that'll be further down the line,so I'm not looking for anything overly loud.

[PaulAV]

As far as the mini map, Nick Black is Chichester way I believe, decent guy.

[ClarkeyST]

Ryan Rotary Revs offer a remap by post, which includes a number of options.
They also offer a remote bespoke mapping, based on full power runs collected on a laptop, though this would be better done after you'd made any physical changes.

You might want to consider the insurance implications of a decat.
No insurer can legally cover a decat as "a declared modification" on a car that requires it for the MOT.
If you have a modification to a car that isn't declared, then your policy is void.
If you're involved in (not necessarily responsible for) an accident, and it is discovered that you have a decat, then your insurer can just walk away, cancelling your policy.
If you are at fault in such an accident then vehicle and personal injury claims can come to 10's of thousands, leaving you bankrupt.
If you get stopped in a roadside check (as Police/VOSA often setup on the roads to/from events) and your cat is found to have a decat, it can get towed away, while you get fined for both the Conditions and Uses offence, and driving without insurance.

Some people say" this will never happen to me", while it's happening to others every day.

A 200 CEL cat gives the same performance as a decat and, if you buy the right one, is even Type Approved, so fully legal.

[Milos_Balunovic]

On minimap things to be done:
Temperature switcher
Max speed limits
Omp rate
Idle rpm (the hot one).
I would never bother eith intake unless its Racing beat as pthers in best case do nothing, or most often lose power.

[ClarkeyST]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The decat I am looking at doing for a longevity point of view rather than performance, would a 200cel sports cat suffer from the same pitfalls as a standard cat?

Thanks for the tips Miles, they are pretty much what I'm looking to achieve, I guess I'll have to do more of my own research on ghat one.
I have no plans for intake mods for that very reason.

[PaulAV]

A high flow cat can fail and block the same as a standard car, but it's probably less likely as it's freer flowing to start with, generally if your ignition is good you won't have a problem with as half decent high flow(metal honeycomb as opposed to ceramic) plus you won't stink of exhaust fumes all the time

[350matt]

I'd agree with Paul
I've been running a 300CEL aftermarket unit on mine for the last 4 years and 40K miles
only recently has it failed ( no longer passing MOT) but it hadn't broken up , just poisoned ( I premix on mine) so no longer converting CO correctly so a 'benign' failure

so I have fitted another of the same make and type from this firm
https://www.catsandpipes.co.uk/universal.html

[PaulAV]

You could make your own, jetex sell high quality cat sections that have slip joints so it's just a matter of cutting the old one in the correct position and slotting in a replacement.

[PewPewMatt]

I've been running a 300CEL aftermarket unit on mine for the last 4 years and 40K miles
only recently has it failed ( no longer passing MOT) but it hadn't broken up , just poisoned ( I premix on mine) so no longer converting CO correctly so a 'benign' failure

There's no reason why premix should poison a cat, unless you're adding massive amounts, say over half-litre per tank.

Cats get poisoned by very rich mixtures, or other causes of unburnt fuel in the exhaust such as;
- letting the engine idle when cold rather than driving immediately.
- removing the Secondary Air System and only disabling the CELs rather than stopping the extra fuel load.
- running with a contaminated MAF or a failing IAT sensor
- failing ignition components
- inappropriate PCM changes to the fuel mapping.

I've been premixing since 2007, 100-150ml per tank on the road and twice as much on track days, and so far my 2004 oem cat has been happy to pass emissions every year.

[350matt]

I suspect your OEM cat has a much much higher loading of precious metal than my aftermarket one, hence it runs hotter and burns it all off

[Milos_Balunovic]

On two stroke cats, they whitstand the 2-3% premix without any problem for many hours. Its the temp that kils tham mainly.

Re the cold engine enrichment. Do you know where that setting is? Versa tuner or M.E.?

[350matt]

On ME there's no warm fuelling edit available

don't know about versatuner

[Milos_Balunovic]

I haven't found it in VT either.

[Donal]

Ryan Rotary Revs offer a remap by post, which includes a number of options.
They also offer a remote bespoke mapping, based on full power runs collected on a laptop, though this would be better done after you'd made any physical changes.

You might want to consider the insurance implications of a decat.
No insurer can legally cover a decat as "a declared modification" on a car that requires it for the MOT.
If you have a modification to a car that isn't declared, then your policy is void.
If you're involved in (not necessarily responsible for) an accident, and it is discovered that you have a decat, then your insurer can just walk away, cancelling your policy.
If you are at fault in such an accident then vehicle and personal injury claims can come to 10's of thousands, leaving you bankrupt.
If you get stopped in a roadside check (as Police/VOSA often setup on the roads to/from events) and your cat is found to have a decat, it can get towed away, while you get fined for both the Conditions and Uses offence, and driving without insurance.

Some people say" this will never happen to me", while it's happening to others every day.

A 200 CEL cat gives the same performance as a decat and, if you buy the right one, is even Type Approved, so fully legal.
[/quote)

I had bought a "high flow cat" (unsure of the CEL count, but not high) because when I'd bought the car the original cat had broken up. 1st MOT in NI pass, no problems. Had to put it off the road a few years. Ran it to hot on the street every few weeks, I know bad idea for the longevity of the engine. But took it for the test again about 6 months ago, again passed NI emmiaons no problem. I had also fitted a stainless cat back between MOT's.

[warpc0il]

NI MOT emissions test is just at idle, not idle and "fast idle" like the rest of UK.
It's the "fast idle" that catches out marginal cats.

[Donal]

I see, I would have thought I'd polluted the new cat with cold starts on tickover till warm. Having said that, I thought I'd have failed on noise. Having to stand outside (new regulations) I could hear a few revs and a few bangs from the test. Was genuinely suprised with a pass.

[Donal]

I find the new regime less stressful and it seems to have given them more leeway.