ERZ Performance High Flow Cats
 

Has anyone bought/installed the ERZ Performance high flow cats yet? Their prices are incredible and quality looks good from the photos. The Subaru crowd uses them and say that ERZ is a very good, affordable option. Anyone have first hand experience? I'm reluctant to be the guinea pig.

I was into modding my previous car (STi) and never heard of this company. Not to say I have heard of every company though.

The price and quality does look good. I second that question...anyone using these?

Was about to pull the trigger and then went back into holding mode when I read they don't have any warranty or return policy. Everything is sold 'as is'. Perhaps a moot point in the grand scheme of things, but that detracts from buyer confidence.

I totally agree. IMO I would be wary of ANY product that doesn’t come with at least a 30 / 60 / or 90 day minimal warrantee. Think about it… when the company was figuring out there warrantee terms someone had to make the judgment that providing this product with even a minimal warrantee presented too much risk. Even that the discounted price, I don’t think I would be willing to take that risk.

While we are on the topic of warrantees, does anyone know if the Berk HFC comes with any warrantee?

Interesting...I just looked on the Berk website and all of there parts are sold "as is" as well. Looks like Stillen is the only company I know of that has warranties. That being said, they may not honor your warranty if corrosion is the claim.

Looking at the HFCs, I can't image what you'd want warranty work or an exchange for. If it's throwing CELs, they'll say you just had bad luck anyway and are in the 5% that have the issue.

Kinetix HFCs have a lifetime warranty against defect and a 1 year warranty on movable parts.

I bought the ERZ hfc's after looking at the pictures and seeing the price. All the companies that make hfc's buy the cat part and fab the rest themselves. The flanges on the ERZ hfc's are thick which helps them stay flat and seal well. The supplied gaskets have some crushability to them that further assures a leak free connection. The O2 extensions that came with mine needed to be drilled out a little to fit the end of the O2 sensor(it could easily have been done with a round file). The install went smoothly and took me about 2 hours( I'm old and slow). The sound seems the same as stock at idle and low throttle. It is only a little louder at WOT, less noise increase than I expected. So far there is absolutely no drone and not a hint of rasp or hiss. The rest of my exhaust system is stock(so far). The smell was noticeable on the first day, but is gone now. Totally happy with the ERZ hfc's so far and thinking about Berk cbe.

cool man...thx for the review!

we already fix this problem on the 02 sensor part so no one will need to do any drilling anymore.

Great review +1. You have some rep points! :tup:

Thanks for the review. As soon as I hear back from ERZ on pricing, I may have a set on the way. I'll post videos before and after to compare the sound.

A before and after comparison of sound levels from ERZ hfc's on a 370Z measured at 10 feet behind the car and 2 feet above ground level using a Radio Shack meter.
On the A weighted scale at idle: stock=54db, ERZ hfc's=57db
On the C weighted scale at idle: stock=72db, ERZ hfc's=77db
The next measurement was done by momentarily going to wide open throttle.
On the A weighted scale at WOT: stock=84db, ERZ hfc's=87db
On the C weighted scale at WOT: stock=93db, ERZ hfc's=94db
The bottom line is, that it is not much louder with just hfc's and everything else stock.

Nice...I've been waiting for people to start using sound level meters with various setups. I'll do the same with my Stillen catback before and after the HFC install.

Hmm, I wonder what the readings would have been with Berk HFC's. I feel that adding the Berk HFC's made my exhaust quite a bit louder then stock and not just "a little louder" as KEVTEX described.

Any dyno results yet?

Just placed my order. Should have them installed within a week or so of receiving them. I'll have some videos as well as sound level measurements. Sorry, no plans to dyno though.

JB1, both the ERZ and Berk hfc's use 200 cell metallic substrate converter cores and both use 2.5" or 60mm stainless tubing so the sound differences should be minor. Remember that every 3 db is a doubling of the sound level. Our ears are nonlinear in the way we perceive sound levels. Also, before and after sound comparisons that rely on our memory of what our exhaust sounded like previous to a new install are not very accurate. I thought the sound at idle was the same as stock with a small but noticeable increase at higher rpm. You can see by the numbers I posted that the increase at idle was larger than the increase at WOT.

Thanks for the additional explanation KEVTEX. I agree that it is very difficult to judge the difference in sound based on memory. But I do remember thinking WOW, that's loud, when the mechanic started my car after the install :)

Great! I can't wait to see the sound results using the stillin CBE as a base line.

:icon14:
Movable parts?

Cats purchased, installed and reviewed. Please check my other thread.

did you have any issues with yours? ive had mine for # weeks and suddenly the service engine soon light came on. took it to nissan they told me the cats were not performing(they burned out) is it bad to keep driving with these? they removed the warning light and everything works fine. what should i do????

The next time it occurs, go to Pep Boys, who will read the CEL code and reset it for you for free. Find out what the code is. It's likely an error code due to the O2 sensors attaching the HFCs. If this keeps recurring, you can either get extenders for the O2 sensors (from wherever you bought your HFCs) or stuff some steel wool in front of the sensors (or both). Because there's less filter material in HFCs for exhaust gases to go through the sensors detect a relatively lower concentration of O2 and triggers the error code. Simple fix...the HFCs are not "burned out".

Mine have been perfect, but they sent me the right-angle extended bungs when I bought them (I was the first on this site, I think). You're just throwing a code from the O2 sensor as DJ noted. Nissan techs don't know what they're talking about. And a burnt out cat is just a test pipe as long as the cat core isn't blocking the exhaust outlet.

yes...all i did was roll up a bunch of steel wool until it was a tightly packed 1" diameter steel wool ball. stuffed it into the O2 bungs and i havent had the any lights come up since. i installed extended O2 bungs and that didnt do anything for me, however the rolled up steel wool has worked fine for the last 3-4 months