300 Cel vs 200 Cel vs 150 Cel HFC's
 

I've scoured our Forums for about 3 hours and can not find anything regarding the differences / pros and cons of a 300 Cell Substrate HFC compared to a 200 or 150. Can any of your experienced guys give me the pros and cons of each? Ie I would assume that a 300 Cell HFC should be quieter and less rasp, while a 150 Cell HFC could potentially have more flow and thus might make 1 or 2 more HP or Torque. Am I correct with those assumptions?

The reason is that I am trying to determine which HFC I would like installed ont he Z. Obviously, I will get a different CBE at a later time. Just wanted to know the pros and cons of the different HFC's out there.

Thanks,
TipsZ

You are correct.

The higher higher number means the more filtration that actually occurs as the exhaust travels through the catalytic converter, and the lower the count, the lower filtration that occurs.

Now, with the higher filtration you get less rasp, quieter exhaust, but more restriction. With the lower filtration, you get more rasp, and louder exhaust, but less restriction.

If you were to hold a stock cat next to a 150 Cell count cat and look through them both, you'll see that the exhaust has to travel through a lot more filter material in the stock cat than it would in a 150 Cell count cat.

Those are the two extreme ends of the spectrum, it's usually somewhere in the middle that people try to aim for.

Basically the more cells the more air restrictions and the more it cleans things up. But from what I have heard you have to be careful when talking cell count as some say they are a certain cell but really end up having more. Also there are metal and ceramic cats with I believe the metal being the better option. The brand of cat that the companies are using should be named too as some companies make very good cats, ie HJS, while others are just so so. Ceramic are cheaper in price than metal and are probably cheaper in other aspects too as they might burn up quicker. From what I can remember HFCs will probably burn up over time which is why you want the best fabricated one with the best material in it. 300 cells and above you shouldnt get any CELs but 200 cells might give you some on and off, even if you use O2 extensions. I seems to just depend on your car.

So I am very curious as to which brand cats the companies are using for their HFCs in here? And are the metal or ceramic

Thanks for the insight Zsteve. I would be interested in knowing the differences between Berks / Stillen / Fast Intensions HFC's. I would like something that will not throw any CELs, yet definitely give some good gains in HP / TQ as well. Mind you, at this point we are talking about just replacing the cats on a stock exhaust at this point.

IMHO the difference in terms of gains between 150/200/300 cells cats is not so big. Naturally 150 is more opened than 300 one. But we are talking about 3/4 hp. Consider that F.I. HFC and their test pipes have a difference in terms of power of 4 hp.

So, for me, the question you have to do yourself is: which kind of sound i'm searching for? Very aggressive but without rasp (F.I. is the solution). With a tuned note (but with a little bit of rasp)? Here go Berk. Extremly near to test pipes with a race taste? 150 cells cats.

In your situation, if you're planning a new exhaust system, then i would go with products (HFC and CBE) made by the same manufacturer.

But remember, in any case, power gains will be very similar.

Holy dead thread batman! :)

noooo. I've just seen the date of this thread... :-(

Hope it will be usefull for other people at least.