High flow and performance cat info for MOT purposes.

[Charlie Farley]

An update for those B7 TFSI owners that either have one allready fitted or maybe planning on fitting one.
As some of you maybe recall i've been having an emission issue at MOT time with a 034 HFC fitted and had to resort to refitting the OE cat to get through the MOT this year.
There have been suggestions and that the 034 in particular may suffer from poor core coating etc which also lead to poor emissions as the core ages.
I recently emailed 034 directy to ask for there views on the problem and here is the reply.


James Olsen <helpdesk@034motorsport.com>
01:35 (19 hours ago)

to me, techsupport

Thanks for reaching out Robin! We unfortunately cannot guarantee that our HFC exhaust system will pas any emissions compliance test, even brand new right out of the box (hence the "Off Road Use Only" nomenclature on our product page).

That said, if you previously passed and now are seeing continual failures, it may be time for a replacement. There is really no way to restore a catalytic converter to it's original state, other than a full replacement.

Let me know how you plan to proceed here!



James Olsen

877-591-9571



His email reply does seem to confirm pretty well what we know thus far for the 034 units and to be honest it will apply to 99.9 % of HFC's on the market as none are certified for highway use. Weather b7's are more prone to the problem remains to be seen, maybe the close proximity to the turbo doesn't help longevity of the core, who knows.

So there you go chaps, don't go into this upgrade hoping it will all be sweetness and roses , it may to start with but be prepared for failure at some point.
If you have no issues with any swapping around of cats to full fill MOT emissions then go for it.

 

[norad97]

What I expected, so if the Cat is not for road use, then why sell a Cat anyway?
You don't need a Cat for off road use, so what's the point of fitting it? You can use a decat pipe.
Mine is newer than yours and the redesigned one, I will try next Mot, but if it fails I will just get the OEM Cat put back on,
as I have it in my boot.
What my stage 2 remap will do to it, have to wait and see.

 

[Charlie Farley]

I totally agree Richard.

I think it's solely a sales pitch from all the companies concerned to be honest, and they make a lot of cash out of us in the process, I went into it fully aware of the possibility of emissions issues for MOT's , but i can see many owners being blinded by the performance quotes etc and overlooking the high probability the car will not pass the emissions part of an MOT.


They do work and offer enhanced performance over the OE units but as we know if it wont pass the test then may aswell just fit a decat and swap around or not bother at all with the whole HFC part of the equation.

As yours is pretty well new i'd say you stand a good chance you'll get through but from my understanding the core is identical between both designs ,weather they have to thrash the engine to get it to pass is another matter and pretty well why i decided to swap my back for the test, i really cant see the point of thrashing the engine whilst stationary without any kind of real driving load just to get a pass.

Running up an older car with 80k miles or more for some of us car on the spot to bonkers rpm's just to get an emisions pass is not the way to go frankly, wellnot for me anyway, i want me engine to last a few more miles .

Will you notice any difference Richard, i'd say you will, i most certainly have seen a big drop in midrange.

I'm refitting my 034 this weekend as i have it sitting here i may aswell use it again, may even gut the inners prior to refitting it, what is there to loose as it does'nt do zippo for emission as it now anyway.

 

[antwan64og]

Rob for clarity how many miles did the 034 catalyst pass emissions?

I was just browsing through a magnaflow catalog and they warranty cores for 25,000 miles for emissions.

A EURO4 cat with 200 cells “should” pass an MOT but I can’t see what warranty jetex offer with regards to the longevity of the cores integrity Should anyone get one of their 4.5” Euro4 200 cell cats welded up to fit

 

[Charlie Farley]

not sure , i'd need to look back at previous MOT's to workout the milage for the time it was fitted.
034 don't offer any milage / lifespan details with the product , only that it is not a road legal product and therefore should be treated accordingly.

 

[Charlie Farley]

based on milage between fitting it and removal 2 weeks ago , approx 24k miles.

 

[Sidrick]

I thought you bought yours used, Rob?

 

[Charlie Farley]

I did Scott, so 24k in my ownership .

 

[norad97]

Just an update on this, I went for the Mot and my car just scraped though on emissions, next time it wont pass.
So, 034 Motorsport sports cat are rubbish, is there a better alternative out there???

 

[Charlie Farley]

Just an update on this, I went for the Mot and my car just scraped though on emissions, next time it wont pass.
So, 034 Motorsport sports cat are rubbish, is there a better alternative out there?

Evening Richard, thats not good news on the MOT front and even worse thats it will be less likely to pass next year.
I do think they degrade slowly so just wont get past emmisions.
They do cover themselves though by saying not for highway usage, there's always a copout clause, doesn't help us lot a great deal either , silly expensive kit with and even sillier lifespan.

Not good new Richard.

 

[norad97]

Yes Rob, there just conning people, you would expect a company like 034 to sell a decent Cat.
Well not sure what next, are you still using the OEM Cat?
I still have mine, might have to put it on next year and there doesn't seem to be any other choice.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Yes Rob, there just conning people, you would expect a company like 034 to sell a decent Cat.
Well not sure what next, are you still using the OEM Cat?
I still have mine, might have to put it on next year and there doesn't seem to be any other choice.

I am still running with the OE item Richard, and to be honest i have got used to it now, it's a bit down on power but on the scale of things i can live with it for the time being.
When a suitable solution drops in my lap i will sort it out but as yet nothing has come to light.

 

[Dan_Avant]

My 034 cat seems to be ok on emissions at the moment but it has only been on the car for just over a year. Probably less than 6k miles as the car isn’t my daily.

I think when it does eventually fail I’m going to get a decat and swap in the OEM cat once a year at MOT time. A bit tedious I know but only have to do it once a year.

I need the extra horses in the mid range

 

[norad97]

Mine was fine from new, first year passed no problem, 2 year a bit high but passed, 3 year just scrapped in, just because I no the garage,
Next year no chance of passing.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Mine was fine from new, first year passed no problem, 2 year a bit high but passed, 3 year just scrapped in, just because I no the garage,
Next year no chance of passing.

sounds just like mine was richard.