failed emissions this morning.

[Buzz]

If you find it is that cat, and need to replace it, don't leave it in all the time. Have an exhaust shop build a test pipe for you, tell them it's to put in while drag racing or something. The test pipe bolts into the spot where the cat goes normally. It's just a piece of straight pipe. At the performance shop I worked at for a long time we found that aftermarket cats barely last the two years in between tests if you leave them in. I use one in my '91 Jetta. About a week before testing I throw it in, drive it normally, go through my test and then put the test pipe back in. Then, I store the cat until the next test.

While I agree with your point that aftermarket cats are short lived compared to an OEM cat (which I had highlighted earlier), running your "test pipe" (i.e. no cat) in between E-Test periods is a very unenlightened suggestion.

You are probably too young to remember what parts of California were like in the 1960s and 1970s - the smog was simply awful. Thankfully technology has come a long way since then, and today we have engines producing anywhere from 500 to 700 HP, while still using the OEM cats, and meeting their model year emissions requirements - which are more stringent than the 1992 model year emissions this gentleman must meet.

Removing the cats from vehicles, given the current level of technology, is simply a fool's errand. It is irresponsible actions like these that bring about increasingly restrictive legislation that impacts us all. Every Hot Rod that goes out the door of my shop is equipped with a pair of high quality cats - even if the vehicle is from the 1930s.