Coolant vs. water Testpipe vs. High Flow Cat.

[BlkWhtTSI]

how much does the 50/50 coolant and water really matter? could i have a lot of water and some coolant or should i keep the 50/50 mixture to avoid freezing etc. right now my mixture is at a 40 below freezing temp, but i'm running a lil hot and think i'm low if i add a bunch of water should i add some more coolant?

I currently am running a high-flow cat, but i have a test pipe sitting in my room and a lot of people are saying switch them out and i want to but my dad thinks i'm crazy cuz i bought the cat and ran it for a year and now i'm taking it out. i've heard theres like a 10-15hp gain switching from high flow to test pipe, how true is this? and what are other pros and cons of a test pipe vs a high flow cat?

[delspool]

how much does the 50/50 coolant and water really matter? could i have a lot of water and some coolant or should i keep the 50/50 mixture to avoid freezing etc. right now my mixture is at a 40 below freezing temp, but i'm running a lil hot and think i'm low if i add a bunch of water should i add some more coolant?

I currently am running a high-flow cat, but i have a test pipe sitting in my room and a lot of people are saying switch them out and i want to but my dad thinks i'm crazy cuz i bought the cat and ran it for a year and now i'm taking it out. i've heard theres like a 10-15hp gain switching from high flow to test pipe, how true is this? and what are other pros and cons of a test pipe vs a high flow cat?

fwiw, i usually run 50/50 in the winter and straight water with water wetter in the summer. its just always worked well for me

it really depends on the cat that you have but most of the time a test pipe will gain some power but it also decreases lag.

[crazyrage]

Keep the coolant mixed to continue to avoid freezing. You want it as close to 50/50 as possible. Test pipe vs. high flow....pros: you're gonna allow the car to breathe better assuming you have some exhaust work to match the test pipe for good flow all the way out. Possible con: I can't remember the emissions out your way, but if there's a visual emissions inspection come inspection time, that may become a problem depending on who does the inspection due to lack of cat....but like i said, can't remember how it rolls where you're at. Overall, if emissions isn't a problem, go for the test pipe, if it allows better flow. Just consider the size of the test pipe and the rest of your exhaust. That's gonna determine how much of a hp gain you're going to get.

[BlkWhtTSI]

ok i have a 3 inch exhaust and a matching 3 inch test pipe the cat is 3 inch aswell

[crazyrage]

Ok then, go for it then.

[350 INCH 95]

You'd probably be fine going 30/70 coolant/water without any freezing issues and a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter will help a little bit. I had a digital temp gauge in my old car, it was consistantly 10 degrees cooler with it. I wouldn't rule out a high flow cat. The spun metallic ones flow in the 600 CFM range. Rule of thumb for non restrictive exhaust is to have it flow 2.2 CFM/HP so it wouldn't be a restriction unless you're over 280 HP and odds are your muffler flows less than that, very few non race mufflers flow over 400 CFM.

[Renegade_]

I'm some disconjoined odd mix of water/coolant, never once had it 50/50. I just poured straight coolant in till the rad was full, let the engine cycle and started pouring water in. My guess is that its like 70/30 and the car runs cool as hell, never getting the gauge above 1/3 during winter (koyo w/FALs). Next time I flush Ill do 50/50 just to see the difference.

And do the test pipe, sell the cat, its worth money.

[BlkWhtTSI]

yeah so turns out i had a lot of air in my system, so thats why i was running hotter than usual causing me to leak a little on to montcos parking lot, soo i bled the system and added some water it overflowed a bunch which left a whole bunch onto the parking lot lol. need to empty out my recovery jug some.

[pinacup7]

You will lose down low trq with a test pipe, but gain hp in the higher rpm's.

[Renegade_]

You will lose down low trq with a test pipe, but gain hp in the higher rpm's.

If you are driving a 2.0 and car about torque that much, your driving the wrong car.

Slap the thing on

[dragonfly2k3]

plus, you really cant ever flow too much exhaust on a turbo-charged car. I say rock that bitch.

[russiankid]

I'd stick to 50/50 mix. I keep a gallon of 50/50 mixed coolant in the trunk just incase. You really shouldn't be needing to add coolant unless you have a leak.

[BlkWhtTSI]

this coolant issue may be bigger than i thought seems like i might be pushing out a lot of coolant into that jug which might point to a blown headgasket,we'll find out today emptied the coolant jug out about halfway to see if it fills back up, test pipe is going on soon.