100 Cell and 200 Cell Cats

[blinkwatt]

I have no clue what these terms mean. Can anyone explain what 100 & 200 Cell Cats mean and what do they do compared to the stock set up? Thanks.

[Gary in BR]

The 100 cell cats have less restriction than the 200 cell cats.

That is a very basic explanation I am sure someone knows the engeniring way to discribe them.

For what its worth my understanding from a few tuner shops is that the porsche oem cats flow better than the aftermarkets.

Gary

[drburton]

The more cells the greater the restriction and the lower the emmissions. If you are buy aftermarket you have to be careful with the 100 cell cats b/c I believe you will end up getting a check engine light if you use them.

[blinkwatt]

Would using these less restrictive cats mess up the o2 sensors?

[drburton]

Yes, that was what I was trying to say. You will likely get the check engine light b/c of the O2 sensors if you use the 100 cats.

Be really careful with aftermarket cats b/c I have heard some horror stories regarding cats disentigrating and being sucked back into the engine. This is very rare but can happen. Just make sure you are getting them from a reputtable source.

[Bisimoto]

The cell count refers to the number of "honey comb"-like substrates that exist in a 1" square area of the catalytic converter material. The less cells per square inch, the less restrictive the exhaust flow..hence improvement in power.

Poor designs or cheap converter substrate materials can lead to the inability to detoxify combustion pollutants, and in the worst case senario, melt and clog up the exhaust system: I have personally seen the results on a customer's car on the dyno...from a loss of power to finally an engine that would not rev past 2000 RPMs. He was lucky that he did not burn up an exhaust valve in the process...the culprit? A cheap China made catalytic converter from ebay! BTW, this car was supercharged.

In regard to a CEL, that can be rectified, since the removal of primary CATs and/or use of high flow, low cell count units cause the pre- and post- CAT O2 sensor to send similar voltages to the main EMS/ECU, resulting in a CEL. You can fix that, if you so desire, mechanically or electronically...but I cannot give up all of my secrets...yet.