Alright, so i tried to find as much info as I could about the pros and cons of each of these systems and i was not very successful. I am hoping to get one or the other and am interested in hearing some wiser individuals than myself chime in. Here is what I got so far:

Turbo back:
More $$$
More HP (how much)
More top end power
sacrifice mid range power?
better tone

Cat Back
Cheaper
not much of a tone change

any input is appreciated

 

A cat back exhaust is the section of exhaust that starts at the catalytic converter and ends at the exhaust tips. A tubo-back exhaust starts at the turbo exhaust housing and replaces the OEM catalytic converter with a high-flow one (or test pipes if you want to go the naughty non-passing-smog route). The turbo back produces more power because it replaces the entirety of the factory exhaust with larger-diameter componentry and gets rid of the restrictive stock cat. The cat-back effectively only replaces half of the exhaust length, which is why it is cheaper and does not make as much power. Neither should lead to midrange power loss on the MCS. Can't comment on tone change, as I noticed it is effected more by different brands of exhausts/mufflers than by cat-back vs turbo-back exhausts from the same company.

 

thanks ygblat. Thats the gist of what i have come to understand, but i guess my real question is: is the turbo back worth the extra cash?

 

You're in Cali, so you need to consider that in order to do turbo-back, by law you cannot deviate from the original catalytic converter unless the replacement is system (with cat) CARB certified. So if you go that route (presuming you can't find a CARB certified system) and either change the cat or omit the cat, you'll need to refit your stock system whenever you smog the car. But that woudn't be within the confines of the law in our great state. So consider that the cat back keeps you legit and maintenance free.

 

the limited dyno numbers that were posted on NAM seem to suggest that the turbo-back exhaust provides about 2-2.5x the hp for 2x the price of the cat-back but, like Karl said, smogging might get problematic with the turbo-back (you will pass the actual test but not the visual inspection). You can always go cat-back for now and then purchase a downpipe later down the road.

But beware, some cat-back exhausts eliminate the second catalytic converter, making them non-carb-compliant.

 

Did you check out my post about mine and Ryan's exhaust systems

 

I'd say it was worth the money to build a turbo-back exhaust, but "worth" is very subjective. Also, tone quality and loudness [and however you define them] are very much dependent on the cats and mufflers you choose. Just because you decide on a turbo-back doesn't inherently mean it will have "better tone".

I would refute the notion that a turbo-back will sacrifice mid-range power. I'd consider the neighborhood of 2500 RPM to be low-end power, and my car losing a few lb-ft in that region is because of the boost controller changing its mind, which seems to be influenced by my turbo-back exhaust design.

HTH,
Ryan

 

Thanks everyone for the input, I think i will go with the catback