Decat

[scoey1001]

Hi all, considering going to view a mk5 golf gti. The car looks very clean, full service history, cambelt changes with receipts etc. however it has the following

'Has been on the dyno and made 285bhp,

3” decat straight through to rear box,
Pops bangs and growls, is pretty loud!

Forge motorsport induction kit with cold air feed,

Uprated fuel pump,

Few other bits pipes, blanking plates ect,

All these mods were put on before the dyno so set up to the car !'

Now this is putting me off. I don't want any 'pops and bangs' and I take it this means it won't pass an mot. Is it just a case of fitting a normal cat & exhaust to rectify? And if I did will it also mean the map needs altering?

So question is would this put you off? As I say everything else looks spot on and the price is good too.

[redandwhite]

It would put me off, as a rule i wouldnt buy a car like that that has been 'tinkered' with. It could be as simple as re-catting it but then it would need to be remapped to suit - too much hassle imho.

[samoht]

A Golf isn't really a rare car, so I'd suggest waiting for a standard one if that's what you're looking for. Putting a tuned car back to stock is all do-able but sounds like it's not worth it in this case to me, the 'blanking plates and other bits' is what would worry me, how many OEM parts are you going to need to find?

[scoey1001]

samoht said:

A Golf isn't really a rare car, so I'd suggest waiting for a standard one if that's what you're looking for. Putting a tuned car back to stock is all do-able but sounds like it's not worth it in this case to me, the 'blanking plates and other bits' is what would worry me, how many OEM parts are you going to need to find?

Thanks for the reply. Yes I do agree on the 'blanking plates and other bits'. I'm not necessarily looking for a standard one (happy for extra power) but I just don't want a loud exhaust basically. I'm trying to talk myself into it as everything else is what I'm looking for and it is priced well.

[samoht]

If you're still interested, I would suggest finding out which garage has done the work on the car, and if they've applied a known chip, or remapped it themselves. You could then talk to them about options for 're-civilising' the exhaust. Also try and get a sense, from talking to them and searching online, how competent the tuner is.

Ideal thing would probably be a sports cat and re-map to suit, it may or may not run fine on the current map. You could also put a stock cat back in, again it may or may not need to be re-tuned.

Very often with decatted cars like this the owner has a 'co-operative' MOT tester who will pass the car, perhaps by applying the emissions probe to their courtesy Fiesta instead ;-) For an easy life you probably want to buy the car with emissions-compliant exhaust set up at least included in the deal, even if not on the car ;-)

[DoubleD]

MK5 Golf GTIs are really common, so just find another standard car that you do like.

[NMNeil]

scoey1001 said:

Hi all, considering going to view a mk5 golf gti. The car looks very clean, full service history, cambelt changes with receipts etc. however it has the following

'Has been on the dyno and made 285bhp,

3” decat straight through to rear box,
Pops bangs and growls, is pretty loud!

Forge motorsport induction kit with cold air feed,

Uprated fuel pump,

Few other bits pipes, blanking plates ect,

All these mods were put on before the dyno so set up to the car !'

Now this is putting me off. I don't want any 'pops and bangs' and I take it this means it won't pass an mot. Is it just a case of fitting a normal cat & exhaust to rectify? And if I did will it also mean the map needs altering?

So question is would this put you off? As I say everything else looks spot on and the price is good too.

As if he kept all the factory emissions equipment, so you can put it back on.

[ScoobyChris]

NMNeil said:

As if he kept all the factory emissions equipment, so you can put it back on.

This. When I had my decatted Scooby many moons ago, the local club had a "catted centre section" that could be swapped onto the car to pass the emissions test but it was all quite a pain and not really worth the time or hassle.

Not sure there is such a thing as "co-operative" MOT testers these days but I could be wrong - back in the day a mate went to one who used to use a Nissan Micra as his "emissions car" which, maybe predictably, failed on emissions.

Chris

[ZX10R NIN]

scoey1001 said:

Hi all, considering going to view a mk5 golf gti. The car looks very clean, full service history, cambelt changes with receipts etc. however it has the following

'Has been on the dyno and made 285bhp,

3” decat straight through to rear box,
Pops bangs and growls, is pretty loud!

Forge motorsport induction kit with cold air feed,

Uprated fuel pump,

Few other bits pipes, blanking plates ect,

All these mods were put on before the dyno so set up to the car !'

Now this is putting me off. I don't want any 'pops and bangs' and I take it this means it won't pass an mot. Is it just a case of fitting a normal cat & exhaust to rectify? And if I did will it also mean the map needs altering?

So question is would this put you off? As I say everything else looks spot on and the price is good too.

No it wouldn't put me off if you know who did the work they can basically have it remapped so it still produces the same power but without the pops & bangs.

As for the Decat if it's been done properly you should be (get this done before remapping) able to put the stock cat back in, personally I'd put a sport cat in place of the standard one.

It sounds like it's been done properly & you don't want a standard one then this one sounds like a good one, you'll get good money for the downpipe

[Jamescrs]

It would put me off buying the car for sure, the car will need a cat to pass an MOT.

In relation to the pops and bangs, many modified car owners now, particularly younger ones are buying maps specifically to increase the pops and bangs from the exhaust so it may be mapped into the car, be aware you may well need a remap to get rid of that and replacing the cat alone may not sort it out.

it started becoming a big thing in the Ford scene, and it went from a few pops from fitting a decat to being absolutely ridiculous because everyone wanted the loudest car then tuners were selling it as additional option to their maps, I don't blame the tuners they were going where the demand was but it got really silly.

[Belle427]

Pops and bangs maps can’t be good for the engine either, I’d be very careful.

[scoey1001]

Thanks all, have decided to back out. Just realised it has an mot due next month, also slight rust bubbles on both wings (common problem tbf but would want it sorting). Would also want to change seats to leather as I think the tartans look tired on the mk5. Plus sides are belt and chain done, full service history and low mileage for a mk5 at 66k. Also priced very competitive, cheap even? at £4295.

If you type in golf gti location Wellingborough into gumtree it's the black one if anyone fancies a look.

Edited by scoey1001 on Thursday 10th December 16:02

Edited by scoey1001 on Thursday 10th December 16:03