Price: $732.90 USD
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*In continental United States and most of Canada.
This product includes direct fit catalytic converters, gaskets, O2 extenders and all necessary hardware.
2008-2009 Pontiac G8 Standard & Automatic
Unleashed! This is what these catalytic converters do to the Pontiac G8. The exhaust note becomes “RAW” with a huge burble on decal. The best part is that there is no drone with any of our exhaust kits. We were surprised to see that Pontiac had decreased the internal size of their catalytic converters to 1 ¾” on the inlet side. We suspect that they did this for sound control. Our catalytic converters are a full 2 ½”, we use a heave duty flex pipe and laser cut stainless steel flanges along with our stainless steel pipes.
Thanks so much to NightWing, Zepcom, and JEC G8GT for the use of their cars during our initial test and design phase. Nightwing had to constantly give up his car during three different test manufacturers and multiple O2 bung placements. All of the initial testing is complete and we are very happy to say that there is over 500 miles on each vehicle and no engine light has come on.
GM’s OBDII design is very tricky and we are committed to some further testing before we can say that we have the engine light problem solved for sure. We would like to have up to 15 “Beta” test vehicles to further test these catalytic converters. If 15 more cars have the converters put on with no CEL (check engine light) issues we will be confidant in telling potential customers that they won’t have any trouble.
We have our manufacturer making a special run of these “200 cell” stainless steel wound catalytic converters for us. We have these catalytic converters far overrated for this car and this additional “spray” (the catalyst rare metals) is what helps to keep the engine light off. We also have to use an oxygen sensor extender in the two rear O2 ports. The extender is a Solo designed product and is the final puzzle piece to keeping the engine light off.
Much testing was done to ensure that we were able to combat the engine light problem. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this phase. We know that many may not like the idea that only 15 will be released for further testing. This is being done to allow us the opportunity to “fix” any issues that may come up once they are on more peoples vehicles. We thank you in advance for your understanding.
Note: Works perfectly with most aftermarket tunes (VMS, Livernois, etc.) to date. The only tune that has had a few isolated issues is the Superchips/Cortex (same thing). A tune is NOT required to run these cats.
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As Steve from SOLO has announced, I was one of the initial testers. Although I’ll be the first to admit I may have posted a few “pre-release” posts, I did my best to NOT show my excitement on these public forums until now. This was a very hard task, as I am thrilled at how much these catalytic converters complement the SOLO catback exhaust system on the G8, all without any drone whatsoever!
I am amazed at how awesome these cats are. For those who do not know, I have this system: Mach Balanced (with balance pipe in front of the muffler) complete catback, with J’s, and these HF cats with O2 extenders.
The car now has a more visceral sound, both at startup & idle, as well as when you ‘get on it’. You truely can feel the ‘butt dyno’ improvement, as it really wakes up the car in all conditions. Almost feels like they replaced the accelerator petal with one that is more responsive at all speeds, at all percentages to the floor, and in all conditions.
* What I was averaging prior to the install of the cats in the wintertime was between 16-17mpg on 87-octane (10% ethenol, winter blend, blah gas!) …
* this most recent “actually calculated fill up” with the new cats installed posted 19.5mpg, again, with me NOT babying the car (these cats are kinda like a bad habit for the right foot, lol!) on 87-octane winter-blend gas, AND letting it warm up every morning for ~8-10 minutes, AND DoD completely disabled!
There is NO DRONE, even with the cats! The J’s take care of that completely and perfectly.
When I say visceral, I’m trying to describe the more aggressive idle and power curve sounds, as well as the additional power that the car picks up as a result of installing these cats. I say that since I had the Mach catback on my car for a few months prior to installing the cats, and have gotten used to the feel of the car from the SOLO catback. Recently with the isntallation of the cats, I see a big bump in performance with JUST THE CATS as the variable, as compared to the SOLO exhaust system that I had on the car previously. Amazing!
Zepcom
Hey all,
You have no idea how long I have been waiting to chime in on these cats. Simply put. Its bolt on testosterone! I love them. Again I’m not one for showing off to anyone. But damn that sound is like crack.
POWER!!! OMG. It’s instant throttle response. First thing I noticed was the instant response at pretty much any speed. Solo is a company that doesn’t leave you hanging. If you have issues or are not completely happy they will ensure you are happy at the end of it. Not many companies are that driven in customer service. That alone is worth every penny.
Never mind the fact that you are getting approx the same power without a tune. No worries about voiding warranties. No worries about trying to de-tune your car if there is any issues on the way back to the dealership.
The driveablity is amazing. Simply put she is nimble and hard to tame at the same time. As for sound. I think I said to Jeff. It was like a banshee got kicked in the nuts. If they had them.
NO ECU Cel’s
NO Wifey Cel’s
NightwingIII
Well, I made the trip from Gainesville, VA to Buffalo NY yesterday. 7 hours up and around 8 on the way back. First off, I would like to thank Zepcom. He spent a great deal of his personal time with me yesterday taking me for a long test drive. Zepcom also sold me his GXP rear valance after unsuccessfully finding one locally. I can’t think of too many people that would have done this for someone they have never met before. He did so without reservation and it shows his true kindness. This allowed me to get the 3.5″ tips and allowed me to leave Buffalo without any regrets whatsoever.
Once I saw the 3.5″ tips on Majesticix’s car, I wanted nothing else! To say they are beautiful is an understatement. I made mention in the exhaust forum several times that the Borla tips looked the best. I was wrong. I like the 3.5″ tips better. It was a true pleasure meeting everyone.
I would like to thank Jeff, Steve and all the crew at Solo. It was a very difficult decision to drive that far. Jeff assured me it would be worth my while and he promised I would leave a happy customer. Mission accomplished Jeff! You and your crew went above and beyond any of my expectations. That is a difficult thing to accomplish with me I am a perfectionist and I consider it a disease. I normally notice right away if something is out of place or things aren’t aligned properly and then it bothers me to no end.
Jason aligned the tips absolutely perfect! Something my local shop could not do in 3 attempts. Jeff and Zepcom even switched our rear valances. I highly recommend anyone that wants their system done perfectly and treated with “world class customer service” to visit the Buffalo shop. As soon as I parked the car, I was immediately greeted by everyone (Zepcom included). They took my car into the shop immediately and started working on it like a NASCAR pit crew! The guys even stayed an hour after closing time to make sure I was good to go.
Whoever created the phrase, “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” was plain wrong! I had my V2 turned into a Mach Balanced along with the new HFC’s. The car sounds like a beast. It is considerably louder outside the car while remaining quiet inside the cabin. The added cats create an entirely different tone to the Mach Balanced exhaust making it sound louder, more full and extremely muscular. The posted videos just do not do any of these systems justice. AFM was easy to hear because of the totally different tonal quality with the V2. This transition in each direction is almost unnoticeable with the Mach Balanced w/cats. It’s extremely smooth.
Cats Performance: The new cats along with the VMS “HFC” tune provide an incredible increase in performance especially above 3,000 rpms. When I took off from a dead stop today, I was immediately thrown back in my seat. This was with the VMS Stage 1 trans tune. When it get’s warmer, I will try the stage 2 trans tune, but I’m sure it’s going to be difficult to keep the rubber tacked down to the pavement. I had my two sons 6 and 2 in the car. Both of them giggled non stop every time I went WOT and threw them into the back of their seats. Simply put, amazing!
Cats mpg: The first 3 beta testers reported tremendous gains in mpg after the install of their cats. I did not see the same results. However, there were too many variables that were different with my trip up and back. First off, my gps took me home a completely different way. Roughly the same time to get home, but 75 additional miles on the way home. I installed the VMS “HFC” tune before coming home and I changed from the Stage II to Stage I VMS trans tune. Going up, my mileage was 20.68 and 21.19 on two tanks. Coming home it was 20.95 and 22.81. All were calculated and not taken off the cars reported mileage. Although the car was extremely accurate reporting within a .20mpg difference. Only time will tell.
Final numbers are out on a board members G8 who wishes to remain anonymous. Mods are Roto-Fab CAI, VMS HSRK, Solo High Flow Cats, Solo Mach Exhaust and VMS 93 Octane tune. The cats were dyno’d by themselves, however the numbers were low due to the 2nd set of pup cats on the car. Since those numbers were word of mouth and I don’t have a copy of the dyno sheets, I will not be posting the numbers. His cars base numbers were about 10hp/10tq off from the norm, but the final results were spot on.
Base Line – 283rwhp/304rwtq
Roto-Fab / Solo Cats w/stock 2009.5 exhaust – 321rwhp/329rwtq
Roto-Fab / Solo Cats / Solo Mach Exhaust w/VMS 93 Octane tune – 342rwhp/343rwtq
That’s 59rwhp/39rwtq gain over stock! Kirk and the guys at VMS did an incredible job on this tune. I will be getting my dyno run in shortly and will post results for my G8.
Virus
Just got my cats and mach exhaust installed and all I can say is WOW! The car sounds incredible – nice low rumble at idle and light load and very satisfying “roar” when you get on the throttle. I couldn’t believe how quiet it was inside the car compared to the exterior. I noticed immediate positive results on the “butt dyno” as well.
I have to comment on the awesome service I had as well. Steve and Jeff were always prompt, helpful, and friendly in all of their repsonses in the purchase process both on the boards and by phone. Don, Bob, and the rest of the crew at Mufflerman were outstanding as well. Awesome product and best customer service in recent memory. Rock on, SOLO!
I337M4573RPYRO
Well I had a pretty traffic filled ride to work so I couldn’t unleash the cats but I did notice a good 10-13% increase in mpg which is pretty damn nice in my book. The ride home tonight was wide open so I was able to get into a little.
First thing I noticed upon my cold start tonight was how much more raw my V2 no J sounds. My coworkers noticed it too because it sounded extremely aggressive. I reved the gas a few times and it sounds like a totally different beast. Gone is the sort of swoosh of air sound that you could make out when hammering it. It has been replaced with a… hell I can’t even explain it.
Sounds like a panther growl and roar. Like a sharp dog bark. Like everything wicked and evil has been forced into my exhaust pipe and it screams like a banshee now. Yet still subtle and smooth when cruising. Me likey a lot. I’ll put together a vid tomorrow.
Lazurua Man
So am I happy with Solo’s Product? Yes, Yes, and again Yes. This car is silent on the highway. I just sit in 8cylinder mode and hear nothing, but when I downshift womp it, the car comes to life. It’s literally the best of both worlds.
Practicality and aggressiveness have officially met. Solo has performed so much R&D into their kits, I will 110% back their product any day of the week. It is just wonderful, not to mention the amazing support they have. The installation was done perfect, I couldn’t have dreamt a better day with a great group of people.
Solo Dyno Day results. As you can see, I tried to make this as fair and accurate as possible. Same day, same dyno, as many dyno runs as possible, and results from them. This was done with the most realistic settings, and allowed everyone to understand the expected gains of their product and basically to prove the raw power these different combinations offered. NO BICKERING. Now, Jeff & I started off with a baseline to see where the car stood. Keep in mind, everything is un-tuned, stock intake. Many would like to see how it did with a cat-back and tune, but I didn’t have all day to sit on a dyno as I have things to do, so we waited to put in the tune on the last pull. Numbers are WHP/WTQ
Baseline Run
HP 294.52
TQ 312.80
With Mach Catback, Solo High-Flow Cats
HP 314.60
TQ 328.05
With Mach Catback, Solo High-Flow Cats, Kooks LongTube Headers
HP317.19
TQ 333.38
CntryClub007
Yes my wife and I love the Solo HFcats.
Darryn
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3311 Delaware Avenue
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