Last night after I accelerated hard my car made a popping sound, (similar to the CATS make when the vehicle is OFF) while I was still driving.. is this normal??

 

Subscribed for answers. I hear the same sound after spirited driving.

 

It's hard to say since I don't know what your mods are and if you're tuned, but it could the car pinging at wide open throttle along with the exhaust being hot. The ECU will pull timing, add fuel and in turn this makes your "popping" noises. Not all gas is created equal, especially in the winter months.

Did you notice any hesitation?

 

Usually popping on decel is a result of a mixture going lean suddenly but the oxygen igniting in the exhaust. This is done for emission purposes. We get this on the bikes all the time with aftermarket exhausts. On the bikes the fix is to get rid of the fresh air injection system. No more popping

 

Well first off, I appreciate u taking the time out to give a thoughtful response. With That being said. Car is completely stock, at THE TIME I had premium fuel in from Sam's so ig that's a no go.. I found my car not to be as responsive IMO, I was running with a crystler 300 and honestly that car was fast as hell, idk if it was stock or not but it really was too close with me than I wouldve liked. My sunroof was flipped up too tho. Nevertheless, I ended up taking my car to the dealership, got a fresh oil change, and filled up with some Chevron and TO ME my car felt a lot more responsive, AND no more popping after hard acceleration..

 

Idk man *shrugs* after an oil change and new gas, hasnt made the noise again

 

That was your issue, bad gas.

Even on a stock car you can still ping/detonate and cause all the issues you're describing. There's a safety feature built into the ECU and a knock sensor that will pull out as much power (pull timing and add fuel) as it needs in order to save your engine. This will cause: popping, bogging, hesitation, everything you described. I've seen a lot of N/A cars get tuned with just minor stuff like intake and exhaust losing 30whp+ all because of gas.

Stay away from Sam's Club, BJ's, Costco gas, as it's not all created equal.

Chevron, Texaco, and Exxon seems to work the best for me, especially being forced induction.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks a lot