986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - FD Motorsports Fister exhaust for 986 Boxster report

steved0x · 03-06-2017, 07:51 AM

I am a tinkerer and lately I have been experimenting with exhausts. I have had the following combinations of exhaust installed on my 2000 Boxster S:

Stock with both sets of cats
Stock with Top Speed 2nd cat delete pipes
Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Beluga Racing Exhaust
Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Porsche Sport Exhaust (FAIL - UPS lost my muffler, I am still holding out hope though...)
Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Fister exhaust for Boxster

Stock with both sets of cats
Not much to say here - this is the stock configuration. It is pretty good but pretty quiet. At tracks like Laguna Seca, and in your neighborhood, they will love you.

Stock with Top Speed 2nd cat delete pipes
Just like stock but with a little more of everything. A little more sounds, a little more toughness, a little bit of burbles on overrun. Still pretty quiet.

Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Beluga Racing Exhaust
This was glorious! What a sound! From when you first crank it up at idle, and then when you get on it! This sounds really great. I ran this configuration at Roebling several times and I never blew sound there. They say "Sound limit of 103dB, with the allowance for vintage cars at 104dB is strictly enforced.". I'm not sure where they measure it, but I never blew it. It is light too, around 10-15 pounds lighter than the OEM 2000 Boxster S muffler.

Downside (for me) while I didn't have any "drone", it was louder in the cabin with the top and windows up, to where it was tiresome on long drives.

I wasn't going to change it, but then I scored a good deal on a Porsche Sport Exhaust and so I decided to give that a try.

One possible upside to this muffler - before installing this I consistently could hit 122 at the end of the front straight at Roebling Road Raceway (even on my very first track day I hit 122 there). After installing this muffler, I was hitting 126 almost every time with an occasional 127 and 128. This may be because I am getting faster through the final turn right before the straight. But later when a pro driver drove my car, he was 10 MPH faster coming out of that turn, and still only got up to 130. So I think I might have been getting a little more power out of this exhaust.

Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Porsche Sport Exhaust

Never got to try it, UPS lost the muffler. I am holding out hope that it will re-appear one day. When it does, it will be for sale. The Beluga weighed around 17-19 pounds, my OEM Exhaust was around 29-31, but I believe the PSE weighs around 60. I am not sure what all they added to give the extra 30 pounds, and while for a street car I am sure this would have minimal impact, an extra 30 pounds is not desirable for a track car.

Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Fister exhaust for Boxster

This led me to the point of this thread. The PSE got me thinking about other PSE type exhaust solutions like the Pedro sport exhaust, or there was someone on here selling pipes to make your own. There are also the Crios mod and Particlewave has an intriguing take on exhaust bypass as well.

I went with the Fister exhaust mostly because I wanted the ceramic coating to possibly reduce heat in the engine area, and also because I didn't want to fiddle with any drilling, etc... I had an extra set of pre-cats I got from a guy that removed them at 20,000 miles to install race headers, and while mine we still passing, they were nearing the end of life, so I decided this would be a good time to swap. I sent my "new" cats, my mid pipes, and my muffler to Darin to get the mod done and get it all coated in Titanium colored ceramic.

They look incredible! Also on the Top Speed 2nd cat delete pipes, this should help with the heat radiated out, these pipes pass close to the inner CV Boot and they also pass close to the rubber bushing on the chassis side of the rear LCA (I never realized this before). I did reinstall my heatshield armor on the mid pipes to block radiated heat away from the inner CV Boots. This isn't the best picture but you can see one edge of the shield, and also see how close it passes to the rubber LCA arm bushing. This heatshield armor is pretty easy to install with everything on the car and I have enough left over to do 2-3 more cars, PM me and I well send you some at cost (around $25-$30 to shield both CV Boots, I will have to dig up the receipt to make sure)

Edit: here is a better picture of the heatshield armor after I first installed it.

This pic is after the recent reinstall of the ceramic coated pipes.

To install the Fister exhaust, you have to cut the 2 "u" pipes that connect the muffler to the rest of the system. I don't have a picture unfortunately, but this is the part number (might be different for some years but will give you the idea: 99611131301)

These two pipes push pretty far into the muffler, and with the Fister mod, the two new pipes are in the way. And even if they weren't, you wouldn't want to block them. CrisZenithBlue has the technique - when you remove these pipes, you can see a lot of scuffs that show how far the pipe used to go. Measure how much you need to cut off using the scuffs as a guide, and then cut. I couldn't do that because my u-pipes were ceramic coated. So I just made my own measurements and a best guess of 1", which turned out to be just about right. I probably could have cut 1.25" for a better fit but it all worked out.

I got new bolts and nuts for everything, and I reused the double clamps on the end of the u-pipes, but I replaced the final clamp that connects the u-pipe to the muffler. I used these from amazon and they worked out pretty good:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00317DKWO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is all interesting... but how does it sound?

The first time I cranked it up, I was under-impressed. It sounded about the same as stock. I took it out for a nice long drive, 45 minutes to the mall to meet my family.

On the way back from the mall a few hours later, holy #$%^& it was AWESOME! I don't know if I had small exhaust leaks, and it took a heating/cooling cycle to move some things around and let the clamps settle in. Or maybe some ceramic residue or something got in the muffler and had to burn out or something. Whatever it was, it sounded awesome!

I drove back from the mall, put on my back camera, and did a little test drive:

https://youtu.be/-gRXfxJOGjU

This exhaust is quieter than the Beluga when cruising around at 2800-3000 RPM, and it is still neighborhood friendly, as long as you are easy on the gas. And if you are driving with the top and window up, it sounds about like stock unless you get on it above 3,500 RPM and up - then you can tell you have something different back there.

I also went back to Roebling after installing this, did not blow sound, and was able to get back up to 126 with an occasional 127/128 (even at the end of the day when it was hotter outside) so I don't feel like I lost any power by removing the Beluga.

Also for fun I cranked the car with just the old manifolds on before I took them off - it sounded like a boat:

https://youtu.be/z-yNEyVRoIk

This was a fair bit more expensive than the Beluga - and the extra ceramic coating on the extra parts was more than coating the muffler itself which made no sense to me, I think the company that does the ceramic charges by the foot.

End result - I have decided I hate exhaust work, and this exhaust will never be removed by me ever again. But I am happy with it, I have a great sound, noise level when cruising on the highway with the top and windows up is the same as OEM, and I didn't lose any power over the Beluga.

I would do it again if I were to ever get a new Boxster.

Steve

03-06-2017, 07:51 AM	#1
steved0x Registered User Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: FL Posts: 4,143	FD Motorsports Fister exhaust for 986 Boxster report I am a tinkerer and lately I have been experimenting with exhausts. I have had the following combinations of exhaust installed on my 2000 Boxster S: Stock with both sets of cats Stock with Top Speed 2nd cat delete pipes Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Beluga Racing Exhaust Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Porsche Sport Exhaust (FAIL - UPS lost my muffler, I am still holding out hope though...) Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Fister exhaust for Boxster Stock with both sets of cats Not much to say here - this is the stock configuration. It is pretty good but pretty quiet. At tracks like Laguna Seca, and in your neighborhood, they will love you. Stock with Top Speed 2nd cat delete pipes Just like stock but with a little more of everything. A little more sounds, a little more toughness, a little bit of burbles on overrun. Still pretty quiet. Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Beluga Racing Exhaust This was glorious! What a sound! From when you first crank it up at idle, and then when you get on it! This sounds really great. I ran this configuration at Roebling several times and I never blew sound there. They say "Sound limit of 103dB, with the allowance for vintage cars at 104dB is strictly enforced.". I'm not sure where they measure it, but I never blew it. It is light too, around 10-15 pounds lighter than the OEM 2000 Boxster S muffler. Downside (for me) while I didn't have any "drone", it was louder in the cabin with the top and windows up, to where it was tiresome on long drives. I wasn't going to change it, but then I scored a good deal on a Porsche Sport Exhaust and so I decided to give that a try. One possible upside to this muffler - before installing this I consistently could hit 122 at the end of the front straight at Roebling Road Raceway (even on my very first track day I hit 122 there). After installing this muffler, I was hitting 126 almost every time with an occasional 127 and 128. This may be because I am getting faster through the final turn right before the straight. But later when a pro driver drove my car, he was 10 MPH faster coming out of that turn, and still only got up to 130. So I think I might have been getting a little more power out of this exhaust. Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Porsche Sport Exhaust Never got to try it, UPS lost the muffler. I am holding out hope that it will re-appear one day. When it does, it will be for sale. The Beluga weighed around 17-19 pounds, my OEM Exhaust was around 29-31, but I believe the PSE weighs around 60. I am not sure what all they added to give the extra 30 pounds, and while for a street car I am sure this would have minimal impact, an extra 30 pounds is not desirable for a track car. Stock pre-cats with top speed 2nd cat delete pipes and Fister exhaust for Boxster This led me to the point of this thread. The PSE got me thinking about other PSE type exhaust solutions like the Pedro sport exhaust, or there was someone on here selling pipes to make your own. There are also the Crios mod and Particlewave has an intriguing take on exhaust bypass as well. I went with the Fister exhaust mostly because I wanted the ceramic coating to possibly reduce heat in the engine area, and also because I didn't want to fiddle with any drilling, etc... I had an extra set of pre-cats I got from a guy that removed them at 20,000 miles to install race headers, and while mine we still passing, they were nearing the end of life, so I decided this would be a good time to swap. I sent my "new" cats, my mid pipes, and my muffler to Darin to get the mod done and get it all coated in Titanium colored ceramic. They look incredible! Also on the Top Speed 2nd cat delete pipes, this should help with the heat radiated out, these pipes pass close to the inner CV Boot and they also pass close to the rubber bushing on the chassis side of the rear LCA (I never realized this before). I did reinstall my heatshield armor on the mid pipes to block radiated heat away from the inner CV Boots. This isn't the best picture but you can see one edge of the shield, and also see how close it passes to the rubber LCA arm bushing. This heatshield armor is pretty easy to install with everything on the car and I have enough left over to do 2-3 more cars, PM me and I well send you some at cost (around $25-$30 to shield both CV Boots, I will have to dig up the receipt to make sure) Edit: here is a better picture of the heatshield armor after I first installed it. This pic is after the recent reinstall of the ceramic coated pipes. To install the Fister exhaust, you have to cut the 2 "u" pipes that connect the muffler to the rest of the system. I don't have a picture unfortunately, but this is the part number (might be different for some years but will give you the idea: 99611131301) These two pipes push pretty far into the muffler, and with the Fister mod, the two new pipes are in the way. And even if they weren't, you wouldn't want to block them. CrisZenithBlue has the technique - when you remove these pipes, you can see a lot of scuffs that show how far the pipe used to go. Measure how much you need to cut off using the scuffs as a guide, and then cut. I couldn't do that because my u-pipes were ceramic coated. So I just made my own measurements and a best guess of 1", which turned out to be just about right. I probably could have cut 1.25" for a better fit but it all worked out. I got new bolts and nuts for everything, and I reused the double clamps on the end of the u-pipes, but I replaced the final clamp that connects the u-pipe to the muffler. I used these from amazon and they worked out pretty good: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00317DKWO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is all interesting... but how does it sound? The first time I cranked it up, I was under-impressed. It sounded about the same as stock. I took it out for a nice long drive, 45 minutes to the mall to meet my family. On the way back from the mall a few hours later, holy #$%^& it was AWESOME! I don't know if I had small exhaust leaks, and it took a heating/cooling cycle to move some things around and let the clamps settle in. Or maybe some ceramic residue or something got in the muffler and had to burn out or something. Whatever it was, it sounded awesome! I drove back from the mall, put on my back camera, and did a little test drive: https://youtu.be/-gRXfxJOGjU This exhaust is quieter than the Beluga when cruising around at 2800-3000 RPM, and it is still neighborhood friendly, as long as you are easy on the gas. And if you are driving with the top and window up, it sounds about like stock unless you get on it above 3,500 RPM and up - then you can tell you have something different back there. I also went back to Roebling after installing this, did not blow sound, and was able to get back up to 126 with an occasional 127/128 (even at the end of the day when it was hotter outside) so I don't feel like I lost any power by removing the Beluga. Also for fun I cranked the car with just the old manifolds on before I took them off - it sounded like a boat: https://youtu.be/z-yNEyVRoIk This was a fair bit more expensive than the Beluga - and the extra ceramic coating on the extra parts was more than coating the muffler itself which made no sense to me, I think the company that does the ceramic charges by the foot. End result - I have decided I hate exhaust work, and this exhaust will never be removed by me ever again. But I am happy with it, I have a great sound, noise level when cruising on the highway with the top and windows up is the same as OEM, and I didn't lose any power over the Beluga. I would do it again if I were to ever get a new Boxster. Steve Last edited by steved0x; 03-06-2017 at 11:52 AM.