Leaning towards GHL Exhaust???
 

I have a 2000 Boxster S. I took off the 2nd bypass pipes and installed the Fabspeed. With the factory exhaust it sounds better, but I want more!!! I am leaning towards the GHL Exhaust, but I could be swayed to something else. I like the GHL becasue of the clips that I heard off of youtube. To me it sounds like a Tubi on a Ferrari. Tubi does not make a exhaust for a 986 Boxster. Anyone on the forum, running the GHL???
Thanks GQ

I have a twin chamber aftermarket muffler and like the GHL and others, it has bad cabin resonance. None of the manufacturers will tell you just how much there is until it's too late.

If you want the glorious sound outside, you gotta pay the price inside with noise loud enough to give you a headache.

I think Fabspeed has a good loud muffler that is guaranteed not to have resonance or something of the sort.

Word up.

How bad is the resonance in the Boxster? The Ferrari has some, but only under throttle, if you are crusing in the Boxster at 65pmh on the highway, is it that bad?

The current FabSpeed system sounds great, and does not have any resonance. The GHL is pretty bad whenever you're under 3000RPM.

the fabspeed system looks pretty pricey - and do you get ANY power?

Between 2,000 ~ 3,200 RPM the resonance is EAR DEAFENING !!!!!
This might not be a problem on the freeway but believe me I was once stuck in a stop and go traffic jam for about an hour and by the end of it my ears where ringing (literally - as if I just walked out of a Heavy Metal concert)
I had a GHL for 1+ year and eventually sold it.
Above 3,200 RPM it sounds great - below it KILLS you!

P.S.: Some of the YouTube clips where you can hear a GHL might be from me ;-)

65 mph in 5th on the freeway isn't bad on the cabin resonance.

However, 55-60 in 5th is horrid because the revs are in that nasty 2-3k range.

I am about to yank off my Che muffler and put my factory muffler back on with bypass pipes welded on to give it a little more growl.

With the top down on a day I am just driving around back roads tearing it up, it's a wonderful setup. The howl at 6k is glorious and ear candy.

However, I have found myself doing far too much shifting to get away from the 2-3k area where I get headaches or actually suffer some temporary hearing loss if stuck in traffic for an hour or more. The extra shifting into lower gears is not only stressful, it's hard on the motor to be kept at higher RPM's than necessary.

All this to say that quieter is more important to me, my hearing, my level and number of headaches, and sanity.

Thank God I was given the muffler for free to test it out! I would be very unhappy right now if I had shelled out $500 or more for this thing only to discover it's great for the track, but not for any other time I drive my car.

I think I will go back to a modded factory muffler and go a completely different route when my motor blows and I replace it with a Raby 3.4 that's been bored out to a 3.6. I will need a 996 customized exhaust system then.

Find a welder to do this mod...for under $100, you can have a factory muffler that sounds great. I have Fabspeed secondary bypass pipes and a modded muffler; my car sounds incredible and NO resonance.

There are gains to be had by swapping exhausts on these cars, but you must include the headers if you want anything remotely significant. I am running the TurboWerx headers with the FabSpeed exhaust and its a great combination.

You guys are killing me!!! I will start looking at Fab Speed again on youtube. You make the GHL exhaust sound horrible!!! Does the Fab Speed sound as good?

I've got a Brand New GEMBALLA stainless steel exhaust system available if anyone wants it, PM me...

I've got a Stebro Race exhaust and it's literally the size of two family sized soup cans, the mufflers that is. It has resonance up to 3K rpms but after that it sounds so good, a bit Ferrariesque.

I have a rev and idle clip on youtube. I've got a bunch of in car video from a pca event I'm trying to get up on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N0gG2d5grw

the bypass pipes are the ones that connect to the muffler?? I assume this means you have STOCK headers - not fabspeeds??

can you buy JUST the fabspeed bypass pipes but keep/use the stock muffler. I would think that would cut down the costs quite a bit...

Yes you can. The stock muffler is actually not that restrictive, but the factory headers are atrocious.

Have you seen this? I wonder if this would work on the "S" stock exhaust:

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site%203/DIY%20Making%20the%20PSE.html

That is exactly the setup I have on my Box S factory muffler. That, coupled with the secondary bypass pipes makes a great exhaust. Look at the photos in my prior post. Don't know if it makes HP, but the throttle response is far better than stock. Downshift blips are immediate and without hesitation.

bmwm750; does anyone actually have realistic dyno results to prove the claims on the headers? Everything I've read doesn't make it seem worth the cost and hassle of CEL problems; hence, my choice not to go that route.

Yes, there are a few sources of dyno results from swapping headers that do show an improvement. Both Turbowerx and FabSpeed have published dyno results of their products. Also, there have been several end users who have done the same on independent dynos.

The factory headers are horribly designed, so its not hard to see how one can get gains by getting rid of them. As far as avoiding CEL issues, I think the best solution is to load the RoW map into the car which simply ignores the secondary O2 sensors.

I am very happy with my setup. Combined with the light flywheel, it's a completely different car.

True, but the stock muffler weighs a ton. When I took mine off my base 986, we put it on the scale...it weighed 47lbs. My Stebro race exhaust weighs 18lbs. I believe.

Well,

by looking at myself I think I see a much better opportunity to save 30 lb in total weight (driver & car) w/o any mods to my Boxcar :D :rolleyes: :D

What?! Are you talking about these headers? I mean with the 90 degree turn into the cat and small diameter, unequal lengh runners that taper down and get even smaller before entering the collecter. I doubt there is room for improvement! :D