Exhaust sound comparison - "Charlie Chan" vs. Modding Stock Muffler
Planning to install Topspeed secondary bypasses next month when the new shipment comes in, and simultaneously free up the muffler sound too. Trying to decide between cutting and welding the stock 986 S muffler or going with the cheap "Charlie Chan" style mufflers.
An ideal exhaust sound for me would be a noticeable, but not annoying burble at idle, with a throaty midrange and a howl at high RPMs. I do not want to set off car alarms on city streets just driving though.
Can owners of either of these setups post links to high quality recordings of the sound they produce? Also, any comment about the resonance "drone" produced would be helpful.
Something about putting anything referred to as Charile Chan on a Porsche just seems wrong. Like putting 24 inch "spinners" on a Range Rover.
The muffler serves a purpose- performance. Thirty pounds of weight savings, and reported 10hp increase at higher rpms. As for spinners... Aesthetics. Higher diameter wheels are counterproductive, wasting gas and reducing speed. I think these mufflers are a great alternative to a $1200 muffler.
Any car can be done right or wrong and a lot of the time it's not very well related to how much you spend.
I respectfully disagree with you PerfectLap (also, I see we're neighbors, sort of!). Spinners are in my opinion, dangerous and gaudy, and I would not put them on any car. But that's not what we're talking about here. Junk is junk and doesn't belong on anything of mine.
There is no rule saying that everything I use on my Porsche has to cost 2x-3x what a comparable item for "normal" cars costs. If an item is of sufficient quality and it looks like it will work for my application, I'll use it after careful research. I've also found that, while sometimes quality and price are correlated, that the dealers and aftermarket for these cars rely on the notion that because the cars were expensive that every part for them must also be, regardless of its actual to cost produce or quality. Quite a business model, if you can make it work.
I'd prefer to evaluate on a case-by-case basis... and from what I've read the build quality on these mufflers, generically referred to on this board as "Charlie Chans" is decent, certainly good enough for a part that cannot cause the car to suffer any catastrophe should it break and is only being installed to increase the volume on my teutonic hairdryer.
I know that, sometimes, it is good to play the money-is-no-object game, but in this case I'd rather keep in my pocket the thousand$ people spend on exhaust, and rather save towards my next Porsche.
Don't even get me started on the inflated labor rates for very routine work, $150 oil changes and such...
Higher diameter wheels are counterproductive, wasting gas and reducing speed.
Not necessarily so cut & dry. Though they'd cost significantly more, if you buy a larger wheel that is the same weight or lighter, you're not hampering performance or efficiency in that way, and so long as you can find a tire size that matches the overall diemsion of your tire + wheel package, the only potential weight difference that could exist is how much one tire weighs compared to the other.
Now when people go way oversized and can't help but be on heavier wheels and have a wheel and tire combination that creates a diameter larger than stock, then you get exactly what you're saying. This is unfortunately what happens since people either don't care, don't know, or don't want to spend the additional money it will cost to get something that keeps dimensions and weight the same.
The muffler serves a purpose- performance. Thirty pounds of weight savings, and reported 10hp increase at higher rpms. As for spinners... Aesthetics. Higher diameter wheels are counterproductive, wasting gas and reducing speed. I think these mufflers are a great alternative to a $1200 muffler.
My issue is more with the name choice. Isn't there a German word for cheap but functional? LOL Charlie Chan muffler sounds like the latest Hot Import Nights marketing campaign.
At any rate, I don't see exhaust upgrades as a worthwhile investment. Certainly not for 10 hp. And the weight savings is better spent at the wheels. If anything it seems like a cosmetic upgrade just like the spinners in that its done for non-performance reasons (sound). The OEM exhaust had quiet a bit of engineering put behind it, it delivers all the performance the car will need unless you plan to wring every split second out its laps. but I agree it is unfortunate that you have to pay premium in the event of a needed replacement. That's why I went aftermarket when it was time to replace the original. But if Porsches were cheap to buy an maintain everyone would have one.
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Last edited by Perfectlap; 05-19-2012 at 11:55 AM.
I give +1 to black box, not only for this post but his honest offer to help someone save huge cash on maintenance, I tip my hat sir. The headers on my 986 were Chinese and I read all the blight about them, yet when they arrived they were everything advertised and more. I drove my 986 spiritedly and never had a problem with the headers or thought they would eventually cause a problem. As for exhaust upgrades being a waste, I loved mine it sounded awesome, no waste. Legends grow from some legitimate bad experiences, sometimes excellent quality parts are made by secondary providers. From here on out for me, all parts will be factory stock.
PS I think OD is right about sizes, my 19" wheels don't seem to be slowing me down. In fact if there's anything frustrating about the spyder it's that any trip to near redline in any highway gear yields license revoking results. If you don't have a clean ramp for gear one and two forgeddabout it, hit three hard and it's far past legal by the time you upshift to four with two more gears in sport plus. Stay in it into fifth and I don't want to tell you what digits are displayed.
Last edited by Ghostrider 310; 05-19-2012 at 02:09 PM.
Thanks for the video ProjectM96! Great production too.
I have to say though, that the sound of dewolf's modded stock muffler does a lot more for me, his is the video I am linking to. I may try to recreate that setup when I get back on my feet (currently recovering from surgery, hence the frequent posting ).
Some people don't like the "raspy" sound, but I do. I'm just worried about the dB level at low speeds.
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based on the internals of the OEM muffler. I simply welded a bypass into the sides of the muffler, which gives you the in-between sound of the complete bypass and OEM sounds...virtually invisible.
Internal Direction of exhaust:
Here's a short video & sound: start up and short blip...
I have a charlie chan muffler, aka, benny hanna ! also added Fabspeed bypass pipes and love it. Mine sounds like the link below but is deeper. I'll try to film a little this weekend and see if I can post it. Mine is a 2003, base boxster that is desnorkled also. One clue though if you order the Fabspeed bypass pipes make sure you tell them to put the plugs in with it. Mine came without plugs (each pipe has two holes that need plugged) and I had to get them locally.
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2003 Midnight Blue Boxster 986, 2.7, Fabspeed bypass pipes, Charlie Chan muffler, desnorkeled
My issue is more with the name choice. Isn't there a German word for cheap but functional? LOL Charlie Chan muffler sounds like the latest Hot Import Nights marketing campaign.
Considering that's not really the official name (that I know of), and as far as I can tell is nothing more than Johnny Danger's attempt at a chuckle-worthy (though slightly offensive) title for a cheap Chinese origin item, the name choice is strictly colloquial. Making it Benihana doesn't do any better, really.
There has been a noted weight loss and performance gain, and while 10hp isn't really amazing, it matters for this car, where one needs every horse they can get if they're trying to gain performance there, since these engines don't gain much without serious building and money. I don't take that to mean the car has been engieneered to its optimum, I see it rather as Porsche introducing enough limitations that the car's optimum is only a minimal gain. Even if one were to build the motor up well, improve several things, and use good bolt-on parts, I can't see a 2.5 exceeding 250hp without going forced induction...not nearly worth the money it'll take to get there.
I personally want something that's going to provide some performance bump and better breathing without making the car sound terrible. If that's out there, I'll go for it. I'm not trying to make a pure track car, but something that can be tracked well and driven to and from said track comfortably.
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