Borla Exhaust

[mcomet]

At the risk of starting yet another exhaust thread... I've searched forums, internet, etc...

I am wondering if anyone here has/had a Borla on their 986. Curious about thoughts, resonance, volume, love, hate etc...

I've driven a car with a PSE (a 996 not a 986) and I loved the sound. Bark, and nice high wail. I can't justify that much $ for an exhaust tho. The Borla vids I have watched (I know I really need to hear in person) seem to be similar to the sound I am looking for.

I've also considered Fabspeed and I know many are happy with it, but the more research I do I am not sure. Looking at vids, and hearing a friends GT2 w/ a fabspeed (I know totally diff engine/car) it sounded very "raspy". I do not like the raspy-ness that I heard in those cases. Plus Borla is a lot lower cost tho I know it has bad res.

I am looking for something close in tone to stock/PSE but more volume and a little bark or deep is cool too...but I like the Porsche mid to high tone at open throttle. My car is a weekend driver.

any advice?

[trimer]

Originally Posted by mcomet

At the risk of starting yet another exhaust thread... I've searched forums, internet, etc...

I am wondering if anyone here has/had a Borla on their 986. Curious about thoughts, resonance, volume, love, hate etc...

I've driven a car with a PSE (a 996 not a 986) and I loved the sound. Bark, and nice high wail. I can't justify that much $ for an exhaust tho. The Borla vids I have watched (I know I really need to hear in person) seem to be similar to the sound I am looking for.

I've also considered Fabspeed and I know many are happy with it, but the more research I do I am not sure. Looking at vids, and hearing a friends GT2 w/ a fabspeed (I know totally diff engine/car) it sounded very "raspy". I do not like the raspy-ness that I heard in those cases. Plus Borla is a lot lower cost tho I know it has bad res.

I am looking for something close in tone to stock/PSE but more volume and a little bark or deep is cool too...but I like the Porsche mid to high tone at open throttle. My car is a weekend driver.

any advice?

I am a fan of fabspeed. I listened to every video I could and decided that this is a 986, not a ferrari and that the best system would be the Fabspeed. If you read one of my old threads, I was much in your situation. Didnt know what to do, and from youtube, you just dont get the noise right on there. I can not tell you how wonderful it was the first time I heard my car start with the fabspeed exhaust. It for me is perfect. To each their own, but I am very happy with the sound of my car!

Good luck...it is a tough decision...not one that you can really take back once you do it!

[Bob O]

I had headers and a Borla installed about a year ago. The sound from outside is great! Nice low growl. I've listened to it as my wife drove it to work a couple of days. I like!! Inside the car is another matter. It's loud...... sometimes. There are RPM zones where it's pretty annoying and others where it's mostly quiet, or at least not bothersome. EG..between 2500 - 3200 (or so) it's pretty loud. Quiets down above that, even under acceleration.

OH..and I had the Borla on for about three months before I got the headers installed. Not much difference in sound before/after the headers. But, there's a noticeable difference in low end grunt before /after. (After being better)

Do I like it? I'd say 50-50. I am usually in the car alone and keep the rpms above 3K. So the drone is gone most of the time. The problem arises on the open road trying to keep to a speed where the rpms are out of the drone range. Not always possible. Not sure I'd do it again.

Hope this helps.

Bob

[mcomet]

Well I went with the Borla for cost right now, my impressions are similar to bobs. Definitely resonance around 2300-3200rpm. Still better than stock in my mind (it actually sounds like a sports car now) but I only drove it this evening. Might take some getting used to. Got stuck in traffic on the way home, wasn't super annoying but wasn't as nice sounding as the PSE either...mostly I miss some of the high end wail that the OEM systems have. Borla is definitely a lower tone sound. Not bad, just lower. I'll need some more time to assess. One other thing it is a LOT lighter than the stock muffler... My goodness the stock muffler is heavy.

[Kenny Boxster]

Indeed the stock muffler/boat anchor is heavy! As with all aftermarket exhausts researched on the forum, they have all so far produced drone to varying degrees. It's a balance really; more drone = louder/ better performance at WOT. Quieter = heavier weight / decreased performance. Fun fact: the PSE is even heavier than the stock muffler.

[j.fro]

I've got the Borla with headers and bypass pipes on my car. At WOT it's over 96 decibels, and the SCCA guys have kidded with me at autocrosses that they were going to get out the meter and send me home...good thing they like the sound. As to resonance, it's so damn loud that it doesn't matter. Here's an interesting one, though. When I went to a larger throttle body, I think what resonance I had decreased.

[mcomet]

Well I have the normal Borla not the race version but it is louder. Not sure which you have. I also kept headers so CA visual inspection etc. passes. Good to know tho about pse weight. Heh. Btw newbie question, what does "WOT" stand for? Wide open throttle?

[Kenny Boxster]

Yes. WOT = Wide open throttle.