Exhaust recomendations for an 01 Boxster S?
 

Hi everyone. I just purchased a 2001 Boxster S and I would love to hear recomendations on Exhaust systems for it. I'm looking for a throaty sound and a few extra HP would be welcomed.

Doc

Jake Raby's dyno says that the standard setup is VERY difficult to top.
But if its sound you want, including the dreaded 3000rpm drone, there's a hundred different views on this site......
Search for Pedro's Garage exhaust mod which is relatively cheap compared to some.

Maxflo hands down.

See my mods. Get them and you will be very happy!!!

It is true, the stock setup is hard to beat.

I have however changed the headers for some cheap Chinese ebay specials, exceptional for the price. I have also removed the catalysts and put 2" bypass pipes in their place.

More power? Maybe a little. Better sound? It is louder, more throaty and metallic like a Porsche should be, but without the drone like a ricer. This I attribute to the muffler remaining stock.

To be quite honest it was more trouble and cost than it was worth, for little benefit, but it was fun to tinker around with it.

I have headers, no cats and a modified stock muffler and I think it is the best setup for the money. I too would like a bit lower tone at low rpms but not at the cost of a droning exhaust. My current setup sounds stock until you put your foot in it and then it is plenty low and plenty loud.

Best bang for the buck is the modified stock exhaust and secondary cat bypass pipes. You can find a local welder that can do the bypass conversion on the cheap and there are options for the cat pipes; I went with "like new" used Fabspeed pipes.

Is there somewhere we can find this data? I've looked around and haven't been able to find his dyno results.

I doubt he has posted much on the subject
 

as all it will do is create controversy.

I will admit to talking to him while he was doing these tests ... he was looking for the best combination for a friend's car that would be both road and track. And he was expecting to find a brand he could recommend. His tests disqualified droning exhausts as they had to be driveable. He was surprised at the results of his tests as, of course, they contradicted all the advertising claims.

Your ears only have so many vibrations built into them .....

Thank you all for the responses
 

This gives me a starting point to research options. Any other ideas are welcomed!

Doc

The dual canister FabSpeed setup (complete with secondary cat bypass pipes) sounds phenomenal with none of the dreaded drone just under 3000RPM.

Thank you Sir
 

What did that run you?

keep in mind that even if there is no gain in getting an aftermarket system you can also lose massive amounts of weight. and mixing the exhaust with a spare tire delete and you have lost yourself around 50 lbs in one fell swoop. :cheers:

Bear in mind that most aftermarket exhausts underperform the stock setup, despite their claims. And it is a rare exception which equals or betters the stock exhaust.

Switch to aftermarket and odds are that weight will not be the only thing you're losing.

Aftermarket exhausts in general are just not worth the hassle and expense on these cars. If you like to tinker, or are only after 'better' sound, that's a different story.

If you can't stand that hole burning in your pocket, suggest you throw the cash at something else rather than an exhaust.

'Course then, you can't brag that you have the 'Stainless Steel 'X'-Fab Triple-Speed Go-Fast part'... even if it isn't.

Cheers!

That's helpful, thanks.

Doc

There is another consideration.

When I tossed all my stock hardware and went with headers, cat bypass, tuned exhaust etc., the interior temperature of the 'trunk' storage compartment went down noticeably. Can be a big deal when bringing a frozen pizza home! Seriously it did remove a lot of hardware that was up close and personal with the underside of that compartment, and reduced the heat.

Having said that - I'm going back to almost stock because the noise is just too much - can't even talk to a passenger.

The upside would be transporting a hot pizza from the local italian joint. It would be like a mobile hotplate.

I'm beginning to think that stock exhaust is the way to go.

I not interested in the exhaust being so loud that it is overwhelming. I was just looking for that throaty sound and loud ONLY when you get on it. I was also looking to increase horsepower without compromising the core performance................. I've now heard Fabspeed-Maxflow and Borla if any at all.

Is that reasonable or a waste of time?

Doc

How about a custom 9FF cat back exhaust, along with a set of custom M&M headers and HJS high flow cats. The total cost would be around 60K. Nigh on to 10K for the exhaust system, and the remaining 50K toward retaining a good divorce lawyer. :)

Stock S-Muffler, headers, cat delete................

If you don't want your car to turn the CEL on and "throw a code", I would keep the stock headers (on your car, the O2 sensors look at the catalytic converters that are on the headers) and maybe try "cat bypass pipes" to replace your secondary catalytic converter assemblies. That will up the volume without creating resonance.

Then if that's not loud enough, you could change the muffler out for one of the Dansk units (a Porsche OEM manufacturer, TUV certified, and due to the single chamber/cross-flow construction, no resonance). They sometimes come up on eBay. There is also an internal hack to make the stock muffler louder (search the forums).

If you replace the headers, then you will need to move the O2 sensors to the downstream "secondary" catalytic converters. Some also replace the secondary cats with "sport cats", which ups the sound a little more.

Most of these changes will probably not increase torque. Some may increase HP in the upper range...