I hear you. Once you've completed the R&D on your $200 crank pulley I will gladly install one for 10 HP! With that, I'll add whatever benefit from the 160 degree thermostat, exhaust and intake mods I've already completed, and DME reflash in the future. I'm working on the marginal gains hoping to one day add up to something significant (keeping in mind that my car is a 2.7 and not one of the larger displacement engines).

ddb

Aren't the Boxster Spec racers gutting OEM mufflers then running straight pipes in them? I saw a dyno from one a few years back....something like +12hp and +17lbs of torque if I remember correctly. They have NOTHING to benefit from posting claims and such,so I wouldn't find their dyno runs biased.

Found it.
http://www.boxsterspec.com/spec-boxster-talk-f2-dyno-results-for-my-spec-boxster-t715.html

Interesting about the u-pipes. I guess the reason I thought they were interchangeable was because some people don't buy the full system, and instead just buy the NHP muffler alone, which I assume then they have to re-use the stock u-pipes. I guess the connection to the NHP cats might be slightly different then.

That is a good point Boxtaboy. You may very well be correct.

scheduled dyno
 

Dyno scheduled Friday 8/28 9:00 am.

So are you still getting the CEL? What are you going to do about the exhaust leaks?

Results.
 

IMO: I would say there is a very noticeable difference in acceleration and throttle response. Take if for what its worth.

I stood behind the car with the stock and the NHP exhaust WOT. Video doesn't do it justice in the difference of sound and the quantity of hot air being blasted in my face.

Also, I am in no way trying to promote NHP. I think any decent header and exhaust set up would see the same results.

<embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i80.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid80.photobucket.com/albums/j179/ryancausey/Nhpdyno.flv">

246 HP
218 TQ

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...causey/nhp.jpg

Next: GIAC

246 whp/218TQ isn't too shabby especially without a tune. Do you still have CEL and exhaust leaks issues?

after cranking all 4 clamps down as far as possible. still very small pinhole size leaks, feel air coming out. I will probably remove them re-position and try again. if that doesn't work, look for some different clamps.

If I am not mistaken (some one can jump in here) I believe when I take it to Richmond, VA to authorized GIAC dealer and its chip or flashed or whatever they do and tuned that they can eliminate the P0420 CEL. or if i am wrong, i know there are some other options rear O2 bung extensions.

the CEL doesn't bother me it has no effect on the car. would be nice to eliminate it though.

Who is the authorized GIAC dealer in Richmond?

Update:

About 8,000 hard miles since May and two welds have broken on the muffler, one on the mounting bracket and the other on the heat shield.

The o2 sensor extensions have eliminated the CEL completely that appeared after about 6,000 miles with the sport cats.

the heat shield weld is only covered for 3 month's. they will repair the mounting bracket weld, but you have to pay for the shipping, probably cheaper to fix it yourself. what type 02 extensions did you use? are they all stainless?

http://www.lufteknic.com/

Fixing it myself, just wanted to share my experiences (both good and bad).

I purchased the ones sold by FVD - they were indeed stainless. The only thing missing were copper gaskets for the extension which we sourced locally.

I have the headers and bypass pipes only and dynoed a modest improvement.
What the worst thing is the supplied manifold gaskets. They are crap and will delaminate and after fixing several leaks, I just reused the stock gaskets, and no more problems noted.

2K3, I was just wondering how are you liking the NHP system these past few weeks and would like an update? Are you just satisfied with it, ecstatic, or do you not care for it? Is the sound and hp gain worthwhile? Did the CEL issue cure itself or is it still there? Did you get a tune or still thinking of getting one? Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I love the sound. Car is entirely more enjoyable to drive. Bottom line the car is faster and you can feel it. I will do some in car video and post later.
I will be going this route: http://www.giacusa.com/programs.php?mpid=37 for more Hp and Tq. It will be a while though. I have been busy with rental house repairs and finding new tenants. Looking at mid Oct. to get the GIAC loaded. Try to shoot some Vid tonight. :cheers:

Ok, sounds good. How about the CEL? Maxspeed claims their headers with cats don't cause CEL's, is this still an issue?

Yes, I still have the CEL. it appeared after about 100 miles. I'm not to worried about it right now, as I am about to do the ECU upgrade. If its still there after, I will get rid of it. Also the following is from MAXSPEEDS's website. They don't guarantee no CEL on all models. Check it out:

MAXSPEED

"All of our exhausts are made with Tri-Metal 200 Cells Catalytic Converters, obviously these are much less restrictive and flow more exhaust than the factory 600 or 800 Cells Catalytic Converters used by Porsche at the factory."

"After selling many of our exhaust parts that use 200 Cells Sports Cats we have noticed that on Porsche 986 All Models starting in 2003 the ECU's are much more sensitive we have been getting reports from customers who have experienced the Check Engine Light again starting year 2003, we have never seen it on Pre-2003 models but it could happen as well. Some who own 2003 Up models do not experience the Check Engine Light."

:cheers:

You know....at the end of the day, it is still $850 - $900 bucks. I want an exhaust that is sub $500, that sounds good, looks good, weighs less, and (maybe) gives a bit of a performance increase. Besides making your own, using (for instance) a couple of Magnaflows, what are our options?