Fab Speed System

[Rutherford]

Another subject that has probaly been discussed before.Has any one tried out the Fab speed cat bypass,muffler and chip combo,and if so ,was it seat of the pants difference in performance?Just toying with the idea.Thanks

[TMH]

Will depend on the car, so you should probably specify. I attempted to get a Fabspeed cat bypass for the '87 track car, but it was never delivered after many promises, so I cancelled with them and bought a Bursch plain steel bypass from our sponsor.

The car already had a "mild" chip in it: A Weltmeister put in by a PO. All I had previously noticed in that chip was a higher redline (up around 7k). When I installed the cat bypass, I also had my mechanic gut my stock muffler. Per my wrench, I also disconnected the O2 sensor. Sound is now great and there is much more flow through the bypass pipe/gutted muffler. Total cost: About $350 including new exhaust system gaskets.

I also continued my weight reduction program, doing a sunroof delete, pulling out the heavy sound deadening pad under the back seats, etc. Probably took another 150# off the car.

I did all of this after a DE at Laguna Seca in late June, where the car felt a little underpowered, even after its initial weight reduction program. Just finished a DE at Thunderhill on Monday of this week. BIG, BIG difference in the car's performance! I think that a lot of it was attributable to the cat bypass and gutted muffler. Although some benefit was gained by the further weight reduction, and T-Hill does not have as much of an elevation change as Laguna.

Conclusion: I believe that a cat bypass and a freer flowing muffler system can make a significant seat-of-the-pants difference, at least they did in my '87. Add to that a Steve Wong chip, and you may no longer recognize the car!

Good Luck,
Tom

[Rutherford]

Hey thanks for the input.I have had the exhaust off before when I had to heli coil my exhaust studs and it weighs a ton the Fab speed system looks pretty tight. My Carrere has 85K on it and pulls very hard right now. I just want more of course but I don't want to pay $1600 for a system and not have it pull harder.Scott