911 Exhaust

[Millermancab]

I am sure this has been talked about many many times. I am thinking on new exhaust for my 88 911 Cabriolet. It is stock, the exhaust, and I would like a lil bit more performance, better sound and still have heat. I have looked at SSI, B&B, and also Fabspeed. Dollar range is all over the place(while not the issue). I want a good system and would like any input and advice before I run out and do something dumb. Thank you all for your help and advice.
Dave :O)

[Vincent Hill]

For a lot of us, the Standard is the 1974 Style SSI Heat Exchangers. Of course you must change 2 oil lines which are not that difficult.

Another Question that has an even bigger effect is the Muffler you plan to use. There are also 2 questions about that which are do you plan to have a 2 in & 1 out or 2 in and 2 out?

There are a Ton Of Mufflers and I went through a few of them (Bursch, Cheap and a good Temporary Muffler. Then Stock where I cut the 3rd cell from the right and drilled 1/2 inch holes through the Horzontal Baffle then welded it up and added an Exit Pipe on the right side) before I ended up with an Aurtralian Monty Muffler. All Stainless with the Stock Shape 2 in & 2 out with no Droaning but a deep sound that is louder than stock but for me is not so loud that I cannot start the car at 2 AM and leave the house without waking the Neighbors.

Answer these questions / or get the answers to these questions and you will be very close to making a decision.

[mholbrook38]

From what I hear, M&K (sold by our host) is a great exhaust and impossible to beat for the money.

[gtc]

My suggestion would be just a cat bypass (Fabspeed or M&K), a single out sport muffler (B&B or Monty sound the best) and a Steve Wong chip (911chips.com). Best bang for the buck, IMO, and the best heating system as well (stock).

[Rot 911]

I can't remember who first posted this, but it is a good comparison chart:

[Millermancab]

Great stuff, Thank you all, Dave :O)

[Millermancab]

I will most likely go with a cat bypass and muffler and a chip. Looking at mufflers now, I like the fabspeed and am going to look at the M&K's today. By the chart above not much gain for alot of work and money for a complete system, as mine is in good shape, so I think that is why at this time just the bypass and muffler and chip will get me what I want. Thanks again all, Dave :O)

[wildcat077]

Dave,

From what i read on this forum SSI's don't give much of an advantage apart from being loud on a 3.2 engine ...One of my buddies has SSI's and a two in two out muffler on his 88 Targa and his wife finds the interior noise unbearable !
I have an 89 with the same engine as you and i installed a SW chip,MK premuffler and Fabspeed 1 in two out exaust on my car.

Very good setup as the noise factor is not an issue here and the build quality is awesome.
Fabspeed has gotten a bad rap by some people but then again mostly from people who don't have the system on their cars.It is expensive as compared to some other brands ,but then again you get what you pay for ...

Cheers !
Phil

[rlw]

I have a M&K pre-muffler and M&K 1:1 muffler along with a Steve Wong chip. I am very happy with the combination. The car is a little loud (which I wanted) but the neighbors don't complain. I kept the stock heat exchangers.
Beautiful car btw! No front spoiler? I thought with the tail, front spoiler was necessary.
RW

[chuckr]

I have the Fabspeed Euro-PreMuff and 2out muffler with a Steve Wong chip...really sounds great
get lots of complements

[JeremyD]

Premuffler - and a sport muffler and Steve Wong Chip is the biggest bang for the buck with the 3.2 cars -

With a cab I would stick with a single out. The two out tend to drone - and that drove me crazy with my old car.

[Mitch Leland]

Dave,

Unless you want a lot of noise and possible "drone" at certain RPM's I would stay with the 1 in 1 out muffler. As Jeremy just mentioned you need to be aware of noise and drone if you're interested in touring and talking in the car. As you can see from the previous chart the muffler isn't going to give you a lot of HP unless it's in the higher revs.

I have a Steve Wong chip and a M&K 1 in-1 out muffler with the factory CAT and headers. For my needs it's a perfect set up of some added performance and great sound.

[wildcat077]

Guys,

Ive got almost 15,000 kms on my Fabspeed 1 in 2 out muffler and there is no droning that i can honestly report.At cruising speeds (3000 rpm's ) it's very comfortable compared to some 2 in 2 out systems i've heard .I guess there is a big difference between 1 in and 2 in mufflers,not so much with 1 or 2 out ...

Cheers !
Phil

[Vincent Hill]

I have been asked about the Stock Muffler Modification I made to my exhaust system a while back to have 2 exits.

On the Standard Round Long Muffler, it has a Horzontal baffle along with about 4 Vertical Baffles. To make a 2 exit. get a 2 or 2.25 inch (What ever the exact size of the exit pipe is on the other side) piece of Curved tubing (I think I got mine from Autozone)

I first cut a 4 inch section from the right side of the panel below the Bumper before the lower Fender Extension. I then used a Hole saw and cut out a hole on the Bottom right side of the Stock Muffler and then welded in this pipe while still mounted in the car. (Actually tacked it in place and finished the welding after I removed the Muffler.

For the Internal modification, I think it is the 3rd Cell (Right of center Vertical Cell) You can identify this by drawing a line inside of the Spot welds on both sides. Remember there are 2 shells so I used a Hack saw and dremmel tool but now I would simply use a Cut off wheel. Slice down both sides of the Vertical baffels to aboput 1 inch shy of the center of the Muffler on Both sides.

Then cut across this in the top center of this section and open it up gently exactly like the Little Boxes of Cereal by pulling back the flaps on Both sides. (Remember you are going to have to weld all of this back together and do not want to crease the metal any more than necessary)

(I did this about 15 years ago and also think there are 2 tubes that cross through this section that you also cut out)

Make a grid so that you can drill about 16 - 1/2 inch holes in the Horzontal Baffle and drill the holes. Clean up your work and push the 1st cover back together and weld it up and then the second layer and weld it up. Remember to finish welding the Right side exit pipe and then Re-paint the Muffler. Now you have a Higher performance muffler than most people can buy.

This muffler lasted for about 3 or 4 years (I did not start out with a new muffler and the Power was seriuous!

Later I bought a Monty from Australia All Stainless for about $800 and Still have that muffler which I plan to use on my SHort Tube (Real Turbo) SSI Heat exchangers I now have that I am setting up with V-Band Clamps so I can have either 300 Hold Metalic Cats or Straight Secondaries to the 2 in and 2 out muffler.

[Carrera3.2LG50]

Add yet another voice to the choir for premuffler/sport muffler/chip combo...

I recently put an M&K Pre-muffler and M&K 1-1 sport muffler on my car. My throttle response improved a lot and it sounded great. At first I thought my wife would think it was too loud, but we went on a drive last weekend and she commented that we could talk inside and it was not as loud as she thought it would be. I am getting many compliments on the sound and it turns heads as I drive by which is fun.

A couple weeks later I added an RB Multi-Board Performance chip and noticed another difference in power and response, especially in the mid range where we spend a lot of time.

I'm very happy with this combination and would highly recommend the Pre-Muffler/Sport Muffler/Performance Chip of your choice combination.

Paul

[zimmer266]

It's nice to drop in and find threads like this. I'm sitting on an M&K premuffler and 1-in-1-out, with a Steve Wong chip for just that combo. The Carrera is at the paint shop with its windows out, and it just snowed 5 inches, so the installation won't happen this week.

But its fun to read that folks like the sound and throttle response with this hardware kit.

(Moss green metallic, freshening the original color and clear coat.)

[Bullet Bob]

I have a 3.2 and I went with SSI, a chip, and a GHL 2 in 1 out muffler and it was too loud. Since I drove this every day the noise was just too much. I switched out the GHL muffler for an early muffler (2 in 1 out) and it is perfect. I can hear the grunt back there when I want to have some fun but during normal driving I can still talk on my cell phone if I need to (ear piece of course).

[scarceller]

My 3.2L has SSIs with M&K 2in2out but I had Ben from M&K create a cap so I can cap one side making the pipe 2in1out with cap in place. In 2out mode the pipe drones below 3000RPMs and is very loud. But with cap in place in 1out mode droning goes away and pipe is much quieter but still much louder than stock. The M&K pipe is simply loud.

But if I did this setup again I'd use 993 heat exchangers (bigger ID on the pipes than SSIs) and then Ben makes a custom pipe to mate to the 993 exchangers. With the 993 exchangers you'll get a little more out of the top end above 5800RPMs but you'll give up some low end torque. If the car is a daily street driver I'd go for the SSIs as they give nice torque below 3000RPMs. I'd suggest you speak with Ben at M&K about your needs.

[Millermancab]

Wow even more good stuff. I did talk to Ben yesterday and thought about just a bypass and muffler, 1 in 1 out, and a SW chip. Sounds like maybe the premuff would be better. I do want a better sound but not real loud, although being a cabriolet, they are noisy anyway. I am still looking at mufflers, but like the M&K at this time, may look at other options. It is winter here too, so it doesn't have to happen today. I did put a front spoiler on last winter. Here is a newer picture. The other one was the day I got it. Love all the help and personal experience's, it is helping alot to make a decision.
Thanks,Dave

[RarlyL8]

Don't know if you've been talked out of SSI'ss yet but this may interest you.
This system was installed in a client's garage queen '89 coupe last year and has now been removed to sell the car.
Shoot me an email if interested.
Thanks -