Some context: I'm not trying to create a period-correct-looking car at all. I want my 911 to be dumb and loud on canyon runs and track days, but quiet enough to have a conversation when I'm driving around town.
I've had some
ugly-ass exhaust moments in the past. But that's behind me, now.
Most recently, I had a B&B stainless exhaust with stainless dual tips. I painted the muffler itself black, because it hung down pretty low.
The old exhaust:
I solved the notorious B&B resonance problems by reducing the outlet pipes down. But I still didn't love the look of the exhaust tips coming out in the back.
And the B&B kept cracking apart. I had the seams rewelded twice, but during the
Open Track Challenge, the muffler cracked in some ridiculous places:
An $800 muffler should do better than that.
So I bought an $80 American-made Flowmaster. And I went back to the old-school steel pipes in the back. I'm bucking the current trends: tips are for Honda's.
The Flowmaster is smaller, and fits up higher, than my B&B did. I like the sound much better. I can
cap one side for comfort-level driving, and open up both ends for days out with the boys.
It's so high up, you can now see the backs of the headers, and the heater pipe, both of which are the color of aluminum/stainless. What I'm trying to decide now is whether I should paint the muffler black, dark gray, light gray, or leave it in its aluminized steel color -- and also should I paint the heater tube to match?
Opinions?
Here's the subject, out yesterday in the hills above Malibu.
