Fabspeed 2009 Boxster Exhaust and ECU Upgrade: First Impressions

mdrobc13 · 09-22-2009, 11:49 PM #1

Hey guys/gals.
Here's a quick post and impression from my trip to Fabspeed in PA for a quick roadtrip last weekend and exhaust install upgrade on my 2009 Boxster. Looked around a bit and not enough exhaust options are out there for the 2009 car is the 1st thing I found. I believe Remus has a product but outside of that you're looking at paying about $3k for a Porsche Sport Exhaust option (PSE) or a little less for an aftermarket option. Heard an option on a Cayman for Supersprint and also the AWE which all sounded great. In fact I had an AWE exhaust on my previous vehicle, an 05 997 Carrera, and it was an option however they have not gotten a 982.2 exhaust into production at my time of purchase nor this short eval. As for PSE latest from my dealer that I confirm is that PSE has to be special ordered from Germany and Stuggart and can take as long as 1 month to ship unless you rush/special order it (an extra $200 or so) and even then there is supposedly a hold on them at the factory itself with dealer ordered PSE Boxsters having pushed back production dates till late winter/early 2010 according to some sources.

So I took a a little road trip over the river and through the woods to Fabspeed yes we went! :roflmao: Fabspeed is located in the small town of Ambler PA right outside Philadelphia and in the neighborhood of W.Chester PA. After getting off I-95; there were a bunch of nice two lane roads like those in the video below which my NAV greatfully took me thru on my route to Fabspeed. Upon arrival everyone at Fabspeed welcomed me and went over my car's condition before settling into what install we were doing today and giving me a time hack on the total expected time to completion. All said the install took about 2.5 hrs for the exhaust and another 45min-1hr for the ECU tune. Also add a BMP airfilter to the job and the car was done. Since this is the 1st 2009 Boxster which Fabspeed has done my install took a little longer to allow them to record some sound clips and video of the car.

Shortly after 5pm or so; I was led to my car sitting out front, top down, ready for me. Initial impressions, dual chromed exhaust tips are 100% better than the single box exhaust that Porsche ships the car with. IMHO all Cayman's and Boxsters no matter whether they're 2.9L or 3.4L cars should have dual tips. The stock exhaust is huge; looked at mine outside in their warehouse and was impressed at how much weight I'd just removed from my car. Am sure its alot more balance now with that amt of weight re-distributed. On start up the ignitiion sounded a nice throaty deep burble which was missing with the sport car. Not loud enough to wake up the dead like some exhausts I've heard but enough to now let those within close earshot know "hey a sports car just woke up!"

On acceleration you definately can tell the difference both inside and outside the car as it has more urgency with the ECU flash and also sounds more exotic and sporty throughout the RPM band. Found no lack of power at any point on the drive home and absolutely no drone (this was with the top up all the way home). Interior sound was not increased significantly during cruise speeds; made a few bluetooth calls and listened to Sat Radio on CNN all the way back (an 1.5 hr drive) without any real problems on the highway.

Wife's impressions were two thumbs up on the exhaust tips, and says they improve the car. On sound; she says while she could hear it through the walls/door in the garage it wasn't as loud or irritating as she thought it would be and definately similar in sound (deep and throaty) as the Eissenman Sport on my e92 M3. That definately made my day/evening!

Further drives (over the weekend) reinforced the above; these with the top down showed no major differences in my initial impressions and the exhaust is still tight and no drone. Am told that the exhaust will take a few hundred miles (maybe 100-200) or so before it settles and the ECU fully adjusts to the car and my driving style and octane gas used (am using 91 Premium as 93 Super is not readily available in my area outside Sunocco stations).

Next up...likely sport cats when Fabspeed finished their development and production and forged wheels at some point. Other than that my car has sport seats, sport wheel and limited slip diff so there's not much else I'd want except maybe PDK but that upgrade is NOT an option! LOL

Here's the link to the video Fabspeed took of the car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4QpWEvctbI

Also here are pics of my install. Enjoy! Hope this helps add info to those thinking of an exhaust upgrade or choosing between PSE and aftermarket.

Finally I'd like to thank the guys at Fabspeed (Alex and Jay) for their advice, counsel, and patience with this install. Go see these guys and they will work out a great deal for you and make any upgrade $$ well spent. They also do BMW's too now so check them out if you have one too! Don't know if they took Dyno info too but its likely so give em a call/email.

This ad is not displayed to registered and logged-in members.
Register your free account today and become a member on 6SpeedOnline!