Three months ago I traded in my 997tt for this ’14 991 TTS with about 1k miles on it. I’ve mostly had silver cars (last were GT silver) but my Cayenne GTS is Meteor Grey and my 993 is flat black so my friends talked me into Agate for the TTS and I’m glad they did. The color is stunning (in my humble opinion).













Shortly thereafter I met Sam from ByDesign aka “SamboTT” via a mutual friend and we started talking about life, state of the state, our mutual love for all things Persian and, eventually, our conversation lead to tuning and exhaust options for my TTS. Sam is, as you know, legend on this forum and his reputation for service and knowledge (as well as being a laid back So Cal very cool guy) is well earned.

I started with Cobb AP and Stage 1 and had fun with that for a month. Loved it. Cobb, like Sam, also a legend on this forum, also amazing customer service.

Then it came time to choose an exhaust. As mentioned in another post, I don’t consider myself an expert but I’ve had about 10 different AM exhausts on various cars over the last 15 years so I certainly have some experience in this dept. Setups include Millteks on my Audis, Eisenmann Sport & Race systems as well as Evolve E-tronic on my E60 M5, Europipe (stage 2) on my 997tt and a custom xpipe/exhaust/muffler set up on my 993. I’ve had some Fabspeed and Supersprint bits and bobs here and there as well. I’ve actually, believe it or not, often ordered 2 different exhausts at a time when I get a new car and play with different set ups till I get what I am after.

I’ve also had 2 Cayenne GTS with sports exhausts - but those come standard from Porsche so they don’t count .

Short story - I like my exhausts noticeable and on the louder side. I work from home and I can go days without having to drive anywhere so when I do, I want to make it an event.

*** At this point I want to add a disclaimer that is often mentioned but not really understood by many shopping for exhausts. As with visual beauty where the perception is highly subjective - so too is the aural perception (and reaction) to sound especially when it comes to exhaust. One person loves this while the other hates that. What is loud for one will be quiet for another. It really is personal preference.

After 15 years of adding exhausts to everything that has 4 wheels, I’ve learned one thing - Youtube videos made with iPhones will NEVER EVER give you the full experience. If you want to know what your car will sound like - find someone in your area with the same car and exhaust you want and go have a listen. Do a drive in cabin and then ask that kind person showing you his/her car to do a few drive bys. One at cruise and one at full throttle. Then decide. If you can't find someone local, then gather all the info you can on forums like this and make a blind leap, which is what I did with the Kline system .

Back to my exhaust convo with Sam... I was set to get another Europipe system. I loved everything about the EP on my 997tt and Stef, the EP owner, is a class act like no other. I also looked at Akra but their system is more expensive than Kline’s Inconel and Akra is titanium.

Honestly, I thought I’d get an AP from Sam, then order an EP and call it a day as I have no interest in Stage 3/4 meth craziness (famous last words right there

I explained my situation to Sam, and that most important to me is well rounded car, not some amped up 9 second monster (not that there is anything wrong with that mind you). Sam started chatting me about Kline, about their real innovation in this product space, the quality and about how their system sounded. He never once hard sold me and he, like I, has the utmost respect for EP and the other brands out there.

What peeked my interest was Sam’s mention of this very high end Inconel system from Kline with a specific tonal quality that was very different from the grumbly, snarly, gritty, slightly angry sound of the EP and other systems I’ve had - a sound I quite love TBH. Sam talked about this Dr. Jekyll/Mr Hyde quality of the Kline, amazing quality of the build, no drone, wife-proof, GT3 like sounding system. I could also get cats and de-cat pipes thereby giving me the freedom to change up anytime I want.

And with de-cat pipes, I’d shoot flames.. and honestly, who can turn that down!!!?

Needless to say, I liked what I heard.

So those conversations lead me to give Kline a go and try something different. I was familiar with Kline via the 997tt world and I’ve never read a negative review. I had never heard their systems however. I had found a person in my area who had a TTS with EP and I hung out with with him over lunch and got that experience. Unfort, there wasn’t anyone in my immediate area (that I could find) who had a full Kline exhaust/headers in Inconel so I made a blind leap and ordered the whole thing sound unheard, as it were.

Several weeks later I had the full system delivered to me. Below is a pic Felix at Kline took before he wrapped it and sent to my dealer for install.

Beautiful no?





I had planned this elaborate unboxing and installation documentary but unfort I had to rush the install the week before Xmas as I had to travel for 3 weeks over the holiday or else I’d have to wait till end of January and since I won’t be driving TTS in winter, I was trying to beat the snow!

Unfort this this long winded write up and a few photos will have to do.

So with a box of goodies at my mechanic’s, I rushed my car over and the following is my review of product, execution and sound.

The product fit and finish:

As you can see in pic above - this entire system really is a piece of art. Inconel is so light so gd damn pretty. You can lift up the entire exhaust with 3 fingers on one hand. I wanted to frame the system and hang on my wall. Really special stuff. All the welds were super tight and beautiful. The flanges were jeweled in so nice. The whole kit really feels like a european hand crafted special thing.

My only critique is, unlike EP, the system doesn’t come in a special box with special tools and a full hardware. So while the end product is Apple like high end quality, what is missing is that Apple unboxing experience where even the packaging is special as well as a complete set of hardware (nuts and bolts). If you get this system and want to do an at-home install, be sure you have an extra set of nuts and bolts. Perhaps insignificant to some, but I am in the design field so I pay attention to those things. @Felix - just something to think about there. I know its tough since you guys at Kline produce systems for multiple marques, not just Porsche. Still, at this level of pricing, some thought to fit & finish of packaging and, more importantly, providing a full set of hardware, (again just nuts and bolts at minimum) needed like EP provides - goes a long way. Just my 2 cents.

Anywho….I wanted to shoot all the pieces unboxed but, again, there just wasn’t time. Here are the few pics we have before the installation.









4 hours later, here are some pics of the finished product. Again, very beautiful.





























My friend and mechanic, Jimmy Repasi, is one of New England's best (if not the best) Porsche techs. He specializes in the high end Pcars ; CGTs, 918s, etc. People all over the east coast send their CGTs to him for service so while he is a humble guy, he's uber critical about quality and KNOWS HIS STUFF.

And regarding the end product, Jimmy was amazed at the quality just as I was.

Unfort I couldn’t be at the actual install. So while Jimmy was knocking it out, taking pics in between and tolerating my constant texts with "how's it going?" - I had to rush back home for a series of client calls. Jimmy would drive my car over to my house when he was done.

Around 8PM that evening, Jimmy texted me that he was en route and I stood outside and waited, listening carefully. I live in the woods of southern CT. 22 farms and only 6k people in my town so its beyond rural and AM exhaust systems are easy to identify in what is usually a pin drop quiet country setting. Within 10 minutes I hear what I’d make out to be this deep yet very clean trumpet-esque tonal sound coming through the woods followed by very pronounced over-run chatter that sounded like small fire works. Figured that was my car… and I was right.

Jimmy tuned on my street and nailed it down the road up to my driveway. WOW - evil trumpet orchestra along with whoosh of turbo spool followed by over-run chatter that sounded like a gangland gun battle. Jimmy pulled into my garage and we both ran inside where I had procured a dinner for him and my family.

Honestly guys, my first impression went like this:

- Holy F*ck that is much louder than I expected
- Sh*t, that over-run bang may have given my closest neighbor a heart attack (not kidding BTW)
- Did I over-do it with by installing the de-cat pipes vs the cats?

Dinner consumed, Jimmy and I ran back to the garage, where I quickly uploaded a custom Stage 2 tune that Sam had sent me earlier in the day. (This custom tune, BTW, gets rid of that erratic boost issues that some of you guys have mentioned. It’s perfect!). The whole process took 5 mins. Cobb's AP is just so next level!

New tune installed, I now go for a drive. I’m loving it but also getting used to the new experience. It’s now teaming rain outside so short of a snowstorm, it was the worst conditions for a test drive but, since TTS is AWD, AWS and the best all season, all weather weapon... on we went for 30 mins.. terrorizing my entire zip code with WOT pulls, over run bangs and fire explosions. Was epic for a Monday night but just not long enough to get the full experience. That wouldn’t come for a few days afterwards where I could really drive the car in all settings.

So… with now with several hours behind the wheel, what do I think?

In short = mind blowingly good! Actually better than I hoped and keeps getting better the more I drive it. 110% satisfied.

So what about the sound?

1. Non sport mode and just putting around town - it is 100% totally stock sound. You, as the owner who is a) aware of the install and b ) aware of the subtraction in your bank account upon purchase will hear a bit of "something is there" but honestly, non sport mode and just mildly cruising, only you will notice the difference. Zero drone. Zero. A layman passenger would never know the difference (as long as your right foot doesn't slip and mash the gas pedal).

2. Sport mode, still cruising around with some higher revs - now a keen passenger’s ear will certainly notice. Exhaust is deeper and louder and the turbo spool is more pronounced. As you creep up in rev band, this deeper tone turns into a full on trumpet higher tone vs that grumbly mechanical tone of others as I mentioned above. It's a very high end refined sound. Very clean if that makes sense?

Sam sold me on it by saying if you just run the revs up without boost you'll get an almost GT3-like wind up sound. I can confirm this... its amazing that a turbo car can sound this good.

3. Sport mode/Sport Plus and giving it the full beans and you'll get Mr Hyde on crystal meth trumpet orchestral symphony from hell sound that your neighbors will hear from 2 zip codes away.. BUT, again, only when you are full throttle.

** THIS is what I first heard when Jimmy WOT’d it up my road that first night. I didn’t realize that this was level 10 but that you can control it.

Again, I have decat set up, so along with sound.. my car shoots fire on the overruns after red line pulls. To say its dramatic is an understatement. Plus the louder turbo spoils adds to all of this for an aggregate aural experience that, I'll be honest, I'm still getting used to.

I haven’t had the time to do a proper video but I did stick a go pro on my back bumper for that initial night cruise i mentioned and captured the fire spitting action (see below).





It's full on theater with pyrotechnics and trust me boys an girls... its legit!

And the over-run chatter.... again - taking it easy and you'll maybe notice a difference. Sport mode - def more pronounced. Sport Plus in full hoon mode and the bangs can be insane... like 4th of July fireworks finale bang insane (along with visuals to match). Let me be clear - its loud.. seriously f*cking loud like a race car.

But here, again, the most impressive aspect is how you can so easily control the sound as mentioned above.

For 15 years I’ve heard AM manufacturers proddle on and on about “their” system is a true "Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde" and they have all been full of it. Other than the valve-tronic systems, you usually get what you get and that’s it.

Of all the setups I’ve had, only this Kline system is the true Dr J/Mr Hyde situation.

I’ll conclude that my wife of 15 years is certainly accustomed to AM exhausts and she still doesn't even know I've added this to my car yet . That will give you an indication of the night and day nature of this system.

And when I want her to know, I’ll simply launch control out of my driveway and then let off gas at 7k RPM and that would certainly do the trick (and also cause every one of my neighbors to call the police).

Well done Kline team.

And well done Sam for making yet another happy customer.

 

Nice write up... I just start a thread with a video of my catless Kline System

 

I saw that - nicely done!

 

Wow my friend, what a review. Notes taken and much appreciated. I'm sure we are going to hit up a Persian restaurant soon here or there! Another great friendship that I'm sure will blossom and we will have some good times with these cars. It was also really great to get acquainted and chat with Jimmy. He's one of the rare specialists for sure. I knew we had a lot in common and you trusted my reputation. But I really do appreciate you taking my word and having faith in my claims before we got to know each other better. Whatever you do please do not launch the car in your driveway. Your wife will come over here and kill me in the face haha! I'll keep a stage III package warm for you dude! Soon as the temperatures warm up and you get your traction back you're going to get the itch again. These cars amazing?! Happy new year buddy enjoy the car!

 

Great Post and I wholeheartedly agree. The Kline Exhaust is untouchable for the 991TT for all the reasons mentioned. Combine it with the Cobb AP and you get perfection. Really unfortunate to see how so many owners live with drone, poor quality and power losing exhausts. Felix and his team have perfected an amazing product which both performs and sings the right notes. Have had mine for several months thanks to SamboTT.

In the imortal words of Chris Rock, "It just feels right" lol

 

Happy New Year guys!

James, without overreacting, this is the best reward our team can ever get. Seeing customers so pleased and impressed it's whats making us push more and beyond!

Thank you so much for the kind words! Enjoy your beast with Kline!
PS. We are working on appleish boxes You are right!

 

Got my headers from Sam, and 2 sets of exhausts for a couple of friends I have here in the Middle East and the exhaust did not disappoint!

Great fit and finish, very easy to install compared to some other exhaust brands I've seen, and to sound drone-free in cruise while being a de-cat is a high-class feature which I never thought was possible.

Sam, Felix and the guys at Kline did an amazing job!
-Hamad

 

Great review. Confirms all the great things I read from members about the Kline catless exhaust in terms of build quality and sound.

 

Hi again guys! We now we have triangulated confirmation that EVEN the Kline Decat 70mm system in fact more tame than the factory exhaust when cruising and in conditions where the factory system drones. Really excited about this!

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ory-drone.html

 

I have the same set-up, could not have described better. IMHO truly the best system out there.

 

Great write-up. The Kline system seems like a very attractive option.

Question for the experts: How much do you gain with headers vs. exhaust only (w/cat or decat) with the Kline system for stage 2?

I was under the impression that headers don't do that much on these cars unless you went to higher stages with upgraded turbos. Would love to hear some comments.

 

Just to be clear, the results that I posted and have discussed involved only the FVD headers on my specific car with a GIAC Stage 2+ tune.

I have no idea if the Kline headers gain power I certainly did not write that they did not gain power. I leave that to others to do some dyno testing independently on the Kline headers. They may very well gain power. I don't know one way or the other.

In general my belief is that in terms of best bang for your buck power gains from mods they are

1. Tune (GIAC and Cobb are the big US players who offer flash tuning -- I would never get a piggyback where a flash is available)

2. Exhaust (high flow cats or even better catless) (so many good options such as Europipe, Tubi, Kline and GMG)

3. Bigger Intercoolers (Champion, AWE and ByDesign are the big US players)

4. Upgraded turbos (right now ByDesign is the only US game in town of which I am aware with Champion's still under development); and

5. Water-meth injection (I will never put this on my car but there is no question it offers gains. If I did it would be Aquamist).

 

Cheers John,

The Kline headers are very well-made and equal length. Their design and diameter makes it so you don't lose any power. Games are about 15hp to the wheels. Solmar manifold people and some are not. Aside from the 15 hp you get a complete change in character and sound with the equal length tubes. Takes the Kline exhaust to a new level! Everyone has them is in love and many people have tested the manifolds after with 100% results I always give people the option and even guarantee if they like to test it for themselves. Hope that helps.

 

I have yet to hear a bad review from anyone who owns a Kline exhaust on our cars. One of my friends in the Long Island car scene has the Kline exhaust on his 991 TTS and loves it.

 

SDG, thanks for the detailed reply on the best bang for the buck mods.

Sam, thanks for the very informative reply on what to expect with Kline headers. You certainly seem like the go-to guy for these cars. Will ping you if I have further questions.