That happens to me all the time.

What! Maybe this is why Serge buys so many new Porsche?

I do love Hank.

Thanks for posting you brightened my morning.

Marc

 

Where's Sid ?

 

Don't know. We miss him
Here's the weekly fix we would get from Sid...

 

15 P cars later and I used USAA? What was I thinking? Slow learner!

ChuckJ
PS Was Sid the camera man?

 

 

I have not done any modification in a while and had already tried headers and sportcats on my previous 991, so I thought I would study X-pipe center muffler bypasses.

Fabspeed and Agency Power offer products that look pretty similar. Fabspeed is a bit more expensive ($1,595 vs $1,295) and a little more heavy (claims to reduce the car weight by 7.45 lbs vs "about" 20 lbs for Agency Power) but looks better finished -as always with Fabspeed products, they just look perfect-.

Fabspeed Xpipe muffler:


Agency Power Xpipe muffler:


At this point, there is not much to discriminate one product from the other (one seems better finished but is a bit heavier and costly...) and sound clips on the internet are not reliable enough to form an opinion on the acoustic merits of each products.

Both manufacturers have been kind enough to publish dyno curves for their product (with only the Xpipe muffler in place, not sure though if the reference is the standard exhaust or the PSE in both cases). I spent a little bit of time digitizing the power curves:



and looking at the hp improvement at different rpm's



This is where to comparison becomes a little more difficult. I know very well that dyno data has to be taken with a (BIG) grain of salt, but the Agency Power hp gain seems too good to be true around 4,000 rpm. Around 5,000 rpm and above, I would say that there is again no significant difference between the two products.

In both cases, you will not see a very significant peak hp improvement, but the gain you can observe from 3,000 to 6,500 rpm is probably well noticeable when you drive (on average +29 hp for Agency Power, +16 hp for Fabspeed). I know that I should have digitized the torque curve and rather talk about the gain in ft.lbs, but I was too lazy

So what conclusion should I draw:
-$1,300 to $1,600 is not a huge amount of money if the gain (let's say in hp) actually ranges from +16hp to +29hp. This seems in fact to be a good bang for the buck if you compare what you would get from other mods: X51($$$!!! -OK, not the same philosophy and more hp), tune (not available yet, but probably less impact and more potential warranty issues), etc.
-Somehow the Agency Power product seems too good to be true: more than a 50hp gain at 4,000rpm, 12+ lbs lighter and $300 cheaper... I have a tendency to be suspicious when the conclusion, driven by vendor data, seems so obvious
-I am very tempted to give it a try BUT I would lose the on/off functionality of the PSE that I like a lot, especially when I cruise over very long distance and that I have my 991 in 'GT' mode, all soft and cushy and sipping a minimum amount of gas On the track, there is no doubt that I would be happy with the mod.

I'll sleep on it for a while and maybe contact the vendors to get more direct feedback.
If forum members have had experience with these products (or similar products on 997's or others), please chime in!

Thanks,

Serge

 

Still have not made a decision on an exhaust. No hurry anyhow.

Meanwhile, getting tired of not finding a place to put my iPhone when I travel, I've ordered a Por-Clip mount. It does not look that bad from the driver seat:



but looks a bit more tacky from the passenger seat:



Practicality wins, and I'll get over the fact that my -very occasional- passenger may not like it

 

Quick advice for those of you who have the ducktail or the Aerokit: check every once in a while if your wing is still properly attached...
I have just reached 4,000 miles and I noticed that the wing was no longer well aligned with the body of the car:



It looks like the two screws that attach the wing to the bodyshell had become loose. It was a very easy fix, but I am surprised -or let say disappointed- that it happened in the first place

 

Nice accessory and great advice.

ChuckJ

 

Seen at Caffeine & Octane this Sunday, an all white 991 (interior in Agathe & Pebble Grey). Not my personal favorite but I thought I'd share in case you have a white car and think about installing the clear taillight kit. I think the clear taillights probably work better on a dark color. The red reflectors definitely need to be painted white.

 

I'm still thinking about exhaust as well. My cab didn't come with PSE and I keep looking at the Brombacher exhaust system with the 200 cats but just haven't seen enough info of people running them too feel comfortable making the change.

 

If you do not want something too loud and sport cats, you could do a PSE retrofit & Fabspeed headers. I had the headers on my first 991 and was very happy with them. Not sure you will want something louder than PSE in a cab.

 

A few more pics from the last Caffeine & Octane. Sorry, no 991 material this time... I apologize in advance for a couple of stupid jokes

The first and last LFA's sold in the US were there:







A black Smart stuck between two W12 Bentley's



Not a black Smart in fact... Just a Lambo LP70 - 1.5





About 20 Vipers were present. First time I see so many of them and not a single one spinning out



Donuts in a Jeep Grand Cherokee? It's that easy



First encounter with the new Cayman S. Looks good. I'll check on it at the dealership soon.

 

Nice Pics

 

Wow? I'm disappointed about that too. That is a factory install and not a retrofit, right? Is there a washer missing? I would guess its come loose by vibrations.

It makes me think twice about getting a tail.