Owners of a base carrera (3.4L) who have installed an XPipe to replace the central muffler:

1) What do you have: Fabspeed, Sharkwerks,etc
2) How does it sound, both at low RPMs and high RPMs?
3) Have you noticed any negative differences in low-level torque?
4) Any drone?

 

Hi

I have the Sharkwerks xpipe center muffler bypass. Sounds aggressive with some pops / crackles. I would says it is a bit more tame than PSE. No drone so I can listen to music or have a normal conversation. Only problem is a grunting vibration at idle. Occurs when idle drops slightly below 900 rpm. Also when this happens, the tailpipes will vibrate more than usual. I called Sharkwerks about this issue and they told me they never heard this problem. There are a couple of members that mentioned this vibration. I also had the shop that installed it loosen and re-tighten all the nuts (used proper torque per instructions). As an experiment I bought pipe straps (home depot) and strapped the xpipe to the metal plate where the original muffler was strapped to. Now the vibration is very slight but bearable.

Sorry for the long response and also don't think that I am bashing Sharkwerks. I think this is a very inexpensive way to get your 991 sounding aggressive.

Tom

 

I'm also thinking about doing this mod...I'm just afraid that at some point I'd want to turn it down ( or off) and doing it this way limits your ability to do this.

Do you ever finding yourself wanting to turn it down ( or off)? Do you feel limited by not being able to do this?

Thank you!!!

 

Hey Socalsteve,

Don't worry too much about wanting to turn it down/off. I am always wanting to turn it up/on. I wish it was louder. Under normal throttle and/or below 3500rpm, it sounds pretty tame. However you can still get the pops and crackles at low rpm. I would be more concerned about that irritating vibration.

Tom

 

Tom thanks for the info and sorry to hear about the vibration. Curious about the pops and crackles. Isn't that something inherent in the stock system too. I mean that comes from the engine, not the type of exhaust. I don't think the center muffler was block the pops and crackles. Do you mean the X-Pipe cause more of that delicious sound or you can just hear it more clearly now. Because those are definitely there with the stock system.

 

Love my SharkWerks exhaust! I do not have any vibration issue, maybe because mine is a manual transmission?

 

Any drone? Any additional popping and crackling over the original exhaust sound?

 

No not at all. Center muffler delete sounds superb and should be this way from the factory.

 

Zero drone that I can detect. Sounds great.

 

I get zero pops and crackles with the stock system on the base car. Hence looking at the XPipe vs a PSE retrofit.

 

Looking at the Fabspeed xpipe pictures online, it appears they use straps like the stock muffler. Seems it is a good addition for the Sharkwerks as well.

 

Sharkwerks has zero drone, sounds awesome. Can't take the vibration on my PDK though. I posted about the vibration in the Sharkwerks post with no response. I haven't emailed Alex about it but plan on doing so after driving 500 miles this past weekend for a DE and couldn't take it anymore. If they don't return it, mine will be for sale for those MT owners or others interested.

FWIW, the Sharkwerks site mentions a similar condition on the 997 x-pipe that can be fixed by a tune.

 

I also have a MT. The grunting/vibration only at around 875-900 rpm.

Tom

 

Hey Hawc

On the stock system you could barely hear the pops and crackles. I guess that's what a muffler was design to do..."muffle" sound. You would have to roll down your windows and drive by a building, through a tunnel, or be in a parking structure. With the xpipe you can hear more of that delicious sound.

Tom

 

Hey Certified,

The Fabspeed xpipe is actually 3 pieces. The straps you are referring to are the pipe clamps. If you see the pictures carefully, you will see that the end connecting to the cat is separate from the actual xpipe.

Please correct me if I am wrong but that is what it looks like on the website.

Tom