I've been "DE-TUNED"...
 

So as some of you may or may not know (or care to) I have been wanting to return the car to a little more "street friendly" and quieter manors...

Well A while ago I saw an OEM exhaust on Suncoasts site and contacted Steve to grab it for me, and then a few weeks back I had Kevin provide a "stock exhaust" friendly tune for my "old" dinosaur K16/24 turbos to live with. I figured I'd give up .3# boost and "might" regret it...

Well... Today I drove the car for its first long drive... 92 miles RT... WOW... I actually don't MISS anything at all... Maybe that's bad... Maybe not. The car only boosts to 1 bar... But still gets there VERY rapidly. The throttle response I "thought" I gave up is still there, but harder to sense because of the stock cans/ catalysts.

And I must admit I do NOT miss the loss of power. I can hear all conversations on my bluetooth... Had to actually turn DOWN the stereo because the Ipod was cranking louder than needed... And now my TIRES sound louder than they used to... Oh, maybe because I can HEAR them now...

I am pretty sure the car is as close to it can get mechanically to being perfect. One I put her in the shop for some paint touch up to get rid of the track day sand blasting effect on the hood and the new bumper cover sprayed, I'll get it wrapped in new film by one of the "invisible bra" companies, and it'll be "perfect" cosmetically, to me anyway! ;)

Mike :cool:

Mike I agree that there is more to the equation than just more power. Road (tire) noise seems to be influenced by road surface and texture, more than by tire type. Have you changed your suspension as well? I found the "Europipe II quiet" to be civilized enough for a daily driver...and Kevin can tune you back up again.

Glad you enjoying the de-motion, or is it pro-motion?

Sorry, not with ya on this one, a quiter exhuast maybe but less power?

Thats like asking a hot woman to have her boobs reduced and having the weight put in all the wrong places.hilarious

I know the feelings you speak of Mike, but from the world of Supras. Having owned a few highly modified examples, I started to yearn more for the stock-esque manners that I'd left behind. The lesson from all that? I'm not in any real hurry to modify my new-to-me 996TT, as I do appreciate the stock performance and manners much more than I would have as a younger man determined only to go faster at all costs. :cool:

Some people of course refuse to grow up. More power to them too! :D

Anyone who thinks they can take on Mike DeTune better think twice. hilarious

With my EBC, I backed off my boost by nearly 0.5 bar for the track and find the car performs about the same. It comes off the corners with much less wheel spin (albeit still quite a bit) and lap times have not suffered. I will admit I have made other changes that theoretically should improve those times. Mike, I don't miss the power either.

I said all that to say this: big HP/Tq doesn't necessarily mean a more-fun ride. I feel good about it in that the strain on engine and driveline components has to be considerably less than before.

Not any improvement in roadability as far as noise is concerned; the straight pipes are still in place, and so are the ear plugs.


Steve T, I am much older than you so thank you for wishing me more power; it's there if I want it. I definitely refuse to grow up. :-)

I'm happy with the current settings. If I grow tired of it (and I probably won't) then I'll do something about it... But honestly, I have a motorcycle that's pretty quick, pretty quick dirt bike, and a track car that weighs 2200# and should be making comperable HP to the 996TT. Pretty sure that "should" suffice... And I'm trying to make this a car we can enjoy on long trips...

Quite honestly, after driving Larry's EP2 Quiet, and then taking him for a drive in mine, I gotta say that my other exhaust wasn't THAT much louder...

I want to be able to drive this car on long trips, with my wife in the passenger seat, enjoying each other... Not both feeling like we're beat from the noise... Guess I'm getting old... But this is perfect for my needs...

Mike

Did you de-tune also for engine reliability?

Is that question to Mike or to me? I certainly de-tuned for reliability.

Although I wasn't concerned about it for the street, detuning it for track use isn't a bad thing... 30-45 minute sessions on a roadcourse builds significant heat... above 1bar puts a lot of strain on the engine.

Mike

Two reasons to get a turbo

1. It's got a Turbocharger which adds HP.
2. It mods better than an NA.

I understand wanting it quieter but to remove HP from what is commonly considered a "bulletproof" engine seems a bit drastic. Oh well. Have fun! :)

I can easily switch to a higher boost level for the street but it requires race fuel. I burn anywhere from 60 to 100 gal. per weekend at the track, depending on the group I'm with. That's a lot of unnecessary expense as I see it. Therefore I just back it down to 1.1-1.2 bar and run a very rich fuel map on pump gas.

Much respect for you guys that can go backwards, even temporarily. I drive my company car most of the time, which is a stone, and I get angry at it when I stomp on the pedal and NOTHING happens!!!!!

It's really not bad. My car is still fast and fun and from what I've read, Mike's is also.