I have enjoyed my weekend stress reliever / garage queen ever since she caught my eye at a high performance used car dealership in LA over three years ago. Being relatively stock, I knew my desire to modify would eventually strike as it did in my early 20’s with my 1990 5.0 Mustang – Supercharged, Flowmaster, injectors, Eibachs, etc!

Finally, one of Tony’s (EPL) holiday specials smacked me in the face last February and literally cried out – “You need this!” As many on this site know, the tune made an amazing difference! Exhaust being the next logical mod, I have been “hunting” for a used Europipe (EP2L) ever since. Some deals came and went with second thoughts about those particular systems getting the best of me!

Last month I finally lost my patience with the wait, and with the sewing machine that followed me everywhere! Seriously, a Turbo Porsche is not supposed to sound that way!!! Having researched the Speedtech systems and asking John a lot of questions along the way (thanks John) I decided to try a slightly used Speedtech system that I found advertised by a fellow 6speeder (Thanks CLk430). My mindset was this would be a temporary fix until I find that elusive used EP2L.

I would call myself “handy” with the right set of tools, but by no means an expert mechanic. But, thanks to this great forum and the search function (for those of you who don’t know what that is, and there are a few, PM me and I will send you instructions) I was able to find all bumper removal and exhaust installation instructions necessary to perform the job. It sat in my garage for about a month when my Dad (former Porsche guy) came to visit from out of state. Never having done a 996TT exhaust before, it took us about 4 hours (with a just a couple Corona breaks).

After all bolts were tightened, and a final Corona break (at least the last before cold start) I turned the key – nothing! Nothing happened! Crap, where did we go wrong??? Oh yeah, in my excitement, with cab down, I turned the key from outside the car!!! I don’t know many manual transmissions that will start without the clutch engaged! When I finally pulled my head out of my a$$ the sweet sound of victory filled my garage!!!

Wow! The system really does the car justice. I was pleasantly surprised and I know now why John is hesitant to post videos. I took one and watched it later – it seriously diminishes the actual sound the system makes. As far as drone is concerned, I do believe it is there, but I don’t notice it much and I almost always drive with my cab down (I love Southern California weather). Also, the system is definitely loud, but it suits my taste for how I believe these cars should sound – raw!

If there is one thing I would do differently if I had it to do over again, I would buy John’s straps for about $70 shipped. John, you should have told me what a pain in the rear the stock ones were to get off the stock exhaust. Once off though, they worked just fine with the extended bolts provided with the system. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I will now be putting many more miles on my car as it is twice as fun to drive as before (which was pretty fun)! Thanks for reading!

 

Looking good! Definately an X50 car

 

Cool.

 

Hi Aslan,

Glad to hear you are enjoying the system!

You must have purchased an older system, as all our systems include the straps now...enjoy!

 

Tell me your system is cat-less. Regardless Speed Tech systems are wonderful and I love mine.

 

Original owner bought it from you last December. When did you start including straps?

 

Nope! 100 cell cats in order to pass CA emissions next June. I hope it works!

 

I have had another 48 hours or so to put some more miles on it and I am still stricken! The spool up is much quicker and she seems to come under boost much faster (maybe that is saying the same thing). It is also a very cool added benefit to hear the turbos whine on a regular basis! In my haste to take the inaugural test ride, I forgot to take some after pictures, so here they are. Took three from different angles and to show the 3” polished tips and how far they stick out from the body on the overhead view. I was worried they would look weird in the oval hole, but they actually fill it quite nicely IMO.

So, the short report is that I really love this system so far and will probably delay the EP2 purchase for some time. Disclaimer: I am not getting any kickback from anyone and John didn’t even make a penny on me despite answering many emails and advice questions. I would not hesitate to deal with him in the future!


Bo

 

Hi Bo,

Thanks for the kind words. We have been including the straps for a year or so now. All systems ship with new retaining straps for a simple & easy installation.

As for your tips - I have a couple suggestions. First, make sure your muffler is perfectly centered on the car. It looks like your tips are a little too much to the outside of the cutout, where the bumper begins to curve toward the front of the car. This creates more reveal. If you seat the tips into the muffler further, they will move towards the inside of the cut-out which is deeper and the tips will not reveal as much. Also, if you then rotate them upward a bit, so they are about 1/4" from the top of the cutout, they will blend well. A little lube such as WD40 will help them slide in, seat deep, rotate, etc. so that you can position them easily for final clamping...that's how I set mine and it works very well and looks great.

 

Thanks for the additional tips on the tips John!

 

Hi Bo,

I took some pictures today to give an idea of what I was describing...Our SpeedTech X-cellerator system is designed achieve a proper look when installed correctly.

Also, our dual tips are made with a special angle to tuck up high - same as this, as well.

 

Thanks again John! Are there any performance deprivations in the way I have them mounted? I kind of like the "reveal" a bit. I will try to seat them a bit deeper when I have a chance. And they still sound awesome!

 

No, you're fine - it's just a looks thing, I was just showing how they were designed to be installed...position them how you like them and enjoy.

I know what you are saying - I get a thrill from mine every time I drive the car and have not tired of it after 3 years...glad to hear you're enjoying it so much!

 

I thought I would update you all on my recent California smog inspection: Passed with flying colors!!! Emissions were way within limits!

 

Excellent news- I ordered the same setup and suspect I'll be due for smog within the next few months myself (tags expire June). Still loving the sound and has it changed for you much?