I was standing in my garage this morning looking at the headers and exhaust that just came off my 997.2TT (as I wait for the A/C service guy) and started pondering. I certainly understand why P puts on the big cats (guvmint mandate) but I cannot for the life of me understand why they would make such hideosly heavy, ugly, stamped sheet metal manifolds that certainly dont look as well engineered as the rest of the car. Maybe they flow great and are perfectly servicable but they just dont seem to be in harmony with the rest of the engineering. They look like something that I would expect to see on a econobox.

What gives? Is the exhaust system looked upon as a throw away such as most of the motorcycle manufactures do to their units? Or is it really as good as the rest of the car?

BTW - I thought that I had the Tubi STREET system installed but when I looked underneath, low and behold - No Cats, it must be the RACE system as it matches the one on the web site. Surprised.... yes, but even more so happy, as the sound is perfect.

 

The P-car headers flow good for the system and hp they were designed for. They are heavy because that makes them reliable and casting is cheaper than bending and welding. That heavy casting also helps retain the heat better...which is supposed to be a good thing.

If you start throwing a lot of hp into the motor you'll get to a point where you'll need bigger headers...but most say you have to get up in the 7-800hp range.

 

Most AM headers add little hp or weight advantage over stock,

 

headers have come a long way from the old "log" style cast iron manifolds of old. The Porsche units may not look sexy but they are of stainless steel construction and designed to last the life of the car. They are also not a real source of restriction unless you get beyond the moderate levels of modding. In the 993tt's there were gains from grinding smooth the inner welding slag around the flanges. The 996/997tt units I have seen have had relatively little welding slag by comparison

 

Heard the same - the stock headers are perfectly fine, and hard to beat, unless you're running well over 600 hp.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I guess its a perception thing then. I am new to Porsche but have spent a lifetime on high end bikes which is really the start of the question. When you buy a new bike the first thing you do is throw away the stock exhaust. Why? I think its a law that was passed, at least it must be because no one keeps the stock stuff.

I suppose I was really just looking for a justification for the sickness. You could have all helped me out and said "yea the stock stuff is horrible, you are silly if you dont change it". Now I have to find some other excuse.

 

How did they install the wrong system? Hope you paid the lower price.

 

looking for excuse to mod