Hey guys,

So as some of you already know, I recently purchased a 997 C2S. The car came with AWE cats and mufflers....They were never installed because the previous owner bought them with the car and had to have them taken off because he couldn't pass California emissions.

Before I go spending money to have these parts installed, I want to make SURE I am making the right decision.

I keep seeing all of these threads that say "AWE vs. Fabspeed", etc.

The problem with these threads is that most of them are about exhausts only.

My question is this - I am looking for a nice and deep sound for my car. I want it to sound like it is aftermarket. There was a time when I installed a Remus exhaust on my M3 and I hated it. It was just too close to stock. Based on what I have heard online, the AWE is not very loud either.

This is where my question becomes more involved. I will not only be installing the AWE muffler. The setup will consist of:

-AWE High Flow Cats
-AWE Muffler
-Porsche X51 Headers (already installed)
-Porsche X51 Airbox w 3rd radiator (already installed)
-IPD Plenum (already installed)
-(tune)

Do you guys think this will be loud or exotic sounding enough? The previous owner told me that when they were on the car that it sounded AMAZING, but he could have just been saying that so I would buy the car. Does anyone have a similar setup that I could listen to either in person or on video?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your responses. I know this has been beaten to death but I NEED to know

PS - if anyone can point me in the direction of a great tune to go with the above mods (assuming I go with them) please let me know!

John


EDIT- PLEASE NOTE I am in FL where we have no emissions testing so to pass need not apply

 

It's very hard to speculate whether you will like the sound of any exhaust . Any suggestion is much like asking someone if they like music . Some will love it and others might not .

When I had my 997.1S I narrowed it down to two exhausts . One was AWE and the other was Tubi and I felt both had quality .AWE had a great fitment and was easy to install. I liked the sound of both but had to pick one and selected the Tubi . It was short lived because i ended up buying a Turbo 5 months afterwards. Since you already have the AWE exhaust you may decide to install it and take a drive and see.

 

I completely understand what you mean but my real question is -will the setup be significantly louder than just AWE mufflers since it's not just an AWE exhaust, but also headers, cats, IPD Plenum and X51 airbox?

 

you have all the right components, but sound is extremely subjective - as has been mentioned. i'm on to my 4th exhaust configuration and i'm still looking for the sound i want. the main component for sound imo are the cats and you have them. the mufflers will be the piece that dictates the pitch and level you're looking for. i have run gundo'd, cargraphics, afterhours and now moving to tubi - all with 200 cell cats from fabspeed. i also run the X51 headers, but this will not make a difference in sound. i just wanted the better flow. for me, the gundos and cargraphics were too subtle, but the afterhours are just a bit too bassy between 2-3k rpms. they are amazing from 4k up. the tubis are going on this weekend, so we'll see how that goes - i'm hoping that might be the sound i'm looking for. if not, i'm seriously considering a 'hack' on an aftermarket system to relieve some of the muffling and get that note i'm looking for. are you a DIYer at all? all this exhaust work is extremely easy and can be done with simple tools and a set of ramps. sure makes swapping on and off a lot cheaper when you're doing the labor. bottom line, you'll really just need to start with what you have and see how you like it. your only other option to find local owners with a similar setup and listen to each - you just can't determine if you'll like it ahead of time.

 

Excellent response, thank you.

I have decided to do what you said and install what I currently have. Then I can always tweak it... Until I install what I have, I will never know.

Unfortunately I am not a DIY'er but I have a Porsche Tech as a great friend.

 

i forgot to mention that i did run my gundos with stock cats at first and then swapped on the fabspeed 200s. the cats made a huge difference - sound greatly improved. for great sound, again imo, you need the 200s. others will tell you differently and therein lies the problem. we are all looking for something different in sound and what is too subtle for one guy may be just perfect or even too loud for another. good luck and have fun.