I have for sale a brand new Fabspeed Valvetronic Control Kit which will control any vacuum actuated Muffler system including the OEM Porsche PSE. This will make the installation much easier and give you full control of the valves, whereas with factory PSE, it sometimes opens or closes them based on other parameters. Here's the ad - https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...st-system.html

Let me know if interested.

 

That doesn't make any sense. I would think that if the pse is deactivated then it would only activate by itself at a certain speed which is a little bit annoying from going to silent and loud in the same gear. If its activated then should remain on until the driver deactivates it, correct?

 

This behavior is well documented. Search for "PSE cutout". When it is on "loud mode" it switches itself on and off at different speeds/rpms. In quiet mode it is always quiet.

 

Well that doesn't sound like so much fun, no-pun intended! do you like your pse?

 

I like it a lot, but you're right that the cutout sucks, and I wish I had full manual control over the PSE separately from sport mode. There are some aftermarket solutions for this, but I'm not a fan of any of them.

 

Completely understand. When I purchased this car I wanted to do only "Porsche" performance parts upgrades. I previously had a Dinan 3 that I did everything to it using aftermarket parts and ended up just ruining the car.

What have upgrades have you done to your car?

 

Here's a very thorough write-up done by another member of this forum which explains why with the button in Open (sport) mode, the valves are still sometimes closed. It's because at lower RPM, the engine produces more torque with back-pressure from the exhaust. Once you get into the higher RPM ranges where you're more focused on HP than torque, the valve is reopened for increased flow and thus less restriction - Porsche says the PSE doesn't result in addt'l HP, just a richer sound, but it would seem to me if you have a free flowing intake, and a freer flowing exhaust with the valves open that the engine is "breathing" more efficiently and thus can make more HP, at least a little bit.

Here's his write-up:

Here is the basic operation of the PSE:

The Porsche 911 mufflers have 3 chambers in them . With the PSE , you get an extra exhaust pipe from each muffler ,which exits aready from the first chamber . So in effect,you bypass 2/3 of the mufflers.

Each bypass pipe has a vacuum activated valve in it.
An electric ( 12v ) solenoid valve controls the vacuum flow to the valves.
When the solenoid OPENS , it allows the cars vacuum to CLOSE the PSE valves .
The solenoid valve is normally closed .No power = valve CLOSED .
The PSE valves are normally open.
No vacuum to the valves= valves OPEN .

Per factory setting :
when the PSE is active ( bypass valves open ) at speeds below ~ 50 mph , when the car is aggressively driven , the valves will close and open again, as soon as the accelerator pedal is relaxed etc.
Above 50 mph they stay open , regardless how hard the car is driven.

If your car has Sport Chrono,you have to put the car into the "sport" mode to activate the PSE ( hard suspension and all )

In cars without Sport Chrono, a dedicated PSE switch is added ( it has the dual exhaust pipe symbol on it )

In closing:
as we all know, all normally aspirated engines requires a certain amount of back pressure for increased torque at lower RPM's.
Above ~ 5200 RPM, less backpressure will result in a few extra HP.

Presumably, the standard factory exhaust system is designed as a compromise between the two , as determined by the Porsche engineers who have been designing and perfecting their engines for over 50 years now

The PSE sytem is designed to give us the best of both worlds. Higher torque at lower RPM's and some more HP at the high end ( not to mention the pure Porsche sound )
To my knowledge, no aftermarket system is able to do that .

I leave it up to you to believe the ... "dyno proven " claims of some aftermarket muffler welding guru ( who neglects to mention the equal or more torque losses ).....

My personal opinion is that there probably will be some gains when bypassing 2/3 of the mufflers , even though Porsche makes no such claims ( well , at least as much as claimed by the aftermarket "experts" )
But what do I know . Lol

 

Just ht the 26k mile and notice an extra punch from the exhaust system, seems to be opening up. Really enjoying the Porsche exhaust not, in fact its addicting so will no longer be modiffying the exhaust system. Thank you to all that participated in this post.

 

I'm late to the party here as I just came across this post. Glad you're happy with your car as is. I find they continually grow on you, which is a good reason to defer mods as much as possible.
If you ever reconsider PSE, it doesn't have to be as complicated as the factory install. I've installed factory PSE mufflers with the control solenoid, wiring, and vacuum tubes on 2 of my 997's, and if you're reasonably mechanically proficient, it isn't that difficult provided you are patient. I installed a simple on/off switch in the console ashtray (under the lid), which got around the need to switch to "Sport" mode and eliminated the automatic silencing below certain RPMs. I loved the ability to be louder or quieter when I wanted either. If you're lucky and patient, you can find mufflers, tips, and control hardware in the classifieds, and may cost you around $1200 for all the necessary pieces. My last conversion only cost me around a total of $400 after selling my standard mufflers. The tips alone are over $800 now I believe.

 

I have all the OEM wiring, relay, solenoid and button for a 996. PM if interested.