Soul Performance Products 987.2 Sport Headers installed on a 2010 Cayman Base

Those of us who drive 987.2 Caymans and Boxsters know that these cars are way too quiet and lack some of that growl that Porsches are known for. So it has been a goal of mine to try and address this shortcoming in my 2010 Cayman Base. I initially upgraded the catback exhaust with Carnewal GT modded Cayman R mufflers (by Cantrell). There was improvement in sound as a result but not as much as I was hoping for. I even contacted Gert Carnewal himself who advised to upgrade the tailpipe with a double T type, which I did, but again I was somewhat disappointed with the soundtrack. Upon discovering that 987.2 headers were a serious bottleneck to exhaust flow due to less than optimal design and having two cats in each manifold, I decided to replace them with something better. After much research and deliberation, I settled on Soul Long Tube Street Headers . The reasons I chose them are: a) High flow HJS 200-cell cats = proven performance and quality and no CEL b) Lifetime warranty (which covers track use too!) c) Excellent customer service - all my questions were answered promptly. Not too mention good feedback from other drivers and these headers look so damn good! I believe they are ceramic coated as well. Installation went smoothly without issues with any of the bolts, which was my main concern. Instructions provided are excellent with clear photos showing each step. I had a mechanic do the work while I watched. While the job is a good candidate for DYI, I would not recommend it unless you have access to a hoist. Here is a clip showing a cold start and some revving. Does it sound good? You be the judge. I am planning to take more videos soon and will be adding them to this post ... I haven't done much driving since the install. But my initial impressions are good, car seems to pull better especially at higher RPM. Cheers!

Other 987.2 videos I have watch with headers all sound raspy. The cold start sounds great. I wonder if the cabin noise will become overly intrusive after a while. Appreciate an update after you've driven it for a month or more. I wasn't aware the 987.2 had dual cats on each side. I know the 987.1 does. Looking forward to your videos.

The factory exhaust design difference between 987.1 and 987.2 is that the former has one cat in each header and one in each muffler, while the latter has two in each header and none in the mufflers. Since the upgrade I've only driven the car on city roads and the cabin sound has been great. Less of a vacuum cleaner noise and more of a Porsche wail. I definitely feel the car is more eager to accelerate.

Nice post and of particularly timely interest to me. I have a 2012 Cayman R on which I had Cantrell in Seattle do Geert's GT exhaust mod back in January 2012, shortly after I had taken delivery of the car (there's a before and after video on YouTube - search for " Cayman R GT exhaust ") - the sound in the clip is similar to what your's sounds like, but I still have the factory headers which, on the R, are different from those on the Cayman S . Nonetheless, I'm very tempted by those Soul Performance headers not least for the HJS 200 cell cats....as I have an IPD Competition Plenum and GT3 throttle body waiting for the snow to melt and temperatures to rise so they can be installed.

Thank you again for choosing us and making this thread! Glad you are happy! I'm tempted to chat with you, answer any questions that you may have, and offer you Planet 9 pricing. -Mike S

Well, I'm a day away from placing my order for a set of Soul Performance LTSH's - my initial inclination was to go for Carnewal 's Sport Manifolds (modified OEM manifolds with 200 cell HJS cats) but shipping costs to return my manifolds and recover the core charge eroded the value of that option - at the suggestion of another member, I contacted Soul Performance. I would expect to pick up my headers at my U.S. mail drop in a week or two then wait for snow to melt. The full deal installation that will follow will combine an IPD Competition plenum, GT3 throttle body , Soul Performance Long Street Headers , and Carnewal GT Exhaust . Now if the snow could just melt....

Singletrack, you won't regret it! The R in your Cayman R will stand for Rocket after these mods! I too am waiting for warmer weather. While there is no snow on the ground in Toronto currently, the temperature is around freezing mark. I've been driving my Cayman regularly, however can't work on it as its too damn cold in the garage. I have a couple things on the list, like bleeding brakes, replacing rotors and installing a new front spoiler.

Here's of course, it's more than warmer weather....four more days until my summer tires are legal on Québec roads again, then I need 7°C or warmer to have at least a little adhesion. One of the other issues I had with the Carnewal exchange is that my car has rarely seen rain, and been snowed on only once (the day I cleared it through Canada Customs) so my undercarriage is pretty much as tidy as the day I took delivery of the car. January 2017 - Montréal/Dorval Sufferance warehouse - picking up the Exocet after clearing customs - I'd shipped the car in a closed carrier from AZ, but it endured two days and freezing rain in a razor wire fenced enclosure until I paid the (substantial) duties and taxes. Then it had to be transported 100km to my home.

Might I suggest a Softronic tune , to realize the power gains from all of the hardware mods? Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I'm so excited! My headers have shipped from Soul Performance and will arrive at my New York state mail drop tomorrow. These guys really are true to their word. Stuff is in stock and ships fast. Planning to make the trip on Monday for my 10 minute visit to the U.S. and bring those babies back....now a word to the weather gods....you can start melting this stuff any time you're ready....

interesting video taking a look at the options and install, test drive....

Caught a bit of luck this morning. I went to my local Porsche /Ferrari/Maserati/Lambo guy to book an appointment for early April - he's got about 80 high end cars in his underground garage and spring means he's incredibly busy getting those serviced and out. Well, he had an opening today because it was so cold (-11°C) and asked if I could get my car in. Drove the Macan home, pulled the cover off the Cayman , went online to take my registration out of storage status and called the insurance company to let them know. Car is now in his shop and should be ready sometime on Friday. Can't wait! :banana:

Cheers! Can't wait to get your feedback! -Mike S

I will certainly let you know. My guy looked at the headers and frowned before telling me (in French) that "these things are always a pain to fit..." - so we'll see what he says after he's installed yours. He did go on to mumble something about "you guys and your plenums...." also, so don't feel singled out. ;-)

All the bits are installed now and so far, no CEL's. As I said, the headers went on without any issues at all. The IPD plenum and GT3 TB were more challenging, but they got those bits installed also...eventually. Thankfully, my guys are "only" $82 CAD an hour.... So.....I've only driven it very carefully the 20 kilometres back to my home - at an outside temperature of 0°C (32°F) my big wide summer tires , particularly on the rear, were not particularly grippy. So I have not yet had the opportunity to give the car the "spirited" driving needed to allow the ECU to adapt. However, the sound is amazing. I will provide video, but it's going to be a couple of weeks at least. The car is certainly louder and from what I've heard with the window down, more throaty, raspier (Etymologists in the room...back off!) and some popping on engine braking. As to any improvement in performance, that will at least require the ECU adaptation to occur and perhaps a tune is in order. I did send a message to Softronic a few days ago, but have not heard back. To recap - My Cayman R now has an IPD Competition Plenum, GT3 TB, Soul Performance Long Tube Street Headers and a Carnewal GT Exhaust . Pretty much a variation on the theme olegd has on his Cayman S . Who knows, maybe this summer we'll meet up in Kingston or something, scare dogs and small children to the delight of petrol heads everywhere. :cheers:

I am glad it worked out! You should definitely feel more power without ECU tuning. I never touched the ECU in my car and I am not planning to. Since you were driving gently, you probably didn't get into the higher RPM necessary to feel the extra power from your mods. Indeed the sound, especially at higher RPM is great. I can't help but stay on the gas a little too long, and next thing I know I am way over the speed limit "Who knows, maybe this summer we'll meet up in Kingston or something, scare dogs and small children to the delight of petrol heads everywhere. " - Lol, Yes, I'd like that! You are also welcome to come to Mosport. It's an amazing place to drive the Caymans !

Finally got the car out for a drive longer than 8 km. This time I took a drive toward Montreal for lunch just outside the city with my wife. Her assessment? "I hate this car. It's too loud". I consider that an endorsement. The combination of the Soul Performance Long Tube Street headers and GT Exhaust is amazing in terms of sound. Add to this the IPD Competition Plenum and GT3 TB and the car feel like it's in Sport Mode when it's in "normal" mode. Hmmm....starting to wonder what Sport Plus will feel like now. The exhaust is throaty, with burbles and pops on downshifts. The throttle feels more responsive (like I said, feels like it's in sport mode) but I admit I'm still holding back. This time of year, there is still a small amount of grit on the roads, even if they are dry, and I'll easily spin between gears if I accelerate too hard. The 120 km of today's run should have completed the adaptation of the ECU to the new induction components and the throttle body. I had been cautioned by a representative of an ECU tuning sponsor of this site that I would very likely get a CEL from the plenum and end up having my car fall into limp mode earning me a tow home. Did not happen. The sound of my Carnewal GT Exhaust would certainly turn heads when I drove by....the new exhaust is everything that was turned up to 11. The exhaust note seems to be saying "Are we at the track yet?". Okay....so I am going to need a sound clip. I still want a bit more miles on the engine and then I'll have something to post. Suffice it to say, I am extremely pleased with the results of the whole suite of modifications now put together on my car.....not least those Soul Performance headers . The headers really seem to pay out the dividend promised in the plenum and TB installation. Drone? I can't tell - it's a Cayman R. Between tire noise and road noise you don't hear much in there at speed. I did not discern anything unpleasant.... Power? No, I'm not going to have the car dyno'd - it's probably faster, but I fail to see how having a piece of paper makes any difference if you lack the skills to exploit it at the track. I don't have those skills....I'm still in (HPDE) school. Bottom line? A car I have always absolutely loved just feels and sounds better than it did before. That works for me.

Here's a sound bite from today's Rennsport Ground School outside Montreal. More to come as the weather improves. In this video I was struggling with some wheel spin as I accelerated for a threshold braking exercise. Car sounds pretty good. Later through, in the afternoon, the weather dried up and we got on the track. The sound is incredible.

Rehashing this thread. Any long term updates on the Soul 200 cell headers ? Sound, power, drone, CEL etc? Still running them or? Thanks

I am still running them and still enjoying my car! There is a bit of drone around 2200 rpm but I am quite used to it. I had a stage 2 tune done after installing the headers as I did get the CEL. The tune made a positive impact on performance and you really need it to take full advantage of exhaust mods.

Thank you for the detailed review & discussion. I’m in a similar position: 987.2 2.9L manual with Carnewal GT mod + Softronics Stage 1 tune. I remain disappointed with the sound. 981GTS is my benchmark and I’m not even close, so I’m looking at long tube headers and choosing between Soul Street Headers and FVD Sport Headers . Pricing is on par so I’m wondering if you also considered Soul vs FVD? Did the Soul headers change the sound quality to any significant degree, or just the volume? Also, are the pops & crackles strong or weak?

Soul headers definitely improved the sound and made it louder. There aren’t any pops and crackles that I can hear. I am still enjoying the car and the sound especially at higher revs! In terms of Soul vs FVD, I didn’t look into FVD mostly because they were about $1000 more expensive. Also, the warranty on Soul (which covers driving on track as well) was a big selling point for me. The people at Soul stand behind their product 100% and they treat customers right.

What surprises me is that soul catted headers for the 987.2 produces very little HP. I would have thought going from 4 restricted cats to 2 high flow cats there would be a bigger gain Their website suggest pairing the headers with their exhaust for a 8 whp gain. That gets a bit pricey for only 8 whp. Soul makes good products and has great customer service. If sound is your priority you can't go wrong.

Thank you for considering us! With us you get a lifetime of support for both street and track use, and we're always here to help. Our welds are back purged for strength and durability. I'm also able to get you photos of your headers being made. We always reward those who support a forum sponsor and we can help you with Planet9 pricing. You can expect a more succinctly mechanical engine note with more flat six tone. You will experience slightly more volume from the pops and crackles, Scott at Softronic can even add more if you prefer. Cheers and thank you for your support! Thank you for the kind words! Keep in mind that is a third party dyno chart on a car with no other modifications and no time for the ECU to learn. Our reported gains can tend to average on the lower end as we're using real world numbers reported from shops and customers and not off an in-house dyno with higher performing runs favored - when provided multiple runs we choose the average of the runs. Don't take that as a shot at other manufacturers, rather we want there to be no surprises when you test our products on your own car. Your gains will likely be greater over time as the car adapts to the modifications or you'll extract more from the increased efficiency when paired with a tune. Power aside, you'll notice an increase in throttle response due to the better flow in the system. -Mike

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Very helpful.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to chat with us! John Gaydos here has a 987.2 Cayman R and has had a range of exhaust options on his car - if you need advice he's always available. -Mike

Some action with a similar setup

You;re on 200 cell sports headers with stock mufflers?