SpeedART Exhaust Install

Well, today was the day. This morning I got in the cayman and took her out for a warm up and then headed over to get the dyno. They did three pulls on the Mustang Dyno. Then I went across town to get the new exhaust installed. I have been itching to get an exhaust but couldn't decide whether to get an entire power kit or just the rear end. Finally decided to just put on the exhaust and maybe upgrade to new headers, cats, filter, and ecu down the road a bit. After I got to the shop we removed the stock exhaust and laid out the pretty new exhaust. The SpeedART exhuast looks very simple compared to many of the aftermarket exhausts available now. One big can with the tips and two pipes that come off the first set of cats. Since it is so simple I wondered if it would live up to what my expectations were. The install went very quick. It fit in like a glove, everything lined up nearly perfectly. After some very minor tweaks...and i mean minor, it was all in. We took it around for a test spin and then it was back to the dyno. Three more pulls and I had the results, So....you are wondering...how does it sound?...how much more hp/torque? ......I will be posting an article with all of the dyno charts and complete pics with details on the install, and audio/video clips of the pre and post exhaust. For those of you that cant wait though....the sound is just what i was looking for...its kindof like a goldilocks exhaust...not to loud, not to soft,....its just right (for me anyway). and power...yes....there is hp to be gained,...and torque too! Im not gonna give away any numbers yet, but its well in line with some of the other ones that have already been reviewed. Of course with an exhaust it needs a little time to mature and i only have about 50 miles on it. so this weekend I will be zipping around getting all the stinky smell out of it and breaking her in. Here are a few teaser pics for you....

Red Rocket, How do you like the car with the standard wheels back on? [Maybe I missed this?]

ehhh...its ok. The ride is less rigid and more forgiving, but im not crazy about the way they look. Just on for the fall and winter. Next spring ill be rollin on 19's or 20's again. Probably get a mesh wheel, I'm selling my current set of RH RAU 20's.

Looks sweet, can't wait to see the plots. and hear a clip dw

Those wheels look the best to me that you have had on the "Rocket".

RR - Your SpeedART exhaust looks VERY clean in its design… can’t wait for the numbers. zornet

SF i forgot you are partial to the "stockies" (OEM 18's) ...they're ok... Thanks zornet...as soon as i get the jpg.'s from the dyno shop ill post them.

awesome! did you get a chance to weight the SpeedArt vs OEM? how much?

no, not on a scale, but when picking up the stock exhaust vs. the SpeedART kit there was a very noticeable difference. Not sure if that really makes a performance difference.

rocket, nice. i love those tips.

I really like the stock 18's. I do love one of the styles of 19's but didn't want to trade away ride quality as I did not option for PASM.

If I am not mistaken, the speedart main muffler is actually a 986 Boxster part that has been repurposed by welding elbows to the ends. I don't mean that as a positive or a negative, only that I've seen that muffler before, in fact I think I still have one in storage somewhere. Look familiar? That's the 986 Porsche Sports Exhaust, which is simply a modified normal 986 muffler with pipes coming out differently with flaps, etc. It is pretty obvious the Speedart piece is old stock 986 exhaust components that have the 986 mounting brackets removed and elbows welded on as opposed to being clamped.

Ken...you are partially correct. I was going to wait until the article to bring this up, but maybe its best to bring this up now. I would like to point out that I am unfamiliar with the 986 exhuast in your photo, but the SpeedART exhausts I compared were not modified old stock components. These exhausts were new and fabricated by SpeedART. There is a resemblence to the photo you have and it may be for several reasons. The one that makes the most sense to me is that Porsche designed their exhaust to fit the space well. SpeedART has taken that can design and modified it to increase power and change the sound. Makes more sense to me than starting from scratch. Is it familiar...i guess, is that good or bad?....well, I dont know. The current boxster and cayman SpeedART exhaust are very similar, virtually identical from the outside. The only difference that we could find are the flanges that have been modified in 3 places to create the fit necessary for the cayman. So...what does this mean. Well, it may mean that many aftermarket exhausts that fits on a new boxster...also may fit the cayman, and vice-versa. And i thought i would be the first one to bring this to light...ah well . It really shouldnt come as much of a surprise though...The cars are very similar in many ways and share some identical parts as we all know. As an aside, we only looked at the outward appearance of the exhausts. The cans were not taken apart and I am unaware of any internal modifications between the two. They may or may not exist. Also, the diameter of the pipes as of this post, i think are the same, but i will be looking into that. Obviously SpeedART has made no quams about making the similarities obvious. As for other exhaust manufacturers...I am not so sure, since I havent looked at the difference between cayman and boxster offerings. It will be interesting to find out though...especially if manufactuerers are charging a difference in cost. SpeedART makes several exhausts and power kits for the cayman and boxster. The catback exhausts are different than the power kit exhausts with headers, cats, etc. in the diameter of the pipes. I will have more info on this in my article. SpeedART also offers an export only exhaust with more "grunt"...louder. Because of the strict regulations on aftermarket exhuasts in parts of europe it is only available through the U.S. distributer. Below are a few pictures I took on the day of the install showing these areas in the flange on the cayman and boxster cans. As stated, the cayman exhuast has been modified to create the ideal fit. FWIW, the cayman and boxster exhausts and pipes do have identification plates denoting whether it is for cayman or boxster. BOXSTER EXHAUST CAYMAN EXHAUST BOTH EXHUASTS SIDE BY SIDE Stay tuned.....more to come...(the hp/torque numbers, and the sound files!)

SpeedART exhaust video finished I just got the audio/video file of the stock and SpeedART exhaust loaded on the server. For those of you interested in hearing a comparison of the two follow this link... http://www.planet-9.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=69

I just listened to the comparison between the stock and the SeedArt exhaust and it's deffinetly an improvement (to my ears at least ) I'm very curious of the price and if there are any bhp gains.

i will probably be posting the hp and torque gains here soon. I am working on an article but want to give the exhaust a little time to break in so i can be more objective about it.

RedRocket, Good job! Very nice comparison. Like F1, I'm also intrigued about the hp gains and the cost. Still not clear to me which way to go. I'm waiting until the spring with the hope that there will be more info on the many options. Thanks, MJB PS - Nice color!

I found this on Speedart.de, looks and sounds great http://www.speedart.de/fileadmin/speedART/media/Cayman_S_04.09.06_2.wmv

I think it sounds great too, from outside anyway... But that video is actually of the power kit which has a different tune than the cat back exhaust which i installed. The power kit has more "BrapBrap" and is louder than mine due to the addition of the headers and larger diameter pipes.

Nice video man. Very effective A/B comparison. On the similarities to the 986 exhaust, I wonder if maybe the SpeedArt exhaust is made by DANSK, the company that makes the OE exhaust. I don't know much about either company, but this is entirely possible. That wouldn't be a bad thing. In fact, in my opinion that would be a good thing. OE quality with 'off road only' sound and performance. Can't wait to read your article.

ok...i got the numbers now...stock is 41lbs and speedart is 28lbs.

Looking forward to the dyno results.

RedRocket, Do you have any vibration or additional unwanted noise as a result of the new exhaust?

K-Man S, That Boxster Sport Exhaust you have there, can you provide a more detailed picture of the 'sport bypass'? From that picture, it looks like the vacuum solenoids are completely bypassing the muffler. Could that be? If so, wouldn't that be loud as heck? Thanks, Mike

right now...just a tiny bit of vibration from a rub somewhere. shouldnt be hard to fix though. The speedART exhaust fits in nice and tight so i expected to find a place or two. Just needs a little tweak. I am giving the exhaust about a week to mature and myself enough time to drive in different situations so I can be more accurate and objective with the article. So far though...im loving it. A day ago I drove behind my wife in her SUV while she drove the cayman, and the sound generated by the new exhaust was intoxicating. For those of you who dont want to download the video i posted, you can go to youtube and watch it without waiting.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaJhO7eUCQk

Best sounding A/M exhaust I've heard to date. Easily... Very nice! Not too loud and a GREAT sound. Paul

Strosek Power kit Hello guys: I like the sound of the SpeedART Muffler!!! I am getting my new Cayman S in Jan 07, I am looing for body package and powder kit. Have anyone know of Strosek? How is performed? Urgent to know! Thanks!

ok...the article is finished and posted in the articles section under performance modifications. dyno results and charts are in the article too. http://www.planet-9.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=85&cat=4

Great Job!!! Thanks!

Great service to the Cayman club - thanks for taking time to write the article !!! I must admit I love looking at high quality pictures of the car from the underneath

It looks and sounds great. Congratulations on a good move.