New 987.2S - catless headers and stock exhaust?

Hi planetarians, question, What do I do with exhaust on the 2nd gen S car, I want to put catless headers from fabspeed with stock mufflers, will this work is one, and two - will it pass Illinois emissions test? ECU will light up probably due to O2 sensors right? Will it correct with a ECU flush? How difficult and expensive is a tune, and is this a good combo to do? If you have experience it would save me a lot of headache and will be much appreciated.

I have Top Gear (company from the UK) Decat headers with the stock cat back on my 987.1 . The increase in power and sound was very noticeable and fit was awesome, I use 02 cheaters like all the other guys to keep the check engine light off. I'm not sure how the IL test is done, if they just plug in the OBD2 connector you should be ok, if its visual depends on the mechanic and shop.... O2 flash like a Softronics or other your looking at $1000 and minimal gains. The headers were still one of the best mods I have done to the car. The quality from Fabspeed is scary from stuff I have seen...Just my opinion. I was going to get the SOUL pieces (which I highly recommend) but the deal I got on these used Top Gear headers was way to good to pass up.

I ran that combination until recently. Can't say anything about power gains as I had a lot of other mods too. Loved the sound, no drone and not too aggressive. However, I was not able to get rid of the CEL even with spacers and mini-cats. YMMV.

I have the Soul long tub catless headers with a smaller 78mm GT3 throttle body and race plenum kit from Softronics as well as Scott's flash. This modification really helps the mid range from 3500-5000 range a lot. I simply do not need to push my engine on the street to the higher HP levels now due to the increased mid range torque. So for those who think the fash is worthless, I have an appreciation for the mapping that Scott does for each application. My instructions were to maximize mid range torque using all the adjustable maps available to him, (This new software flash targets the higher volumetric efficiency of the intake and engine by completely retuning the remaining intake resonance valve, Vario Cam Plus, Ignition, and Fuel delivery maps). First, his tune took car of the CEL's lighting up. Second, I just wish that I have a fuel supplier close by so I could use 98 octane gas and Scott's race fuel advance map rather than the 93 octane one I told him to use. I do use octane booster for my race days, which the engine seems to notice, but I would like to use non ethanol performance gas. Third, I can now feel the vario cam coming on sooner allowing more air/fuel from the cam timing advance to be used mid range and the long tube catless headers and Milltek muffler expelling the spent gas without much resistance. So, this Covid crisis has pushed me to develop my street part of my 987.1 Cayman S by the addition of the Wavetrac ATB LSD and utilizing the Michelin PS4's that are my daily use tires. The Wavetrac allows me to really push the Michelin's way past their normal G's in corners, by changing the thrust distribution to the outside rear wheel. So, both rear tires are putting in their maximum grip. My old set (2 yrs old but not to the wear bars or any stress cracks) of RE71R's are still better pulling G's and have a better turnin quickness than the Michelin's, but for the MPS4's, their comfort, smoothness and more relaxed ride really makes them a daily pleasure. They provide exactly that so my wife will actually ride in my car again.

I invite you to give us a call! We have had 3 987.2 Caymans ranging from almost stock street car to a car that is a track weapon. We built our company around Porsche performance and would be happy to answer all of your questions in full and plan out a mod path for you. This is John Gaydos's direct cell line, [phone removed], and he is always available and willing to help. -Mike

Thank you all for your reply. @Mike , I appreciate the invite, I may revisit this idea in a while and give you a call when I make my mind. Second gen 987, unlike the first gen, has all catalytic converters in the headers, and switching them would make a world of difference. The best way to go is doing intake, throttle body and exhaust at the same time, then do ECU tune. Before doing so much to the car I decided to get used to it, pick up the car finally and start driving. Then, apart from the engine mods, I always dreamed of the right stance on the 987, so coilover is probably in the cards, especially since my friend wants to do the job for me. Still - I'm waiting for the governor of Texas to remove travel restrictions, I do want to drive through the middle of the states with my new ride back to Chicago, then slowly start making some moves.

You're welcome! We've done all the mods you're considering, John would be able to give you feedback on how each mod responded in performance and sound individually. -Mike

We're happy to help with a custom tune for you Cayman as well

I can’t speak to Illinois emissions, but PA state inspection requires that any any emissions devices that shipped with the car remain on the car. (Whether those devices are functional depends on whether you need the emissions sticker.) And that was for the safety inspection - I live in a county that does not require emissions. Do your homework on this one! My 987.2 R is a dedicated track car. (Looking at quotes on a cage at the moment...) I run the BGB race intake > GT3 throttle body > IPD plenum > Soul cat-less headers > Fabspeed Supercup exhaust and a Cobb AccessPort tune. (Chassis mods are a whole other thing.) While it may be a bit of an apples to aardvarks comparison, I ran the current exhaust with OEM headers prior to running cat-less. The difference in volume when pulling the cats was HUGE! (Can’t run without ear plugs now - but I have resonators instead of mufflers. Like I said - apples to aardvarks.) I’ve lucked out and only had one cat-related CEL in the two seasons I’ve run cat-less, and I was able to clear it with an el-cheapo OBD reader. And no, I do not run O2 sensor spacers. Is it the tune? Is it the extreme track abuse? Is it the excessive love and maintenance lavished upon it? Don’t know. Just passing on my experience. For what it’s worth, I’ll be going to Soul next time I need exhaust bits. Those cat-less headers were almost too pretty to bolt on. John at Soul is a good guy to work with, too. (No, I am not affiliated with Soul . I’m just a happily satisfied customer.) Good luck in your mod quest! sean

@brainstatic00 - thanks for your input, R is a good place to be, I can only imagine how it sounds with SOUL pipes

How’s it sound? Just like any angry race car with a flat-6 should. Raw. Loud. Angry. You run the tach through 6700 RPM and the timbre changes - everything starts roaring in a symphony of screaming steel and aluminum. It’s heaven on earth. (Assuming of course you remembered your ear plugs.)

...this description made me smile. It's definitely my type of music, and I totally know what you're talking about. I finally received a green light to pick up my car, flying out on May 29. First I will just saturate my senses with the stock version. It's a beautiful black on black spec on 19 inch Carrera SII wheel and fresh PSS4 tires . I love the pure design of this thing, it is absolute perfection for me. It needs only coilovers and exhaust , but one step at a time.

Has anyone ever tried the old broomstick mod on a Boxster ? (You take your cat off and ram a broomstick through it to change it to a free flowing pipe)

Spec Cayman uses a large drill auger to put a 2 inch hole through the cat.

^both ups - that's nuts! And very funny, broomstick mod. Would love to check results of something like that, it sounds like it could spare a buck if you don't care about resale value and emission testing.

Did you take a look at FVD 200 cell headers ? Made by M&M I think. They also have 3 options for 200 cell headers . Not sure why but FVD is good stuff as well.

I looked at FVD (Rhonda), Soul (Mike and John) and Cargraphic (Colin Cantrell) long tube headers with and without cats. When the State of Washington deleted the DMV requirement of exhaust testing to save money, I checked with my installer, who told me it was up to me. Cantrell Motor Sports, said the catless race headers of all three will produce at least 10 hp more than the catted version, but they will not install those race headers due to the existing DEQ and King County laws. So, I did it. Glad I did and I chose Soul , basically because I could call up John and discuss the details with him as far as creating a system from intake to exhaust . I used John as my source, had a three way conversation with Scott (Softronics) twice, then cut one check to John that included Scott's Plenum/ ECU kit work. John was much easier to work with than Colin. Evoms V Flow air induction kit, Scott's Plenum Race Kit, Soul long tube catless headers , Milltek exhaust and tips. All components worked together great with Scott's management of the 5 different ECU maps, increasing the mid range torque to completely remove the flat spot around 4K rpm. So that hardware boiled down to who I could work with to achieve my stated goals. John and Scott did a great job elevating my motor's output achieving those goals.