Schnell Stainless Steel Performance Exhaust

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171935099499...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I order this a couple weeks ago and today finally had time to install it. Took 3 hours. It is well designed and appears to be a quality product even though it is made in China. The fit and finish are very nice. The pieces went together without any difficulty. The only negative was that the pipes were actually 1" too long where they exited the mufflers and where the tailpipes come together to exit under the bumper. I guess that it is better to have an extra inch that needed to be trimmed (took 2 minutes) than to be an inch short The chrome tips look much better than OEM. I like the radiused tail pieces instead of the OEM T and restricted tip. Sound wise, the engine has a more performance like sound at start up and when pulling away from a stop light. It is probably 1.5 to 2 times louder than the stock exhaust while cruising at any given speed (35, 45, 65 mph). I did not notice any problem hearing the stereo at the same sound level as with the stock exhaust. On the freeway with the cruise control set at 60 mph, I could hear a little more exhaust rumble, but not excessive and no drone. Around town driving, accelerating from stop light to 35 mph with the windows down, there was some drone in the car, but with the windows up it was not an obnoxious sound. Now the very interesting part that may or may not be a deal breaker.... It definitely changed the power band. With the OEM exhaust, the car had a slight lull and definitely lacked torque under 2000 rpm. On normal (for me) acceleration, I would rev the engine up to 4000 to 4800 rpm in each gear then shift. I feel the torque surge at around 4400 rpm, then shift soon after. With this exhaust I immediately noticed an improvement in the under 2000 rpm power (torque). The car definitely pulled away from the line better with less throttle off the line and less clutch slippage required. The slight surge now hits at 3500 rpm. Those are the +++ Now the negative. With the OEM exhaust, in first and second gears at WOT, the engine would race from 5500 to 7000 rpm. I would occasionally hit the rev limiter because the engine was pulling so hard and there was little audible feedback ( I race Formula Fords and I subconsciously listen and react (shift) according to the engine sound and how it is pulling ). With my Cayman, hitting the rev limiter in 1st and 2nd was a frequent occurrence at HPDE events and sometimes when I would accelerate on freeway on ramps. With this exhaust, the engine pulls much harder in the lower rpm range, but it feels like the engine is hitting a wall at around 6500 rpm. I'm not sure if it is a back pressure issue or if it is related to the H pipe design the factory uses on the two mufflers which this exhaust does not have. So the trade off appears to be better performance in the most used rpm range with a loss at the top end. But if that top rpm loss is less than the plus on the bottom and mid range, it may be a good thing; especially since you can definitely feel the torque increase at 3500 rpm. More power at a lower, more useable rpm, with a limit on top end revs will increase engine life, so that may end up being a plus. I'll check my fuel economy after a few days, if it stays the same or goes up, that will be a good indicator of the exhaust flow. If the fuel economy goes down, then I will know the back pressure is the cause of the change in the power curve and I'll reinstall the OEM exhaust. If the fuel economy stays the same or even improves, then that would be a good indicator that this exhaust was designed for more torque as opposed to top end hp.

by the way this not our product....NOT Schnell autosports Lemon

That's weird that it comes in a box with the schnell logo that looks the same as yours but, yes it doesn't say Motorsports. Either way I have this same exhaust with headers with high flow cats and it sounds amazing. No drone and not loud. Just a perfect sport exhaust sound.

I removed the battery cables (per my independant technician's advice) to reset the computer. The engine now revs much better in the upper rpm range. As mentioned in the first post, the increase in the lower rpm range is very noticeable and makes the car much more enjoyable.

That's interesting, they are definitely playing on your name and logo.... I wouldn't have purchased it if your name and logo weren't on it. You should send a cease and desist letter to the eBay vendor(s) marketing these under your name.

I did not say that there is no drone, I mentioned that there is a little at lower speeds, light throttle low rpm's. None on the freeway and it has a nice sound as it revs. Yes, it is mostly welded, that is not a problem since mine went in smoothly and the only issue that I had was the pipes that exit the mufflers were an inch too long each and I had to cut them accordingly. I think that it is a pretty good system for the price (I paid $899 shipped). It was at least 20 lbs lighter than stock. It has a better sound at idle and through out most of the rpm/load range. There is no drone at WOT at all, but a little in the low to mid RPM range when accelerating slowly. I saw those $400 systems. As I mentioned, I bought this based upon their use of the Schnell name and logo. I thought incorrectly that I was buying a name brand product associated with a sponsor here. Comparing it to your "once in a lifetime offer" of a used system is not an accurate comparison and your post seems like you are trolling. I have no experience with your Fabspeed exhaust , so I can't make an intelligent comparison. Since you don't have any first hand experience with the Schnell exhaust , how can you make an intelligent comparison? You can't. Trendy996 is happy with this exhaust on his car. Keep in mind, my post was to tell the good and bad to help other members make an informed decision. There are a lot of threads about "Which xxxx to buy?" I think that if we all tell the good and bad about the aftermarket parts, then manufacturers / resellers will be forced to improve as word travels around the internet fairly quickly. If they don't improve and we all tell the bad with the good, then other people can decide to buy a different brand.

One part of the ad that influenced my decision was I suggest anyone contemplating a new exhaust scroll down and read the entire listing.

Sorry I didn't mean to attribute the "no drone" claim to you. I was addressing claims made in this thread. If you and Trendy like your cat-backs, that's all that matters. If you like having to cut 1" off so it fits - more power to ya. But it seems to me you wouldn't find that out until after you had it mounted, so I think your 2 minute estimate is exaggerated. You removed the system and cut the tips at an angle then polished the SS so it didn't look like a hack-job - right? BTW, I didn't say my purchase was "once in a lifetime" I said "rare". Turns out - just after posting I read this ad by our friend Trendy996 FS Fabspeed Maxflol so it isn't like it's Haley's Comet rare. Off topic but I wonder why he sold the Fabspeed just to buy an off-brand (sorry, Schnell isn't exactly a top-shelf label) for about the same price.

I just have to say - it's not that Fabspeed is über quality either, considering the price (new). Quality is OK and it does fit however not as well as OEM. But again you have to factor in the borderline insane price; it should fit like a glove and be made of "rhodium and myrrh" to borrow a famous quote from an infamous car person. And yes I have a Fabspeed system myself, so no trash talk just for the sake of it - just a reflection. I bought mine used as well. Who in their right mind spends more than 2000 USD for a few pieces of pipe? It's not as is our Porsches have that much of an exhaust system to begin with. Final thought: comparing used vs new prices is not exactly apples vs apples now is it....

I don't know what you mean. My Fabspeed is very good construction quality - certainly much better than OEM. And I haven't checked the price lately for 987s, but it used to be around $1500 for new. UPDATE: WOW - just checked their website - $2,350 + s/h. Things sure change in 4 yrs. BTW, the used ones I bought were indistinguishable from new. The pipes to the header flange had never even been mounted. I think after installing, the previous owner decided he wanted the Race version and since the pipes are the same, kept the original pipes and gave me the new ones.

Update After several weeks of driving with the new exhaust, I have seen a 6% increase in fuel economy. Not a monumentous gain, but it does mean that the new exhaust has improved the engine's pumping efficiency and THAT equates to better performance. If that correlates to a similar increase in torque, then the exhaust does in fact live up to the manufacturer's claims of 13 more ft/lbs of torque and up to 23 more HP. :dance:

Re: Update Thanks for the update Brian C in Az. I love the price and money back guarantee. My main reason to do this mod is the HP/TQ gains and back it would go if it does not meet those. How do you like the sound change (after a couple weeks of usage) from stock? Any drone in any RPM range? Eddie

Re: Update I prefer to buy from a company that has a reputation to uphold or also may have actually done some R&D/dyno time to back up numbers and design. Even if I gotta save my pennies. I would like to see the response you get if you did try to return it or get your money back...

What do you gain by trying to debate how much time it took? I said it took 2 minutes because that is how long it took. Sounds like your just another troll. Not conjecture, read what he wrote. Obviously, he likes the Schnell system better. I don't know what you feel you have to gain by trolling this thread. It's obvious that you have an axe to grind with someone and you are looking the fool by the statements you make.

Re: Update There is one left and the price has increased to ~$1,300. Doh! Eddie

Re: Update Would it be "trolling" to suggest that this Schnell is a better exhaust and a better deal?

Update I have had the exhaust on long enough to say that it was worth the money. We had an HPDE yesterday at Az Motorsports Park. The exhaust easily passed the 94db sound limit. The engine had more power and the car's top speed on each straight was higher than with the stock exhaust. On 2 of the short straights, I was able to get into 5th gear, whereas with the stock exhaust 4th gear was all that the car could muster.

Re: Update I've been eyeing the Schnell exhaust for a few years, but wanted to wait until I got an amazing deal, at $899 it was an great deal but for $799 shipped and with 30 day return policy I had to go for it. I will get it installed at the local shop in 2 weeks. A newer company, Soul Performance looks like an identical copy of the Schnell but at twice the price with a different finish that turns gold with use. Comparing the two on the important factors: Both T304 stainless steel Both mandrel bends Both use the same size mufflers with the little pipe in the side to eliminate drone Both use a X pipe after the mufflers into the tips Soul provides a lifetime warranty Soul has a matte finish with laser etching Schnell has a polished finish Soul has an extra gusset/bracket muffler to mid-pipe You would need to consider how much the warranty is worth on some metal pipes and mufflers, but i feel for $799 I could go buy another system if this one failed and still be up $400, but it seems no one has reported such a failure. Schnell exhaust: Soul performance exhaust: I tend to believe the Schnell power numbers since the Boost Brother's Garage Cayman S videos dyno'd the Soul version, but with catless Soul headers, and did see a ~25-30hp increase. The low end torque and no drone is really what i'm looking for so hopefully this was money well spent!

Re: Update Just a quick thought on all this...........under the heading of 'for what it is worth........' The logo for the 'SCHNELL' for the exahust referenced by the OP is considerably different than our member/sponsor Schnell. The logo is yellow, italic style font and does not look like our member's. I found this simply by clicking on full item description.

Vertex Auto out of Miami is the dealer for the Schnell exhaust . They have full page ads in PCA’s Panorama magazine for fully rebuilt M96 and M97 engines with the proper mods to fix all the failings these engines have. Iit’s not like it’s coming right from China at least someone reputable is putting their reputation behind it. Lets face it everything is made in China it’s just how much markup you want to pay to the middle man.

Thanks for mentioning our 987.1 exhaust and its perks! We understand that some may think that it's the same - as after perusing Schnell's website we see some identical products also sold by other sponsors on this forum - but I want expound a bit upon differences that make our system what it is. We’ve been in the industry for some time and decided to form SOUL so that we could achieve a several objectives, which you can boil down to this: Outstanding customer service Lifetime Warranty that sides with customers Products in Stock – no waiting, no down time Components designed to achieve the promises made and market them honestly and accurately We operate very lean. We are partnered with several aerospace manufacturers which make some of our components to our exact specs. Instead of taking the course of filling our facility with machinery off the bat, we want professionals with the highest standards and highest quality equipment available to the industry making our parts to the highest possible level of precision. Our engineers design what is needed, and then we have the parts made. This is how we produce our mandrel bends, water jet cut flanges, laser cut brackets, and more. The downside to this is it can extend R&D times, but the end result as the customer receives it is the important aspect. As our company grows we plan to expand into more advanced methods such as milling components out of aluminum, 3D metal printing, and carbon fiber molding – always coming up with ways to make better and better components. We are big on investing our profits directly back into the products. We are coming up on almost one year in business and we’ve made some pretty large strides already, we are looking forward to continuing to offer more and more products. We’ve gone through a wide gamut of tests with different components and companies from all areas of the world. We selected a premiere facility in Taiwan to build the majority of our 987.1 exhaust to ensure consistent quality and fair pricing (which lets us offer it to you at such a great price and back it with a Lifetime Warranty). Looking at the product overall, we saw it as a great starting point for our 987.1 exhaust offering and we optimized it from there. It's actually possibly our best selling system. We tested several variants until we were happy with a prototype and our system does differ. - We weld the the exhaust flanges completely to prevent cracking - this is a major point of failure that we have seen on other systems time and time again so we're eliminating that chance. - While the mufflers look similar - the internals are different. We're using premium packing materials and more of them to ensure a refined exhaust note as the overwhelming majority of owners pair the exhaust with catless headers. Our embossed logo muffler casings are representative of our quality product. - We include new, high quality hardware as the OEM hardware is usually well rusted or seized at this point in the life of the vehicle. - It's worth noting that any T304L system will turn gold in time. - We evaluate every single weld on each exhaust and ensure they meet our standards. The finishing process can make any imperfection more obvious as well - pinholes in welds are revealed. This process also cleans the welds. These systems can come from the factory fully polished by a chemical process. If someone receiving them second hand were to do any touching up, they would have to polish the newly welded areas by hand. - Lifetime warranty which even covers track use! We side with you, really. We got tired (no pun intended) of losing sleep along with our customers who were experiencing issues with our previous employers so we vowed that our customer service would be outstanding and unwavering. You could always replace a broken cheaper exhaust with another, but that's downtime and time under the car that most would rather not experience. - More tip options with customization available. Want your own logo applied? No problem! At the end of the day some people choose different products for different reason - price, sound, customer service, quality, tone - and we do our best to balance all of the factors to be fair to the customer, deliver a premium experience, and grow our company so we can continue to raise the bar. Thanks for reading! -Mike S

Yesterday I installed the Schnell exhaust and was blown away with the quality of the $799 system. I also see that they improved the design so it has a brace gusset / brace identical to the Soul verison, now includes a exhaust gasket, and zero fitment problems, no sawing off 1 inch of pipe like someone stated, I think that was an install error as I too thought that was necessary, I'll post why you don't have to do that in the install thread. If the pics below look any diferent than the original posters Schnell exhaust system, let us know I am going to unplug the battery and run it for 1000 miles for the sound to finalize and give the ECU time to adjust to the added flow. Great affordable kit, great welds and the mirror chrome polish looks fantastic. Some teaser pics until the upcoming dedicated install and review thread.

The issue that required me to trim an inch was due to the manufacturer not the installer. Everything was test fitted and nothing was tightened until all the pieces were in their proper place and everything was symmetrical. The spacing gap between the exhaust outlet and the body was uniform. The importer may have communicated to the manufacturer the issues that I had and they may have made changes to the tube lengths and or bends. There was a period of several months when the importer was sold out and when the new batch arrived. Other than having to trim one part, the quality of the product was excellent. No bad welds, the stainless has a nice gold hue where the exhaust has reached a high temp, most of it is still polish stainless colored though. The kit came with all necessary mount hardware. The OEM hardware would not work due to a difference in mount brackets. The hardware was very good quality. I have had no issues. I have removed and reinstalled the exhaust 3 times to facilitate access for other work on the car. It has come off and gone back on without a hitch . I have since replaced the OEM manifolds with long tube catless headers . I get a lot of compliments at the track regarding the sound. The exhaust does change the exhaust flow and improves the torque. Verified by track speed and higher rpm on a given section of track compared to the car's speed and rpm with the oem exhaust on that particular track. It's a good value for under a grand. I think the other brands that are asking double or triple that are just gouging the Porsche snobs and suckers that HAVE to have a labeled product for their cars.