European Racing Headers (987.2 install, 2-month review, dyno results)

I recently had a pair of Joel Godfredson’s brand new catless, long-tube European Racing Headers installed on my 50,000-mile-old 987.2 Cayman at PCS Motorsports here in Colorado Springs, CO. Joel is currently the President of our local PCA chapter and a friend of mine. He asked if he could put these headers on my car for fitment check, dynamometer runs and my evaluation. I live at 6,200 feet above sea level and can only get 91 octane fuel, which is what the car was running at the time of the dynamometer test. I have a factory Porsche Sport Exhaust and run Softronic software with Sport Mode enabled. POWER Travis Smith at PCS Motorsports did before and after dynamometer tests with and without my Softronic software installed, with and without the Headers. Here are those results. Stock software, with and without European Racing Headers, great improvement Softronic software, with and without European Racing Headers, even better improvement. As you can see, particularly with the Softronic software, mid-range torque and power was significantly improved. The torque curve is much flatter. The power stays longer into 7,000 rpm. This Cayman is my daily driver and i have spent about two months with it so far. I am very impressed with the mid-range torque and with the outright top end power. We all know it’s hard to make power with a normally aspirated engine these days, but these headers really make a difference. I find myself shifting less with due to the greatly improved mid-range. Sound Remember that I have the factory PSE exhaust. With the PSE valves closed, and running below full throttle, these headers sound about like the stock headers. Maybe slightly deeper, but not much noticeable difference from stock. However, even with the valves closed, at WOT, with sport mode engaged, above about 4,500 rpm, the car starts to sing a grizzly bear song. A lovely sound in my opinion. With the PSE valves closed, there is no drone, not on the highway, not anywhere. Now, with the valves open, this thing makes some noise. Still no drone on the highway, but it is loud all the time. I keep the valves closed in neighborhoods, and open it occasionally on busy streets and the highway. Looking forward to hearing it at our local tracks. Fitment and Construction I was not present for the installation, but Travis says the headers went on nicely. Nothing needed to be filed or trimmed. He did put on a O2 sensor extension on each rear O2 sensor, so it would not throw codes using the stock software. Even with the extensions, running stock software, it would occasionally throw Cat codes. This isn't necessary with the Softronic software if you request the Cat code delete. The headers are made of mild steel, and thus are significantly less expensive than other manufacturer’s headers. The ones on my car are just painted. Here are some under car photos of the headers as they are installed. Drivers' side Passenger's side Smell These headers have not catalytic converters, and occasionally, when parked in an enclosed area like a garage, when standing outside the car, the exhaust smells worse that stock. My wife noticed this too. Overall I am very impressed with how much power these things make, and for such a reasonable price. You can find more information at Joel's GT-Racing website .

Congrats!!! I have Fabspeed race headers (short runners) and sound the car makes with them is intoxicating :banana: https://youtu.be/fJ9IND4B8lk https://youtu.be/js8GV0-Y7kE Looking at your plots now i understand why 3500-4000 range feels so much gutsier compared to stock...

I like the sound too, and am so happy they boost the area where I drive all the time. Mine is a daily driver in addition to track car. I'm much more interested in mid range than top end, but these, and I'm sure the Fabspeeds, yield both benefits. I see you have a similar setup as me. In particular the PSE . I'm wondering if you have this same 'feature' as I do with these headers : When I have the PSE OFF, valves closed, when I rev the car over say, 4,000 rpm, with the throttle most or all the way open, the car wails like I had PSE ON. Sounds like a valve is opening, but maybe it is the intake manifold changing the tune dramatically. Do you get this too?

yes, i get this too. not 100% as PSE open but pretty close to that. my guess is that exhaust gas pressure gets so high that it pushes PSE valves open. BTW i also have BC Velocity exhaust tips - they also brought a little boost in performance and sound. i had them before the headers .