Porsche Sport Exhaust

I am interested to know how many of those on this forum have or have ordered the Porsche Sport Exhaust. Mine sounds fabulous after 4000 miles, despite the programmed cutout between 25 and 45 mph. I recommend it highly to anyone ordering a 996. It is worth the extra $2400. None of the C4S's that I have seen for sale in the aftermarket have it. It has not been promoted by Porsche for reasons that are not clear to me. No apparent hp/torque gain, but the sound makes up for it.

I have it on my 99 Carrera without the control stuff. It defaults to open all the time. IMHO this is the way Porsche's are supposed to sound!

I have a C4S arriving any day now (June 12 build) I have a Porsche sports exhaust waiting at the dealer. As of today Porsche has not supplied the control systems as it is different for the 3.6L Apparently they have to reprogram/engineer the control. I am thinking of installing it in the default "open all the time" position. When the control unit arrives it is about 6-8 hours install as they have to run vacumn lines etc. My guy is going to install a 3 way switch, loud all the time, quiet all the time and the factory setting (loud 0-25,45 and up). The stock 3.6L is louder then the 3.4L due to a different design and a quieter timing chain and the 02 sports exhaust is very loud, very Porsche.

I have the sport exhaust on my 02 C4S (factory installed). Hindsight 20/20 and all, I wouldn't have the car configured any other way. Also, I just had the sport exhaust dual-oval tips installed - which I think is a sportier look than the oval/flat bottom tips which come standard on the C4S. A quick anecdote re: the sport exhaust - I had my car at the dealer last week to have the rear console painted and aforementioned exhaust tips installed. I was yapping with the service manager just inside the service bay area when the porter fired up my car to bring it around for me. There were several other customers within earshot of the service area including one guy who was taking delivery of a new 02 C2 (sans sport exhaust). His head snapped around along with everyone else when my car was started and then backed through the service area and I heard him say to his salesman, "****, what was that". He and a couple other patrons walked over to us and my car as it sat idling and the service manager did a quick "this-and-that" explanation of the sport exhaust system for the onlookers. As everyone else simply shook their heads affirmatively at the suggestion that this is how a Porsche should sound, the new C2 owner went a step farther and said "How soon can you get this installed in mine?" I was told he purchased it on the spot. It's moments like this that assist me in my day-to-day rationalization for spending 100 large on an automobile.

T Hendricks, How did you get it factory installed? What was the option number and list price? My dealer told me it was only available dealer installed which is a real ripoff.

[quote]Originally posted by cooper996: <strong>How did you get it factory installed? What was the option number and list price? My dealer told me it was only available dealer installed which is a real ripoff.</strong><hr></blockquote> It is option XLF and priced at US$2400 or CDN$3300.

Thanks, Viken. Coop - I think I mentioned this in a post back in March, but, I had not originally selected the sport exhaust option when I ordered the car. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived so equipped. Based on prior negotiations, I had already prepared myself to pay MSRP less $1,000 for the car, but when I saw that the exhaust option was $2,400 retail, I hemmed and hawed just enough to receive an additional $1,000 concession (in recognition of the fact that I really hadn't configured the car the way it arrived). It is probably important to note that I negotiated the addition of aluminum gauges, aluminum shifter and e-brake, RUF pedals and painted console at the time of taking delivery - which certainly helped my cause in receiving the sport exhaust discount.

thanks T, My dealer still syas it was not an option on 02 C4S's, but is available as an XLF on 03 models. I'm trying to get him to sell me it dealer installed for the factory option price. I paid list so I feel he should bend a little. Thanks again.

Coop I probably should have specified in my orignal post on this subject that mine was installed on my January production '02 C4S at the factory. apparently the car was ordered by a PCNA zone rep and was allocated to the dealer for reasons that were not explained to me. The dealer new nothing about the technical specifications and still may not, although I have not had occassion to talk to a tech, as the car has been flawless since delivery. When the sales person started the car on the showroom floor I was sold, having seen it for the first time about 15 minutes earlier. I bought it on the spot.

I installed the PSE on my car without the bypass control and the more I drive it, the more I love the sound. Has anyone else noticed that the sound character of the exhaust when the system is "cold" is different than when "hot"? For example when I start the car cold there is a real bark from the exhaust, but it's more mellow if I restart after the system heats up. I wonder if the springs holding the bypass valves open have a bit less tension when the exhaust is up to temp than they do when it's cold? Whatever the reason, the sound is great either way!

Let's hear it. Anyone have a recorder who can post a Mp3 or wav. file?

Go here to here PSE vs Fabs vs Gemballa vs stock '02: <a href="http://www.paulto.com/porsche-exhaust-sounds.html" target="_blank">http://www.paulto.com/porsche-exhaust-sounds.html</a>

Most of this thread is directed to Sport exhaust as a dealer option, but to those of you who for whatever reason, didn't go with the option, I installed the porsche factory sport exhaust, a few weeks ago on my "01 Cab". and love it. Carnewal.com has them for less than $1700 including shipping. Installing the system yourself is no problem if you are not interested in the bypass. BTW Gert "Carnewal" said 01 Sport exhaust is not available and suggested the "02" SE.. good advice... sounds better,, has a larger bypass pipe. <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />

Before spending large $$ on Porsche's sport exhaust, look at the Fabspeed. Less $$ and sounds terrific. Easier installation as well.

Mike in CA There is no question that the bark from the PSE on a cold start is sharper than on warm/hot starts. If I could easily bypass the PSM control that is actived between 25 and 45 mph, I would so it, as much of our driving is done in that speed range and the sound of the open exhaust is very communicative.

AndrewP, Do you want to bypass it all the time or switch it? There are several ways to do this.

Here's an excerpt from a guy who has heard the OEM sport exhaust, Fabspeed, Gemballa, and stock '02 c2 and stock '02 C4S. He may ven be on this board!! These cars were all assembled at one spot, and they compared idling and acceleration sounds from 1st though 2nd. This was just a bunch of owners who got together to compare, so take it for what it's worth. "If you have a stock '02, I don't think you're going to get a big change moving to an aftermarket exhaust (at least from the ones I've heard). I think stock '02 exhausts have the loud aftermarket sound themselves, especially at low rpms, and they do lose some volume and depth at high rpms, but not a whole lot. However, the Factory Sport Exhaust was in another volume level of its own. You could hear it from very far away, ripping through the RPMs with a very throaty, but raspy roar. If you really want to upgrade the volume of your car, and have people notice you, this is the way to go Unfortunately we didn't hear stock pre-'02 exhaust to give a good baseline comparison (even though there were a couple there, oops! ). I'd say that any of these exhausts sounded amazing as an upgrade to '01, and I think your own taste will really be the deciding factor- no one sounded "better" than another, just different. As for me, if I do inherit some cash that I have to throw into my car on an exhaust, I'd probably make the leap to the '02 Factory Sport Exhaust. However, I'm not sure I really need to attract that much attention at this point, as this is my daily driver."

I have the Porsche Sport Exhaust on my 01 C4 and did not install the module or connect to the speedo. The wiring harness was installed with an additional Porsche PSM switch and a VW high beam relay which is a mechanical relay. The switch can go in the dash or if you do not have heated seats you can buy the headed seat switch plate, one PSM switch and one blank like you most likely have in your dash already. When I turn my key on, if the light in the switch is illuminated I know I'm in the sport exhaust mode, light on = louder exhaust, light off = quiet exhaust. The exhaust has vacuum controlled dampers and has a vacuum valve that is controlled by switching the negative on and off to the valve. The PSM switch send a pulse to the relay that opens and closes the negative side of the vacuum valve. It has been installed since early this year and I love it. The car roars when I want it to or is quiet by a click of a switch. The exhaust has vacuum controlled dampers and has a vaccum valve that is controlled by switching the negative on and off to the valve. The PSM switch send a pulse to the relay that opens and closes the negative side of the vacum valve.

Can you "mute" the OEM Sport Exhaust when cruising at 80-90 mph, or is it madatory open like the spoilers?

If you wire a switch into the check-valve vacuum control... yes. The switch would allow you total control of open or closed bypassing the speedometer control.

Total control. I can switch the exhaust whenever I like.