Fabspeed headers/exhaust or exhaust only?

I have read many posts on changing exhaust, airbox, and chip but not many on headers. It's obviously a much more time consuming upgrade since you need to drop the engine to install. Someone at Fabspeed also told me that the headers make the car VERY loud. Does anyone have any experience with aftermarket headers? Are they annoyingly loud for everyday use and do they increase power enough to justify an additional $2K for parts and installation. Dima

I too am curious about this. I have a '00 C4 with a Fabspeed Exhaust and BMC replacement Air Filter. The exhaust added a nice amount of noise to the car along with a minor (5-10 HP) power increase. If the headers make the car a great deal louder I'd also like to know how loud! I was contemplating doing the headers, the free-flowing catalytic converters, and a Cold-Air Intake. I just got through putting H&R Springs along with Bilstein shocks in the car, lowering it about 1 1/2 inches from stock along with a set of Fikse FM-5's. Gotta go for it all I think...but is it worth it?

I've heard from my mechanic and a few others that the headers for the 996 add some hp primarily on the top end, but do not add any of the more important torque, and could even lower it a little in some places. I've also heard many opinions that none of these will add any significant power without a chip that is tuned to take advantage of each specific part used. But remember, although one of the guys it came from is perhaps the best Porsche mechanic that I know, and one who would have gladly did the job for me, it is none-the-less just a second hand opinion. I have not seen any dyno charts myself.

The interesting thing is that it was one of the guys at Fabspeed that discouraged me on the headers. I called to ask about the exhaust, airbox, headers, and chip. He said the headers added quite a lot of noise and he recommended I stick to the exhaust, airbox, and chip. I would like to hear from someone that has the headers. Maybe they aren't that commonly used. Dima

Bulldog, One thing I forgot to ask in my last reply, do the H&R springs and Bilstein shocks make the ride too rough for everyday driving. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I have to take my girlfriend's comfort into consideration. I also noticed that you didn't mention the Fabspeed "chipping". Did I get this wrong? If not, why don't you consider this? I have read that chipping is a must if you want the most out of exhaust and airbox upgrades. Dima

The Bilsteins are definitetly stiffer, however I drove my wife in the car right after I got them and heard no complaints (very uncommon)! They are not race-car stiff, just street-tuned stiff. The handling of the car is completely transformed. I should have done this the second I got the car, but I waited until one of the factory shocks bottomed out to replace. Besides, the Bilsteins have a lifetime warranty! I didn't do the cold air-box or the chip because the dealer around me would void my warranty if I chipped the car. I don't think they would care about the airbox but why should I do any more if as you stated, ...you need the chip to be able to utilize these mods. I wonder, with all this free-breathing how it really affects performance. After all, engines need backpressure to make HP too. My local tuner claims he can switch the DME/Chip and give me something so that if there is a problem with the motor, it bypasses the chip and reads the factory codes, going undetected to the dealer. I don't want to go any further unless I can drive a car that has all these mods and I can see and feel the difference for myself or see some dyno charts. I am going to be putting my car on a dyno within the next two weeks and will post the results here. Does anyone know how to upload pics with your messages here? I'd love to post a pic of my car along with the dyno charts....

[quote]Originally posted by Dima: <strong>The interesting thing is that it was one of the guys at Fabspeed that discouraged me on the headers. I called to ask about the exhaust, airbox, headers, and chip. He said the headers added quite a lot of noise and he recommended I stick to the exhaust, airbox, and chip. I would like to hear from someone that has the headers. Maybe they aren't that commonly used. Dima</strong><hr></blockquote> I have the full header/muffler/air box/chip/tip chip set up and it is a lot louder than stock. I can' t comment on the headers on their own as I had everything installed at once. I don't suffer resonance unless I let the tip trundle along at 1000/1500rpms in 5th. At he other end of the rev's it makes a glorious sound. I was told that the headers really made a difference at higher rpms, although probably at the expense of some low end torque. My system improved across the board and I didn't notice any. Graham

Hello, I have headers, high flow cats and exhaust all made by Gemballa. I did have the exhaust alone and added the headers and cats seperately. The car sounded great with the exhaust only, with the header and cats the car is noticibly louder, I DE the car and will use this car for PCA Club Racing so I do not object to the sound at all. Although louder, I would not consider it "to loud" for the street. It is "raspy" when the car is cold but after driving for a few miles I think the SS metal has some give from the exhaust temperature and the car souds really nice and unless your wailing on it almost sound the same as with just the exhaust. As for HP or feel, the car definitely seams faster over 4000rpm and really feels as though is accelerates much stronger over 100mph. The low end is similar and I might even say it feels a little less tourqey. The headers are about $1600, cats $1800 or more and the exhaust $1400 plus installation. If your not going to race the car I'd just do the exhaust and keep the extra $3500+ for suspension upgrades, if your going to do DE I'd take suspension over HP any day. Good Luck Dennis

Hi there and good day!!! I had fabspeed exhaust/cold air intake/bmc air filter and TRG's unichip done. If you hadn't done any of the mods yet I would run a dyno when stock so you would have something to compare to after the mods. I wished I had done that myself so now its all a guessestimate. Since all dynos are measured by the wheel and PAG's are measured thru the crank, you have to use formulas to calculate everything which I heard anywhere from multiplying between 1.10 to 1.30 to get crank hp which is such a wide margin. from what was done I got a better sounding exhaust- great start-up sound esp inside a parking garage/low mellow rumble at idle and throaty at throttle. Prior to the Unichip, I did notice a drop in torque especially driving up steep hills(live in San Francisco) but after Unichip it was restored back. I was going to add headers but having heard that NA engines needed some backpressure I passed on that. I can probably say whatever hp/trq you're going to get it's at the higher rpms like 5,000 and above. Best bang IMHO is suspension which I plan to do. You can lighten up the car as well for better power to weight ratio but it's expensive and you may rid of some creature comforts which I'm still debating. If I had to do it again I probably do it again but would dyno when stock then do the mods. Regards. Mike