PSE, TechArt FGT, ROW M030, SO2's...

All of those have one thing in common... they are all on my car!!! Sorry no pics to share today, (boss man borrowed my digi cam) I should have some pics up on Tuesday... Friday Morning my tire guy called and said the SO2's were in I went with 285's in the rear and 235's up front I have had 4 of 5 sets with great satisfaction. Also the SO2's have the widest tread of all the sport tires (As far as my research has yielded) later in the afternoon my Wheel showed up. I was lucky enough to pick up a set of 18" Black Techart Formula GT's with less them 300 miles on them still in the box from RPM Motorsport. (Great company to deal with package was VERY well packed and the turn around was immediate.) Anyway they were perfect and priced at $1900 shipped! I was the lucky winner on one of their ebay auctions.... back to the story... I went directly to the tire shop and had the tires mounted... went home an hour later had some great looking shoes on the new ride! BUT there was an ugly gap, ride height needed a fix quick! Sat. Morning got up did my Man chores around the house which included but not limited to... cleaning the garage, washing nic's Z3, getting the X-mas stuff out, and more F-U-N! I got my me time...I put the rear up on stands and started away at the Exhaust pretty simple stuff with air tools... But the Rusty bolts securing the exhaust to the cat would not move... plus I got a nasty piece of rust in my eye which tool a good 15min of rinsing to get it out. After that I said F-it I will pay to have somone deal with this... One phone call to the new Super Autobacs Super store... (Mostly asian performance and AV stuff in a Costco size building) SA: Hello SA ...bla blah blah Eric: Hello do you install exhaust? SA: Yes Eric: Great have any of your guys touched a Porsche 996? SA: Hold on let me get the Service manager Richard Richard: Hello can I help you? Eric: have any of your guys touched a Porsche 996? Richard: Yes Eric: Can you swap out the stock for a PSE? Richard: Yes, we sell 996 exhaust in the store, and we do install those as well... (More on this later) Eric: Great! What about suspension (I did not plan on having them install) Richard: Do you have the suspension? Eric: Yes, it is Porsche M030 SS Richard: Struts, sways etc? Eric: Yes, what do you charge...? Richard: Let me pull it up.... ok sir $260 Front, $260 Rear and $80 for an alignment so $600 out the door... Eric: What do you use for the alignment a Hunter? Richard: Yes a hunter and we can take custom specs. Eric: Can you take me in the morning? Richard: Yes it is first come first serve and we open at 10:30 and close at 6:00 so you should be here when we open... Eric: Great! Thanks for your help Today I got out of the house at about 10:30 and got the car there at 11:00 spoke to Richard, he said expect it to be done by 6PM... Anyway $600 for the suspension work with alignment and $100 for the PSE install (No electronic wiring)!!! I did a write up a few weeks ago on this place very proffesional They also have a HUGE waiting room and bridge overlooking the Service bay. I watched them pull everthing off the car. They had 2-3 guys on the car like a pit crew... by the time my ride got there they had front struts and sways off.... now down to one guy.... Nic picked me up and we went X-mas shopping at the Block and then had a late lunch. She dropped me off at 5:00 and they were still at the exhaust but the suspension was done (still needing an alignment). So I went in to the store and looked around... Last time I was there they were still setting the store up. This time I found they had some 996 specific parts Example they stock the following items: Techart SS door sills $499 Techart SE (Look identicle to the PSE Is it the same???) $1799 Techart Shift ****, pedals.... and more Techart Exhaust Tips $499 Romulus Exhaust $1622 B&M SSK $249 I thought this was pretty cool, expensive but cool. I bought some connectors for my KIRBY Garage door opener mod...then headed back to the waiting room it was getting close to 5:30 and they were dropping the car from the lift... the moment I was waiting for.... VRRRRRROOOOOOOM! VROOOOOM! VROOOOOOOM! Richard looked up at me with a thumbs up! They load the car on the Hunter... and get her done in less then 30 min.... Sweet. spent a few minutes reminising about the problems they ran into then I said thank you for everything... You will get high recommondations from me... with repeat business to follow and I was off... The handfull of techs hanging around the car with all types of great compliments asked me to wind her up when I get out on to the street... My ride home was fantastic... As many have said in the past this is the exhaust that they should have installed from the factory! It gives the car soul! I love it. The ROW M030 is Perfect Stiff but not teeth jarring stiff it was the right choice for me. It also closed the gap between the fender and the wheels. I will post pics later this week. I want to thank Richard and Super Autobacs I was very skepticle as it was primarily an asian performance car store. They saved me probably at least $600-800 today! I highly recommend their shop! They are located in Stanton (Orange county/So.Cal) http://www.autobacsusa.com

The combo of a sports exhaust , RoW M030 and a short shifter really make the 996 look, drive and sound like a 911 IMO.

Yes it does!

Eric, It was nice to see your car tonight. It sure is sweet. The wheels make it look awesome. The PSE sounds very mean. I love it. I love my GHL more though. Later, Jake

The PSE sounds very mean. I love it. I love my GHL more though that was jake's impression and eric, what was your take? roy

At this time I can't comment... He did say mine was louder Next time we meet he will have his car with him so I will report back my thoughts on his exhaust... I will be open minded as always!

I was kidding. Although, I will say that the PSE is ugly compared to Fabspeed or GHL. The shiny stainless cans look sweet back there. Plus the weight savings is an added benefit. (I'm assuming the PSE is just as heavy as the stock exhaust.) The PSE really sounded nice from outside though. I'm not sure what the GHL sounds like from outside, but I'll have someone rev mine while I'm outside the car to compare.

Yup

I am so jealous. We need a store like that around here. We get killed by the economics of low volume porsche shops around here. I'd love to be able to drive into a superstore with good economy of scale and get mods installed!

OK...back on the exhaust topic. I finally heard my exhaust (GHL) from outside the car. It's a lot louder outside than in. I would say its as loud as the PSE. Although I heard Eric's in his garage (which makes it seem louder) and mine was in a large parking lot.

yes back to the exhaust check this link found it on 6 speed does this kind of info exist for 996 i find the loudness levels interesting http://www.rshankar.com/Imagine.ppt roy

I saw that too. I haven't seen anything for ours. Pretty cool though. Look at those prices...ouch.

alright gents... here is an opportunity to compare PSE with GHL... not looking for a better cause I'm sure there both good.... I'm curious to inquire what the GHL owner thinks of PSE and what the PSE owner thinks of the GHL... not just on idle but under load as it passes you by! cheers Pete

My Camera will do Mpeg Jake we can make a mini move and I will host it... Rev them side by side.... drive by ... something like that.

We probably should, huh? You going to the Crystal Cove car show this weekend?

Yeah I am pretty sure I will be there...