Sports Exhaust for a 996

Hi there I recently bought a 996 C2 and i was hoping to put a sports exhaust on with the 'off switch' (I know i will probably never need the switch except for when I leave my mothers house But I was wondering if anyone had had one fitted outside a major Porsche Garage and what it costs? Porsche Swindon said about £1800 all in, but that seems a bit steep? Any suggestions would be most welcome. Fair enough if that is the cost but if a specialist does it for a lot cheaper, then that might be worth considering...Also if a specialist fitted it, would that invalidate the warranty? Thanks Petch.

Porsche Swindon fitted a new PSE to my 996 for a little under £1400. This excluded the switch. I can see no reason for having the switch unless you do track days and need to get through noise testing. The noise isn't loud, but it is very nice and quite intoxicating. The £1400 is, IMO, money well spent. You can always retro fit the original system at a later date and sell the PSE.

Hi Oliver Thanks for the info. I think in that case I might go down that route then, I thought about getting the switch simply because I didn't want to be too much of a boy racer when I turned up to my clients and asked for more money ;-) So in your opinion the exhaust is not 'loud' just sweet sounding? and therefore ok for day-to-day? Cheers for your time. Pietro

The PSE is very clever. You can control the 'volume' with your right foot. In normal use, with small throttle openings, it just sounds 'fruitier' with a bit more bass and a fairly refined tone. It takes on a sportier sound as the revs rise and sounds progressively more wonderful beyond c.3500 rpm. It is never intrusive (some sports exhausts can be tiresome) and at cruising speeds it is fairly quiet, but when you want to hear the glorious flat six.......

Fortunate enough to have spent 2 days at Spa last week, a circuit without the stupid (IMHO) noise constraints of most british tracks, therefore did around 450mile mostly at between 5,000 rpm and 7,2000rpm with the quiet switch off. Even through a helmet the exhaust sounded fantastic and the in car video sounds just like Le Mans, especially the heel and toe downchanges from 5th to 2nd for the bus stop and from 4th to 2nd for La Source. PSE is an essential pice of kit for the 996. Regards

Sorry 7,200 rpm, even the power kit doesn't allow it to rev that high.

Hi Kevin, Oliver Thats it, I'm booking it in next week... I will let you know how it goes... Petch.

Petch, If you intend to do UK track days get the 'switch', as I've posted many times noise levels at 4,500rpm are: Quiet 99db Loud 107db Regards

Sports exhaust...I want one........but....too much money[ ] Will

Yes, but worth every penny. Surely the Club, or more specifically the 996 Register, should try and negotiate a special deal with Porsche for retro-fitting the PSE system to the 996. I'm sure, if they could do a deal, at say £995 fitted, for a limited period, there would be a lot of takers.

Yes please![ ] Will

i want one!

I would sign up to.

Is there anyone at the Porsche Club who we could ask about this possible deal? It would be just my luck to get one fitted for RRP and then a deal is set up!

the register sec?

Yes, someone needs to take the initiative and this should ideally come from the 996 Reg Sec. on behalf of the Club. However, I believe that NicD is going to be talking to Porsche Cars about the RMS issue (which also affects 996) and this might be the opportunity to raise the matter of some special fixed price deals for PCGB members using OPCs - starting with the PSE. I think they would generate custom that they wouldn't otherwise get, which is good for everyone. I've already got PSE so someone else might need to get the ball rolling.

Jasmine are doing a deal on them at nowhere near that cost !!! I am about to offer sports exhausts on an exchange basis for the early cars at £325 to club members on an exchange basis !! and possibly the later cars. More than happy to take your £1000 if you want, after all it will sound the same !! Regards

tell us more, please!!!

Of course there are other 'aftermarket' options, but some 996 owners will only want to use the Porsche Approved system.

Firstly, who is Jasmine? Is that a Porsche specialist? (Sorry to be stupid) Secondly, I though I would get the ball rolling, so I called Porsche Swindon in regards to a 'group purchase' of PSE's and could we get a discount if say 5 Porsche Club Members booked in for the upgrade...I am waiting to hear back from them at the moment. Petch.

good man, bit far for me to come but will be interested to here their response[8|]

Petch, Good idea and good luck. But, I think the Club negotiating with Porsche Cars might be more successful than an individual negotiating with a dealer.

Neill, I have been working on modifying the standard boxes to PSE spec for the last few months, everyone I have spoken to has shown an interest I am nearly there I have moded an early set for my car and they sound superb, I am looking for a used set of early boxes to modify then offer on an exchange basis, later boxes are the same externally and I bought a set of them, sadly internally they are completely different so back to the drawing board hence the delay, later boxes can be done just more work. Oliver, I hear what your saying but 1500 quid for 2 rear boxes that are not even made by porsche is a bit steep, but be my guest ....... Im guessing that this will be aimed at the early to mid cars not new ones under warranty. Petch, great idea to bulk buy them but do it from the states, better still get our club reps to ask Porsche UK that are so good to us why they are half the price over there and can they do them for the same price please, jasmine are an independant that advertise in the club mag last time I asked they wanted 750 pounds, so if we all get together we should get them for about 600 quid ................ yeah right. Regards Paul

I certainly admire everyones euthusiasm for this subject, I have now called Porsche Swindon for a quote on bulk PSE fitting, they are coming back to me. My next call will be to the Porsche Club rep to see what they have to say... Petch.

Petch, This is where the Club should be able to negotiate deals that make our subscriptions great value.

Right, I have been investigating if we can get a discounted price if we all book together to buy sports exhausts as you know: -Porsche Club don't want anything to do with it as they do not want to get involved in negogiating parts etc... -Secondly I approached the Porsche Swindon garage directly and they offered us the following discounted prices: Total costs 1-5 without switch £1431.00 5+ ordering without switch £1313.50 Total costs with switch 1-5 £1751.00 5+ ordering with switch £1633.50 Thats nearly a couple of hundred quid off if more than 5 apply... Is anyone interested? Petch

Petch, Even at those prices PSE is a desirable purchase. Most people won't need the switch. It is important to bear in mind that, if the car was being sold at a future date, the original system could be refitted and the PSE sold privately. Unfortunately an OPC has to buy the parts from Porsche GB and they will only give a small discount to an individual OPC. IMO, the best arrangement remains for the Club/RS to negotiate directly with Porsche GB to try and get a bigger discount for PCGB members, if only for a limited period. Lobby your RS now.

Petch, please dont take this the wrong way but does anyone ever read the response's to these threads ? If I ever get round to marketing them Im probably shooting myself in the foot but ..... as I said earlier Jasmine have/had them at £750 without the switch !! Equally the rennlist site in the states has a thread offering them at $1400, if you get enough interest I am sure they can do a deal ......... worth asking. Typical response from Porsche .............. 2/10th of s-d all. I have not tried europe but again will be a lot cheaper. Regards Paul

Hi All Fitted without the switch I gather would mean just fitting the back-boxes & none of the wiring or link into the ECU ? The wiring in of the switch is what takes all the time (OPC's quote 7 hours labour !!) If so then you can purchase a sports exhaust (cheapest I have found is £850 for a new system) then get an indipendant to fit just the boxes - mine will charge me £50. They will set it so the flaps are always open - an easy job. Thats how I would do it. Julian.

Julian, Why don't you ask your independent if there is an easy way to come up with a manual method of closing the flaps. If so people could fit the PSE without the switch but still move the flaps to quiet for track days. Just a thought.

from what I gather they flaps are fixed open with a bolt so not sure how easy this would be to change back & forth - I guess with a bit of head scratching not that difficult at all. Julian.

Petch I'd be interested - I've been umming and erring for a while about this. Would love to save the money on the switch but I also want to do track days so it's annoying. Can't imagine me ever having it switched to quiet apart from that. As someone said a manual option would be perfect. Can an independent fit it with a switch as well?

I was recently given a demonstration of the PSE at Paragon by Mick, the Service Manager. He informed me that the switch part of the equation was relatively minor, the wiring into the ECU the bigger job - this is the bit that makes the baffles open and close at 30-40 mph. Paragon buy the silencers from their local OPC for about £1100 and fit them for about £400 inclusive of ECU connection & switch. If you sourced the silencers yourself (i.e. Jasmine etc.), you could have the whole shooting match, switched, for relatively reasonable money. As a motorcyclist I am aware of the MOT problem with after-market exhausts (although Ducatis and Harleys seem exempt). As well as track days, wouldn't MOTs cause problems if one was to opt out of the switchable option?