Milltek / Stratmosphere Exhaust Development...

We have received our Cayman S here in the USA and so now has our supplier Milltek Sport. I've been working with Ken here on the site as a forum sponsor, and that is now underway. We will be running a banner here as soon as I can get more shots with actual product installed. This is the first development shot I have to show. There is a chance of OEM tip option as well. I'll have more to report later in terms of design and locations of cats. We are currently the leading supplier of 996TT systems in the USA partnering with Evolution Motorsport. The Cayman is, obviously, a big deal car and this will help us further expand beyond our Audi core into the Porsche brand. It's important that folks here like what they see, so I welcome any feedback you have. As soon as Milltek is pleased, we will install production prototypes in the UK and here before full production to insure quality in every dimension. Thanks, -Pete. Stratmosphere. [phone removed]

Pete, I think we are still on target with doing a prototype install on my Cayman S aren't we? In which case I would photograph the install and document it in a sponsor article available here. Shoot me an email if anything has changed. Thanks,

K-Man. As soon as I have something that I know can make you happy we are a go. No 'not ready for prime time' stuff allowed. Stay in touch. -Pete

Given that we are going to see lots of perfomance modifications offered for the Cayman in the coming months it would be nice to establish some usefulguidelines for determining if changes improved performance in the area advertised. Before and after dyno testing by an independant shop for one. Others?

Is this for just the tips or complete new exhaust

This will be for entire system. I don't think there will be manifolds right off the bat, but there will be cats and 'catback' lets say. Milltek has a dealer near London called AmD. Perhaps they will have some dyno pulls. We also are a special supplier to Evolution Motorsport in Tempe, AZ. Evolution is the biggest 996TT tuner in the USA and they will be doing some pulls with this system when I get them a finished product. The current opportunity is in the cats, like it was with the 997S. We only use HJS precious-metal coated cats in all systems. No ceramic, no bobbin-wound cores. The additional opportunities are in sound and appearance. Looking forward to it. -Pete

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to it as well as my Cayman comming in the next three weeks.

Pete, As you probably know, Imagine Auto is a nationally known Porsche specialty tuner shop here in my own backyard and does a lot of work with Todd and the folks over at EVO. If we do an install on my Cayman I'm sure we can get Stephen at Imagine Auto to do the install and he has a 4 wheel dyno so we can get some before and after runs in as well. I'm not looking for a HP increase in an exhaust system but rather a deeper growl without any high end resonance, and of course no CE lights. /fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/tounge_smile.gif Any HP gain and/or weight loss is just icing on the cake. Personally, I'd probably either keep the factory exhaust tip or get the Tequipment tip.

OK, thanks for the feedback. I haven't yet seen any credible data on software tuning yet. Todd was very strong in his opinion of good gains on the 997 S but none on the regular 997. Hopefully something will be there. The Milltek on the 997 S was quite fun but in no way obtrusive. Oh, here is a pic on a 987 system which we believe is typical.

It's great to see you guys working on this, I have purchased parts from Evolution and your self at Stratmosphere and love the customer service you guys provide. Would it be possible to also have some sound clips of the Cayman exhuast when its gets finished.

<div>When I saw your forum name I thought 'could that be' and I am right. Glad to have you aboard.</div> <div></div> <div>I can say that the Milltek systems sound great, from the M3 to the Audi S4, there is no better aftermarket sound IMO. John Thorne is agreatguys so I expectto see a great sounding product fromaccross the pond. Ilook forward to seeing and hearing their Cayman version. </div>

I've got a Milltek on my 98 A4 2.8q supercharged and I LOVE[/quote] it. It changed the overall driving experience in wonderful way. I actually listen to my stereo less because of the Milltek. Although, for the Cayman , you guys have your work cut out. This thing sounds super sweet stock.

It sounds mean from the inside, but I think it could use a little nastiness on the outside. This might be the hot ticket.

Phil (Millington) the owner of Milltek and I both agree the intake sounds are nice but some real rip or growl is kind of missing. The system should remedy that like it did on the 997. Thanks for the kind words. We aim to please because if we don't we are not going to be able to keep doing this. This is a GREAT car and I have high hopes on the exhaust. -Pete

Here's another sneak. I believe we will have a 'catback' system first, then the cats and probably manifolds. This is a *very* preliminary pic and the final design may change quite a bit due to sound and/or performance results. On-road tests begin this week. -Pete, Stratmosphere

Pete, are you guys planning on deleting one of the cats like some of the other aftermarket exhaust manufacturers? Also, have you dynoed the car in stock form yet? If so, I know there are a bunch of us very curious to see how close the hp/torque rating is compared to what Porsche has stated. thanks -Jeff

Pete: What kind of weight savings might we be looking at? I noticed in Excellence this month that one group has developed a cat back 16lb replacement for the 997 made from titanium.

<div>wow 16lbs, is that cat back or headers back? Ti is nice but way too expensive. Most Ti exhaust that I've look at can run up into the mid to high thousands. </div> <div></div> <div>Also, even though Ti doesn't rust and will save a lot of wieght Ti has some characteristics that aren't exactly great. I've hear of welds cracking on many. They sure are pretty though and light. I think Ti tends to be on the louder sounding side as well.</div>

Wow! A bunch of questions. Let me try... Flyer- It's likely that the large 'post-cats' could be eliminated. I would say it's probable that they would be deleted. To confirm sucess, after the UK car is fitted, my car will be fitted here for US testing as engine management electronics are likely different here. The BIG one will be the primary cat. Since we only use HJS metal cats, we will be able to change that cat to a lower restriction with equal or great efficiency than OEM. In general, cats supplied by many in the USA are sub-par or have high cell counts because their higher flow units are not efficient enough due to quality and coatings. jhellow- We will certainly get a weight upon completion. The OEM units are usually tanks. Weight savings is not the primary goal, but I'm sure some will be achieved. The unit will NOT be Ti. The highest level stainless will be used. Oh, here is a pic of a 996TT system Milltek makes. -Pete, Stratmosphere

Pete: Looks awesome. This may be the first significant upgrade I do to my Cayman . Cannot see how this would affect any part of the warranty.

JHellow- Warranty. Always a fun subject. Let's put it this way, we've been selling catback exhausts since 1999. No one has ever had any warranty repair denied due to a catback installation. Chipping turbo cars and other agressive mods could be another matter. -Pete

<div>Pete,</div> <div>Thanks for those answers. Have you dynoed the car yet in stock configuration? Also, I know you probbaly should always do an ECU update (or aftermarket)to maximize the added flow to the motor especially with new headers, are you guys looking at that also? </div>

I don't have the stock dyno data. I would guess it would happen at AmD in the UK outside London. We will see what kind of data surfaces. -Pete

I'll have production shots of the new system here on March 1st Wednesday. The system makes it's debut at the Geneva auto show in Europe. -Pete, Stratmosphere. [phone removed]

Here are a couple of shots from the car appearing at the Geneva show today. This is the Milltek catback system. I'm hoping to have a system here to fit on our USA car very soon. One of the important features here is that the tips don't come to a 'T' and need to make a right angle out. In addition, the OEM tip is a bit restrictive and this design eliminates that restriction. http://www.stratmosphere.com/geneva_installeda.jpg Edited by - stratmosphere on 03/01/2006 08:42:13 AM Edited by - stratmosphere on 03/01/2006 10:58:53 AM

I imagine the polished SS looks good through the rear bumper cover slots. Can you get a picture of the car on the ground showing how the system looks installed?