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I installed JCR titanium non-resonated race exhaust on my Spyder last week and I kept the valves always open.
FYI, I unplugged the valves (always open) of the stock exhaust in my first week of ownership and found that it really helped under 4000rpms with a very subtle drone between 2000 and 2600rpms.
Here is my feedback after few hundred miles of mountain roads and some highway.
1. Build quality: amazing!!! Better than all previous exhaust brands I had (German and US made ones).
2. Installation: straightforward and super easy. It took my mechanic 1h10min all in.
3. Black tips: beautiful and mean looking.
4. Drone: comparable to stock exhaust with valves open between 2000 and 2600 rpms.
4. Performance: I did’t dyno it but I feel a slight improvement in torque and throttle response in the Low and mid/range.
5. Sound:
a. At start up: fantastic 5/5!! Very racy and exotic bark when you turn the key on.
b. Idle sounds deep and racy 4/5 vs stock 1/5.
c. Between 2000-4000 rpms: the sound increase is not significant vs stock with valves always open. I’ll rate it 3/5 vs stock 1/5.
d. Above 4000 rpms: It gets better with moderate high pitch race sound. I’ll rate it 3/5 vs stock 1/5.
e. Downshifts: slight improvement. I’ll rate it 2/5 vs stock 1/5.
All in all, amazing build quality, straightforward installation, drone comparable to stock, more sophisticated tone and sound quality with a moderate volume increase.
This system is for those who focus on sound quality rather than volume. If you’re looking for a very loud exhaust you need to add the OPF delete.
Just bare in mind that Akrapovic are essentially buying their customers with the pricing for their link pipes. A loss leader to drive sales into the rear silencer, diffuser etc and more importantly for them, away from other competitors full stop. Large companies with large marketing budgets do this time to time.
You only have to look at their pricing for a simple 991 GT3 centre bypass and compare the amount of material and fab time (most likely less than 50% in both cases) along with the added heat protection ($400-$600) to figure out for yourself as to what the true normal retail price would be for their link pipes.
Our pricing is consistent throughout as otherwise customers would call into question how you arrive at the price and just making it up as you go along isn't particularly what I feel is appropriate. It's important that customers can see the value in each and every product that you offer. When companies charge a large premium due to the brand of car the part is being installed on, that annoys people in the long run. No one wants to feel as if they're being ripped off or paying over the odds.
Which brings me to the point that im making. Soul pricing on their link pipes is VERY fair for the material and workmanship they're offering. This is not a case of companies who already have link pipes out there and released charging over the odds, this is a company coming in with a price so aggressive that they're losing money in order to buy back part of a market that's been slipping through their fingers for some time.
If we sold link pipes with heat protection at the Akrapovic price we would be losing serious money each sale. Sucks for us but great for owners in the market for cheap high quality link pipes
JC
Thank you Jonny for the clarification. I hadn’t looked at it from this perspective. I had also inquired with Supersprint and their over axle pipes were/are being sold in the US for around $1,000 in SS, only thing is their lead time is months away. So it felt like for Akrapovic to be at $1800 in Titanium it wasn’t crazy. Especially if they produce in Eastern Europe. Their rear silencer for the 718 GT4 in stainless is priced similar to Soul’s or Fabspeed’s. I could only think they had different cost structures, overheads and maybe product mix that allows for subsidizing some parts, especially like these link pipes, which are regarded as being almost a silver bullet for the not so interesting sound of this car as stock.
In a layman’s perspective, as probably more than half of the prospective buyers, we can only see a combination of reputation, actual testimonials, when available, and price. I haven’t had the chance of testing T304, Titanium and Inconel on the same car to tell the difference of which material sounds best,et alone same material from different manufacturers.
The YouTube videos give an idea of the sound difference to stock, but usually sound all the same, with different shades of loud and louder.
So, yes to your point, it becomes a marketing and repeat customers play. I’ve talked to people who had Fabspeed and loved it and others who didn’t like it. Same with Akrapovic. Some love the tone, others think it’s too quiet. I never met anyone who had Soul, JCR, Cargraphics or Supersprint in person, only through rennlist or Facebook.
it sucks because it becomes a shot in the dark. One makes an at least 2 grand investment and then you pray that you will like it when it’s installed and you turn the engine on and accelerate to 8000 rpm the first time.
I installed JCR titanium non-resonated race exhaust on my Spyder last week and I kept the valves always open.
FYI, I unplugged the valves (always open) of the stock exhaust in my first week of ownership and found that it really helped under 4000rpms with a very subtle drone between 2000 and 2600rpms.
Here is my feedback after few hundred miles of mountain roads and some highway.
1. Build quality: amazing!!! Better than all previous exhaust brands I had (German and US made ones).
2. Installation: straightforward and super easy. It took my mechanic 1h10min all in.
3. Black tips: beautiful and mean looking.
4. Drone: comparable to stock exhaust with valves open between 2000 and 2600 rpms.
4. Performance: I did’t dyno it but I feel a slight improvement in torque and throttle response in the Low and mid/range.
5. Sound:
a. At start up: fantastic 5/5!! Very racy and exotic bark when you turn the key on.
b. Idle sounds deep and racy 4/5 vs stock 1/5.
c. Between 2000-4000 rpms: the sound increase is not significant vs stock with valves always open. I’ll rate it 3/5 vs stock 1/5.
d. Above 4000 rpms: It gets better with moderate high pitch race sound. I’ll rate it 3/5 vs stock 1/5.
e. Downshifts: slight improvement. I’ll rate it 2/5 vs stock 1/5.
All in all, amazing build quality, straightforward installation, drone comparable to stock, more sophisticated tone and sound quality with a moderate volume increase.
This system is for those who focus on sound quality rather than volume. If you’re looking for a very loud exhaust you need to add the OPF delete.
below stock vs JCR
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that a resonated but non-silenced version?
Does anyone know if the Akra Link pipes can be used with the stock OEM muffler?
I’d be interested in just installing the link pipes with the stock muffler, but don’t want the full slip on system (at this time).
On the Akra website it’s not clear if this is possible.
We are in the same page .. I fulfilled their online contact form so I'm waiting for their answer . I hope they won't try to force customer to but the slip on as well ...
[QUOTE=Westcoast;16856075]Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that a resonated but non-silenced version?
You mentioned black tips, pictures please
08-20-2020, 11:24 AM
