Alan C.

Looking forward to seeing your results.

DC021

TLDR: Street Exhaust + Resonated Race Exhaust, Lots of drone but Fantastic above 5000!

Package arrived at 2:50, installed and test driving by 5:45! Noticeable increase in volume at idle, but no noticeable increase in the drone from 2000-2800 rpm compared to the OE manifold. Higher pitch sound above 5000rpms, sounds absolutely fantastic.

I would score sound 10/10, build quality 7/10, and fitment of 8/10.

Straight forward install… Some fitment issues, nothing major… tips for those installing these down the road, instead of bending the Passenger Side Grounding Strap, unbolt it and flip it over, it creates a whole lot more clearance. After installing, slight massaging of the heat shields and under-tray is required.

horns

Can you clarify the drone condition? You mentions a lot of drone, but also mention no worse than OEM manifolds from 2-2.8k. It he lot of drone at a different RPM?

DC021

My apologies, I was running the resonated race exhaust with the OE manifolds before. It drones badly between 2000-2800 rpm under moderate or greater throttle. Changing to the Street manifolds did not increase the level of drone, but it is most definitely still there.

horns

Thanks. Now re-reading your posts I should have understood that. With top down what is your assessment of the drone? Is it still bad in the 2-2.8k rpm range? I wish I could hear this setup in person before deciding. I enjoy the JCR race pipes on the RS so I have tolerance, but I don't want the spyder to be quite that aggressive.

Alpha Ice

He's running a GT4, so the drone will always be worse for us hard top folks.

DC021

Hoping to have data to share with everyone soon. A couple more exhaust iterations to gather data on!

Soul Performance

Looking forward to catching up and hearing how things are going my friend, Happy Holidays!

Regards,
John Gaydos

lowbee

Found what I was looking for ..... a video of recorded interior sound with valve closed and opened...... I hear drone when the valves are closed at 1:45 and opened at 2:35 when the rpm is 2K or below..... Strangely that I don't hear any drone when the video is played on my computer but I hear it quite clearly in my home theater...perhaps the in-person sound is somewhere between these two...I dunno

Wonder how much less drone is without the OAP installed....

Merry Christmas.....

lovetoturn

Drone is a low frequency sound. The big speakers and subwoofer in your home theater can play it, but a computer has no chance of reproducing it.

Soul Performance

There are so many variables with recording equipment and playing the recordings that it becomes unrealistic to experience the sound and feeling of resonant frequencies accurately to how it is in the car. Realistically speaking, you have to take a leap of faith and give it a try to determine for yourself whether it's within your individual tolerances. No matter what videos you listen to and no matter what anyone tells you, everything is subjective until it's on your car and you're driving it. I wouldn't hesitate to say we've likely put the most time into our design to battle drone and ensuring our customers have realistic expectations. At the end of the day, know we'd still love for you to give it a try and if it does not meet the goals you have in mind...send it on back to us

Regards,
John Gaydos

lowbee

I appreciate the offer John and I might take you up on it when my car arrives. It might be a little complicated trying it out with me being in Canada....hmmmm.....with cross that bridge when I get there. Thx again.

mp2day

I very much agree with John that you really must experience a the car with a particular exhaust to know how it is going to sound.

For this reason, when I was recently in Philadelphia I stopped by Soul Performance. I will tell you, John Gaydos and his staff were very welcoming and are true petrol heads. I was probably there for close to two hours. I asked a lot of questions and got answers to all my questions. John then gave me a tour, and explained the R&D process that went into the 892 4.0 exhaust development as well as showed me some current R&D and talked about the results thus far. I was thoroughly impressed with the overall operation and particularly with the willingness of the owner and his staff to have frank conversations about exhaust development and performance with respect to this platform.

One of the questions I asked was why is the OAP from the factory heat shielded and the Soul OAP not. John explained that the GPF in the factory unit acts like a second catalyst. And even in US spec cars where it isn’t “activated”, it still gets very hot and the heat travels back down the OAP towards the headers. John said their OAP has no GPF and consequently doesn’t build up the heat, eliminating the need for heat shielding.

Before I left, I asked John if he was aware of any customers who had his OAP and valved exhaust on a 982 4.0 who might be willing to take me for a ride in their car before I flew back west at the end of the week. Since drone is very subjective and you really cannot judge an exhaust from a recording, I really wanted to hear the Soul setup I would be considering (OAP & valved muffler). John told me he would call one of his customers who he believed would be willing to let me hear the exhaust first-hand. John later called me back to tell me his customer had just traded the car in, and he connected me with the dealership. I was pretty excited because I’m currently waiting on an allocation, and the Spyder traded in had some of the key things I wanted. I arranged to go to the dealership and got to test drive the car. The car also had Soul’s valve controller so I was able to hear it with valves at stock setting and wide open. For me, I’m looking for the holy grail of exhaust - one that is both neighborhood friendly and will sing a glorious flat six song when asked. I need an exhaust setup that my wife will tolerate and she is *not* a fan of performance cars. So I need an exhaust that has a nice mild sound without obnoxious drone when driving around gently at lower RPMs and at the same time sounds like this car is supposed to sound at WOT > 5,000 RPMs. Even though it was a pretty short test ride, I thought the Soul OAP with Soul valved muffler was perfect. To me it did the impossible and accomplished both goals. I thought long and hard about buying the car (even going so far as to confirm financing) before I passed it up. Ultimately it was the color that I walked away from. I *loved* the exhaust setup.

I would suggest reaching out to your PCA club to ask about 982 4.0 owners with exhaust systems and see who has what and would be willing to take you out for an exhaust experience in their cars. One of my friends in the local club has the JCR silenced inbound for his GT4 and I will get to hear that too once it arrives. If you’re considering Soul (I obviously think it’s a GREAT solution), try reaching out to John and see if he can connect you with a customer running his setup. Once my car is allocated, built, arrives, and gets new exhaust I’d be glad to take someone for a ride to experience the exhaust.

A big thanks to John Gaydos and Soul Performance for taking the time to talk to me, show me around, and help me get a chance to hear the car with your setup! For those of you who find yourselves near Philadelphia, look up Soul. I am very glad I stopped in.

Scott
Arvada, CO

Bob Z.

Nice write-up, and I hope one can see why I recommend Soul so often. John and Mike have been very helpful for the last few years, starting with my 991.2 Targa GTS and their high-flow cats, and it continues today with their headers and Race exhaust on my Spyder.

Anyway, mp2day, can you post a link to the Spyder for sale that you test drove? There may be someone here that is looking for such a car.

mp2day

Bob,

That Spyder was gone the next day. I knew they had another serious buyer looking at it when I was considering it. The dealer was Ray Catena Porsche in Edison, NJ. Even though I was a complete stranger to them when I walked in, I was treated exceptionally well. The Spyder, while priced over MSRP, was priced fairly according to current market value. I was overall very impressed with the dealership.

Scott