Adrift

The irony of turbo drivers throwing shade at GT drivers is special.

Tony Saliba

My impression so far on the SRS after driving it for 200 kms , is that while it lacks the power , there is something special driving this car and experiencing the amazing PDK sports gear and downshifts , exhaust sounds and the 9000 RPM .

UncleDude

The white car looks like it is wearing a toupée 😂. “Lacks power” isn’t a criticism I’ve seen levied at this engine in any trim, but I guess it is all relative.

cneigho

Many reviews now capture the driving experience of the SRS in summation. Cars will always be relevant to the context of the experience sought, whether its track, daily commuting, weekend canyons, road trips etc…


Matt's was the one of the first to actually touch on the mid engined perception and “hierarchy”. Obviously he’s partial to Spyders.


Harry’s for me was surprising in that I’ve not seen him this enthusiastic driving new cars often.


Doug's seemed the most enthusiastic in terms of the car’s traits but thats why I love Doug.


I can’t offer nearly the experience or context some these guys have but I do want to share a few thoughts since having taking delivery last week and owning a few relevant cars over the years… (986 Boxster, 987 Spyder, 981 Cayman GTS, 991.2RS, BAC MONO) My use for the SRS is purely a weekend car. For that, it’s the best car I’ve driven on the road in that specific use case and my preferences. I’ve driven a lot of other cars from other manufactures on the road and Porsche’s ability match weight to power ratio’s for the chassis, suspension and steering tuning, intake noise and intended use is nothing short of genius here. Even the PDK clutch has been tuned to be more lenient on the street. Softer, smoother shifts are very apparent vs. other RS cars. I was simply blown away with how well the car is damped for being an “RS” as I’ve had seat time in 991.1, .2, and 992 Weissach products. While those achieve other milestones in their own right, make no mistake, the SRS is a true sports car for drivers, big skies, and the senses and open top just like the 550 and 718RSk of old it’s based on...



Mid engine dynamics will put a smile on your face if you haven’t experienced before. The ability to rotate on axis is just magical. The car being neutral in aero also helps mitigate any issues with lifting on crests and getting loose which my 987 would do on occasion. This scenarios calls for more throttle than the rear engined cars. No, it doesn’t come out of a dig like the multilink 345+ section rears of the 911 but you can adjust the car after turn in to apex which is difficult to do in a 911 at the limit. Come into a corner too hot in the SRS? Slight understeer and wash out is so easy to manage based on oem set up. This is the right amount of tire for this car and the dynamics. With that said, gears 1 - 3 will easily initiate traction control and will break tires loose under anything except a straight line in the power band.

Criticisms? Few. Most has been said. This may be controversial, but I will say the rear silencer from the GT4 is a weak point in my opinion on this car. Not just in terms of exhaust gas restriction and flow but also sound pitch and smoothness to my preference. With new regulations and EPA standards, the OAPs Porsche introduced with the 718 do offer an opportunity to exploit more power, less weight and more sound as well. But the risk of being a terrible neighbor, deeper tones and drone is lurking. But if done correctly, and in combination with the right rear section, a higher, louder resonate can be achieved like in the rear engined RS examples.

That is all to say that I found the SRS exhaust lacking. I’m a track guy at heart and know what this 4L is capable of sounding like. Don’t get me wrong, the intake and cabin noise are amazing but it’s overshadowing what would otherwise be a very distinctly different sound than that 4L produces normally in rear engined RS cars I’m used to. To be fair, the physics here are challenging. The longer exhaust path creates the risk of drone in mid-engined cars. SRS owners, before modifying, I highly recommend consulting with JCR, Dundon, Soul etc about what your goals are. Like any modification, there are compromises to be made. Some may think I’m crazy for trying to modify whats regarded as one of the better sounding modern cars but…





...I ended up removing the OEM OAPs and installed resonated OAPs . This added noticeable power, response and dropped a little weight. At the same time, I also removed the rear silencer and installed a titanium x path rear section that’s NON-valved which saved more weight but dramatically improving the tone. The increased loudness of the OAPs along with the quieter than OEM rear section yielded exactly what I wanted. Motorsport type sound when called on, yet completely civil at 50% or less throttle. Full WOT sounds epic. I can now hear a sucking of back pressure on engine braking that wasn’t present before. Down shifts on PDK sport are an event and above 7k it’s like my 991.2 RS if not better. It’s like adding a second instrument to the car to now play (the first being the intake). Slightly more drone is present under the perfect conditions vs oem. Mainly at 10 to 30% throttle from 2400 to 2700 RPM but with the top off and upshift/downshift it’s very easy to mitigate if not just listen to. I will say it cruises at highway perfectly. With this exhaust and the combination of buckets, MAGs, PCCBs and an antigravity, and the SRS is now dangerously close to the sacred sub 3000lb club.

I took a girlfriend for a ride and having ridden plenty of times in other cars with me at track and on roads, mainly the 991.2RS with the Dundon street header package and oem rear section, she said she not only liked the sound and tone of the SRS more, but that it was also quieter under moderate throttle, normal driving. She did say that under full WOT the car sounded like it’s “calling for help” which I thought was funny - and thats what this car is all about. Smiles and the fizz.
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PorscheSince2013

Nicely done. I am going to bite the bullet on an exhaust before the end of the year. Stock exhaust is so restrictive, and is both boomy and tinny at the same time - how? So many choices. It will be good to hear some videos with the SRS specifically.

coldfire

Great read, thanks for sharing. Is that the JCR silenced race pipe?

cneigho

Yes, It's the JCR silenced race pipe non valved. Just merely exchanging this for the OEM silencer will help with tone however by its self it's slightly quieter than oem. They do make a race pipe thats both silenced and with valves but it's +4 to 5db louder with a similar tone and a little raspier with the valves open. In combination with the OAPs the valves would have been louder than I wanted so I opted for non valved choice. JCR was super helpful with helping me target tone and sound levels. With that said, I don't miss the valves. On cold start up, you get the same type of presence like with valves open and with the shorter gearing, you can easy modulate gears and throttle if you want to be "valves closed" once driving. Hope this helps.

Bill_76

Yes, the exhaust tone is the same s*** than regular 718 Spyder/GT4. I’m waiting my Kline muffler in October, this time I will start with only rear muffler to change only the tone, then if I need more will add their Muffled OAP like I had in my regular Spyder.

This video is Kline rear muffler only ( mic looks like in rear bumper)

cneigho

I hear you. I looked at a lot of GT4RS videos knowing that the open top would relieve some drone in the SRS. I now understand why there is always concern around picking up audio in the cabin while recording, but none the less, this is the best my iPhone can do (attached). I attempted to capture the sound and when I play back the video, I just hear intake for the most part so I'll try to get an external video soon. I would say in reality, the exhaust note is balanced with the intake above 4k, despite the exhaust source being further in the rear of the car. I get slightly more pronounced burbles from fuel overrun that weren't there before and hear more pop/snap from the PDK on full WOT shifts or on very aggressive down shifts. I suspect the slight boominess or drone doesn't come through much but you can hear the suction on engine braking now which is wild.

cneigho

Thats a great sound clip. I bet you'll love that set up and it's a great approach to add more incrementally. This sounds very similar to mine but mine has slightly less rasp with a higher pitch.

TXshaggy

On my 2021 Spyder did the OPF delete and every start up pushed the PSE "on" button.

In the RS...never touch the PSE button. Personally all the glorious intake sound is completely enough -- depending on top config quite load also.

Jay Cordeiro

I was also thinking with those mods sub 3000 lbs would be possible. 👍
​​​​​​​I would be interested in hearing what sort of hp gains you manage with your exhaust mods.

dmboone25

I had the Kline system on my Spyder too - I might be misremembering, but wasn’t it required to do OAP + rear section? As in they only worked with each other?

Is the system for the RSs different in that way?

Bill_76

Right in regular Spyder/GT4 both are required, I had the same system than you. For the RS is not, you can leave oem OAP

Adrift

I’m with Shaggy. Intake noise is SUBLIME and pervasive. Exhaust work may sheds pounds and tweaks response, and keep the folks outside the car more entertained, but OEM is good enough for me.