alws

I have a 1987 Targa Carrera, and I am thinking of doing a few modifications
to increase the horsepower:

1) Sport muffler
2) Cat bypass pipe
3) Performance chip (Steve Wong)

or some combination of all of the above.
Can anyone recommend the relative pros and cons of each?
Which will make the biggest difference in HP?
I'm somewhat concerned about the ease of having to swap the
old catalytic converter on and off for smog tests. Is this trivial?
Which sport mufflers are the best? GHL, Dansk, FabSpeed?

I realize I have a lot of questions, thanks for any advice!

-Allen

Bill Verburg

They will all help a bit, just be realistic in your expectations. Biggest con of any is the expense and possible emissions inspection implications, of course this does't apply to everyone.

Do a search on the mufflers pf the 3 you listed I would lean toward the Dansk.

paradisenb

arguably the best mods one can do to an older 911 are suspension upgrades, coilovers, monoballs, adjustable sway bars, etc. The bang for the buck is noticeable. Horsepower is very expensive. Corvettes will almost always be faster, unless you spent BIG $$. The three things you mentioned are good mods and resonable $$. Consider SSI heat exchangers.

Slow Guy

I have an '88 Cab and I have done all 3 of the things you're looking at in addition to a few suspension upgrades. Here's my opinion on all 3:

1 & 2) I wanted a little freer flowing exhaust w/ a little more authoritive sound w/ out being loud. I went with the Dansk Euro PreMuffler and the 70mm Aluminized Dansk Sport Muffler. Dansk was (is?) the OEM mfgr. of Porsche exhaust, they fit w/out modifications. I'm VERY pleased and would do this mod. again in a heartbeat. At the time I was looking Fabspeed was having problems and people who bought them first were having fitting problems and were getting BS back from Fabspeed when they complained, several of those folks switched to the Dansk on our group purchase. I like my setup.

3) Steve Wong & 911chips, I LOVE mine. Some folks claim aftermarket chips aren't worth the $$ buy but I've switched back and forth a couple of times w/ my old stock chip and I do feel a big improvement w/ the S.W. chip, esp. in the 3K - 5k range.
The only thing I like better than Steve's chip is Steve's service and support! I got an email from him about 6 mos. after I bought a chip from him telling me he had upgraded his chip for my car/mods and asked me if I wanted a no-cost replacement (naturally I said yes).
Last mo. I was having problems (eventually found to be very loose intake manifold nuts & a bad O2 sensor), he read about my problem and asked if I wanted him to send me a replacement chip (at no cost) to se if that was causing the problem (again the chip WAS NOT causing my problem!) I call that service after the sale!

As for the smog insp. I saved my original parts and if I fail the test (due this mo.) I will first reinstall the orig. Cat. (no need to reinstall the orig. muffler) and re-test but I don't think that will be necessary. We shall see.

HTH,
Bill W.
'88 911 Cab

alws

Thanks much for your responses.
I guess I'm leaning toward a Steve Wong Chip for sure, but I'm still agonizing over the
best exhaust options. I'd prefer not to have to deal with the smog implications of removing
the cat. My real desire is to go with SSI's and eliminate the crossover pipe and cat, but
that's unlikely.

Here's my question: Does anyone have experience with the so-called "sport cats", which
are apparently less flow restrictive cats? Do they reduce the back pressure enough to
increase HP comparable to a cat bypass? I'm really considering a GHL sport cat with a GHL
sport muffler as the best compromise exhaust that will be smog legal. Opinions are welcome!

Thanks,
allen