Soul Performance 991.1 Long Tube Street Headers Review
05-01-2020, 06:30 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Soul Performance 991.1 Long Tube Street Headers Review
Disclosure
I was not paid by Soul Performance to write this review. The headers were purchased lightly used from a fellow Rennlist owner. This is an independent review.
Context
My 991.1 S comes with the Porsche Sport Exhaust. I’ve never had a valved exhaust before but this is easily one of my favorite options for the car. I love the overall tone of the PSE when the exhaust is in sport mode but felt that it needed just a bit more character with more presence. A bit more growl at the lower RPMS. I wanted it to feel a bit exotic.
I purchased a set of used Soul Performance Street Headers from a fellow Rennlister. The headers were near new with less than 1,700 miles on them. At his suggestion, I reached out to the folks over at Soul Performance, specifically John Gaydos for any question I might have about the product but also just to learn more about Soul.
John was extremely friendly and welcoming over the phone. The word on the street is absolutely true — that Soul Performance values customer relationships and service above all else. I can feel that it’s their mission to satisfy customers and that I was immediately “part of the family.” It was very easy to talk to John and as someone who is not well-versed with auto mechanics, I appreciated that he didn’t make me feel like a dummy. He was patient and kind.
Some of the following were things I learned from John. They may be obvious to some but I figure I’ll just go over them again for posterity.
Living in MA, I wanted plug and play headers that won’t fire any codes from the O2 sensors either not reading or having an improper reading. I was ensured these won’t cause any problems since they are plug and play and O2 sensor friendly.
John mentioned that it’s not likely that I’ll need new header and exhaust gaskets since the headers and my car is low mileage (under 1,700 miles on the headers and 17,000 miles on the car). I purchased new headers anyways just in case because it’s cheap insurance and assurance.
The lifetime warranty is not transferrable since I’m not the original buyer. John promised that Soul will work with their customers to fix things at cost. And that they have a no bull**** policy. I believe him.
With that said, John assured me with a lot of confidence in this purchase, so I went ahead and bought them from the Rennlist owner.
Review
I had these headers (and new gaskets) installed by Farley at EuroTech Motorsports in Natick MA. They are extremely well-versed with Porsches (and other super car brands), very professional and again, very kind.
I picked up the car and drove it away in normal mode in order to let the oil come up to temperature and keeping it under 2.5-3.0K RPM. Upon firing up the car, I noticed that it was a bit louder which I liked. It adds to the excitement and build up of being able to rev it out once the car warms up. I noticed with PSE off, the tone is lightly lower and the sound is maybe 5% louder. It’s enough to let you know something is there and it tickles you to let it out. But it’s also quiet enough to be refined and blend in with the pack.
Farley pointed out to me is that the flap in the valve to open up Sport mode on the exhaust is a bit rattle-y when you turn on/off the PSE/Sport mode. Farley assured me that this is normal for all 991.1s and not noticeable on stock PSEs but is a bit more noticeable now with the aftermarket headers. So if you hear this, don’t be alarmed. It lasts all of half a second.
Once the car warmed up… I. Made. That. Car. SING!
And it sang wonderfully. It’s got snarl and it’s got bite. The wind up through the RPM range is pure bliss. It build anticipation for the upshift. To the BANG. And you get to experience it all again in the next gear until your fear of handcuffs prevents you from further speeds.
There’s a very mechanical purr and tone in the exhaust noise. I don’t dare say rasp, since it typically has a negative association from my E46 M3 days, but rasp it has. But the good kind of rasp. It’s the exotic kind that wipes away any buyer’s remorse you might have. It’s the kind the tells you that you’ve been rewarded with your patience on waiting for it’s arrival and installation. Hit the right range and listen to the burbles and pops as you let your foot off the throttle.
There’s the slightest bit of drone around 2700 RPM. But why would you ever let it sit at 2700 RPM? Luckily you can turn off PSE if you need to sit at that rev range, but I implore you to push this car. It’s asking to be rev — let it sing fit’s melody.
It’s louder. Maybe 20% louder. Just enough to tell you and those around you that it’s special and refined and sophisticated. But not loud enough to beat at its own chest to compensate for other incapabilities. It’s near perfect.
As for power delivery, the overall power band appears to be smoother. But my butt dyno is not as well calibrated as others. We often associate sound with speed so I feel like I’m going faster. It certainly sounds like I am.
I would recommend this modification to anyone who is looking to add bliss to their driving experience without overdoing it. I would also recommend Soul Performance for their drive for great customer service. Thank you to John Gaydos at Soul Performance for your help. And thank you to Farley at EuroTech Motorsports for a great install, dropping some knowledge on me and just being awesome.
Short video of the exhaust in my driveway:
I was not paid by Soul Performance to write this review. The headers were purchased lightly used from a fellow Rennlist owner. This is an independent review.
Context
My 991.1 S comes with the Porsche Sport Exhaust. I’ve never had a valved exhaust before but this is easily one of my favorite options for the car. I love the overall tone of the PSE when the exhaust is in sport mode but felt that it needed just a bit more character with more presence. A bit more growl at the lower RPMS. I wanted it to feel a bit exotic.
I purchased a set of used Soul Performance Street Headers from a fellow Rennlister. The headers were near new with less than 1,700 miles on them. At his suggestion, I reached out to the folks over at Soul Performance, specifically John Gaydos for any question I might have about the product but also just to learn more about Soul.
John was extremely friendly and welcoming over the phone. The word on the street is absolutely true — that Soul Performance values customer relationships and service above all else. I can feel that it’s their mission to satisfy customers and that I was immediately “part of the family.” It was very easy to talk to John and as someone who is not well-versed with auto mechanics, I appreciated that he didn’t make me feel like a dummy. He was patient and kind.
Some of the following were things I learned from John. They may be obvious to some but I figure I’ll just go over them again for posterity.
Living in MA, I wanted plug and play headers that won’t fire any codes from the O2 sensors either not reading or having an improper reading. I was ensured these won’t cause any problems since they are plug and play and O2 sensor friendly.
John mentioned that it’s not likely that I’ll need new header and exhaust gaskets since the headers and my car is low mileage (under 1,700 miles on the headers and 17,000 miles on the car). I purchased new headers anyways just in case because it’s cheap insurance and assurance.
The lifetime warranty is not transferrable since I’m not the original buyer. John promised that Soul will work with their customers to fix things at cost. And that they have a no bull**** policy. I believe him.
With that said, John assured me with a lot of confidence in this purchase, so I went ahead and bought them from the Rennlist owner.
Review
I had these headers (and new gaskets) installed by Farley at EuroTech Motorsports in Natick MA. They are extremely well-versed with Porsches (and other super car brands), very professional and again, very kind.
I picked up the car and drove it away in normal mode in order to let the oil come up to temperature and keeping it under 2.5-3.0K RPM. Upon firing up the car, I noticed that it was a bit louder which I liked. It adds to the excitement and build up of being able to rev it out once the car warms up. I noticed with PSE off, the tone is lightly lower and the sound is maybe 5% louder. It’s enough to let you know something is there and it tickles you to let it out. But it’s also quiet enough to be refined and blend in with the pack.
Farley pointed out to me is that the flap in the valve to open up Sport mode on the exhaust is a bit rattle-y when you turn on/off the PSE/Sport mode. Farley assured me that this is normal for all 991.1s and not noticeable on stock PSEs but is a bit more noticeable now with the aftermarket headers. So if you hear this, don’t be alarmed. It lasts all of half a second.
Once the car warmed up… I. Made. That. Car. SING!
And it sang wonderfully. It’s got snarl and it’s got bite. The wind up through the RPM range is pure bliss. It build anticipation for the upshift. To the BANG. And you get to experience it all again in the next gear until your fear of handcuffs prevents you from further speeds.
There’s a very mechanical purr and tone in the exhaust noise. I don’t dare say rasp, since it typically has a negative association from my E46 M3 days, but rasp it has. But the good kind of rasp. It’s the exotic kind that wipes away any buyer’s remorse you might have. It’s the kind the tells you that you’ve been rewarded with your patience on waiting for it’s arrival and installation. Hit the right range and listen to the burbles and pops as you let your foot off the throttle.
There’s the slightest bit of drone around 2700 RPM. But why would you ever let it sit at 2700 RPM? Luckily you can turn off PSE if you need to sit at that rev range, but I implore you to push this car. It’s asking to be rev — let it sing fit’s melody.
It’s louder. Maybe 20% louder. Just enough to tell you and those around you that it’s special and refined and sophisticated. But not loud enough to beat at its own chest to compensate for other incapabilities. It’s near perfect.
As for power delivery, the overall power band appears to be smoother. But my butt dyno is not as well calibrated as others. We often associate sound with speed so I feel like I’m going faster. It certainly sounds like I am.
I would recommend this modification to anyone who is looking to add bliss to their driving experience without overdoing it. I would also recommend Soul Performance for their drive for great customer service. Thank you to John Gaydos at Soul Performance for your help. And thank you to Farley at EuroTech Motorsports for a great install, dropping some knowledge on me and just being awesome.
Short video of the exhaust in my driveway:
Last edited by BlueShell; 05-05-2020 at 02:06 AM.
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Jasjeet Suri (05-03-2020),
LargePuppy (05-02-2020)
05-03-2020, 06:12 PM
#3
Racer
Thread Starter
