Todynot

Anyone running Soul Performance sport cat x-pipe? I came across them and they look like they’re direct competitor to Fabspeed, albeit a bit more expensive ($2300 vs $1800). Both in southeast PA too, so maybe some Fabspeed guys broke away?

Soul Performance

Todynot,

I'm happy to have a chat in regards to our product line, I shot you a PM to discuss

Best regards,
John Gaydos

AOW162435

John,
You were formerly with Fabspeed. Please enlighten us on relevant differences between Fabspeed products vs. Soul Performance products.

Are Soul Performance exhausts actually fabricated at your location? Or is the R&D done there and the fabrication overseas? It’s well known that Febspeed runs the other way when this question arises...



Andreas

Meenrod

Not overseas! Oh my God!



Wait. Aren't our cars made 'overseas' too?

AOW162435

Yes, yes they were.



Andreas

pp000830

At $2300 or $1800 the margins are pretty rich wherever they are made. Yes, yes, I know, made to fit a Porsche, double or triple the price!

TheOtherEric

Wait, I thought additional market entrants of the same product was supposed to result in LOWER prices.

GBX

i inquired about the Soul performance catted x-pipe and was told its only for '95 (OBD1) cars - bischoff and 1 bung. I have bischoff but i guess 1 bung won't cut it with OBD2

Would love to hear more about their products and offerings.

Todynot

GBX - I asked this exact question, as I have '96 bischoff w/OBD2 and didn't see the two bung option. Waiting for their reply.

rcropp1

So Fabspeed doesn't make the product themselves in the US? Do they farm all of it out?

Chuck W.

Hey John.... some good questions here. Why not reply on this thread? I am toying with the idea of adding the same to my '95 cab. TIA.

Cactus

Soul makes OBD 1 and 2 specific items. OBD1 has 1 bung centrally located and the OBD2 has 4 bungs. Talked to them at length at the Hershey Swap.

Soul Performance

Well, this developed into quite an intricate topic of conversation haha. You mentioned that I was formerly with Fabspeed. You are correct, and I valued my time representing their company. I worked with a lot of members in the 993 community and always stood behind the products I provided them on their behalf. Now, it is generally considered bad business practice to compare directly to another manufacture and sponsor on this forum. Therefore, I will not speak for Fabspeed in regard to their products, nor will I speak to my reasons for leaving the company or my reasons for not returning to them when moving back to the area. My cell is 484-883-6197, if anyone would like to have a more in depth conversation about it please feel free to give me a call any time. It would be nice to reconnect with many of you whom I’ve worked with in the past.

In regards to your product inquiries, I would be happy to provide you with a transparent/honest response as that is how we run our company. A few other key factors that contribute to our core values:

• Outstanding Customer Service - We have a no excuses customer service policy. We will do everything in our power to make our customers and your customers happy.
• Lifetime Warranty - We expect our products to have the snot beat out of them for their lifetime, including track use. That’s what these cars are meant to do. Therefore, we offer a lifetime warranty including track use on all of our products. The only exceptions are circumstances outside of our control (like going over a speed bump at 90mph or hitting a wall at the track), and the HJS cat cores themselves which we limit to 3 years with standard pump gas. However, we will work outside of warranty situations like these for a fair resolution for all involved.
• Little to No Lead Time - We try to keep our products in stock at all times. If we can’t meet that due to demand, it is typically only a few days turnaround with little exception.
• Products designed to achieve the promises made and market them honestly and accurately
• Customization - we can do no logo or your own custom logos and even custom colors.
• We welcome ideas to bring more and better products to the community. It’s not about what we want, it’s about what you want.

YES, all of our 993 exhaust products (and the majority of our products in general) are designed and fabricated in house. We invite you to stop in and see it being built, or we can document the process for you personally. We also operate very lean. We are partnered with several aerospace manufacturers in the US that make some of our components to our exact specs in an ISO 9001:2015 certified facility. This means they are produced to the strictest tolerances with highly calibrated machines. Instead of taking the course of filling our facility with machinery, we want the professionals with decades of experience with that machinery, and the highest standards and highest quality equipment available to the industry making our components to the highest possible level of precision. Our engineers design what is needed, and then we have these individual parts made. This is how we produce our mandrel bends, water jet cut flanges, laser cut brackets, and more that we use to fabricate these products in house. The downside to this is it can extend R&D times, but the end result as the customer receives it is the important aspect. As our company grows we plan to expand into more advanced methods to speed up R&D and come up with ways to continuously improve our products. We just received our press brake to bend bespoke brackets, we’re upgrading our 3D printer, and we’re even looking at automated machines and robots to do some tasks which are repetitive, affording our fabricators more time at the table. We are big on investing our profits directly back into the products.




As of right now, we’ve soft launched the x-pipes on our website as we have been asked by customers for them and have the capability to build them as the fixtures and fitment are proven.

They make a great sound improvement with feedback in performance improvement noted from those that have installed them. We pride ourselves on providing realistic, repeatable performance data from third parties we find to be reputable and experienced. We do not have this data yet, though we’ve designed our products based not just on our experience but feedback from a multitude of reputable resources. This will be available in time, and if we see or find any way to tweak our design to maximize the results we will not hesitate to do so.

To address the pricing - our x-pipes are handmade in the US and the costs of raw materials is growing, especially on the catalytic converters. We always try to be as fair as possible while keeping the lights on and we often are the most cost effective when it comes to many components. We understand this is a strong consideration for most and we’re working on reducing costs as aggressively as possible in terms of ordering components in volume and increasing our efficiency. We are not out to gouge on pricing as our mission is a great product at a great price to the best of our ability.

What we do offer is a well designed product with large 2.5” diameter piping and properly located O2 bungs so that each bank is accurately read. There are unique designs for OBD1 and OBD2 to ensure this. Look forward to reading more about the R&D process in our launch thread! The welds are also back purged for proper penetration and durability. Bischoff OBD1 and OBD2 sport cat and cat bypass x-pipes are ready for production. Gillet is in the works and should be ready in a month or so. We are also going to release a full 2.5” muffler bypass with a variety of tip options to couple with our sport cat/cat bypass x-pipes. For 993 muffler replacements we are collaborating with the one...the only...Darin Fister, and we are very excited to have his exceptional work partner our products.




Is everything we offer made in house? We have no problem openly saying no. We do business worldwide and embrace all options available. We source some components and systems from overseas, such as the highest quality catalysts available - HJS HD, Mikalor Supra clamps, and so on. We’ve gone through a wide gamut of tests with different components and companies from all areas of the world. We do use a premiere facility overseas for some exhaust manufacturing to ensure consistent quality and fair pricing. Two examples...Our GT3 Center Muffler Bypass which is our current best selling exhaust - sounds great, looks great, fits great, has never had a failure, and comes in at the best possible price point in the market. Our 987.1 Performance Exhaust System has a very intricate interior muffler design to achieve both the mild and wild tones, while the muffler casing itself is stamped and rolled. This muffler design could not be done in house or in the US while meeting the cabin comfort off throttle and price point the target audience required. I can confidently say we have never had a fitment issue or weld failure on these systems to date. Every single component is checked from the quality to the welds and proven in a fixture to ensure we can back it with our Lifetime Warranty (including track use) and strict no excuses, no BS customer service policy.

At the end of the day, we do what we do to deliver the best possible customer experience. Nothing is more important to us than helping you make an educated decision and having happy customers. Please don’t hesitate to give me a call/text at any time at 484 883 6197, as long as I’m not sleeping or on track I should be available!

-John
-Mike

AOW162435

John,
Thank you for taking the time to describe SOUL’s philosophy, products, and manufacturing. It’s appreciated.



Andreas

TheOtherEric

Very nice writeup. Thanks John & Mike.