Porschetech3

Those mufflers look very nice !! I suppose the key fobs are to switch the sound remotely and not hard wired ? Sweet..

binaryaudax

Those are identical to the TopGear valved exhaust -- except for the addition of that nameplate tacked onto the pipe. The blue silicone vacuum lines, the remotes, the black packaging -- all the same. I just installed the TopGear exhaust in my C2.

Connecting the valves to vacuum was quite easy. I simply tee'd off the input line to the resonance flap valve that is located on the driver's side intake plenum, right above the alternator.

De Jeeper

I use 2-3 half liters when u do a full brake system flush. I pull all the fluid out of the resi with a turkey baster, fill with the new stuff then i pull 10-12 oz from the inside bleader and another 6 from the outside bleader. Then every 6-8 track days i pull another 4-6 oz from each bleader to bring new fluid into the caliper. Im using Endless 650.

plpete84

Thanks Skip! And you're correct. There is a separate controller that will be nicely hidden away that communicates wirelessly with the remote. I know this is different from the factory set up that I think is indeed hardwired.

Thanks for confirming. Aligns with everything I've seen so far and looking forward to getting it installed and getting some footage of the exhaust note.
If I have it correctly, you tapped in to the line as in the photo below, right? And curious where did you tap in to get the power/ground for the controller box?



Thanks Aaron! I'll get 3 bottles and get that done soon.

wdb

Wow, those mufflers look like they'd go right into place on a car with PSE. Interesting...

plpete84

I don't see why that wouldn't work. The main difference is the electronics but I think the actuators are still triggered via vacuum. And you loose 10lbs of weight. More if ditching the stock cats.

binaryaudax

You want to tee it _before_ the electronic valve for the flap. I modified the diagram below.

For the controller, I didn't use the TopGear-supplied electronics since I intend to hardwire it like the OEM PSE system... but after hearing the exhaust I'm less motivated to even bother with the valves... with the valves open the exhaust note is quite mild. I've been driving it for a week now, and I don't see any need to make it quieter -- it's not obnoxious at all. From what I've gathered it seems like the factory PSE system only closed the valves based on speed (between 50-70kph) to abide by noise laws in Germany.

plpete84

Good stuff - thanks for the correction! I might not wire it up immediately and am also curious to see what things will sound like with 200 cel cats.

plpete84

Mid 60's in February means that the previously mentioned parts made their way to the car! Hope people like photos because this one is heavy on the visuals. I purchased new mounting hardware for the mufflers because there was no way that anything could be reused. I mentioned before that one of the previous owners added a poorly executed fister mod to the stock mufflers. You can see here what I meant. A tiny piece of pipe was jammed between the inlet and outlet and welded to the part that should detach with the muffler tips. What made it even worse was that the hole that was made was pretty small and uneven. It looked like someone drilled a few random holes in a circle and punched out the middle.... Somehow it all sounded somewhat decent but introduced a weird resonance around 3.5k - 4k rpm.





There was no graceful way of getting the muffler tip pipe off so a bit of a struggle ensued. After some time with a dremel and a few reinforced cut off wheels I was able to get things separated. I was able to salvage the pipe and reuse it with the new mufflers. I had both stock mufflers off in under 45 minutes. This took longer than I'd like to admit.

Lot's of space in there! I was able to remove and install the new muffler by simply sliding them off from the bracket. The pro move here is to always install the long bolts head down for easy removal. Some anti-seize was applied to all bolts. Your mechanic or you will be glad you took this step next time you need to remove them.








Next day, once I rescued both exhaust tip pipes, cleaned them up and hit with some silver high heat paint, I finished up that portion of the install and tackled the part that will allow the valves to operate. Right behind the heat shield, there is a round opening where you can route the vacuum hoses into the engine bay. Great stuff. On the driver side you need to snake it from behind the SAI pump - it's doable without removing it. One the passenger side it's wide open for access with the intake box out.




Also, thought this was a cool shot



With the taillights out, I noticed a small unused hole that I thought would serve great as a mounting point for the vacuum switchover valve. I liked how it would be out of the way. I didn't want to attach it anywhere on or near the motor as there is enough stuff jammed in there already.




From there I routed the two vacuum lines from each muffler to a T junction and then ran the 3rd hose to the switchover valve. I'll probably get some plastic clips that attach to the body with double sided tape to secure the hoses and make it look neater.



The controller box was attached with velcro to the side, right below the switchover valve. It has a little antenna for the key fob that operates the valve operation, a plug that connects to the changeover valve and a power + ground wires.



The other hose with a check valve leads to another T connection that feeds the vacuum for this whole thing to operate. Ideally, I'd like to wire the power connection somewhere else, like some other connector but not sure where yet. For now I have it connected to the + power terminal and the ground to the unused plug on the side. It all seems to work well but I'd like to clean it up a bit more. I thought about tapping into the O2 sensor plug but not sure if that's a good idea or not yet.



I'm not a huge fan of chromed exhaust tips and have been contemplating of switching up the color. I had some extra black vinyl sitting around so I wrapped both just to get a better visual. Also, I love how our cars look with the bumper off and the exhaust exposed. This looks even better with an X pipe or some fancy titanium exhaust.




Last but not least, I was able to swap out the old brake lines for some new Goodridge ones and flush the fluid with Motul RBF600. The old stuff was green which tells me that it was due for a flush. I used some silicon plugs that worked like a charm to plug the hard lines and prevent from extra fluid from leaking out.



I had the correct tools for the job but still feared some of the connections giving me a hard time. This wasn't touched in 19 years. I sprayed all connections with a bit of PB Blaster and luckily all broke free with zero fuss. Awesome. From there on it was all pretty simple to install the new lines. You just need to pay attention to route them correctly and not introduce and unnecessary bends. Bled the brakes and I was off to the races.




Next up are the adjustable rear toe arms. I might hold off with this till after my HPDC on March 5th. The car also now sits on Michelin PS4S tires. Same size as before - 235/295. I like the shape of the tires a lot more, especially in the rear. I haven't pushed the car yet on them so can't speak to any performance but the first thing that jumped out at me was that the ride quality has improved slightly. I believe this is down to the softer sidewalls on these. I think this also affected the steering feel a bit. Car still turns in fine but it doesn't feel as direct as is did on the RS Max tires, which surprisingly are basically Continentals.

Hoping to get some good video/sound clips of the exhaust and post impressions soon.

GC996

Great eye candy! Can't wait to hear the exhaust.

TheChunkNorris

That looks amazing.

Porschetech3

Very nice !! I love the switchable exhaust with wireless remote....

wdb

I've seen two flavors of PSE. My car originally had what you describe -- valves always open except from ~30-50 MPH, because some European nations have urban noise rules and the open valves didn't meet them. (That can be defeated by cutting a resistor in the PSE relay.) It did not have a PSE switch in the dash. I added the switch, which enables me to have the valves closed -- be in quiet mode -- all the time.

To my ears the PSE sounds glorious! But may be a bit loud in a neighborhood or urban setting. I use the PSE switch to keep the sound down in those environments, and revel in the noise the rest of the time.

plpete84

I've had a chance to do a bit of driving and capture some audio. With the valves closed the sound is very stock-ish. Maybe a tad louder but really not by much. I'd still classify it as stock sound. Once the valves open the sound changes a good bit and the change is noticeable in the cabin and outside. Much more throatier with more bass with a good amount of additional volume. I don't find it obnoxious but if you accelerate next to someone you will probably make them look. When driving around town and applying more throttle at lower revs, below 3k rpm, you get more boomy (is that a word?) sound into the cabin which may not always be welcome but it goes away past 3k rpms. I wouldn't call this drone but more deeper volume. The good part is that you can hit a button and close the valves if it bothers you. The one thing I do really like is the little burble that you get when deaccelerating in gear at lower speeds.

This is all with failing stock cats which need to be replaced anyway. I already have a set of crossover TopGear cats and new O2 sensors en route so I'll post another video of what that set up sounds like. For the price, the set up is a no brainer for me. Fit and finish was perfect and the install was very easy. There isn't too many valved options out there but I'm glad I took a chance on this one. Hope folks find this useful. The video has a few clips from my driving loop with footage rom my dash cam and audio from a GoPro mounted on one of the bumperettes.

plpete84

The long weekend provided an opportunity to get the new TopGear 200 cel cats to be installed. 4 new O2 sensors arrived just in time to get everything done in a day. I supplied myself with a blowtorch and a 3lb hammer expecting to battle the studs connecting the stock cats to the header. Luckily hammer was not needed and I only used the torch on another bolt that helps to secure a clamp that holds the cats in place. Except for 2 or 3, all bolts snapped off but since the studs were pressed into the cat flange this was a non issue.

Here is a cold start up of the new mufflers with stock cats - valves were open.


Then it was out with the old and in with the new. Forgot to weigh the cats as compared to the stock ones but there was a decent difference. With the new mufflers, I'm sure the new exhaust is saving at least 15lbs off the rear if not more. 10lbs of that was mufflers alone.






The overall fit and finish on everything was great and it was a pretty simple install. I've had the rear apart enough times that at this point I can have the rear bumper and both mufflers off in about an hour Anti-seize on all bolts again so I don't have to battle them in the future.

Cue the first cold start after everything was installed and buttoner up, minus the heat shields and bumper. Valves were open.


In this short video you can hear the difference between the valves being open and closed, as I toggle the switch.


With the valves closed, the whole system sounds a bit louder than what I had before but it's not obnoxious or unbearable in all driving conditions. It's probably a bit louder and meaner than OEM sport exhaust. With the valves open it gets pretty loud and rowdy. Pretty close to what no mufflers would sound like probably. It's drivable with smaller throttle applications around town but once you get on it more it does get pretty loud and aggressive. I like that the difference is big enough to make me want to keep things as they are. I'll try to get some driving footage and sound in coming weeks.