MTB

Great Job! I also bought one for my C4S and planning to install in early Sep. Can you let me know the exact length that I need to take off on each slip joint?

Thanks

SH || NC

We measured and removed 2". Did Fabspeed not ask you whether or not you had a stock system either before they shipped?


Also, HERE is the link to my Install / Write Up page. There are more pictures and commentary.

ivangene

man - nice !!

chsu74

Thank you for forging ahead and solving the issues.

ivangene

BTW - OT

Your garage looks really awesome -

Jon996

Wow, thanks for taking the plunge for all of us! Great photos too.

I am just a little confused on the fit. I have been under the car and changed my mufflers so I have an idea what goes where, but my confusion is to why you had to adjust them. I thought each replacement part (for example, Fabspeed header, cat, muffler) was a direct exchange for stock fit. So I am still a little confused on why these would need adjustment for some mufflers and not for others. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Looking forward to your review of the sound too!
Jon

SH || NC

Jon, it all fits, but just getting it into position was the challenge. I tried every imaginable way to get the pipe up there without moving the mufflers, but there was no way that was happening.

Jon996

Thanks--I was thinking of the 2" you needed to cut off more than anything. Anyway, it looks super (along with your car and your garage!)

SH || NC

Oh - the 2" is purely so it will fit with the stock exhaust setup. Alex told me to do this; the system is designed to be used with their mufflers; so the ad is not totally accurate; this was the first disappointment, but not one without a resolution. Thanks for the compliments

Marlon

How is the sound??? Any SOP reports yet

SH || NC

Ha. Just got back.

Um, yeah. Daddy like.

I can't comment on just the xpipe because I also installed the RSS Plenum and the Evo Intake this weekend as well.

The sound from the exhaust is like the PSE +2 or +3, except when you get above 4k, and then its like +8; it is a glorious, mechanical howl that is still smooth and Porsche-like.

Driving around the neighborhood, at below 2k, its your standard PSE when it is 'On'. On the street, there is more volume when you put your foot in it, but its not raucous; its smooth and a little deeper.

When on the street and the PSE is 'Off' there is just a little bit of hum now to the exhaust , whereas before it was sewing-machine quiet.

On ramps and anything above 4k = the secks

What I am really impressed with, and this could be all 3 mods coming together, is how smooth the delivery it is; the RPMs just climb faster.

No torque loss down low, but in 5th or 6th, there might be a little less; not an issue honestly - I'm not looking for torque in those gears.

Idle is still rock solid; no hunting; no misses; no drama.

These are my first drive perceptions - they can change as I get more seat time, but let there be no mistake - it was worth it. Softronic is on the way.

67FJ45

Nice write-up, Whitey. I'm interested in your comment about not having to take the bumper off. It's only 4 bolts. If you are referring to the fascia and heat shields, I've always found it faster and easier to just remove them, especially if you want to get at the mufflers.

My car has the 996 Fabspeed exhaust (headers, cats, and mufflers), and I agree with your assessment. Good stuff.

Thanks for the write-up!

wlee69

Whitey - Thanks again for posting all the pics so we can all see the new Fab cross pipe. I'm also confused like Jon996. When you had to cut to 2" off the end that connects to the muffler, and they said it was because you had OEM mufflers - don't all aftermarket mufflers fit the same as the OEM including Fabspeed? I've had both GHL and now Tubi mufflers - they all fit with the OEM cat pipes. Is the end that you cut off go over the Fabspeed mufflers instead of using the OEM sleeve that goes over both ends? Still trying to figure out why 100% of the people buying the x pipes won't have to do the same as you....Thanks,Will

SH || NC

Yeah, I took off the bumper only to then remember about all that damn shielding I started to investigate taking that off, but decided against it. It certainly would have been easier, I just didn't know how much more work it would have been and a that point I was already tired of removing stuff.



The ends that I cut off on the F/S xpipe slide into the slip joint on both ends. The OEM and xpipe are the same diameter – the slip joint simply connects them.

If they have Fabspeed mufflers, I don’t think they will; this is what Alex told me. IDK – maybe they have a setup for stock muffler and a set for aftermarket – I wasn’t asked before my purchase, so I needed to do the modification after I got them. A sawzall and ~2 minutes later and the issue was resolved, just slightly irritating to have to do it in the first place when I had different expectations based on the ad that was posted.

All in all, the install wasn't that big of a deal - I just don't like surprises, especially when the car is up on jackstands, and its frustrating as you're lying on your back trying to figure out a way to make this work because you can't simply just drive it somewhere to get it fixed - I gotta make this happen of its gonna stay on jackstands. I don't like those situations.

MTB

Just did measurement from both ends of the mufflers slip joints. It is 26.25" and the X-pipe cats is 26". So, I do not need to cut! Mine is 03 C4S with PSE. Whitey's C4S is 04, perhaps the 04 muffler has longer slip joint.

FYI