Originally Posted by ScottArizona

I now have about 60 miles since completion of the 997 gt3 exhaust conversion on my car (oem 997 headers/cats, fabspeed side bypass pipes, oem 997.1 (steel) center exhaust, sharkwerks 80mm tips).

To say I'm stoked with the results would be an understatement. I was doing this primarily for the sound improvement and to lose a little weight off the rear (the hardest place to lose lbs). I had heard there is a performance advantage with this set up over the 996 gt3 set up, but I was honestly not expecting much, as literally every single exhaust I have ever put on an N/A car (multiple m3's, boxsters, a Carrera, a 997 gt3 (not to mention three different exhaust configurations on this very car), resulted primarily in a different sound, sometimes improved throttle response, but usually nothing noticeable in terms of performance increase (aside from the perceived increase in performance associated with an increase in exhaust volume!).

Well, I can honestly say that is not the case with the 997 conversion. The performance increase is real AND noticeable. Maybe it is that my old set up was not optimal (my mufflers were an unknown brand, so who knows if maybe they did not flow well), but I can honestly report that the car feels significantly quicker. And I know its not a "placebo" effect I'm reporting because the car now looses traction in spots/speeds/rpms where I know it NEVER lost traction before. Here are some other observations.

1) Throttle response: Definitely improved. No doubt. I have an rs lwfw, and this mod is the icing on the cake. Throttle inputs result in sharp and immediate rpm responses. I feel like I've added one of those spint booster thingies (which I've never tried LOL). Car just reacts quicker now, especially when blipping the throttle with no load (such as rev matching upon downshifting).

2) Sound: I think its perfect. Volume is not too much louder than my old set up (fabspeed headers and unknown brand titanium mufflers), but the new sound is much more crisp, exotic sounding, and deeper. There is drone in the 2500-2800ish rpm range, but its not bad and I don't spend much time in that range anyway.

3) Aesthetics: I'm 50/50 on this one. The car definitely looks more modern and racy with the center exit exhaust. I also like the deletion of the bumperettes...car just has a more muscular look now. But I don't like how much of the exhaust hardware is exposed under the cup bumper, which is cut much higher than the oem 996 and 997 gt3 bumpers. Its not horrible, and definitely looks the business, but I would prefer a little more refinement for my "street" track car! I also need to figure out a tow hook solution that retains the bumper reinforcement bar! The bumper is going to go back to get re-painted as there are some flaws, but at least the shop got the color match just about perfect.

Anyway, I can honestly say that if I could only pick one mod on this car out of all the other mods/options on this car (pccb's, euro perlon seats, rear bar, lwfw/clutch, bmc filter, 996 gt3 aftermarket headers and mufflers, etc...), this would be it. I'm that happy with it. Below are a couple pics.