SimonSays

In what way does the Tubi sound better than a CMB + Fister/Gundo side cans? Louder, growlier, etc? And how does the AWE (assuming it’s the cross-over pipe version, not the no-longer-available merged x-pipe one) fit into the mix?

SimonSays

And more generally, I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback so far. It’s good to see so many compliments for both the Tubi and the Sharky CMB + Fister/Gundo option. Likewise, it's nice to see people say good things about AWE. That's encouraging as the design is very similar to the Tubis.

It seems like you can’t really go wrong with any of those set-ups, but I’m still curious if anyone is able to describe the differences in sound among them. Is one more of a 6/10 exhaust, whereas another dials it up to 8 or 9? Does one make a smoother, more GT3-like noise, whereas another is raspier? Please let me know

mcfisticuffs

IMO they sound "tuned", where as the Fister + Bypass sounds..louder, but slightly ..."flat"?

SimonSays

Cool, makes sense that a more bespoke, single-manufacturer set-up would sound more finely tuned.

Fined

I have Sharkwerks center bypass + PSE (I've opened fixed it to be "always on"). I like the sound, others have heard it from outside and really love it. My dad was going on about how good the car sounds as he followed me in his car.


I'll be wanting more though. I'll do headers and 200 cell cats. Probably do the fister mod too.

SpeedyD

SW + Fister has the benefit of no drone. I considered some other options but when trying cars with some alternative setups there is a pronounced drone at certain RPM (high 2k/low 3k) which is painful if someone is doing any highway travel.

For anyone considering something other than the PSE it is important to consider drone.

As for sound, I disagree that those other options sound better, though I can't speak to Akrapovic.

SimonSays

Interesting, although in defense of the Tubi, I should point out that Sharkwerks themselves sell the full Tubi exhaust alongside their own center bypass. In their 997.2 Carrera tuning guide, they even note that the Tubis are also high quality and drone free (link here, the sub-heading is ‘Side Muffler Replacement’ : http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/porsch...09-2012-a.html).

Anyways, since your comment indicates that you’ve had a chance to listen to all of the above bar the Akrapovic, how do the Tubis and SW/Fister combo compare sound-wise? I’ve seen some comments on this forum and others mentioning that the Tubis sound very “euro.” Do you know what they mean by that and is there even any truth to those comments, do the different exhausts actually sound very similar? Or do you think the SW/Fister set-up simply sounds best full-stop?

Terrytwn

I have Sharkwerks center x-pipes and PSE on open most of the time. The sound is great and reminds me more of the air cooled sound than the water-cooled sound. Love my set-up!

SpeedyD

I hope you didn't take my message to imply that all the others have drone, but I have experienced drone in some of the alternatives. It is often hard to get a perfect apples-to-apples since all the configuration options interact, so I would prefer not to paint any of my experiences as representative.

I can say, however, that drone is a killer to me personally. I don't do a lot of long drives but in test driving a couple cars with aftermarket exhausts that did have drone, it can be very tiring (even in a short drive). I tend to drive in a sporty manner (rowing through the gears and not lugging the engine) but it is hard to avoid some cruising at highway speeds and for a longer trip, a drone is awful.

So, in summary, I won't say my combo sounds best, full stop, but sound will be a matter of taste. The exact combo I have (SW with the ceramic fister sides) sounds great in my car. Lots of "audio control" through my feet and my right hand (rev range, on/off gas, etc). But I am sure some would prefer one of the other options.

Mdrums did an excellent write up years ago that I will paste below. It only covers some options, but I think worth reading through:

FABSPEED SIDE MUFFLER DELETE PIPES
I have a 2009 Carrera S and have been running the Fabspeed Side Muffler delete system for 8000 miles. This system deletes the 2 very heavy side mufflers and just uses the stock center muffler. Basically this Fabspeed system is just 2 pipes that run from the center muffler to the tips...that is it. This system sounds agressive, loud, pops and burbles and sounds really good at the track. There is a lot of drone from 2000-2600 rpm but for a weekend toy and track toy I loved it.

RENNSPORT-1 CENTER MUFFLER
The rear center Rennsport-1 muffler makes a lot of sense to a guy like me due to much lighter weight and shorter exhaust gas travel. Back in September 08 when I took delivery of my car I wrote a few exhaust manufactures about doing a good center muffler only. I was told it was not needed to it would not work. They all were wrong!

The Rennsport-1 center muffler allows you to by-pass the heavy side mufflers like my Fabspeed pipes are doing with the stock center muffler but The Rennsport-1 center muffler is much quieter than they way I am doing it with just the stock center muffler/resonator. The Rennsport-1 center muffler sounds extremely good....I mean really good from inside and outside the car. At deceleration you get a nice subdued burble and under throttle the car sound exotic. At part throttle from 2000-2400 rpm there is exhaust sound but not a ton of drone....some drone but it really is just exhaust sound. Obviously this system is louder than stock so inside the car you will naturally hear the exhaust more but it sounds really good and is not annoying to me. At 2700-3200 there is not much exhaust sound in the car at all. When you get the rpms up further the car sounds very exotic and has a nice wail type of sound that is characteristic of a Porsche. Rennsport-1 did some full throttle fly by's and outside the car the volume was enough so you noticed something exotic was going by but not obnoxiously loud to attract unwanted attention. To me this is the way a Porsche should sound.

TUBI FULL SYSTEM
I just installed a full Tubi system on my car. This came about to me as a perk this week when my wife was buying a Cayanne S. My car was in the dealer for a cracked weld on the left header. This header was being replaced under warranty. The Sales Mngr who was the Parts Mngr saw the system I was running ans asked me about it. My wife is really cool and did not complain about how loud the car was but she had mentioned it to me before. She was buying the Cayanne S for 18% off sticker and negiociated in 20 Cayanne wheels, full fint, t-shirts and the Tubi system for the Carrera all for FREE. She is something else. I only did this due to the ultra cheap price and how the deal worked out plus I thought why not try something different out.

The Tubi system deletes the rear center muffler with pipes that crossover each other and this system uses 2 extremely lightweight side mufflers. The Tubi side mufflers are small and weight 8lbs each.
The Tubi sound is different than most. It has somewhat of a PSE sound which I call a Euro sound. The Tubi system over all has more mid-range in the sound and some rasp to it. On decell there is some poping and burble that sounds really cool. The car sounds pretty much stock and/or no louder than PSE while driving through the neighboorhood and driving around under 3000rpm on the suburb streets. However if you get on the throttle at 3500 rpm the exhaust really opens up and sounds very exotic. The sound volume is no where near as loud as the Fabspeed Side Muffler By-Pass pipes or even the Rennsport-1 center muffler. I am not sure if Tubi uses packing material inside there mufflers so I will see if they sound opens up any in the next few months and track days.

If you are looking for something more sporting but ZERO DRONE on the interstate the Tubi System is perfect for dailey drivers.

If you want something deeper sounding you can here while inside the car at all rpm's, save a lot of weight and louder than stock for track days but not too loud in my book for a dailey driver or weekend toy the Rennsport-1 is my pick. So far this is still my favorite sounding exhaust.

If you want loud for your track toy and weekend toy and do not really listen to the stereo or talk alot on a cell phone while driving. The best bang for the buck is the ultra simple Fabspeed Side Muffler By-Pass pipes. I drove 8000 miles and 7 track weekends with these and really liked them but they can draw some attention on the street.

GTS Sully

My SW center x-pipes should arrive today and I'm planning to install on Saturday. I believe others have pulled this off without having to remove the rear bumper? Looking for guidance/suggestions on this.

DC911S

Only if the nuts and bolts have not rusted and/or corroded. THe ones that attach the header/cats to the X pipe will no doubt be rusty and the studs may break off from the cat flange. Be prepared to drill that out and use stainless nuts and bolts, have them ready to go. Soak them in PB blaster overnight or WD40 before you attempt it the next day..

GTS Sully

Thanks, DC.

mcfisticuffs

It can be done. And the SW instructions say to remove the tips.

My advice: ignore them

Pull the bumper off, the tail lights come first. It's not that hard. Then the center heat shield, and the two muffler heat shields. IT'S WORTH IT.

This way you don't have to remove the tips, and you can take the one bolt and two nuts for the muffler off, and really open things up. IT'S WORTH IT. Taking the tips off sucks. And putting them back on, and then LINING THEM UP STRAIGHT is not worth not pulling the bumper off.

WAAAAYYYY less of a pain to pull the bumper than to fight under your car with the incredibly rusted, and soon to be broken, header/cat-to-center muffler bolts.

vern1

Have you listened to the clips on Youtube? There are tons of them. And although its not exactly like hearing them in person its better than asking guys to give their verbal subjective opinion I think

What kind of sound do you want?

SimonSays

I’ve listened to as many high quality youtube clips as I could find, but I didn’t find them super useful. Many of the exhaust clips, regardless of the brands used, sound quite similar. For example: here are two of the clearest sounding and most similarly staged videos that feature different exhausts, yet I would be hard pressed to say that I can really make out a difference between the two.

1. Full Tubi (which you can hear if you ignore the background music):
2. Sharkwerks CMB + what appears to be PSE (I’m assuming this b/c of the PSE tips and I'm also assuming the flaps are open):
Both clips are high quality and feature drive-by scenes from a distance, but I can’t really say one exhaust sounds vastly different or better than the other (but maybe it's just that my ears aren't the sharpest!). Hence, I was hoping for some verbal descriptions to help illuminate the actual differences in noise.