Soul Performance

With the warm weather coming it's a great time to freshen up your Carrera! We've got bolt on tips that install easily in minutes and we can have them to your door fast!



-Mike

Ironman88

Regarding the black polished tips - what is the material? What does the finish consist of?

Thanks.

Soul Performance

That is a stainless steel tip with a chrome coating over the tips. We then have a PVD black finish applied - you can see all details about that here.

-Mike

Ironman88

Thanks for the follow up info. I will reach out with any additional questions. My only concern - with the PVD coating being only a few microns in thickness - how that would hold up over time particularly in an exposed area such as the exhaust tips. These would regularly have to be cleaned. How would the finish hold up to that over time? I'm sure these things are not cheap - but they do look great - certainly when new at least.

Soul Performance

You're most welcome! While being thin, PVD bonds incredibly well - much better than paint and powder coating when done right. PVD has many uses, some decorative and some performative - for example some coating types are used on areas with metal to metal contact to decrease friction and wear. We use PVD due to it's great durability, it's not a cheap process but it's designed to endure. For cleaning we recommend washing the tips like you would paint, be mindful of harsh abrasives - or any for that matter - and clean them regularly to prevent buildup.

-Mike

Soul Performance

A look behind the scenes! We can rapid 3D print casting pieces to ensure exhaust sections have the correct angles and length during the kitting process. This allows us to ensure perfect fitment!



-Mike

Soul Performance

Our Long Tube Street Headers for the 997.2 Carrera are now available!





-Mike

Prairiedawg

Are those tubes equal length? Look nice but the center tube looks shorter. I keep reading equal length headers are part of what gives the GT cars that awesome sound.

Chris M.

The car in the video from the link you provided has quite a howl. What other exhaust mods does it have?

Soul Performance

They are as close to equal length as possible, but the focus here is on long tube runners and a smooth transition into the merge collector. This design allows for a longer, gradual transition into the collector, whereas shorter length runners for this application will usually terminate abruptly into a short collector continuing into a single pipe pre catalytic converter.

We posted up several several videos so I can't give you an accurate description - but the videos do mention which components are on the car in the title and description.

-Mike

Soul Performance

Here's Daniel finishing up a set of 997.2 Carrera Sport Side Mufflers! Thank you for your business!



-Mike

Soul Performance

Thank you everyone for your business! We're currently running our Beyond Black Friday Super Sale - now's the perfect time to upgrade your exhaust or air filters! Here's Nick fabricating a set of our Sport Side Mufflers.



-Mike

nwGTS

HI Mike, Can I ask why SOUL chose to bend the pipe in the center delete instead of a straighter crossover?

Soul Performance

Both 997.1 and 997.2 designs are different and designed to work best on their respective platforms, we didn't want to just carry over a design that works on one car but craft the right components for the .2. We designed our 997.2 center delete with longer tubing length and larger diameter tubing for maximum power while using that extra tube length to mitigate undesirable frequencies. We were able to brace it more to reduce vibrations which has been an issue from other manufacturers according to customer feedback. We designed this to not blend after consulting with several tuners, including Softronic to yield the best drivability in terms of performance and sound.

-Mike

Soul Performance

Here's a freshly made Center Muffler Bypass Exhaust with some of the welds highlighted. We back purge as many welds as possible for beautiful, strong welds.






If you don't know what back purging is or how it effects welds....

Below you see three welds that look very similar on the outside – but inside it’s a very different story! Proper TIG welding technique is not just about achieving a great stack of dimes on the outside of the piping, but more importantly about penetration and preservation – making sure the back of the weld is functionally sound.



Back purging is the process of shielding the inside of the weld with an inert gas to prevent contamination during the welding process, resulting in a stronger weld.

Wikipedia extrapolates on this statement: “Stainless steels, duplex steels, titanium-, nickel- and zirconium- alloys are sensitive to the presence of air, oxygen, hydrogen, water vapour and other vapours and gases that may combine with the hot metal as it is being joined.

Such gases may combine with the metal to form undesirable compounds that may reduce corrosion resistance or may be instrumental in creating cracks or other structural defects in metals.”

The rate of oxidation in metal progresses more rapidly as temperature increases – to a very high level during welding. Back purging prevents this from happening. An inert gas does not undergo chemical reactions and prevents rapid oxidation while the stainless is in a molten state.

Argon, a noble gas, is the most commonly used shielding gas in TIG welding. It offers a very stable arc allowing a skilled fabricator great control over the resulting weld.

As part of the welding process, the welding torch is designed to emit shielding gas to protect the front of the weld. Different cups offer different gas patterns as seen below in a still below from a demonstrative video, but ultimately the goal is to shield the weld from oxidation and the negative effects explained above. This is how you can have a weld that looks great on the outside with the interior of the welding looking much different. To protect the inside of the weld, back purging is necessary – but not always done.



Here’s an example of SOUL using back purging during the fabrication process. Our fabricator has plugged the ends of this 991.2 Carrera Cat Bypass Pipe and Argon gas is being pumped from a gas cylinder at a controlled rate through the inside of the piping. It takes some time to displace the ambient air with the inert gas before the welding can begin.


Now that you’re aware of what back purging is and why it’s done, let’s go over a few examples of different welding scenarios with and without it to give you a better idea of why it is used.

Weld 1: Lack Of Penetration (No Back Purging)

This butt weld shows a lack of full penetration, leaving the root gap exposed. During the welding process this gap can allow for a better, stronger weld. Left unfilled, it can attract moisture and corrode quicker than the rest of the exhaust system. Without full penetration in this butt joint, this is a weak weld with reduced strength – it’s a point of failure. Below is an example of weld that failed from lack of full penetration.



This weld can result from high amp / low duration settings with no back purging. The blackened surface consists of oxides of chrome, iron, and nickel – effectively the rust resistant properties of the stainless steel are being burnt out of it.

Weld 2: Sugaring (No Back Purging)

Sugaring / granulation / contamination is extreme oxidation of the back side of a stainless weld. This weld has penetration but is also heavily oxidized due to lack of a shielding gas. While this weld has full penetration it is not as strong as a back purged weld and is also a point of potential rust and / or failure under stress. To a mild effect sugaring also interrupts exhaust flow.

• Sugaring is often a rejectable defect in medical / food industries as the texture can trap bacteria.

Weld 3: Back Purged Weld

In the end strength, longevity, and minimal impact of flow are the end goals of a back purged weld. This weld was done with the same settings as the weld above but was back purged with Argon. The inert gas prevents burning and contamination for a visibly different weld. There is full penetration with no contamination on the backside. Not only is it beautiful and well done, but it is quite strong.

-Mike