cleanme

It was a 50/50 toss between you and Fabspeed. I went Fabspeed, why?

Well a big factor was listening to the online sound clips. Probably the biggest. Then this didn't really matter but it is a nice touch, Fabspeed polishes all of their 'stuff' to a mirror finish. Doesn't make a difference but it's nice to see when you get all the parts.

That said I'm having a bad time with the cats setting off the Check Engine Light. So if I can't fix this, is it possible to put on A.W.E. cats with Fabspeed headers & mufflers?

Also, I liked the Fabspeed tips better. Some people may not like that they stick out a bit, but I liked that and the fact that the tips had a beveled 'lip' rather than straight cylinders.

If I had gone A.W.E. I would say I like the engineered look of the raw metal and the fact that A.W.E. by the looks of it has a very nice shop to build & test.

I think when it comes down to it, you can't go wrong with either setup. They're all great, extremely well made and the fit & finish is excellent. It's probably all personal preference, BUT the one thing that I KNOW makes a difference is customer interaction!! I had a great experience with Fabspeed and they were very good to me. I know there's a fellow board member that couldn't decide between the two (Fabspeed vs A.W.E.) and he contacted me and I told him why I liked Fabspeed/my experiences. I *think* he was about to go for Fabspeed but when he called them he got poor customer service and didn't get the 'right' feeling and got fed up. So he went to A.W.E. where he had a great experience.

Oh also, I figured that since Rennlist is such a great place I should support the sponsors and I knew Fabspeed offered a slight discount. Not enough of a discount to mean anything in the grand scheme of things but certainly a nice touch.

So there, those are all of the things I can think of!



EDIT: Here are some pictures of the Fabspeed system on my car. Note, I haven't cleaned the lip on the inside of the tips. And for what it's worth, the Fabspeed headers fit nice and tight and don't 'hang' down. But that really isn't an issue to me...I think!

http://www.porscheguys.com/fab

Mike/A.W.E.

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to respond.

1. Yes, you can use our cats with their system. One of the reason many users have switched from them to us is the due to the cats that we use. NO CEL's due to cat efficiency.

2. The only component we do not polish is the headers. We use an abrasive pad to dull the finish. Gives the metal a more machined look.

3. As for the discount. We get that one alot. Bottom line is that we have a dealer network worldwide consisting of about 600 shops. Many of these have invested several thousands of dollars to be a dealer of ours. If I were to start discounting the product just to make a sale, I would potentially be taking money out of their hand after they put their trust in us. They buy at a discount and don't have the margin to compete with me discounting the price.

That's not to say that I ALWAYS sell at MSRP. I have been known from time to time to help out with shipping costs or ease the pain in some other fashion.

It's just that we value our partnerships and taking food out people's mouths is a great way to tarnish them.

I hope you all understand this.

Again, thanks for taking the time. Please keep us in mind for further upgrades for your car. We sell more than just exhausts!

NVRANUF

That would be me!!
I had purchased directly from Joe in the past for my 993, but this time around one of his corporate lackies must have played hooky the day customer service and how to respond to answer simple basic questions was taught at corp executive school,.... so Fabspeed "the business" got exactly what it deserved.... none of my $$$$. That is in no way a reflection on their product, but as cleanme is finding out, their sport cats are causing CEL issues.
My AWE's after 1,000km have no CEL issues to date.

Mike worked with me on that and we came to an equitable arrangement that was mutually agreeable. Thanks for your patience Mike, it was a pleasure doing business with you and AWE!!
Also thanks for wading in and speaking to the"AWE Header Tube" misdirect that shlbrn had floated onto the thread.......


have a great long weekend!!

mdrums

Mike I bought Fabspeed mufflers because a local dealer recomended them, seen them advertised for years and they were easy to purchase plus at the time back in July 2006 a lot of people were recomending Fabspeed and I did not know much about AWE. I called AWE and you all had a month or so back order.

I can't see how the non S tips are resritctive. They seem more open than the dual S tips.

As you probably know the Fabspeed muffler guts are a simple U tube inside the case and are pretty free flowing. Are AWE guts of the muffler a U tube also or do you all have a baffle type of system? People claim the AWE muffler is quieter than the Fabspeed muffler.

thanks...have a great holiday and the Grand Am race should be awesome!

Mike

Mike/A.W.E.

Although we did not earn your business, I do appreciate the fact that you called. That's a good sign that you atleast tried.

The connection where the tip mates to the tip section at the muffler is a smaller diameter than the S model tips.

When we dynoed a car without the tips, it made the advertised power. Once we installed the NON-S tips, we lost everything that we had gained.

We installed the larger diameter S tips, and gained all the power back.

We spent days dynoing the car under various conditions. All that time was spent on just switching around tips! Either way, it paid off in the end.

No baffles here! U shaped tube with a combination of packing material. We can also regulate the volume by the amoutn of perforation in the U.

That is one of the secrets to our success.

mdrums

Mike/AWE, thanks for the responce! I understand the tips issue now...thanks for the info!

Personally I am looking for some tips that are not dual/fakey tips for my Carrera S. Something different, kinda oval that fits the shape of the bumper outlet but bigger than the stock ovalish Carrera tips.

ianwallwork

Mike - I just ordered AWE cat sections for my 997S via your agent in the UK. My car already has Fabspeed headers so I'm going to continue with these. My intention had been to retain the stock mufflers as I don't want a really loud car. (My last 2 P-cars, a 3.4 and then a 3.6 996 were very loud - Fabs and PSE respectively. Good fun but I just want a change).

You say you can regulate the volume of your sport mufflers - do you offer a version that is about half way between stock and the normal 'loud' version? I would definitely be interested in a 'quiet' version if one exists. Something that sounds sportier than stock but not window-rattlingly loud!

Ian

mdrobc1213

Mike
Thanks for the help. I started this thread cause I was confused as to which system to install on my '05 997. I hadn't heard from anyone who had a B&B system on the Carrera but thought I'd ask about them and all I heard was Dansk, Fabspeed, and you guys. My local independent shop in No. Va and their master Porsche guy recommended AWE over the Fabspeed. (fabspeed was overpriced and didn't have as good customer service recently he said...which a few posters seem to confirm).

Anyway I got the 997 cat back/exhaust but was the one having the problem with the OEM non-S tips. The post on your website was wrong...saying they'd fit thus it cost me a day of install and a rental which my shop covered. However you guys did go ABOVE and BEYOND locating the last set of AWE exhaust tips on the East Coast and thus saved me from having to wait for your re-designed tips to be released later next month. Otherwise I'd have to either have driven without tips, located OEM tips a $895 according to the nearest local dealer (I don't know what he was smoking) OR uninstalled the AWE system and re-installed my stock exhaust. So THANKS again...the system sounds and looks awesome.

Only question though I have is on the non-s 997 exhaust are the AWE tips designed to be flush with the rear valence cutouts or to stick out like mine do and if so how much or is that the preference of the owner/installer?

Mike/A.W.E.

Thanks for sticking with us, and we are sorry for any inconvenience or confusion.

After review the photos, that is a perfect install.

For the record. If you have a 3.6 997, you must use either our tips or the OEM 3.8 997 tips.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!