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I looked at them all. Studied. Read in Rennlist and other forums. Priced. Pondered. Then... figured its just stainless exhaust pipes. Why does it cost so much??? So, I went with BB direct from them with discount from BB on their website. Delivery by FedEx set for tomorrow. Then have to wait a couple of weekends before installation. We'll see...
You remind me of myself. I agonized over it but ultimately came to the same conclusion that all of the pricing for the bypass pipes are absurd and are the very definition of a Porsche tax since it is literally just two stainless steel pipes joined together. B&B's pricing just happens to be less absurd than other options.
^^^^^^^^^
I did this 9 months ago with the BBE, fiT was fine. Within 5 minutes I knew I was going to have to hack the mufflers to get the sound I wanted. I now get compliments on how it sounds. The $90 i spent on the hack was the second best investment I made.
The Billy Boat crossover pipes were delivered and I was waiting for a chance to get to my indie for installation. Then, my engine developed a peculiar new sound. Not a pleasant one either. Seems the left muffler formed a hole. It is mild steel, I believe, and the road salt got to it. So, I figured the right one was right behind it. Started studying again what to do? OEM replacements were $3k+ for the parts alone. Looked hard at all alternatives, and settled on Fabspeed polished stainless replacements for $2,700 installed. Indie installed the Billy Boat crossovers at the same time. Results: stay under 3,000 RPMs and the car is quiet. Romp on it, and the car sounds... wicked! "Get out of my way" wicked! I have the Fabspeed Cold Air Induction system I DIY'd as well. This vehicle is "HOT". I'm from the muscle car era, and this car is dang close in torque and sounds like the '66 327 350 hp Vette I spent a lot of time in in '67-'68. It just steers way better! WAY! BETTER! And, it hauls ***! I recommend the combination without reservation. Came with dual tips. Picture shown below. Your judgment if it looks better than stock. I like 'em. Any pick-up in HP after the entire package install? Yes. Not scientific, just educated seat of the pants yes. Very happy. Total cost for all parts and install work ~$4,250. A most fun car to drive!
I did. Definitely looked like corrosion caused. I don't think it was holed by road trash. I did not ask the indie to save the muffler assemblies after I saw them, or I would take a picture. I did ask him to save the OEM tips and the center muffler since there was nothing wrong with them, and in case there is another owner and they wanted to go back stock as much as possible. I pick all of that up from the indie in my Tahoe tomorrow as there is room for everything. I'll see if he kept the side muffler(s) for any reason? If so, pictures coming.
If so, the OEM assemblies were not what I would call high grade stainless unlike the aftermarket products. Though not rusty, the side mufflers had heavy staining and were in poor shape. The left one had the hole.
Docdrs, the mufflers were taken to the scrap dealer by the indie, who did indeed confirm they were stainless. So, no pics... sorry. He did confirm to me that in his opinion as well the hole was apparently caused by corrosion. Not road debris.
I've a Carrera S with PSE. I installed the BB Bypass last week. And like BrianB496 and eagle1960, I also encountered clearance problems, especially on the left/driver's side.
Now it was solvable with myself and two other guys at a muffler shop manhandling the side cans. But there would have been no way I could have done this solo. End result is that the tips are pushed to the outside, with the driver's side most affected. See the following pics:
Now it sure sounds great! But I haven't decided whether I'll keep it.
Apart from the visual oddity of the offset tips, are there any issues with the tips/side-cans being pushed to the outside? Strain on the headers for example?
That’s sad to hear people with PSE are having issues with fitment. Can you not cut the bypass pipes on both sides so it fits better?
Last I heard, Billy Boat is the least expensive center muffler bypass system on the market so I guess it just comes back to the old and tired....you get what you pay for. I have PSE and paid quiet a bit more for the Sharkwerks pipes compared to BB but the fitment is perfect. No manhandling or "crew" of people necessary to make it work and then still having it look awkward. No affiliation with SW by the way. Just a customer.
I've a Carrera S with PSE. I installed the BB Bypass last week. And like BrianB496 and eagle1960, I also encountered clearance problems, especially on the left/driver's side.
Now it was solvable with myself and two other guys at a muffler shop manhandling the side cans. But there would have been no way I could have done this solo. End result is that the tips are pushed to the outside, with the driver's side most affected. See the following pics:
Now it sure sounds great! But I haven't decided whether I'll keep it.
Apart from the visual oddity of the offset tips, are there any issues with the tips/side-cans being pushed to the outside? Strain on the headers for example?
...Can you not cut the bypass pipes on both sides so it fits better?
No, that won't solve the problem. I'll steal BrianB496's photo of his PSE outlet pipes/tips and BB pipe, as it perfectly illustrates the issue:
There isn't enough radius/bend of the BB pipe at #1, so you end up with interfering the twin PSE outlet pipe/tips at #2. Hence the PSE outlet pipes/tips & side-cans get pushed outward.
Originally Posted by LISsailor
No offense intended, but that does not look good.
None taken. Now the short focal length of an iPhone camera tends to exaggerate the effect so it's not quite as bad in the flesh. But it's definitely funky looking in person.
I suspect I'll end up going with SW, though $900 for two pipes is sticking in my craw...
I just installed a Billy Boat center muffler bypass on my 997.2 C4S. Installation was super easy (having a lift helped). No fitment issues for me. Pretty straight forward. It also sounds great. Looks like really good quality parts, too. Only issue I ran into was a check engine light from breaking my left bank upstream O2 sensor after air-hammering the old studs out of the cats, lol. A new Bosch part fixed that 👍🏻
I’m still very new to the Porsche scene having owned my car for just over 2 months now, but I’ve been around cars my whole life so I feel I can vouch for this Billy Boat system. I‘m happy I did it!
I went with the Sharkwerks crossover back in 2012 when my 997.2S was new. I paid the price and to me it was worth it. Everything fit perfectly with no problems. (I have since added PSE) Wrenching on my new car was tense enough, if I had fitment problems I would have been discouraged from doing anything else to the car. Not affiliated with Sharkwerks; just another satisfied customer.
09-19-2017, 09:52 AM
