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As a proper and fitting sequel to that story-line, the SharkWerks exhaust (which was custom made for me, meaning made to order since none were in stock) arrived and so I set out to do the installation work myself with a bit of mis-guided confidence. You see, I've had the rear bumper cover off my 911s before and mistakenly assumed that this wouldn't be a tough job. Yikes...I was wrong. The way the OEM exhaust slips together is very tricky to deal with, and I exercised a lot of creativity to get it disassembled, including quite a few "what have I gotten myself into?" moments. Like I said earlier...mis-guided confidence!
The good news is that despite breaking a couple of OEM clamps, it was quite simple to install the SharkWerks exhaust once the OEM one was out, and where I am now is just needing to button up a few things including getting the stock tips installed. If you also suffer from mis-guided confidence like me, remember to use some form of liquid wrench and spray it generously on all the parts that slip-fit together. You might be amazed how well these things hold together without bolts or banjo straps. Also, it's far easier to remove the OEM exhaust tips before you remove the OEM muffler from the car, so don't do it the hard way like I did.
You're probably here to hear about the sound. Although quite noticeable and emitting a deeper tone overall, it's not a huge departure from stock in some ways. You get to hear more of the turbos, which is fantastic, and you'll absolutely know you changed something, but your GT2 isn't suddenly going to sound like a GT3 or anything like that. I have yet to data log the performance with my Dragy, but the engine feels like it responds a bit more quickly in the low end and mid-range, and the sound is quite pleasing. Your turbos will still muffle the Mezger's sound a fair bit, so consider it a fairly safe modification overall without much risk. I have only driven my car for around 10 miles since doing the modification, and so I suspect I'm still learning a bit about it overall.
I'm quite pleased overall though, and look forward to spending some more time with it and getting my performance datalogging done. The guys at SharkWerks were absolutely wonderful to deal with, and I called 'tech support' a few times on this job!
Bumper cover off, assessing the view of OEM exhaust Underside view of OEM exhaust Passenger side turbo finally exposed OEM muffler versus SharkWerks exhaust SharkWerks exhaust test mounted on the car Number 0247 reporting for duty!
It weighs about the same as the stock (titanium) exhaust.
Butt dyno says its faster but that may just be because its louder
id be very interested in seeing the Dragy results
I always weigh modifications and, true to their statement, the SW exhaust is approximately 1 pound lighter than the OEM titanium muffler assembly according to the analog scale I had on hand. I should have Dragy results in the next week or so, if everything goes to plan.
I always weigh modifications and, true to their statement, the SW exhaust is approximately 1 pound lighter than the OEM titanium muffler assembly according to the analog scale I had on hand. I should have Dragy results in the next week or so, if everything goes to plan.
Thanks for the write up and pics, so the SW exhaust is essentially straight out, with zero muffling, from the cats ? wowzers that is going to sound wild at full chat, let us know if there is droning at lower load cruising speed ?
On the Dragy make sure you do a 100-200kph starting in third gear, there are lots of comparables for this metric
Thanks for the write up and pics, so the SW exhaust is essentially straight out, with zero muffling, from the cats ? wowzers that is going to sound wild at full chat, let us know if there is droning at lower load cruising speed ?
On the Dragy make sure you do a 100-200kph starting in third gear, there are lots of comparables for this metric
I'm hoping to drive it a bit this upcoming weekend so will be able to offer more feedback about the setup, and also hopefully get a few performance metrics too.
It took a bit longer than planned, but I have the first 60-130 run from having both the flash and exhaust, and I'm definitely very pleased. In fact, my finely calibrated butt dyno didn't expect this much improvement.
Not much I can do about 'low satellite' issue on the final Dragy run posted below, but I did make sure that the road and grade would be legal for Dragy comparison purposes.
Average 60-130 mph baseline, no mods 2020 - 9.24 seconds
Best 60-130 mph, optimized low fuel, low temp, no mods 2020 - 9.06 seconds
60-130 mph, tune only, no passenger, 2022 - 8.48 seconds
I do think there are a couple tenths left in this setup when I optimize for temperatures and fuel load, but it may be fall when I can set those somewhat artificially great numbers. Overall, I think this was a great modification that really did wake up my GT2 considerably, and I think I'll be able to add better intercoolers next year as a 'final' planned modification (other than brakes, which I continue to work on). My sincere thanks to the team at Shark Werks who were a true pleasure to work with!
Last edited by Steve Theodore; 08-19-2022 at 01:16 PM.
My neighbors be damned, I think ill be keeping the sport cats and SW exhaust on my car!
Thanks Steve for sharing the data.
Anytime my friend, and I truly enjoy giving back to this board as so many others have always taken time out to help me over the years. It feels good to be able to share things like this with my crazy like minded enthusiast buddies!
While most are wrapping their 997.2 GT2s in protective bubbles, I plan to keep adding performance to mine and driving the wheels off it. I will be crossing 50k miles in the next month or two, so do look forward to celebrating that milestone with all of you too.
Here is what I'm still intending to do with mine in the next 1-2 years, budget willing:
1. Surface Transforms carbon ceramic brakes (in process)
2. GT2 RS intercoolers (next year)
3. GT3 OEM shifter to replace Numeric Racing unit (next year likely)
4. LiteSpeed Racing wheels (1-2 years)
5. Minor cosmetic enhancements (no ETA)
I doubt I'll go much beyond that with this car, but never say never, right?
Last edited by Steve Theodore; 08-20-2022 at 01:43 AM.
08-09-2022, 12:59 PM
SharkWerks exhaust installation for my 997.1 GT2
