Hi all,

Is the sound best with side mufflers installed?

I have read where a few GT3 owners have removed the side mufflers and run the Sharkwerks set up.

Just curious for some feedback...

 

Best sound is very subjective. I like the center muffler bypass.

If you remove the side mufflers and run a center bypass the sound at WOT is going to be divine. But since there's practically no muffler your ears will start bleeding in no time...

 

think there's a thread on here where someone went through about every combo and for him the "best" option was remove the side mufflers and keep the rear center exhaust. you might be able to search for that thread. think he was looking at exhaust parts from FVD, if i remember right.

i have Sharkwerks center bypass on my car and run "unplugged" so the car is always in Sports mode. quite happy with the sound, but i've not tried other setups.

 

I have TPC side muffler delete + Sharkwerks center muffler bypass on my GT3 (997.2). Yes is LOUD, but really like a LOT!!!. remember is does have Actuator-Controlled valve which most of the time is ON.

 

It depends on the setup. Sharkwerks has a couple options, one that removes the side mufflers, one that works with the side mufflers.

Ive had all their setups:

I started with the Track Exhaust (removes side mufflers), then went to the Bypass, then went to what the Sharkwerks Headers/Cats and bypass.

Track Exhaust
Here is some fun track exhaust vids of my car. Turn your speakers up and go to 6:10 in this video and watch:

Then theres also this at cruising speed and u get the idea how loud this thing can be, skip ahead to 7:28:

You will see some loss in the low to mid range, so i highly recommend you get the appropriate tune from Sharkwerks for the track exhaust which helps lessen this.

I will tell you from having road tripped my car with the track exhaust from SF to SD, if you are cruising on the freeway over 80 mph, you will have drone, and it is loud enough to have your ears ringing if you are driving for more than an hour.

WOT you will scare people, but if you keep it between 2800-3200 RPMS, you can cruise around and easily have a conversation in the car or listen to the radio. Its all in how u drive it

2nd Gear Pull, shot from inside

1st Gear Pull, shot from inside

Bypass
Here is info on the bypass, which is ultimately what i ended up switching to. While I do miss my track exhaust at times, there are more times Im happier with the bypass, including interstate driving, especially in stop and go traffic. My biggest worry when I went form the Track Exhaust to the Bypass was, am I going to be happy at all with this, and to answer that question, yes I have been. Like I said, if you want more sound, unplug the valves and it will be louder in the lower rpms as the valves will be completely open. Even in sport mode they dont open up til a certain rpm. Takes 2 seconds to reach in and unplug it.

Sharkwerks Bypass dB info measured at 1 meter behind the car at a 45° angle.

Idle:
Stock 77 dB
SW 81 dB

3000 rpm:
Stock 87 dB
SW 96 dB

4000 rpm:
Stock 93 dB
SW 100 dB

5000 rpm:
Stock 99 dB
SW 106 dB

6000 rpm:
Stock 101 dB
SW 108 dB

Headers/Cats and Bypass

After going from Track exhaust, to Bypass, and now Bypass plus Headers, I can say this is the best combination. From a sound perspective, there is ZERO drone. This thing is track exhaust loud when WOT, yet bypass quiet when just cruising around. The best way to describe it is imagine being able to turn the volume up on the bypass. At WOT, the sound is a very clean wale, much cleaner sounding than the track exhaust which i thought was a little muddy.

More importantly than sound, with the retune optimized for this setup, there are significant gains across the range. The mid range pickup is significant to tell by the butt dyno, where i dont feel the need to have to gear down if im not in the ideal gear.

More info, dyno and videos on this setup can be found here:
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...s-unicorn.html

I also added the carnwal remote pse controller, so i can control the valves independently of the sport button.

Here is a no launch acceleration video of the header/cats bypass setup.

 

Also, there is a new system that Jamie GT3 is working on and he has a couple options. The results look very promising so far. Check out his post on them. Basically is a long tube header setup, no cats, side bypass pipes with valves, and stock center muffler.

 

u can remove
1 side only
2 ctr only
3 side and center (as you suggested,, but it's very loud)

 

I've not tried all the different combo others have, but I really like the center bypass for sound. Installing the center bypass alone will not cause any loss in torque in low to mid range, which is also very important for me.

 

Wow, thank you all!

 

Depends on how you want your GT3 to sound. And the noise regulations where you live. And what relationship you have with our neighbors if you come and go in the dark hours. I have the no muffler Sharkwerks exhaust, straight out from the Cats. And indeed it is loud; I don't hear or feel any drone, but then I have some hearing loss, and wear ear plugs when I am driving our car. It came to us with this exhaust, so I have no idea if there is a detectable loss of low RPM torque. Plus it does remove something like 44 pounds from the already rear wt bias.

While I have the OEM exhaust system put away, I have no plan to re-install it. I have done thousand mile trips in our GT3 with ear plugs, or music via ear phones, and enjoyed every moment of it. When my son and I drove our GT3 and his Elise down to the Rolex and I would rip past him driving the Porsche, he told me later our GT3 just sounds like a Cup Car at "full chat."

On the other hand, my wife just won't ride in our GT3 because of the noise and other dislikes.

So how you want to enjoy your car is up to you.

all the best.....

NV

 

Thank you all. I think i will run the bypass and stock side mufflers until I crave more.

Many, many thanks for all your insight!

 

A former RL I believe his name was "Money" did many exhaust setups. They were on the 991GT3 forum and I think I watched many hours of his videos.
Mine is still stock set up and I have read many posts on RL which are very helpful; I would also suggest listening to utube videos from SW, Fabspeed, FVD, etc., and some private owners as well.
You save good amount of weight switching to side delete pipes as well.
It is probably personal preference , but I have been told going with side muffler pipes is more of a cup car sound, and going with center bypass setup with stock side mufflers is a deeper RSR like sound, but that was from 2 manufacturers of these products.
Good luck.
Good luck.

 

Money2536 is his name on RL and looks like he is still here and doing huge write ups. I thought he had sold off his 991 GT3 but here is his current write up that happens to be on an exhaust system. Maybe he bought another Sapphire Blue GT3.

Money2536 exhaust review


edit: you can find a ton more info at the links at the bottom of his posts. he's done stuff on color correction, stereo install, exhausts, etc. he puts his OCD to good use.

 

here's my thoughts:

-center muffler bypass everything else stock is most livable on street but still great sound
-full headers, no cats, side/center bypass sounds like an RSR (no really it does) at full rail but unlivable on the street - i ride a harley and ducati and these sound like purring kitten in comparison

i haven't tried but the best combo for power and sound might be headers 200cell cats, stock side muffler with center delete.

 

Had the sharkwerks center muffler delete for a while and wanted more, plus the weight savings with the side muffler deletes (I got the TPC ones with the valve) were pretty significant..

The result with the side muffler deletes + sharkwerks center muffler bypass are LOUD as stated above. It's good but I feel like somewhat of a hooligan when I drive around (not necessarily a bad thing). Have been contemplating switching to a header + stock side mufflers + sharkwerks center muffler but enjoy the weight/heat savings from getting rid of the side mufflers...

In the end it's all about what you can tolerate for how often you use the car. I know there are certain tracks where you'll get kicked off due to the noise levels.