franc01

I wanted to post about the situation with my FVD muffler to see what you people out there thought about my muffler situation. I bought my 2008 997tt 6mt cab in late September. It had an FVD TUV exhaust system (their quieter version) and their ECU flash. When driving it before purchasing I noticed a slight ticking sound on deceleration below 3k RPM and above 1500 RPM. Since I had looked into the 997 TT prior to purchase, I figured it was the IMS gear rattle that some people have, some more than others. The PPI I had with a local independent guy who is very good thought that nothing sounded unusual and that everything checked out except for a PASM fault code that turned out to be a bad rear strut. The dealer from whom I bought the car had it taken over to our local Porsche dealer and had the rear strut changed. They also did a multi point inspection and recommended a cabin air filter and oil change but otherwise did not find any unusual noises or anything else needing attention. Fast forward a few months, and the ticking on decel became a rattling sound that got louder and louder. Thinking that maybe it was some IMS gear noise, I tried a few different oils, but with no change. The only thing that would change the sound was the temperature of the car, as the car got warmer, the rattle got louder. I took it back to my independent guy, who quickly diagnosed it as a rattle coming from the muffler. I was relieved, happy that it was not any internal gear noise but rather a simple issue with the muffler. The muffler was four years old by now and has approximately 15k to 20k miles on it.

I contacted Rhonda at FVD, who as always was helpful. Unfortunately, the muffler was past the two-year warranty. She spoke to the folks in Germany and they offered to repair the muffler at cost. I am to ship it to them here in Florida and they would ship it to Germany at their cost. The downside, however, is an approximately five week long turnaround time during which the car would have no muffler. Rhonda suggested looking for a set of used cat bypass pipes, but like many of you, I would have trouble with my neighbors coming home late with that sort of sound. There is an excellent muffler shop, Miami Muffler, here in Miami that has a mandrel bender in the shop and has an excellent reputation for custom work. They are a Cuban family business and if you have ever seen the PBS special on the old American cars that are still kept running to this day with improvised parts in Cuba, then you have an idea of their resourcefulness. I took the car to them, and they offered to fabricate me something temporary so that the muffler could be removed and sent off. They ended up fabricating an X-pipe to replace the muffler. They made the X-pipe in such a way as to slip onto the FVD cats and the stock tips exactly like the muffler does so that this could be easily reversible. They really did a stellar job, with perfect alignment of the tips in the bumper and welded a hanger onto the X to mount it securely.

When the guy from the shop called me to tell me the car was ready, he thought the car may be too loud for my liking. He suggested that I try the car for a few days and if it was too loud, then they could fit a crossflow Magnaflow muffler in place of the X. Since I bought the car I thought the FVD exhaust was a little bit quiet, so I told him I would let him know if I wanted to change. They also told me that it looks like one of the baffle pipes has a crack in it and that's what was likely causing the rattling at certain vibration frequencies.

After having the car for a week now, I think that it sounds fabulous. It can be a little bit loud at times, and a little bit of drone at around 5k RPM, but overall it really lends an exotic character to the exhaust sound that the car did not have before. And of course the rattle is gone. I have gone out with my wife and two-year-old daughter in the car, with the top down, and neither of them complained about the noise. That is a good sign!

So the issue that I would like your opinion on is do you think it's worth it to ship the muffler to Germany, to have them repair and convert it to the "Sound" version which would be a little bit louder, or would you just hold your cards and leave it as is. The temporary X-pipe fabrication all said and done cost just under $600. I am not sure how much the labor would be to swap back the FVD muffler, but I am sure with these folks it wouldn't be too bad. The problem is that the FVD muffler by itself, after having it repaired, really has no value without the FVD catalytic converters, not dies the X-pipe. Since the cats are bent for that muffler, it really needs to be assembled as a whole system. If I were to repair the muffler then sell the whole system as used, that is an option however it's not worth the hassle for whatever it's worth. Plus, I would still have the issue that then I would have to purchase catalytic converters to match up to the X-pipe.

Anyway, all opinions are welcome. Thanks for give me a few minutes of your time!

-Franc

adfsouth

Could ur place in Miami just repair the FVD Exhaust on the cheap providing u with the option to use either the FVD Muffler or the custom bypass with the subject cats? To me, that would be the quick and easy way as the FVD isn't under warranty anyway. Just my 2 cents.

Team Plutonium

I've dealt with FVD before with their exhaust system on my 991, that had a valve vacuum line issue. Long story short they did right by me and took back the faulty exhaust and shipped me a new one at their cost. Dealt with Rhonda as well (very nice), and even talked to ***** Brombacher - very cool guy.

You could ask if they are willing to take the exhaust (as is) as a trade, and buy a new system all together. I'm sure they'll work something out. Sending it back to Germany and waiting for it seems rather annoying. So if they give you something for the old exhaust and give you a decent deal on a new system it might be worth entertaining the thought.

FVD makes high quality stuff, but stuff happens; you can measure the quality of the company by how they deal with it and the customer.

Good luck,
Philip

franc01

The muffler shop did not want to open the muffler because of concern that they couldn't guarantee that they could fix the rattle and I would be left with a useless muffler that could not be repaired by FVD (or M&M who actually makes it).

I plan to drive around another week or two, then decide what I'm going to do.

I do want to publicly thank John from SpeedTech who offered to modify one of their X pipe exhaust to fit the FVD cats. He iwas very responsive and very helpful. I contacted him while I was looking around for solutions that would result in as little downtime as possible.

Cheers,
Franc

TT Surgeon

I'm sure they'd trade with $$ for a different can.

chrisdaniel1

I have the "sound version" of this muffler on my car. It is very drone-y at 2-3K rpms. Fortunately I don't do much highway driving, but if you do it should be taken into account. The other 95% of the time it sounds wicked and people turn when it comes down the street. It's also extremely well-made. Sounds like either way you can't lose.

TT Surgeon

I'd just find another muffler shop to fix it, if it works you're golden. If it fails, it's no worse than it is now.

atcbi5

Franc FWIW, I have Speedtechs 3" X-Pipe with 200 cell HJS cats. It sounds Awesome! I got it from John.

John D II

Thanks, Franc, I appreciate the kind words. And that offer still stands, we can get you set up with what I consider the best sounding 997TT exhaust I have ever heard...I feel certain that you would be thrilled beyond expectations...

And thanks atcbi5, as well! I appreciate the kind words and the excellent endorsement!

Vivid

My impression is very different. I have the sound version also, but I do not notice any drone. Drone is resonance or vibration caused by the frequency of the exhaust. While the the exhaust is loud I do not notice drone.

TT Surgeon

I had every rendition of their exhaust and I concur zero drone. If you're getting drone you may have a loose clamp.

franc01

I'm leaning towards having them convert me to the "sound" version. The problem with having a muffler shop fix the rattle in the muffler the way it is now is that I would be back to the quieter TUV version. The way my exhaust sounds with the x-pipe is great but it gets pretty raucous towards redline. It seems like almost everyone is happy with their FVD sound version.