neurotic

Hello fellas;

Had the AWE exhaust installed by my dealer this week; however, the AWE tips on one side do not match the alignment to the other side. The LEFT tips have more room between the tips and the rear bumper but the RIGHT side tips I can't even fit my finger in-between the space separating the tips and rear bumper.

I removed the tips and tried adjusting them myself tonight and still can't get them to seat so they appear to be the same on both sides.

Any advice?

STG

The center SwitchPath pipe probably needs adjusting so the tips line up evenly.

Or else, pipe is off a bit in its size.

Larry would know for sure. He's the AWE expert

cajerseyboy

this. You will need to adjust the center pipe distance towards the left or right. No bumper removal required.

neurotic

How do I do this?

991carreradriver

You will see brackets that hold the center pipe to the chassis. I would try loosening them and moving the pipes over a bit to see if that centers things up for you. If that does not do it call AWE, they will troubleshoot for you.

neurotic

Thank you! I'll work on it today.

Larry Cable

you will probably need to (for comfort if no other reason) jack the back of the car up and place it on jackstands at the rear,
not required but it will make the task simpler!

Note that the "outside" pipes and tips are in a fixed position (they are the OEM
components)

The SwitchPath center sections (they are in two pieces) are held in place by
two clamps each:





you can see the clamps above ... as I recall the outer ones are 16mm ... I cant recall if the inner one is 16 or 17mm

if you loosen the bolt on each (assuming that the dealer positioned them properly to enable access from beneath)
you can slide and rotate the desired section to realign the inner tip relative to the outer.

Take care to ensure that in moving the section, you do not expose the
slots/openings on the center section on the inner side, which would allow
exhast gas to escape at that point, also make sure that the sleeve on the
outer side is evenly aligned with the center section and the outer pipe to
which it mates.

Also take care to avoid rotating the center section such that the inner tip
is not horizontal, but you can check this with a bubble level.

hope this helps

- Larry

Larry Cable

Also, FYI, on 3 GTS'es now Ive seen that the drivers side outer AW tip has a fitment issue which I think is due the to OEM pipe being out of spec wrt all the others, its either out of round or slightly larger diameter than the others, I needed a rubber mallet to install mine properly!

neurotic

yep that's my issue it seems. thanks a lot for your help. I will talk to my service people and go from there.

Larry Cable

well wait a minute, I thought you said your problem was the gap between the two tips on the drivers side being different from the gap on the passenger?

Ah I re-read your OP, you are talking about the gap above the tips and between them and the bumper?

That is not really adjustable, certainly for the outer tips, which attach to the OEM component of the exhaust, if the gap between the inner tip and the bumper is
different then you can rotate the exhaust section which will change the angle of the tip *but* be aware that you are adjusting its pitch vertically ... so you should
check with a bubble level across the top of both tips to ensure that they are level wrt to each other...

cajerseyboy

Larry's instructions are spot on for side to side movement of the inside tips. If the problem described is a height issue, i.e. too much space in between the bumper and the tips I have been there. When Larry and I installed the AWE on my gts the left side tips were lower than the right which was frustrating and triggered several minutes of discussion. It wasn't a tip issue and no adjustments we could see did the trick.

Like the outer pipe issue Larry described, IMHO there is a height issue on the left exhaust that makes it hang slightly lower than the right. Probably does not effect all cars. Larger AWE tips make that difference more noticeable. I ran my digit through to test spacing in between and above. There was a noticeable difference like you have.

When I re installed the PSE I made a concerted effort to put upward force on the outer pipe when tightening all the bolts. I knew there wasn't that much space I needed to close the GAP on so any amount would do. The best results came from the upside down "Y" plate that sits between the main exhaust pipes and the engine pipes that hangs down. Not sure what its called. I loosened all the bolts on that plate then used upward force when tightening.

Made enough of a difference where there was equal spacing on the left and right side.

If you are not DIY, you could pass this onto the dealer.

Good luck!

neurotic

Thanks for all the feedback! Ya the gap between the tips and the rear
This is the RIGHT side and the gap is about 0.5inches


This it the LEFT side and the gap is about 1inchs

neurotic

It isn't very noticeable abut if you stare at it long enough, it's very obvious.

mdrobc1213

Ouch. That would suck as I know you'd continue to know its there and stare at it and wonder if others saw it. Especially after having perfectly aligned tips from the factory.

My question is why are so many folks seem to be having tip problems with AWE tips? Curious. Is it DIY's only and lack of experience/familiarity with the ins and outs of the 991 exhaust or a manufacturing issue or what?

STG

Lack of R&D by these aftermarket companies. You have end users here doing it for them. Think about it, R&D for these small companies usually consists of someone having a donor car brought in for a few days of research in hopes of getting a free exhaust or other mod.

On top of it, tolerances for these pieces have to be very strict. Doubt that's the case here.

Other than being a bigger diameter, I'd put up the quality of the PSE tips to any of these other brands.

So glad I never opened up this can of worms. Good luck.

These Dundon guys on the GT3 forum seem to know what they're doing. They had told me they were going to be working on some 991 street exhaust upgrades in the future. Not sure if that will ever happen or not. Or just stick with these "full" exhaust aftermarket options.