orthojoe

I received my Remus exhaust for my Boxster Spyder this past Thursday. I just couldn't wait, so I installed the exhaust the follow day. Here are my thoughts/review so far:

1) I had my tips powder coated black for an extra charge. Would definitely recommend it for a spyder. The tips look great and still look 'stockish' if that's what you're looking for

2) Exhaust quality: Average. Standard stainless steel exhaust. Good welds. Nothing bad to report, but nothing special to report either. I'm not sure why this exhaust costs more than double the Evo X exhaust I got, but I guess it's because I'm paying the Porsche 'tax'.

3) Exhaust fit: Below average. For as much as this exhaust costs, I would have expected the flanges to fit perfectly. The holes in flange that are supposed to match the studs coming from the catalytic converter flange did not fit. So in order to make it fit, I had the drill the holes slightly larger. Once the holes were drilled larger, it fit nicely. Also, the exhaust pipes are connected with band clamps. These band clamps make installing the exhaust very easy, because they give you a lot of leeway. However, this extra leeway makes it a huge pain in the *** to center the exhaust tips perfectly. I spent the majority of the time fiddling around with placement of the exhaust tips so they would be centered.

4) Instructions: Terrible. Remus decided to put the instructions INSIDE the muffler. It's a good thing I took a close look inside, otherwise I would have installed the exhaust with the instructions still in the muffler. The instructions are worthless anyway. The instructions are no better than: "Take the bolts off the old exhaust and then bolt the new one on. You are now done." It took me some time staring and swearing at the nuts connecting the exhaust to the catalytic converter and contorting myself in bizarre positions before I realized that I had to take off the wheels to get sufficient access to the nuts. There is also a small plate/heat shield you need to remove once the wheel is off to gain full access.

5) The sound: This is what the exhaust should sound like from the factory. More aggressive tone, but the engine 'character' is still maintained. For those of you worried about drone, there is ZERO DRONE whatsoever. Unless you are accelerating, this exhaust doesn't make any noise. When you do hit the throttle, there is a more aggressive, nice sound at lower rpms. At high rpms, it sounds louder as well, but to be honest, I would have preferred it to be even louder at high rpms. In my experience, mufflers tend to be quieter when they are brand new, so maybe it will get louder once I drive the car more. I probably would have liked a louder exhaust than this one, but I am MUCH happier with this one than the stock one, which is waaay too quiet.

6) Performance: I can't really feel anything different, but I wasn't expecting to. You just can't get the kind of performance increase from an exhaust in a NA engine vs. a turbocharged engine like I've experienced in my past cars.
**edit: Just a quick follow-up. I've had a chance to drive the car more. There definitely feels like there is more power, particularly in the mid-range. It could always be the placebo effect, but it does seem to pull harder. The system does remove 2 of the 4 catalytic converters...

In all, I'm happy I did it. I'm happy with the exhaust. I just hope it gets a little louder as I wear it in. Pictures and video below:










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Orthojoe
2011 Boxster Spyder
2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X MR
**PM me if you have a set of sport bucket seats for sale!**

allegretto

Wouldn't expect a discernible difference in grunt

is it lighter?

Did you have PSE already?

Looks great. I'm kind of on the fence about exhaust replacement. I really don't like very loud exhausts, they get on my nerves after a while. No argument that the factory without PSE is timid though.

What about a little F.I. for this car. Any thoughts? Maybe SC better than TC for this application?

Marine Blue

Very nice Joe, the tips look great and it adds a nice burble deep sound! I like it.

The PSE sounds awesome too, it is truly a must have item on these cars. I tried the car one without the PSE on and I switched it back on almost immediately.

orthojoe

Thanks, fellas. The exhaust is lighter, but I didn't bother to weigh them. In hindsight, it probably would have been a good thing to do. My spyder did NOT have PSE. I probably would not have bothered to change the exhaust if I had PSE. I'm not sure if this remus exhaust is any louder than the PSEs I've heard. We'd have to do a side-by side comparo to know for sure.

FI and SC is certainly an option, and I think TPC is working on a kit, but my intent is to keep this car 'relatively' stock. I'm just 'tweaking' the things I want to make a near perfect car 'perfect.' I still have to change out the brake master cylinder (GT3) to fix the soft brake pedal. I also want to source a used set of sport buckets (anyone?), and a throw in a Porsche sport steering wheel (GT3 RS 4.0 wheel if possible), and then it will be PERFECT for me.

I agree. If your car didn't come optioned with PSE like mine, I think the remus is a good alternative.

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Orthojoe
2011 Boxster Spyder
2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X MR
**PM me if you have a set of sport bucket seats for sale!**

allegretto

any reason for Remus over Borla?

Speaking of SC, I fit a 997 C4 Cab with it. Had a couple of bugs, like would die if the AC was turned off??? Supposedly fixed it with future kits.

Anyway, the car was crazy fast, dyno'ed at 495 on a 4-wheel dyno.

Traded it for a F430 spyder... bad move

orthojoe

Honestly, I didn't really consider the borla because I couldn't find too much information on it. It very well could be a good choice, but I don't have a good reason on why I didn't consider it.

Why was trading for a F430 spyder a bad move? I ask because my friend is considering a F430

allegretto

this was back when F 430 spyders were at an $80K premium, but even at today's prices;

I like cars that do something very well. The 430 isn't a "bad" car, just nothing special to drive after the "look at me" wears off. Having mouth-breathers chase you through traffic to take a cellphone pic gets old very fast.

A 997 MkII Turbo will outperform it in every category. At the track there is no comparison. When I was into tracking we'd giggle when a friend of a member would bring one out and we'd bet how many laps it would last. No more than half a dozen before it;

a) BBQ-ed the brakes
b) overheated
c) the driver got pissed at doing point-bys to "lesser cars"

If you want to impress the chicks, an F-car does that well. If you want to go fast, there are better values. By far...

and, just on style, the 360 is a beautiful woman, a 430 crawled up on the beach (my taste, YMMV). Glad I dumped mine before the Depression hit.

orthojoe

Thanks for sharing your experience, I'll pass it on to my buddy. Maybe he'll just have to switch to a GT3! Only problem with that is, I'm planning on getting one too!

allegretto

that's no problem. a GT-3 is a quintessential Porsche. Very pure-blooded. Off the showroom floor it will pistol-whip a 430 at the track

If you get a 3, you MUST track it. Otherwise it's like having a greyhound and always strolling around with a leash on it.

But you know that...

cvazquez

Sounds very good... I just took the OEM mufflers and drilled a hole in the secondary tube by moving the sleeve and drilling a 3inch hole. To minimize resonance issues just move the sleeve over the pipe to expose or cover desired amount of the 3inch hole. Paid $3.00 for the metal saw and used a drill at low speed. I'm pleased with the results.

orthojoe

Just a quick follow-up. I've had a chance to drive the car more. There definitely feels like there is more power, particularly in the mid-range. It could always be the placebo effect, but it does seem to pull harder. The system does remove 2 of the 4 catalytic converters...