My exhaust history- I began my ridiculous Porsche exhaust obsession long ago with my first 986. I installed a Dansk Sport exhaust and really enjoyed the sound of that little 2.7l motor. It suited the car well and sounded like a toy car.

When I sold that car and moved to 996, I installed a set of high-flow catalytic converters on a custom magnaflow muffler and tucked it into the sides like the factory cans. The result was really magnificent (sound-wise) and though it did drone, it sounded awesome. My thoughts on drone is that it is necessary on an open exhaust. If the sound is making it out of the car, so is the air. The drone is simply a result of being a free flowing exhaust.

On my next 996 NA I installed a fabspeed set that sounded pretty so-so and droned so-so. I was never thrilled with them, but they looked good. I tried straight pipes on the 996 and wanted to cut my ears off. Then, I experimented with the factory cans and did the "gundo" hack where you connect the in and out sides with a 2 inch pipe. Sounded really good for the money -free.

NOW I'm 4 months into a 996tt and have tried 3 exhausts (4 if you count the joke of a stock system).

70mm Twin-Can Speedtech- I gratefully started my quest for the perfect exhaust with a 70mm twin can speedtech. It was an awesome exhaust with real life gains that you could truly feel when cycling the gears. It was the first time I have actually felt (thanks to the turbos) the gains of a muffler system. I went further with the free-flowing mania and took a drill bit to the cats for two days until they were "gutted"

The sound was really on par with the custom free flowing set-up I made on my NA. On this particular exhaust on my tip, humming was present and would actually make a couple loose parts inside the car rattle at 65mph. It was by no means unbearable though and most of the time it would disapear by speeding up or slowing down. The sound from the outside of the car was nice. The biggest draw was the power though - amazing gains and wide open.

2.5 Crossflow Speedtech- Installed the crossflow 2.5 with 100 cell cats. I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of installation due to the modular nature of the system. I uninstalled the 70mm and installed the 2.5 in less than 2 hours with no lift. Impressions on sound - best I have heard on a 996tt. The turbos whistle like a big rig through the system and the nature of the x makes for a pretty exotic sound. It does have some drone on that same band, but not like the twin can and not as bad as some of my NA systems. I feel like I lost some oomph on the top end but it could be that I still have catalytic converters on the 2.5. Overall I'm very pleased with the system and adore the sound. So much that I need more of it!

3.0 Crossflow Speedtech- I think I got it right this time. 45 minutes to swap the muffler and tips with the new crossflow muffler and tips. The sound is everything I liked about the 2.5, but amplified. The thrust (one one quick run around the neighborhood) is back in full force. This is truly the best porsche exhaust I have owned to date (of 12 including stock). I don't know how it does at 65 yet, but I really dont care. This is the sound I was hoping for and the power I craved in a turbo exhaust.

I award the three this way-
Power- 70mm twin can
Sound- 2.5 X-Flow
Perfect compromise of both- 3.0 X-Flow


I will follow this up with a review of customer service.... John @ speedtech has been great with my questions and his devotion to quality is evident in his work. I recommend Speed Tech for anyone looking for ANY type of exhaust solution for the porsche 996tt. They really do it all.

 

Hey NOLA,

Nice review. It has been a long time since I sold you my speedtech exhaust, that I bought from Adam, but never laid eyes on it, before selling it to you.

Which of your reviewed systems did I sell to you? (Apologies, it's been a few months )

 

Hey Frankster, that's funny! You sold me the first one- 70mm twin can. It was a fire breather for sure. Especially after I gutted those cats.

I actually have that one for sale now.

I got the 3.0 tonight, it was like christmas

 

Nice review.. well done! You realize your exhaust crave is strange.. right?? hahaha.. love it.

 

Strange is an understatement. But I'm done........ until I saw that straight pipe crossflow they put on here last week..

uh oh

 

NICE . . . congrats on getting where you want to be. It seems like you're always on the journey, never at the destination. I am getting close to it, myself.

Switzer built me one for my project. We FINALLY got it off the rack, last week. It sounds SICK! We are now in the break-in stage. Akram has been running errands in it all weekend getting things settled before we go to the dyno.

So, if you see Akram putt-putting around in a VERY STOCK looking 996tt, be patient, he's breaking it in for me

 

I'm glad to hear you are happy with the sound and performance of the 3.0 - that's a really great sounding system! Here's a video during testing of the 3.0...the sound clip is at about the 50 second point...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvxifsO-9bk