Has anybody tried the new Fabspeed X-pipe sport cats?


Experience with:

• Power increase?
• Sound level?

 

I have the x pipe on an 04 c4s ad love it! I noticed a fairly dramatic increase in power... the sound was approx 10% louder but has all the right noises. You can hear a sweet burble etc during downshifts. I would def. recommend it.

 

Sounds good!

Have you got Fabspeed mufflers and headers as well?

 

Yes, I have the headers and the muffler bypass. Just put the headers on this weekend and with the bad weather I haven't really had a chance to notice any HP gains. The header are about another 5-7% louder than stock as well but higher in pitch. With all the parts/weight savings, there is a significant increase in HP from what I can tell.

 

Has anybody tried the Fabspeed X-pipe sport cats in combination with the Fabspeed mufflers?

 

I'm curious how the x pipe goes with the mufflers too. I have heard the cats make the car alot louder....I'd like to do cats or headers depending on which gives the most power with out cabin resonance.

 

I recently had the Fabspeed cat X-pipe installed on an otherwise stock exhaust (i.e., stock mufflers and headers). The car is a 2002 C2.

The sound difference is minimal. Honestly, my guess is that most people (friends, wives, girlfriends) would not notice unless you told them. That being said, I really like the new sound. I think it might actually be quieter at high rpms. My stock exhaust used to have a booming/resonance effect under full throttle at 5000 rpm. But now, that's not there.

I was told the power increase is 20hp. I find that hard to believe, although it may be true.

I did notice a significant increase in power. BUT, I had it installed right when the weather changed. So I don't know how much is due to the X-pipe and how much is due to the outside temperature dropping from about 50/60 degrees to the 30's.

My understanding is that in a stock 996 exhaust system, the cats are the most restrictive component by far.

Let me know if you have any questions.

b-man

 

Does not sound like you have experienced too much extra power. Did you disconnect the battery to reset the ECU when doing the install? Did you allow the ECU time to adjust to the reduced backpressure?

 

I have it both - mufflers and x-pipe. It is quite louder with my 3.6L engine than stock, my wife still presses me to put stock mufflers back. May be I will do that, but I like current sound a lot. It is not too loud at all.

But I think it should be loud enough with stock mufflers as well. If you decide to use stock mufflers I believe you need to tell that to fabspeed so they could cut 2.5" or so from sides on x-pipe as in default length it will be a bit too long to fit with stock mufflers (but exactly long enough for fabspeed maxflo mufflers). Check with Alex from Fabspeed on that. They also have dual tone mufflers now that you can switch from loud to quiet.

As of my opinion - it is a great exhaust system and adds a lot of power.

 

I didn't disconnect the battery to reset the ECU. What's the proper procedure (e.g., how long should it be disconnected, when, etc.)? Does it really make a difference?

I'm not sure if the ECU has had enough time to adjust. How long should I give it? Is there a specific procedure for it?

To clarify my earlier post, there was a very noticeable increase in power. But I don't know how much is due to the X-pipe, and how much is due to the weather (sudden drop in air temperature).

Thanks.

b-man

 

The only reason to disconnect the battery to reset the ECU is to avoid a CEL due to the sudden decrease in backpressure. From what I can remember the battery should be disconnected for 10 minutes to ensure reset of the ECU.

Again, from what I can remember the ECU will adapt fairly quickly after a few full gas accelleration runs.

Thanks,
Bjarne

 

Yes it makes a difference and yes, it has to be disconnected for at least of 15 min to have ECU reset. Theoretically even 5min disconnect should do it but better to wait a bit longer.

A lot of folks noticed that after 200cell cats install car was not pulling properly without reset, so it is a recommended thing to do to speed up ECU adjustment to new flow.

 

Is this true for exchanging the mufflers as well?

 

The Fab Speed Cats, mufflers and new tune will wake up the power, sounds great, a little more quiet than PSE, until you get on it, very happy with these mods!!!!

 

I would say it will not hurt to do ECU reset as by doing it you simply set starting point for ECU program to start re-adjusting.

But mufflers do not affect flow dynamics that much, and most people did not comment on any drastic changes after mufflers swap. But several people who changed cats to 200 cell ones noted decreased performance immediately after driving car without reset. But after reset everything comes back to normal with gains as expected. I had pretty much same experience.