B73

I’m a new owner of a 16’ BGTS 6MT and first time Porsche owner. I’m still waiting on delivery from Texas and considering what my first mod should be.

Anyone here have Fabspeed or Soul Headers on a 981 BGTS or S? I plan on keeping the PSE and I’m curious about your thoughts on doing this? How much of a choking point is the PSE?

Seems the OEM manifolds are very restricting. Which is why considering upgrading to either long tube race headers or sport headers with high flow cats and not upgrading PSE exhaust. Would this combo be considerably louder or barely a sound change at all?
TIA

CaymanSinAR

My local indy gave me the best piece of advice when I bought my first Porsche, a 2015 Boxster GTS. His advice? Make a list of everything I want to do to the car... then do absolutely nothing for 90 days. Drive the car. Learn it. Get used to it. After 90 come back and talk to him if I still want to make any changes. After 90 days I went back and got an alignment. Three years later it’s the only thing I’ve done to the car. It was perfect then and it’s perfect now. At least to me.

So that is my advice to you; hold on to your money and leave the car bone stock for 90 days. After that go nuts. If you still want to.

Atlas 987

Excellent advice. I told myself the same thing. I made my wish list and looked at the prices for my mods. I knew it would take a long time to get through my list.

I made a fatal mistake. I kept checking the parts classifieds. In my six months of ownership, I have added Fabspeed sport headers, Cobb tuner with PDK tune, and I just installed Soul’s valved exhaust this past weekend. These were all “Great” deals and I couldn’t pass them up. Who knows if I would ever see these deals again 😂🤣😂!

The car is amazing stock but I don’t regret the mods. The only must have for me was a cat back. My car had the stock non PSE. It was too quiet. I like the snap, crackle, and pop.

Soul Performance

Thank you for considering us! I invite you to give us a call to chat about not only the headers but any mods you're considering to make sure you get the best possible result. Upgrading your manifolds would net more power and better sound gains than altering your PSE exhaust - you would most definitely notice the sound difference. PSE would attenuate drone and other undesirable qualities of the headers leaving you with a more aggressive but refined exhaust note with much better response to enjoy.

-Mike

michaelscain

Ok, the only 2 mods I would recommend to a 981S or 981GTS are the following;

FVD Tune;

https://www.fvd.net/us-en/FVD9811001...hp-291-tq.html

FVD Sport Headers;

https://www.fvd.net/us-en/BES9811120...sportcats.html

This will give you 370hp.

enjoy

DrBillyD

Would second that.

I had a 2015 BGTS and now have a 2016 Spyder. Only performance mod I did was CarGraphics Sport headers.

With PSE off, barely perceptible difference in engine sound. Could mostly hear it above 4K rpm.

With PSE on, more of a bass rumble at idle; markedly increased exhaust volume above 4K rpm and exhaust crackles/burps amplified.

I did not do dyno runs before/after.

I got mine used and about half retail. IDK if I'd spring for full retail on them, though I have no complaints and am thoroughly satisfied. Personal decision as to whether to spend the $$$.

But yeah.... give it a few months driving at least before you make any mods.

Van Larson

Soul headers/200 cell cats with Softronics ECU file and FD modified cans sound glorious with definite umphhh. Do it.

John@Fabspeed

Hey Guys,
Phil from Fabspeed here. The headers are a very important part to free up some horsepower from the exhaust.

The gases come right out of the engine and are immediately choked up by the factory catalytic convertor.
As you can see in the picture there is no flow to the factory header tubes and are choked.

The fabspeed headers have a great 3 to 1 collector to sends the exhaust directly to the cat. We also guarantee no CEL.

We use the highest quality HJS catalytic converters and we can have them built and shipped for you by the new year!!

B73

Thanks for that insight! I was on the fence about going with the 981 BGTS vs Spyder. The OEM sound on the 981 Spyder is right on the money for me. But I had few reasons why I didn’t buy one. I’m really looking forward to taking delivery of the 16’ BGTS 6MT this Friday : )

I’m considering the headers, if the stock sound on BGTS isn’t enough after owning the car for awhile, I may go for it.

The headers you installed had highfow cats? Did you to do a tune with header upgrade? Any O2 sensor issues/codes?

CaymanSinAR

I have a 981 BGTS, a 981 GT4, and a 991.2 GT3 sitting in my garage right now. All bone stock. From initial bark at startup to redline the 981 GTS (with PSE off) is, without question, by far my favorite of the three in terms of exhaust note. The best sounding car I've ever owned.

Granted, the GT3 is maniacal from 7K-9K, but at startup and in regular driving it's just OK. The 981 GTS is aurally flawless everywhere at all times.

B73

Man, that is awesome to hear. So I might have jumped the gun with this header post. I’ll definitely need to put in some seat before making a judgment call on sound.

Thanks for your input!

B73

** update **
Now that I’ve been able to spend few weeks behind the wheel. I’ve come to the realization that the BGTS is perfect right from the factory, needs nothing! PSE offers plenty of sound for a great driving experience.

CaymanSinAR

Hahahahahahahaha!

So happy to hear this. I hope you love yours as much as I love mine.

storii

Happy to hear you are happy with the stock sound. However, if you experience a car with aftermarket headers with a good tune, you may change your mind. My 2015 BS is equipped with PSE, FVD sport headers and FVD tune. The sound the car makes at north of 5500 rpm is so intoxicating it is addictive. This is something you need to experience in person. No YouTube videos or sound clips are even close.

Did you know that the 2015-2016 Cayman GTS, with the identical engine, intake and exhaust systems, makes 340 hp/280 lb-ft of torque while your Boxster GTS only makes 330/273? In the meantime, the 991.1 Base Carrera with the exact same engine produces 350/287. This is because Porsche detuned Boxsters to not step on the toes of Caymans and Carreras. One of the restrictions Porsche gives to Boxsters is to limit the throttle body opening. The Boxster's ECU is tuned by the factory to, beyond about 5500 rpm, limit the TB opening to 55-65% of its capacity. In other words, even if you press the pedal to the metal, it wouldn't go WOT. This can be frustrating if you like to spin the engine to the redline to hear it wails. A good ECU tune will remove this restriction and let the TB open 100% to really wake the car. As the result, the engine spins so quickly at the high end and the car keeps pulling hard. Together with the free-flowing headers, the car makes indescribably glorious sound. I recommend you seek a ride in a tuned car with aftermarket headers and experience the insane acceleration and sound that Porsche meant for the car in person.

KBell

Storii

I wish I did not read your last post.
Either it is the coffee I am drinking, or it is your great description above.
My heart is pounding!
So tempting to go this route!