After the disappointment with my last exhaust (loosing HP, drone, pipe hitting the driveshaft) my search was on again for a new exhaust, but this time I wanted a full system including headers & cats…
My criteria was/is to have a system which is hopefully hassle free down the road especially in regards to the headers & cats. I like to see most of the gains in the mid/drivable range so I actually feel the power on a daily base driving my car (don’t really care if I gain 20 WHP at 7000 RPM and only little in the midrange) and, something not too loud, something that DOES NOT DRONE in the cabin at all. Lastly, the material must be at least a high quality stainless steel.
I looked very closely at Cargraphic and also
Capristo who both make really nice quality systems. The Cargraphic design & sound didn’t convince me…
The
Capristo is a very nice system, but in regards to the valves/controller and other smaller (nonetheless) issues made me pass this one as well.
Milltek and B&B was not an option for me to begin with…
I didn’t really care about the look of the parts. I don’t really need mirror finish stainless steel since it’s all hidden under the car and changes color very soon anyway. Also, I am probably ceramic coating the entire system anyway with my next project.
After talking to some friends of mine in Germany who also build race cars I came along Supersprint again (Another forum member here just recently purchased their race mufflers and was/is quite happy it seems).
To my big surprise, I learned that the Supersprint system is actually the system being used on all cars of the Italian Cayman Cup. They use their headers, free flow 200 C.P.S.I. metallic cats (HJS) and their race mufflers…
Now I was getting exited, a race proven system? Even without cat failures? Hmm, pretty cool, something I’d like to try.
I called SS in Italy to confirm, and yes, it is the official system they use in the Cayman Cup (8-12 events per season)… Next I called their US distributor to order the whole system including both of their mufflers (they have a street and race version) to experiment with them in terms of sound & performance. I was warned by SS that their headers & cats in combination with their race mufflers would be probably too loud, also was told that both mufflers would pretty much deliver similar gains in combination with their headers/cats. Nonetheless, I wanted to know.
All items got shipped from SS Italy to their distributor in the US, which is
Supersprint North America : Performance Exhaust Systems , they shipped it all to bbi Autosport (Betim, who also developed the new underdrive pulley) in
Huntington Beach.
We first installed the headers and cats with the race mufflers. Boy, when we first fired up the car, NICE, very “racy” sound! I drove this set-up for 3-4 days but had to admit that it’s too loud, at least for my taste, especially for daily driving. Really great sound on the freeway and definitely not too loud for track use. AND, an extremely light set of mufflers (only 18 lbs. for both!)
Nonetheless, I decided to switch out the mufflers to their quieter, but also little heavier, patented powerloop/street mufflers system. The change took only 40 minutes and sure enough, much more street, neighborhood and wife friendly. To my biggest surprise, this muffler has absolutely no drone through the entire RPM range. I mean absolutely ZERO, even in combination with the SS headers!
Sure, the sound is not as aggressive as with the race muffler, but still, a nice deep sporty sound. Very Nice!
Here are some pictures (from the SS website) of the parts I installed:
And some pictures I took after we changed from the race muffler to the street muffler:
Installation was pretty straight forward, no big issues, tips aligned 100%.
The quieter system is more the system I see myself driving with on a daily base.
I decided to Dyno this one, especially since I was told that the race muffler would perform similar (maybe just add few more ponies…).
So far, I am totally satisfied. To deal with Supersprint in Italy and here in the US was a pleasure. The product arrived fast and in perfect condition.
I wanted to write about this set-up before I completed the Dyno session and talk about how much stronger the car pulls now with the Supersprint system, but we all know how we feel about butt dyno reports these days ;-)
The system delivers solid gains, is extremely drivable, zero in cabin drone at the same time delivers a nice deep & sporty sound… Great outcome!
Also, I feel very good about the fact that the cats are moved further away from the headers toward the mufflers (btw, extending the O2 sensor cables was no big deal at all, took bbi 30 minutes). Less heat hit the cats. Thus, reduced chance of burned out cats. Maybe that’s also reason why the Italian Cayman Cup race team chooses this kind of design.
If I would use the factory headers/cats, I would probably go with the race muffler. I think it would not be too loud and the weight savings are just too good. If I would track the car a lot and want headers, I would choose the race muffler as well. If daily driving is what mostly is done, I would recommend the street/powerloop muffler, but in combination with the headers and cats. Very pleasant.
Since we now have a “Cayman Dyno Charts” sub-forum, I will post the dyno charts and a movie clip over there!
Here it is:
SUPERSPRINT full system dyno result
Some more info from Supersprint about their Sport and Powerloop mufflers I found interesting to share:
Many OE and aftermarket exhaust system manufacturers utilize the cheaper baffled chamber design for their mufflers. This design suppresses sound by bouncing the incoming exhaust gases and sound waves through a series of baffled chambers and barriers within the muffler. Unfortunately, the action of exhaust gas collision with the internal barriers creates exhaust gas turbulence which in turn disrupts the velocity of the exiting exhaust charge, and results in reduced performance output. Supersprint mufflers are of a flow-through resonated design to ensure maximum power output. This means each unit has no chambers or baffles to significantly reduce exhaust velocity. The design concept of the flow-through resonated muffler is rather simple; however, it is significantly more expensive to produce. The exhaust gases enter the muffler and then travel through a perforated tube to the opposite end of the muffler. As the exhaust gases travel through the perforated tube, the gases and sound waves expand into the packing material canceling a portion of the noise.
Supersprint currently uses two different types of flow-through resonated mufflers. The first muffler type is the louder “Sport” (Race) single flow-through resonated design for which the simple design concept is described in the paragraph above. Supersprint’s second muffler type is the patented “Powerloop” double flow-through design. Supersprint's unique design solution is to gently loop the exhaust through the muffler housing twice to allow for additional noise suppression within a smaller space. The muffler’s internal flow-through resonated tubes are designed to match the selected system tubing, and bends are as gentle as possible, so as not to create turbulence or restriction.
The racing team from Porsche of Italy adopted the Supersprint systems as standard equipment on all of the Cayman Cup race cars for the 2007 season and for the 2008 season as well.
Cheers!
