3.4 Cat Bypass Pipes

[ldrhoades]

Finally got a chance to install my Chrismas present, cat bypass pipes. Saw a lot of different opinions on the various 996 formus about how satisfied people were or weren't going this route, so I thought I'd share mine. The pipes are from Fabspeed, and I've got the O2 simulators. No CEL, no loss of torque even though I'm running muffler bypass pipes as well. As to power, it seems to be more powerful. A DE instructor with the same 3.4L motor in his car said it felt faster to him (although the noise definitely makes it SEEM faster)

Of course this makes the car INSANELY loud. If it were my daily driver it would be too loud, but as I'm only a few miles from work and primarily drive the car for fun, I'm OK with it. (As an aside, my son and I came up behind a Camary puttering along on our favorite back road. Without being overly obnoxious, we were biding our time waiting for the guy to turn off. So he actually pulls over and lets us by - no tailgating on our part or anything. First time that's happened.) I'll have to put the mufflers back on for certain tracks (Roebling) and any quiet periods. Current configuration saves me about 60 lbs over the stock systems. The cats alone are only about 14 lbs heavier than the bypass pipes.

Install took about 2 hours total with the car up on ramps.

All in all I am very pleased.

P.S. My son's 16 year old friend said the car is so loud he thought "God was SCREAMING at him".

2000 C2 Mk1 Aero Kit

52k miles

Edited February 11, 2009 by ldrhoades