I love my car, it was a dream car for a long time for me and I could never justify spending the money, but finally I did. I paid for it in full before I had even sat in a Porsche before because I was certain this was the car for me, and after a 3 hour journey to Newcastle, taking the cover off my car and seeing it in person, hearing it roar to life in all its cold start glory, it exceeded all expectations.
As time went on I've read about certain mods etc and how the particulate filters muffle the sound, then at an event I asked another member to hear his 981 GT4 because I knew it came without the particulate filters... As much as I love my car the exhaust note of the 981 GT4 is undeniable... What an amazing sounding car.
I think every 982 GT4 owner arrives at this point where they have to do a bit of soul searching... Do you try reach the holy grail of a 981 GT4 exhaust note, or do you accept it how it is. Not only that but you also have a feeling that Porsche did the GT4 dirty by keeping the engine back a bit. Whether that's true or not I can't say, but it is how I (and many other GT4 owners) feel. Having said that I'll also point out that the car is more than capable enough, and I'm well aware that we'll hit the limit of my ability long before I hit the limit for what the car is capable of. With that out of the way, this is my journey. I hope that some of the things I have discovered along the way will help some of the other 982 GT4 owners who are thinking about changing things to make their car sound and perform a little better.
Step 1 to changing the sound is looking at the components of the exhaust, you consider a backbox with less silencing, link pipes without OPF filters (for track only of course
) and 200 cell high air flow cats. The majority of people will go with the backbox replacement - it's the easiest option, and if you get a valved direct replacement you can bolt it on with no issues at all - everything functions the same but you have a bit more noise - not much though.
The mental exhaust setup
I got a full system for mine. JCR headers + high airflow 200 cell cats (no OPF's) and a BCRacing backbox. Originally I put all 3 parts on the car and the sound was absolutely mental. Too mental. It's just too loud, obnoxiously loud. So loud that it made rally cars at the motorist sound like kittens. I call this the exhaust system for everyone else - because everyone will either hate it or love it (car enthusiasts will generally think it's pretty cool - a few people begged me to keep this setup). Personally I hated it. It made me feel a bit embarrassed because it didn't really give a massive leap in horsepower, but it gave a monumental leap in sound, and even though it sounded good on the outside, it sounded awful on the inside. There was so much drone that I found myself driving my car less and less, and I love my car.
The optimal setup
About a month after doing the full setup I had ordered some Akrapovic link pipes and they had arrived. My intention was to take my car in and have the original headers + backbox installed along with these new link pipes. "but Fred..." I hear you say... "why didn't you use the JCR link pipes you already had?". Excellent question my friend. The problem is the OEM headers have 800 cell cats built into them, and OPF's in the link pipes. But the JCR setup has no cats in the headers, and 200 cell cats in the link pipes. So rather than run an 800 cell cat in the OEM header + a 200 cell cat in the link pipe, I bought new link pipes. I think this is likely the best possible setup you can have to make the 982 sound better. But you will need to remap the car or get an OBD killer to remove the CEL. I personally hate plugging some nonsense into the car to clear engine lights, so I'd recommend making peace with a remap if you want to do this. However, I must confess that I never tried this setup...
The tasteful, fairly loud high performance setup
Instead of installing the brand new link pipes I had paid 2 grand for (in the workshop ready to go) I decided to install the OEM backbox first, just to see how it sounds with the JCR headers and 200 cell cats. To my surprise the car still sounds mental, it isn't quiet - but it's not obnoxious either. In fact, with the valves closed it's very tame. It still sounds very good with the valves closed, much better than stock, but completely liveable. So I took the car for a drive - absolutely no drone. This confirms all the other research that I had done on exhaust setups for the 982 GT4. I believe that nomatter what brand backbox you get, it will introduce drone. My understanding is that the OEM backbox just resonates better with the engine. It is very well designed. Now don't get me wrong, there is a reason I don't call this the optimal setup. To my ears it sounds awesome. It's loud but not obnoxious, and with the valves closed I won't annoy my neighbours BUT, and there is a but... You need to understand how the valves work on your GT4.
This is how they work:
If the valves are open, (button light on) your car will open them at idle (and if you are revving in neutral). They will then close at 1800 RMP (IIRC) and they will open again at 4000 RPM.
If the valves are closed (button light off) your car will keep them closed at idle, but they will open at 4000+ RPM.
With a stock exhaust system you don't really notice the valves opening and closing. If you know what you are listening for you will notice. But if you change the headers and link pipes (or probably any component of the system) it will exaggerate this change. So with my current setup with just the OEM backbox and the JCR headers + link pipes my car goes from sounding nice and loud until 1800 RPM, then comparatively quiet as a mouse then past 4000 RPM the valves open and suddenly the car starts screaming. Again, to my ear it sounds very good, but it is still very loud. This is why I say just doing the link pipes is probably the best most optimal setup for this car, but having the headers with the 200 cell cats along with the link pipes is definitely my favourite setup - but it's guaranteed to cause problems on track days unless you get silenced tips.... Or try something else... But I'll get to that later.
So in order of preference this is what I recommend for the best sounding 982 GT4 - and I totally get that some people will feel different.
1. Just change the link pipes, keep the OEM headers and backbox (not too loud, no drone, probably not too loud for track but untested, for track only ofcourse)
2. My setup - 200 cell cats + link pipes + OEM backbox (loud, no drone, trackday issues so need a silencing solution, again only for track use ofc
)
3. Completely OEM (tears of pain when you hear a 981 GT4)
4. Just the backbox changed (drone)
5. Any other setup with a changed backbox (a lot of drone and extremely loud with full setup)
If you do decide to do the headers I recommend checking out and comparing the fabspeed headers with 200 cell cats. You can't really tell by video, but I only saw them after getting the JCR ones... I kinda wish I got the fabspeed ones though, from the video they sound
but this down to personal preference. I still think my current setup sounds very good.
Flirting with a 991.2 GT3
At this point I knew I was going to have to remap the car. The point of no return. Any sane person would ask if it's worth it, should they not just get a car with the sound and performance they want, rather than try change the car that they love? So I started looking around and found one that I was interested in. I personally wanted a 991.2, not the 992 - just personal preference. I also considered a GT4 RS but without waffling on too much (or at least more than I do already) I'll stick to the GT3 because that's what I actually considered. I found one, went to see it and took it for a test drive. The car was lovely don't get me wrong, there are many things to love about that car, but going to test drive the car I was expecting to be blown away. Based on what some people say I thought it'd be considerably better... It did feel good on the test drive, it was interesting to feel how light the steering is in comparison. I assume it's because of the different weight distribution but I'm not sure. I could also feel that the car had a lot more traction... Bigger rear tyres, more weight over the rear wheels - it's a noticeable difference, but overall it didn't feel better... Just different. It had better mid range power but didn't feel much faster. The GT4 leaves me feeling a lot more confident. More planted. There was one thing in particular that drove me nuts in the GT3. Whoever spec'd it (and sorry if I'm slagging anyone off here I don't mean to) didn't spec a leather dash.................... With all the plastic I felt like I was sitting in my Golf GTI, not one of the most prestigious and best sports cars money could buy. I looked at the spec for a new GT3, it costs about 1 grand to spec a leather dash. It should be a crime to buy a 150k + car and not spec it with a leather dash, come on! My guess is that someone got an allocation but wasn't all that fussed about keeping the car. They just wanted to send it around the track a few times and sell it for a huge profit. What a shame. When I left the dealership and climbed back into my GT4, I had a 3 hour drive home to consider my options. I had felt sick until that point, but on the drive home I knew I was in the more special car. Sure the GT3 will hold its value better, it's worth almost double what my GT4 is worth. It's currently selling for more now than it would have cost new, but to me it's not worth more. So instead of spending another 85 grand on a GT3, I decided that I'd spend a good amount of that on my GT4 instead, and bring it a little bit closer to the car that I think Porsche should have made it in the first place. I immediately felt better knowing that I was going to keep my car, up until that point I had felt awful at the prospect of giving it up.
Other upgrades
* I changed the air intake filters to BMC air filters (mainly to improve the intake sound). I didn't notice much of a difference with the mental setup, but that's possibly because the rest of the setup was so loud. Sometime I'll swap back to the paper filters and see if I can hear a difference. I do think you will get a crisper more mechanical sound though, but it's probably more noticeable in a Boxster than a Cayman.
* I got a set of Manthey Racing forged rims with a set of PS4S's (cup 2's are on the OEM rims, I wanted to enjoy the MR rims on street for a while). They look fantastic, and they are super light. 2 days after getting it all fitted I got a massive bolt through my rear right tyre so had to get myself a trolly jack and a puncture repair kit. Highly recommend the Halfords 3T low profile jack with rubber pads to go over the saddle.
* I got a stage 2 remap from Litchfield Motors. Surprisingly the car didn't make much extra power at all. 432 at the engine. Though Ninemeister reckons they can definitely get more power - according to their Facebook posts I think I saw one with a similar setup to mine pushing 460. I also don't want to do anything crazy. At the moment the car is tuned for the exhaust system, and it feels great. Better mid range power, and it's running MUCH better.
* I got the car alignment done at Litchfield as well - this is probably the single most important thing I'd recommend every GT car owner gets done. Something always felt a little off, and prior to the Porsche the best car I had ever driven in terms of handling was a 1993 BMW M5 with a few upgrades - it felt absolutely awesome. After getting my car set up properly it feels like a totally different car, so much better, mind blowing how much of a difference it has made - so yeah driving it over to Litchfield and driving it back with both the remap and alignment done, felt like I was driving home in a new car. So why'd I bring up the old M5? I don't know - fond memories of a car that just made me smile. Ofcourse the Porsche is 10x better, but just like that old M5 blew me away every time I drove it all those years ago, I got the same joy from my GT4 on the way home.
* I got a set of MR air intake grills to prevent all sorts of nonsense getting sucked into the car
What's next?
I don't fully know what's next yet, but there are a few idea's I'm toying with.
* Shorter gear ratio's from RPM Technik - not for performance, just for more joy. The long gear ratios don't let you play with the gears much on the street.
* Manthey coilovers - for now I won't get these - maybe at a later date
* Light weight flywheel - mixed feelings on this. Sounds good but I've heard a lot of people don't like the feel of the car after they get it and actually revert the change. Will give it more thought
* GT4 RS air intakes - Gold Leaf Performance does a full carbon fibre kit for these intakes. It should result in a bit of extra horsepower but it will also give you the GT4 RS intake sound which I'm not sure I want. It sounds cool, but it's a bit too bonkers. At the moment my car sounds good in my opinion, but I still have no problems holding a conversation with a passenger without shouting
* GT4 RS aero under the car - I probably will get to this at some point because it's not an intrusive upgrade but just a bit of extra handling improvement.
* Gloss black rear wing + wing mirrors + bonet - purely for aesthetics. Still thinking about this. I like the way the black doorhandles and blackened lights, it's subtle but makes the car stand out against cars that don't have that option. I'm on the ropes about getting the wing mirrors etc done. Sometimes less is more, and adding more might cheapen the look of it. Not sure.
* Remap by Ninemeister - they reckon they can get more power out of the car - but for now I think I'll leave it as is. The car feels good, it doesn't feel underpowered. Maybe I'll feel different on track.
* Silenced exhaust tips by Ninemeister - it's either these or closing the valves on track, but I don't know if closing the valves is a good idea. Would need to do some testing and use a thermal meter to check temps with the current setup.
* Cargraphic valve controller - I'm definitely getting the 3 way controller. Whether I used the fully closed option or not I'm not sure. There is a warning for engine damage but I think that's purely down to heat, but will have to think carefully and do some testing. Definitely want it for valves open though.
* Deman 4.5L engine. Not to be taken seriously. There is less than a 10% chance that I'd actually do this. It costs too much money, the logistics of getting it installed would be a nightmare, and it's just a very radical change to the car. I'd be worried to ruin something I love so much, but these are ideas I'm toying with, and even the most outrageous idea's are considered. Having something like this would be very unique, and the prospect of having a 565hp GT4 makes me slightly giddy.
That's about it. Sorry for the super long post - I actually wanted to share my journey as I went but kept putting it off. So this is where I am now. If you have any questions or thoughts about the setup I've done let me know. It took a lot of time and research to learn what I know now, so maybe I can help you avoid the same headaches. Otherwise check out the Manthey forged rims. I think they look brilliant. This was after a nice 5 hour wash last Friday, she looks beautiful
As time went on I've read about certain mods etc and how the particulate filters muffle the sound, then at an event I asked another member to hear his 981 GT4 because I knew it came without the particulate filters... As much as I love my car the exhaust note of the 981 GT4 is undeniable... What an amazing sounding car.
I think every 982 GT4 owner arrives at this point where they have to do a bit of soul searching... Do you try reach the holy grail of a 981 GT4 exhaust note, or do you accept it how it is. Not only that but you also have a feeling that Porsche did the GT4 dirty by keeping the engine back a bit. Whether that's true or not I can't say, but it is how I (and many other GT4 owners) feel. Having said that I'll also point out that the car is more than capable enough, and I'm well aware that we'll hit the limit of my ability long before I hit the limit for what the car is capable of. With that out of the way, this is my journey. I hope that some of the things I have discovered along the way will help some of the other 982 GT4 owners who are thinking about changing things to make their car sound and perform a little better.
Step 1 to changing the sound is looking at the components of the exhaust, you consider a backbox with less silencing, link pipes without OPF filters (for track only of course
) and 200 cell high air flow cats. The majority of people will go with the backbox replacement - it's the easiest option, and if you get a valved direct replacement you can bolt it on with no issues at all - everything functions the same but you have a bit more noise - not much though.The mental exhaust setup
I got a full system for mine. JCR headers + high airflow 200 cell cats (no OPF's) and a BCRacing backbox. Originally I put all 3 parts on the car and the sound was absolutely mental. Too mental. It's just too loud, obnoxiously loud. So loud that it made rally cars at the motorist sound like kittens. I call this the exhaust system for everyone else - because everyone will either hate it or love it (car enthusiasts will generally think it's pretty cool - a few people begged me to keep this setup). Personally I hated it. It made me feel a bit embarrassed because it didn't really give a massive leap in horsepower, but it gave a monumental leap in sound, and even though it sounded good on the outside, it sounded awful on the inside. There was so much drone that I found myself driving my car less and less, and I love my car.
The optimal setup
About a month after doing the full setup I had ordered some Akrapovic link pipes and they had arrived. My intention was to take my car in and have the original headers + backbox installed along with these new link pipes. "but Fred..." I hear you say... "why didn't you use the JCR link pipes you already had?". Excellent question my friend. The problem is the OEM headers have 800 cell cats built into them, and OPF's in the link pipes. But the JCR setup has no cats in the headers, and 200 cell cats in the link pipes. So rather than run an 800 cell cat in the OEM header + a 200 cell cat in the link pipe, I bought new link pipes. I think this is likely the best possible setup you can have to make the 982 sound better. But you will need to remap the car or get an OBD killer to remove the CEL. I personally hate plugging some nonsense into the car to clear engine lights, so I'd recommend making peace with a remap if you want to do this. However, I must confess that I never tried this setup...
The tasteful, fairly loud high performance setup
Instead of installing the brand new link pipes I had paid 2 grand for (in the workshop ready to go) I decided to install the OEM backbox first, just to see how it sounds with the JCR headers and 200 cell cats. To my surprise the car still sounds mental, it isn't quiet - but it's not obnoxious either. In fact, with the valves closed it's very tame. It still sounds very good with the valves closed, much better than stock, but completely liveable. So I took the car for a drive - absolutely no drone. This confirms all the other research that I had done on exhaust setups for the 982 GT4. I believe that nomatter what brand backbox you get, it will introduce drone. My understanding is that the OEM backbox just resonates better with the engine. It is very well designed. Now don't get me wrong, there is a reason I don't call this the optimal setup. To my ears it sounds awesome. It's loud but not obnoxious, and with the valves closed I won't annoy my neighbours BUT, and there is a but... You need to understand how the valves work on your GT4.
This is how they work:
If the valves are open, (button light on) your car will open them at idle (and if you are revving in neutral). They will then close at 1800 RMP (IIRC) and they will open again at 4000 RPM.
If the valves are closed (button light off) your car will keep them closed at idle, but they will open at 4000+ RPM.
With a stock exhaust system you don't really notice the valves opening and closing. If you know what you are listening for you will notice. But if you change the headers and link pipes (or probably any component of the system) it will exaggerate this change. So with my current setup with just the OEM backbox and the JCR headers + link pipes my car goes from sounding nice and loud until 1800 RPM, then comparatively quiet as a mouse then past 4000 RPM the valves open and suddenly the car starts screaming. Again, to my ear it sounds very good, but it is still very loud. This is why I say just doing the link pipes is probably the best most optimal setup for this car, but having the headers with the 200 cell cats along with the link pipes is definitely my favourite setup - but it's guaranteed to cause problems on track days unless you get silenced tips.... Or try something else... But I'll get to that later.
So in order of preference this is what I recommend for the best sounding 982 GT4 - and I totally get that some people will feel different.
1. Just change the link pipes, keep the OEM headers and backbox (not too loud, no drone, probably not too loud for track but untested, for track only ofcourse
)2. My setup - 200 cell cats + link pipes + OEM backbox (loud, no drone, trackday issues so need a silencing solution, again only for track use ofc
)3. Completely OEM (tears of pain when you hear a 981 GT4)
4. Just the backbox changed (drone)
5. Any other setup with a changed backbox (a lot of drone and extremely loud with full setup)
If you do decide to do the headers I recommend checking out and comparing the fabspeed headers with 200 cell cats. You can't really tell by video, but I only saw them after getting the JCR ones... I kinda wish I got the fabspeed ones though, from the video they sound
but this down to personal preference. I still think my current setup sounds very good.Flirting with a 991.2 GT3
At this point I knew I was going to have to remap the car. The point of no return. Any sane person would ask if it's worth it, should they not just get a car with the sound and performance they want, rather than try change the car that they love? So I started looking around and found one that I was interested in. I personally wanted a 991.2, not the 992 - just personal preference. I also considered a GT4 RS but without waffling on too much (or at least more than I do already) I'll stick to the GT3 because that's what I actually considered. I found one, went to see it and took it for a test drive. The car was lovely don't get me wrong, there are many things to love about that car, but going to test drive the car I was expecting to be blown away. Based on what some people say I thought it'd be considerably better... It did feel good on the test drive, it was interesting to feel how light the steering is in comparison. I assume it's because of the different weight distribution but I'm not sure. I could also feel that the car had a lot more traction... Bigger rear tyres, more weight over the rear wheels - it's a noticeable difference, but overall it didn't feel better... Just different. It had better mid range power but didn't feel much faster. The GT4 leaves me feeling a lot more confident. More planted. There was one thing in particular that drove me nuts in the GT3. Whoever spec'd it (and sorry if I'm slagging anyone off here I don't mean to) didn't spec a leather dash.................... With all the plastic I felt like I was sitting in my Golf GTI, not one of the most prestigious and best sports cars money could buy. I looked at the spec for a new GT3, it costs about 1 grand to spec a leather dash. It should be a crime to buy a 150k + car and not spec it with a leather dash, come on! My guess is that someone got an allocation but wasn't all that fussed about keeping the car. They just wanted to send it around the track a few times and sell it for a huge profit. What a shame. When I left the dealership and climbed back into my GT4, I had a 3 hour drive home to consider my options. I had felt sick until that point, but on the drive home I knew I was in the more special car. Sure the GT3 will hold its value better, it's worth almost double what my GT4 is worth. It's currently selling for more now than it would have cost new, but to me it's not worth more. So instead of spending another 85 grand on a GT3, I decided that I'd spend a good amount of that on my GT4 instead, and bring it a little bit closer to the car that I think Porsche should have made it in the first place. I immediately felt better knowing that I was going to keep my car, up until that point I had felt awful at the prospect of giving it up.
Other upgrades
* I changed the air intake filters to BMC air filters (mainly to improve the intake sound). I didn't notice much of a difference with the mental setup, but that's possibly because the rest of the setup was so loud. Sometime I'll swap back to the paper filters and see if I can hear a difference. I do think you will get a crisper more mechanical sound though, but it's probably more noticeable in a Boxster than a Cayman.
* I got a set of Manthey Racing forged rims with a set of PS4S's (cup 2's are on the OEM rims, I wanted to enjoy the MR rims on street for a while). They look fantastic, and they are super light. 2 days after getting it all fitted I got a massive bolt through my rear right tyre so had to get myself a trolly jack and a puncture repair kit. Highly recommend the Halfords 3T low profile jack with rubber pads to go over the saddle.
* I got a stage 2 remap from Litchfield Motors. Surprisingly the car didn't make much extra power at all. 432 at the engine. Though Ninemeister reckons they can definitely get more power - according to their Facebook posts I think I saw one with a similar setup to mine pushing 460. I also don't want to do anything crazy. At the moment the car is tuned for the exhaust system, and it feels great. Better mid range power, and it's running MUCH better.
* I got the car alignment done at Litchfield as well - this is probably the single most important thing I'd recommend every GT car owner gets done. Something always felt a little off, and prior to the Porsche the best car I had ever driven in terms of handling was a 1993 BMW M5 with a few upgrades - it felt absolutely awesome. After getting my car set up properly it feels like a totally different car, so much better, mind blowing how much of a difference it has made - so yeah driving it over to Litchfield and driving it back with both the remap and alignment done, felt like I was driving home in a new car. So why'd I bring up the old M5? I don't know - fond memories of a car that just made me smile. Ofcourse the Porsche is 10x better, but just like that old M5 blew me away every time I drove it all those years ago, I got the same joy from my GT4 on the way home.
* I got a set of MR air intake grills to prevent all sorts of nonsense getting sucked into the car
What's next?
I don't fully know what's next yet, but there are a few idea's I'm toying with.
* Shorter gear ratio's from RPM Technik - not for performance, just for more joy. The long gear ratios don't let you play with the gears much on the street.
* Manthey coilovers - for now I won't get these - maybe at a later date
* Light weight flywheel - mixed feelings on this. Sounds good but I've heard a lot of people don't like the feel of the car after they get it and actually revert the change. Will give it more thought
* GT4 RS air intakes - Gold Leaf Performance does a full carbon fibre kit for these intakes. It should result in a bit of extra horsepower but it will also give you the GT4 RS intake sound which I'm not sure I want. It sounds cool, but it's a bit too bonkers. At the moment my car sounds good in my opinion, but I still have no problems holding a conversation with a passenger without shouting
* GT4 RS aero under the car - I probably will get to this at some point because it's not an intrusive upgrade but just a bit of extra handling improvement.
* Gloss black rear wing + wing mirrors + bonet - purely for aesthetics. Still thinking about this. I like the way the black doorhandles and blackened lights, it's subtle but makes the car stand out against cars that don't have that option. I'm on the ropes about getting the wing mirrors etc done. Sometimes less is more, and adding more might cheapen the look of it. Not sure.
* Remap by Ninemeister - they reckon they can get more power out of the car - but for now I think I'll leave it as is. The car feels good, it doesn't feel underpowered. Maybe I'll feel different on track.
* Silenced exhaust tips by Ninemeister - it's either these or closing the valves on track, but I don't know if closing the valves is a good idea. Would need to do some testing and use a thermal meter to check temps with the current setup.
* Cargraphic valve controller - I'm definitely getting the 3 way controller. Whether I used the fully closed option or not I'm not sure. There is a warning for engine damage but I think that's purely down to heat, but will have to think carefully and do some testing. Definitely want it for valves open though.
* Deman 4.5L engine. Not to be taken seriously. There is less than a 10% chance that I'd actually do this. It costs too much money, the logistics of getting it installed would be a nightmare, and it's just a very radical change to the car. I'd be worried to ruin something I love so much, but these are ideas I'm toying with, and even the most outrageous idea's are considered. Having something like this would be very unique, and the prospect of having a 565hp GT4 makes me slightly giddy.
That's about it. Sorry for the super long post - I actually wanted to share my journey as I went but kept putting it off. So this is where I am now. If you have any questions or thoughts about the setup I've done let me know. It took a lot of time and research to learn what I know now, so maybe I can help you avoid the same headaches. Otherwise check out the Manthey forged rims. I think they look brilliant. This was after a nice 5 hour wash last Friday, she looks beautiful
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following the feedback on flywheels in the forum here I've decided to book mine in and have it done. Driving over to 9m on the 3rd of July. I will keep the OEM clutch and see how I feel about it - luckily Warrington is only an hour away from me. Also going to remove the JCR headers & link pipes and install the OEM headers + Akra link pipes + get the stage 2 redone for the new setup. I'm hoping this will get me on track without any issues. After that I'll do Porsche experience in July and Donington in August. I reckon I will miss the headers though for sure
. Apparently they can also do a set of coilovers that they reckon will be on par with MR coilovers (I forget the brand name though) but I'm guessing cheaper - especially since the MR stuff is going way up in price. Whether it's true or not I don't know but thought I'd mention it in case anyone is interested.
