Jay Laifman

Ok, so it's in! First, as far as I could see, taking off the rear bumper is a necessity, and if it's not, I see no reason to not do it. Taking it off is no sweat, and the access gained makes it soooo easy. (Mine is an '00 S that had a stock muffler, now has a 03+ PSE) Sadly, I never felt how hot the lower bumper got from the old exhaust. The larger S tips fit fine and there is plenty of room. But, after my first drive, and I felt it, the tips and lower bumper were pretty hot. But, again, I don't know what it was like before, AND it was also admittedly after a very hot run. Finally, the sound. It as a fantastic sound with no resonance - very strong and gutsy. When it starts up, it definitely has that burbling growl like my neighbor's C4S. So, that's cool. Maybe the best sign was that when I came back from my drive, my kids were jumping up and down saying how it sounded like a race car. That said, I still wish it was louder inside the car with the top up. It doesn't vibrate through you like my older cars. Sometimes, it really isn't very different - inside the car. But, I'm still deciding if it's necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it's in part how far away the exhaust pipe is - not to the side like on the 911. And, sometimes you really don't want to be shaken all the time. But, no, it does not scream through you. Someone has commented that if you use the 03 exhaust with the straight pipes taking out the second set of cats, that's the best sound on the planet. They insist it's still smog legal. But, I'm not so sure. I think the law requires ALL factory smog equipment, no matter what it is, and even if it seems duplicative. Also, I may be imagining it. But, before, on my '00 S, I felt like there was this little flutter or something at about 3,000 rpm. Sometimes I thought I was imagining it too. I know I've heard others talk about flywheel problems and motor mount problems that might cause 3,000 rpm issues, but they haven't been able to solve it. Now that I've been driving around with the new muffler, that flutter is gone. Maybe I'm imagining it being gone. Maybe I was imagining it in the first place. But, then, it was odd. I wasn't even thinking about it, but the absense of the flutter registered quickly - which almost makes it seem like the flutter was more present than I realized, but that I got used to it and didn't consciously think about it as much - until it was gone. All in all, pretty easy job. I'm glad I did it - and I can't wait to get back in my car.

Are you still out there? Based on your post, and the one at http://home.mho.com/achmiel/BoxsterS.htm I have purchased an '03 PSE and am just about ready to install it in my '00 Boxster S. The shop I'm getting it from will put it in, and for not all that much money ($150). But, I like working on my cars and my son would like to help. So, I'm thinking about doing it myself. I've heard that this is a crazy long procedure, and you can get it *DOWN TO* 3 hours if you pull of the entire back bumper. I got under the car this weekend and I must be missing something. What takes so long? I'm told the two mounts on top of the exhaust are the problem. I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm used to working on English cars that need two elbows per arm already. But, I could easily get my arm up there and work a wrench in there. It appears the studs go up into shock mounts of some sort, with an allen key nut holding them, or two bolts at each side that mounts that shock mount to the horizontal beam. Seem that it might be better to take it off the beam rather than the allen key nuts. Then, at each side of the exhaust are U pipes. A sleeve fits over each of the joints. You need to loosen the clamps over each side of one sleeve, and slide it on or off the U pipe (granted, that may take some coaxing and heat and cussing and a big wrench, but not insurmountable - or maybe that's just with English cars). Then there are a few places where nuts and bolts hold on a few mounting bracket locations. Putting it back on seems like the opposite, with the hardest part being the alignment to get it all horizontal and centered. So, what am I missing? I have to think if all goes well (which it never does), doing this alone will take me 3 hours max, and not need removing the rear bumper. Thanks for any thoughts. Oh, and one more thing. I know of a guy who is being told by Porsche that the '03 will not fit the pre '03 without a different bumper. Yet, your pictures show a pre '03. Doesn't it fit fine with the '03 S tips? Or do they get too close to the bumper and cause it to melt or something? Is there any interference with the bypass pipes?