The Porsche 997 series is the highest production number version in the venerable 911 lineage, with over 200,000 made. It is understandable then, that there is a high demand for aftermarket performance upgrades for the 997. One of the most popular upgrades is an aftermarket exhaust, both for an improved sound as well as nominal gains in performance due to lighter weights than the OEM systems as well as some less restrictive plumbing. Unfortunately, a search for valved exhaust upgrades specific to the 997 turns up spotty availability, high pricing, unknown origins of manufacture, and most systems that ARE available, being aimed at turbo-only models.
There is a solution on the horizon however, due to arrive this Spring/Summer. A company in Willow Grove Pennsylvania, Soul Performance Products, is developing a clean-sheet, valved exhaust system for the 997 and the 997S. The reason I know this is because Soul is using my own 997 S cabrio to do their development of the system!
I met John Brandenberger in person at SEMA 2017 in Las Vegas. He told me about the origin of the young company, what they had already developed and were planning on, and more importantly, their overall approach to the aftermarket exhaust upgrade market. They want to produce high quality systems locally, from as much U.S. derived raw materials as is feasible, and have available supply IN STOCK at reasonable prices. Those last 2 features would set them apart from a huge herd of other manufacturers and/or “marketing companies”, some of which do not actually produce product at all, rather just import items and resell them. Brandenberger oversees a 20,000 square foot production facility, more workshop than sales force, where his fabricators put together some beautiful product. I got to see it firsthand last November, when I dropped my car off with them for the winter. John recently sent me a link to a thread on the Rennlist forum pages, where another visitor to Soul had posted his experience in visiting their shop. It was strange for me to see my black 911S sitting on their shop floor without me being there. Now in late April, they are almost finished with the measuring and fabricating of the prototype system, and I am waiting on a call one morning that it’s all done, come and get it! We offer all Soul Performance exhaust systems here at Midwest Performance Cars. Call us to talk about upgrading your Porsche at 312-432-9492.
You can find more info on Soul Performance Products here: http://soulpp.com/
You can find the Rennlist thread here: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-forum/1063706- new-exhaust-option-for- 997-coming.html