Porsche Sports Exhaust

My Boxster came equipped with the factory Porsche Sports Exhaust (PSE). It’s a factory option that cost £912. Quite expensive, but for the money you’re getting an electronically controlled system that bypasses two of the three silencers under certain conditions. You can clearly see the bypass pipes to the left and right of the tip. Impressive on paper, but when I first got the car, with no reference point it didn’t seem particularly loud to me, although the note is beautiful. Having recently heard the standard exhaust, it’s not any louder, just more tuneful. Is it worth it though? Let me share two recent experiences.

Around the built up streets of Wapping, the wails and howls reverberate off the buildings. With the top down, it’s real spine tingling stuff. I recall at the weekend approaching a mini roundabout. I spotted two pedestrians standing just off the kerb. I was slightly perplexed as to why they weren’t crossing. I was only meandering at a couple of thousand rpm in first gear. Then I twigged, it was the noise! Based on the sound, they were expecting something to be racing down the narrow street! I stopped, smiles were exchanged and they crossed in peace.

The second experience was on Sunday. SWMBO and I had cabin fever and went out cruising round London. We had no idea that the Gumball 3000 was also setting off that day. We ended up crawling in traffic in one direction as the Gumballers passed travelling in the other. I was really surprised how many people turned out to see them off. I guess the dream of driving a fast car across Europe has more allure than I imagined! The streets were lined on one side and the central reservation with people keen to get a peak. The Ferraris and Porsches were revving hard, much to the delight of the spectators. I couldn’t resist it and gave my own flat six a good blip. The crowd looked round in surprise, they weren’t expecting the same flat six noise from behind them! As I sniggered and grinned to myself, I caught the eye of a couple. They were smiling and laughing too, they commented, “you should be on the other side!”. Priceless.

Long live the PSE. Hip, hip, HOORAY!