1989 328 EXHAUST SYSTEM

That's a difficult question which has been raised many times.
Three answers actually:
- cars without catalysator have a different exhaust pipes configuration and routing than cars with catalysator, so exhaust from one or the other version (read here: US cars vs Euro cars) are not directly comparable.
- you will have to decide between changing just the exhaust box, or changing the whole "line of exhaust" (manifolds + intermediary pipes + exhaust box on non catalysed cars; manifolds + catalysator or test pipe + exhaust box on catalysed cars)
- then it is down to personal preference, taking into account the fact that, as has been said here many times, some exhausts may have a range of resonance or "droning" in the cabin at certain speeds, for instance on the highway. Furthermore, and that may sound silly, there is a big difference in the sound for those outside, seeing you passing by and hearing the car, and the sound for the driver at the wheel: the best sounding exhaust for those outside listening to your car may not be the best sounding one for the guy at the wheel.

That said...after listening to many different options in the almost ten years since I bought my car; said car being Euro NON-CAT; my answer would be: keeping it stock, or buying a "Tubi", which is what I think is the closest of what a Ferrari should sound for me (either just the exhaust box, or, more ideally the whole line of exhaust: manifolds + intermediary pipes + exhaust box). But that my own personal preference; some others may have a different choice.
Some exhausts are more pretty to look at, such as the Larini, but that one resonates too much in the cabin.

Rgds

 

I drove a cat car that had a Tubi and I personally didn't like the sound,,that sounded drony to me..
I put an X-Ost (made in Maranello) on my old GT4 and it sounded very racey,of course that car had 4 Webers helping with the noise as well..

I have a Mille Miglia on my non cat 328 and I like it personally,it's quiet enough at low revs but is very loud when it's up at the upper rev range,very sweet sounding through tunnels especially with the roof off (GTS)

Why didn't the Capristo fit?
Was it for a non cat car?

 

I have a Larini on mine. Craftsmanship is top-notch, but it is very loud.

I have a test pipe too, which may make it louder than with a cat.

 

A critical point that Neo made: what the car sounds like to onlookers and what it sounds like to the driver are very different. I don't know how you use/plan to use the car but I found over the years that the reality is, you have to be comfortable driving the car; how it sounds on the outside is something that you do not experience and, therefore, virtually all the marketing examples and UTube exhaust videos comparing sound are sort of ridiculous. Because you, as the driver, are never going to hear THAT sound.

As far as the added noise, if I was just driving the car locally or to short runs - maybe up to 100 miles or so, I could deal with a louder exhaust but for me it's just too fatiguing for an extended ride. Plus, if you have a passenger, you have to yell to carry on a conversation.

I went though many "performance" exhaust systems (forget that "performance" part, "louder" is NOT more powerful) on a bunch of cars and in virtually every case, returned them to stock exhaust after a few months. They were too annoying to drive for more than 30-40 minutes. I will admit some of them sounded really cool to me standing outside when someone else drove it by.

So carefully consider how you plan to use the car as well as the sound you are looking for. Obviously the ideal situation would be for you to be able to drive cars already equipped with some of the various exhausts but that's not very likely.

FWIW, two days after buying my '89 328 I drove it from Las Vegas to Chester, MD - about 2800 miles in 2 1/2 days. I used earplugs for the trip; I would not have been able to deal with the noise of the STOCK exhaust for the extended periods at the wheel without ear protection.

Obviously, as others have pointed out, you could have an exhaust shop fabricate just about anything you want, from straight pipes to "quiet as a Rolls." Well, quiet as a Rolls would be difficult because there isn't enough room for a large enough muffler to do that!

In any case, good luck!