355 Challenge - exhaust system 103 Db

Yes, the stock muffler will mount right up. I've been told by many sources that there were basically three different mufflers - the stock 355 muffler, the Challenge open-pipe system (no cans), and an intermediate sport muffler that is smaller, lighter and less restrictive than the stock muffler (that's the one on my car).

Good luck,

--Dennis

 

Rob,

The intermediate sport muffler is next to impossible to find. When I bought the last remaining kit from FNA to build my Challenge car it had the sport muffler listed on the inventory sheet but wasn't in the container when it arrived at FOW. It took them over three and half months to find one for me. I had been offered insane amounts of money on more than one occasion for the muffler but sold it with the car. It is my understanding that the sport muffler passed Lime Rock's stringent sound test with is below 100 (SCCA is 102 except where tracks have a lower sound level).

Good Luck.

Jon P. Kofod
ex-1995 #23 F355 C

 

I am 99% sure that the intermediate exhaust, and maybe all of the others, were manufactured by Ansa. There is an Ansa company owned distributor in Georgia, who has been helpful to me in the past. That doesn't mean they have something sitting around US or Italy, but its worth a phone call.

It would not be out of the question to manufacture something, especially if you have the Challenge bypass open. If possible, try to use the oval Borla Race mufflers, as extensive dyno testing (by me) shows these have the least hp loss per dB loss. They can still be louder than you think, so err on the side of caution. You could even reinstall a bypass valve and close it when you go by the sound station, but most tracks have gotten wise to this.

Many sound rules are Draconian in punishment, so I also always try to leave room for a "bona-fide mechanical change" to be made in the pits in the case of a sound black flag.

Reading the sound rules at most tracks, if you are black flagged, you will not be allowed back on the track for that session unless you make a "bona-fide mechanical change" in the pits to reduce noise. A pair of clamped-on exhaust tips that can be hammered shut by a crew member is a very quick and effective way to get back on track, especially during a NASA style qualifying free-for-all.

Weaving your way through a gaggle of Spec Miatas, who once again, have awoken in the middle of the night to secretly swap hardtop colors and misadjust rear view mirrors like gnomes, and trying to set a qualifying time that will start you ahead of the same Miatas, is a very good reason to stay on track during the whole qualifying session.



Jay Morris
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