Aftermarket exhaust for California T

I went with the factory HS Speciale exhaust and I am happy with it. My understanding is Tubi makes it for Ferrari, but it is not the same exhaust as they sell as their own product. The HS Speciale exhaust has no valve, of course.

The car sounds deeper and a bit louder at idle ... it sounds more like a Ferrari, whatever that means. You have a definite rumble at idle which the stock exhaust does not have. Letting off the throttle, you hear the exhaust burbling. It is much more prone to do the rifle cracks on shifts under load, which was one of the things I missed from my Cali 30.

I was not looking for something louder or more raucous, I didn't want to rattle the neighbors' windows on cold starts, or have the car be obnoxiously loud driving it normally -- another reason why I'm content with the valves opening up at 3500 or wherever it is that they do under the factory system. When you get on it, it snarls and sounds, to quote Harry from Harry's Garage, like a "proper Ferrari."

His video really does give you a nice representation of what the car sounds like, skip to about 19:10 if the link doesn't work.



If you want something more aggressive or significantly louder, it's probably not the exhaust for you.

 

Dan you’re gonna have the perfect Cali once all of your upgrades are complete. At that point....keep it. I did the same but then traded it. Someone is gonna get a good one when they get mine.


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I also did the factory HS Speciale ,exhaust on my 2016 California T and am very happy with it.
It sounds very husky and potent at idle and the under power shifts crack good and loud.
I also like no drone at cruising speeds.
Cost $4,500 installed at my dealer.

 

Andy....You going to start a "My 488 GTB" thread or what!!? Stop modding that beauty and get some miles on her!..T

 

Well said Tom! It’s nerve racking to drive without the radar working. Gonna have that checked this morning. I may even have to drive in a little rain! Hoping she won’t melt. No mods other than the back up camera via the rear view mirror (radar-mirror.com) and the audio (ScuderiaAudio.com) week after next. Well, yeah, I did order and install the dead pedal from Ricambi last night.


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I just got my T with HS in today, and I am already contemplating upgrading the exhaust. Coming from a 2011 Cali, the sound on this thing is somewhat lacking. It starts off really good from around 1-3k RPM, and drops of quick till you hit around 6k. I had the dealership leave the valves open, but it still does not have the punch I want.

I took it to dinner tonight and actually happened to valet next to two F12's. The difference in sound was mind-boggling. Now I know, those are v12's, and mine is an 8, but still would like something with a bit more punch to it.

Any suggestions on a good aftermarket one?

 

If you have the HS exhaust then the only other thing I’d say is to look at the cats and a X pipe.

The HS rear box has a straight pipe section and a harmonics box so even pure straight pipes like Capristo won’t make much difference from what you have. The turbos are sucking up all the sound unfortunately.



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I assume even if I did that it would not really add much to the sound?

 

The X refines the sound a bit, but also thins it out.
Personally I don't like decatted Cali T's. They don't scream, they just sound like a car with a fart can. The long exhaust, low compression etc. is what holds it back. Listen to a decatted Pista and you get the idea.

I think a Novi box with x and 200 cell cats is the balance point. It will need flaps so it can be quiet when needed be. Even the 200 cell cats make a pretty significant difference. It just does not sound as much like broken exhaust as a decat system does.

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For someone who does not know a ton about exhaust (me), but is trying to learn, could you explain that in laymen’s terms?

 

What would you like to have explained?

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Did a bit of reading last night and might have answered a few of my questions. So a 100 cell cat produces more sound/power but is worse for the environment?

Not sure what the Novi box is? Assume Novitec?

 

The more cells in the cat, the more it restricts flow and attenuate the sound. But the less cells, the less efficient it is.

The latter is somewhat important. One of the drawbacks which few tend to not mention when doing full decat pipes, is the smell. Along with no cats come a significant increase in exhaust smell. With sportscats it is less, but with 100 cells, it's noticeable. I find that 200 cell cats to be a good balance between sound, odour, pollution etc.

Yes, with Novi box I mean Novitec rear exhaust system.

 

Perfect! Thanks for the detail of this. I am trying to learn as much as I can about these things, so I appreciate you spelling it out.

 

Russell,

Also getting rid of your catalytic converters or switching to “sport cats” has a chance to trigger a check engine light due to 02 sensor readings. Those can be solved with a tune but adds more $ to the equation.

On cars like 430,458,488 and I’m sure most others - switching to a sport cat or delete makes a huge difference. Combined with the proper rear section of course.

I’m in Houston as well. I’ll invite you over once I start tinkering with this Cali T exhaust.

 

Sounds good! I have somewhat put on hold changing it seems it seems like it can be a nightmare. Would love to see though what you do.

 

Finally will start messing with it. Man the factory sound is horrible!

I’ll put the car on the lift tomorrow and start figuring things out. Just a heads up this isn’t my first rodeo. Been doing this, exhaust fabrication, for many many years.

 

Don't make it too hard for this guy.

The Capristo exhaust system is a nice place to start. If you want more sound, you can connect your existing Capristo system to a factory sport exhaust upgrade and get pretty darn good sound. I did this and the car sounds amazing. The Capristo valve controller is a bit more $$$ but allows you to open / close the valves via remote for a modestly loud sound to a louder sound (valves open). Love my set up and not that hard a deal.

 

Another alternative mod which is much cheaper - my guy at S-line exhaust created a CUSTOM X-pipe which replaces the factory H-pipe, made a significant improvement in sound both at IDLE AND at full throttle. Screams like an F-1 car now (similar to the 355); we also plugged the air lines with golf tees to keep the flaps exhaust "open" all the time. I bought a valve controller but haven't installed it yet. Car sounds amazing and turns heads.