Fabio Fiammenghi Exhaust Install and Results

I recently finished installing Fabio’s exhaust on my 550 and thought I’d share the results and my thoughts on the install process. I’ll start with the results as that’s the best part!

Before
When I got the car it had factory manifolds and cats, an unidentified X-pipe, and Fabio’s mufflers. The X-pipe was far too raspy for my taste, so I found a factory double H-pipe on eBay and installed that while waiting for the Fiammenghi parts to be completed. The double H-pipe completely eliminated that raspy sound, but I don't have a video of the H-pipe setup.

Factory manifolds, cats, an X-pipe, and Fiammenghi mufflers:


After
Fiammenghi headers, 200 cel cats, double H-pipe, and mufflers. I still have the factory over-axle pipes for now.

Outside

Note you can hear I had some traction issues in 1st & 2nd





Inside with windows down:


General Thoughts
First off, Fabio is AWESOME to work with! I had a 458 with IPE headers, 200 cel cats, and valved mufflers, and it was VERY loud both inside and outside. This setup, though similar in spec, is nowhere near as loud and I like that far better for the 550. From the inside, there’s zero drone, it’s remarkably quiet inside the car, and I can't imagine ever needing to close the muffler valves because of interior sound levels. Of course it's much louder outside, but not what I would consider obnoxious in any way. It's actually quieter inside and out than it was with the X-pipe. I couldn’t be happier with the results.

The Install
This was a tedious job primarily due to removing the factory manifolds. The main challenge was getting to all the nuts, many of which have the built-in heat shield right up against them. To get a socket on the nuts, I ground down a 13mm socket to make it thinner so I could wedge it between the nut and heat shield.

I knew others had managed to do it, so I kept at it with generous amounts of cursing and I finally got them out. The new headers made accessing the nuts much easier, so the install was a relative breeze.

- The manifolds/headers come in and out from above, but you get to the stud nuts from above, below, and through the wheel wells.
- Be sure to have a variety of socket extensions, swivel attachments, etc. because you will have to get creative. I found these sockets with built-in swivel heads very handy as they were shorter than a standard socket on a swivel attachment and sometimes that made a big difference.
- You need to remove/move a lot of bits along the way including all the air box parts, coil packs, air injection, etc. to make room for the manifolds/headers to pass through.

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- On a LHD car, you can install the passenger side header and slide the cat in from below. On the driver’s side you have to slide the cat in from above FIRST and then install the header. Don’t ask how I know that
- When I removed the downstream O2 sensors, which I replaced 5 months ago when I bought the car because it was throwing a CEL error, I found this:

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I've never seen an O2 like that, especially a 5 month old one. Turns out the cats were completely disintegrating and the bits were melting onto the O2 sensors. So I again replaced the sensors and am really glad to have new cats as part of this project.
Note: If you ever need the post-cat O2 sensors, check out Amazon. I've now bought a pair twice and can confirm they work and are exactly the same as the originals.
- Aside from the factory manifolds, everything else was a pretty typical exhaust pipe install.

While I had the car apart, I also completed:

MSW rear sway bar
Very simple install and took about 30 minutes. I previously installed MSC coil-overs and a MSW steering ECU so I've completed my poor-mans Fioranio handling package. These changes have made a major improvement to the car, at least for me and how I like the car to be setup.

575/612 fan shroud and new Spal fans
As I got into this, I realized the radiator really needs to come out to do the shroud, so I’m saving that for later. I did install the fans (Spal 30102113) and they were relatively easy and a direct replacement for factory. The new fans are louder and seem to move much more air than the tired originals. I have an oil leak to sort out and will deal with removing the radiator when I tackle that job.

If anyone gets into one of these projects and has questions, feel free to message me.

 

This is the old X-pipe. Unfortunately I no longer have it.

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I'm italia_cavallino on IG. @F456M I just followed you.

 

@F456M Of course I know of Fountain! I grew up in Eastern NC, and they were legendary. I still love the old Maseratis. I also have a 2010 QP Sport GTS, so I have two needy Italian ladies to support .

 

I've watched all the vids out there dozens of times while waiting for this!

 

My 2010 has been bulletproof so far, but I don't put as many miles on it as I do the Ferrari...I walk out to the garage, look at both, and my choice gets made . But that QP drives like a car half it's size. It feels more like my 458 than the 550 does.

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