Gothspeed 348 Exhaust!!

I haven't done much with the 348 after finishing the major a month ago, but one of the things I'm late in doing is giving an update on the Goth Exhaust that I installed. Apologies to Goth for being late in doing it.

As Rec'd:

My Gothspeed Exhaust arrived in a large box, and all parts were double boxed in the large box. So everything arrived in great shape! Goth sells the exhaust with or without catalytic converters, and I decided to purchase the cats with my exhaust. Goth also provides necessary hardware, including new converter-to-header gaskets and never-seize, to install the exhaust. He also provided a really great and simple diagram and instruction sheet. My pics below show the parts in more detail.

The exhaust does require a new exhaust hangar, and Goth provided me with a Challenge Exhaust hangar (I think it's called), which I understand is available from Ferrari parts suppliers. I believe Goth will provide several options for how this is handled when the exhaust is ordered. The new Goth Exhaust is attached to the hangar with the OEM exhaust spring hangars.


Installation:

Not much to expound on here... suffice it to say installation was a snap!! Installation was probably the easiest job that I did on the whole major.

After removing the OEM exhaust and hangars (the tough part), I removed the OEM spring hangars from the upper OEM exhaust can. These are then simply bolted to the new exhaust hangar, and then the new exhaust can is bolted to the new hangar. Maybe 10min tops. Since my subframe was out, it was majorly easy to just drop the new exhaust/hangar into place from the top of the car, and bolt the hangar in place to the existing mounts. Maybe another 10 min. even with my bumper still in place.

I then installed new O2 sensors in the new cats, and slipped the cats into the slip joints on the new exhaust. I left the hangar mount bolts loose which allowed the new exhaust to easily swing back and forth to gain clearance to get this done. Then it was just a matter of lining up the cats to the OEM headers with the new joint gaskets provided, and bolting/tightening everything up!!! Of course, fittings for the O2 sensors and Exhaust Thermocouples are provided on the cats, and everything just bolted right in without a hitch. Everything fit perfectly, and even the exhaust tips lined up great in the bumper recesses!!!

Sound

Goth's original exhaust is a Stage 1. He just introduced a more raw 348 Stage 2 exhaust when mine was ordered, so he sent that version to me. I'm very happy with the Stage 2 sound while driving the car. The exhaust is not at all intrusive while just cruising, but all the right shrieks are there if you want to open up the throttle! I had the chance to listen to the Goth Exhaust next to a 348 with Tubi at our last Cars & Coffee.

I felt the Stage 2 is quite a bit louder at idle than the Tubi, while the Goth Exhaust is more throaty, and a little less hi-pitched at higher revs. I wanted more (ie, louder) higher-pitched sound than with the OEM exhaust. And IMO, I feel the Goth Exhaust doesn't give up anything to the Tubi in that regard! A little different than the Tubi, but it sounds fantastic under throttle!!

As a sidenote: Most people at our local Cars & Coffee felt that the louder idle was not a concern, but the idle in the car and in my garage was louder than I preferred. So Goth plans to convert my exhaust back to a Stage 1, which should quiet the idle to where I'd like it. Check with Goth re: his advice on Stage 1 vs. Stage 2. I will add an additional comment to this thread, when my exhaust is converted back to Stage 1.

Summary:

Goth has done a GREAT job taking care to make sure no additional fitment, banging, etc. was required to get the Goth Exhaust lined up and installed correctly. Although my subframe was out, I believe the installation can be done without any additional hassles even with the subframe installed and bumper on, since it's very compact. This truly is a bolt-on installation.

Thanks Goth!! WELL DONE!!!
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I understand, Rik. I took initial video clips with my Sony digitial, but they didn't do an adequate job of characterizing the true sound of the exhaust. At our local C&C earlier in March, a young enthusiast, Jameson Apodaca, kindly agreed to take some short videos for me in HD. He's an amateur photog, and has a hi-quality digital camera. For his efforts, Jameson earned an extra set of Pilotis that I had purchased at discount at Ross (thanks again Jameson!).

Unfortunately, these are very large... typically from 10 to 20MB each. I've made arrangements for Goth to download them, if he chooses, and he can forward or post them for anyone interested, as appropriate. PS - in the videos, my car is the one with the black valances, and Copterjon's is the other one with the Tubi, for comparison! Thanks also to John for allowing us to record his car. Don't think his Tubi sounds any different with his new Challenge seat conversion !

Edit - Goth... PM sent via regular email.