I will not be a prisoner to the supposed "gold standard" of certain Ferrari muffler brands. For me, it is impossible to justify a $4K muffler on a $40K car. I have taken the plunge (probably one of the first ones here) to purchase a system from X-OST Maranello. (http://www.x-ost.com/) In theory, it'll be here by the end of the week, and hopefully installed shortly thereafter. It might take a bit longer, considering my general laziness and need to mow the lawn. Nonetheless, for 1/2 the price of the "gold standard brand" it appears to be the real deal. X-OST was formed by ex-engineers from the "gold standard brand", and is headquartered in Maranello. I will take some sound clips "before" and "after" so the 348 brothers can have some comparisons. -Daniel
Definintely excited to hear more about this, even though I don't own a 348. Healthy competition from other brands can't do anything but improve the overall market for the consumer. I would *love* to investigate various aftermarket exhuast options for my 308 GT4. I won't deny that the "gold standard brand" of exhuasts has pleased my ear on other cars, but unless it sounds nothing short of the F2004 on my car (which we all know it won't), there is just no way I can justify spending more than 10% of what I paid for my car (yes...the T*bi is well over $2k for the GT4) for an exhaust system. Aaron
my friend and now owner of my old 77 gtb had a 2 chamber flowmaster put on the 308, sounds great and you can feel it in the seat of your pants as far as before and after. old system was a dual outlet Ansa that had broken baffles in it that rattled. i think he paid $500 for the whole set up, and it looks really nice too. hijack aside, i too would love to hear the sound bites of the new set up, and perhaps dyno numbers, if they can be obtained. seems balance and backpressure are key in high rpm, small displacement engines.
Any chance you can get an audio clip or video clip (w/ audio, obviously) of said exhuast setup? I'll be happy to furnish my email address or pay for shipping if the file is too big and you could only drop it onto CD and mail... Lemme know... Aaron
48 inch glasspacks, a pair welded side by side. A customer did it to his Daytona for about 10% of a set of Ansa's. It sounds great and makes more power. We don't need no stinking polished stainless steel where you can't even see it.
You're my hero; but when you say welded side by side, you lost me. Are you talking about the tail pipes? Dale
Stock Ansa's (the big long center section under the pass comp)had 2 inlets and 2 outlets on each muffler into what was just a great big glasspack. So he just welded 2 side by side for the 2 inlets and outlets.
Interesting stuff Daniel, we now have an X-OST dealer in the UK - I was wondering what the quality would be like. The pics on the site look spot on. Edited to add: I have checked the UK price though, GBP1500 ($2650US) is hardly a bargain, pretty much the same as the 'gold standard' systems (GB1660, $2950US)
I wasn't either. I explored other options and decided on the Larini. Kind of an involved story but to make it short, through miscommunication between Larinis former US distributor and Larini, I rec'd an extra quiet exhaust instead of their sports exhaust. I was going to post a sound clip after installing but was so disappointed in the sound that I didn't bother. They are shipping their sports exhaust free of charge and as soon as I install it I'll post both sound clips. As far as the glasspack/flowmaster route, no one here does mandrel bending and I just didn't want a welded hack job on my car. All I got from local muffler shops was, "..well, we can try....". No thanks. The Larini is a high quality stainless steel product and I had a noticeable performance increase. I do think there is something to tuned exhausts. It cost more than the $500 muffler shop job and considerably less than the Tubi and IMHO I just dont care for Tubis sound. well, you can see it on a Euro 308 and it adds to the exotic look.
My comment wasn't clear about "under retail pricing". By that I mean, I just called up and bought the dang thing under the umbrella of retail pricing. I simply paid list price. If y'all just hang tight, we'll see what this thing looks like (and how it sounds) shortly.
I know, I was kind of kidding. I have always found it interesting thet the go to a lot of trouble to polish even the mufflers that can't be seen.
i think it was parkerfe here who mentioned cherry bomb glasspack mufflers on a boxer. i looked into them and i am thinking of putting that on when i decide to do something about the emissions equipment in my '78 308. i think those mufflers are only $40 each, so if it doesn't sound good, then i can always get something else and not worry about the cash i plunked into the muffler! john
Me too!!!!! FedEx can sometimes blow goats. It has taken 3 days to clear customs, and now shows delivery of April 7. I'm not sure if I should blame FedEx or the country where it was shipped from. "Free trade", NAFTA, Most-Favored-Nation, and all that mumbo-jumbo in Washington DC is a pile of hooey. Trust me boys, I'm anxious for it too.
