Stock Exhaust or Fiammenghi?

Everyday driving a 550/575 without Fiammenghi 6-1 headers is a bad day.

Go for the 6-1 headers, include his cats and the rear mufflers, so you will get the best sound for these cars without being too loud.

Daniel

 

First off, you should just listen to the car yourself when you get it. My 550 has 1st Gen Tubi exhaust, and I enjoy the sound....you may as well. With the stock center resonator in mine does not drone. Being that the Barchetta is quite collectable, you may not want to deviate too far away from stock if you are keeping the car for any investment purposes.

 

You do not have a Tubi exhaust, you have Tubi mufflers. So, there are dozens of options, least expensive of which is to just change the mufflers for Fabio's or any other ones you like. Changing out the full exhaust is much more expensive and includes headers, new cats, possibly some mid and over axle pipes, and the mufflers. Fabio's full system is definitely the way to go if you can afford it. Relatively quiet but great sounding with the valves closed, glorious with them open, and sounding good throughout the rev range. A few extra ponies, too.

 

550 Barchetta, if you find the Tubi mufflers objectionable ( I don't on my 575), I'd go back to stock if available; keep the car original.

 

The best modification that actually helps values on 550 maranellos. And I have all the sales on pdf form to prove it. Is the fiammenghi full 6-1 headers race exhaust setup. Get this for your car you will not regret it

 

For stock mufflers, do a search on eBay using these terms: Ferrari 550 Zeuna Starker Silencers

 

Do not buy the starker stock silencers. They are terrible they sound terrible and affect the performance of the car. If you were around when the car was new anyone from Ferrari and any dealer would have told you to get a free flow straight exhaust . Which is how the car was suppose to arrive to customers if it hadn’t been for emissions

 

He wants to buy stock OEM mufflers which are valved Zeuna Starker Silencers. Performance will be as engineered by Ferrari for the engine's variable geometry intake manifold.

Attached is a technical article on the subject.

 

They didn’t do that on purpose they did that cause they were forced to by international laws. A tune and a proper exhaust not only makes the car sounds right but it also makes it considerably faster

 

OEM was Zeuna Stärker (Germany) the company went out of business many years ago.
Just for reference OEM & Ferrari part numbers:
205.7197.050 MUF-133-L --> 167999
205.7197.001 MUF-133-R --> 167998

Actually I don't know if it is possible to get them new/NOS - may be try eBay?

Cheers,
Stefan

 

Daniel with the statement of the month! I concur.

In my relatively limited Barchetta experience, I thought Capristo back boxes (forget which level) were more enjoyable and had more character than Tubi, but both retain the classic "Maranello bass" that these cars became synonymous with before Fabio entered his full system into the calculus.

If going with Fiammenghi, I'd be hard pressed not to just do the whole enchilada.

 

Having just come back from a first drive with Fiammenghi 6-1 race headers I installed ealier this week, I agree 550%. I reckon this is what the 550 should have come with from new and just cannot shine with the stock 6-2-1 headers which in my opinion do not give the engine (and the car) the glory it deserves.

 

Other option is HGTC rear mufflers/silencers.

Personally I have a full Fabio (with Supersprint over axle pipes as Fabio did not make them at the time). I have tried different rear mufflers with the Fabio headers/cats/H pipe, namely OEM/HGTC/Tubi/Fabio. Of those 4 options, Tubi was the loudest and least balanced to my ear. OEM was very very quiet, even valves open. HGTC was much nicer but still very quiet. Fabio is perfect balance between volume/tone/sound.

 

These cars really require the full fiammenghi racing setup. The engine will then perform and sound the way Ferrari intended. You will hear and experience a sound that is indescribable. The true Ferrari v12 experience

 

I have the opposite opinion of you 6-1ers, the 550, as all previous Ferraris (even the Sport racers) have a 6-2-1 arrangment which gives them the unmistakable Ferrari sound (at mid revs especially). Did you hear someone complain about the quality of sound of a 250, 275, Testrossa or even a 512S?

6-1 set-up transforms it in a "modern" angry screamer, which IMHO simply doesn't suit the classy super GT image of the car. But hey! Different opinions are the spice of the chats...aren't they?

Anyway, headers are the only component of the stock exhaust I'd save, the other ones are chocked and heavy.

 

The original sound of the F133 engine with stock headers could not be more different from the glorious sound of the carb'd engines that you mention and that unfortunately cannot be reproduced with a fuel injected engine.
Back when I first looked into improving the awful stock sound I had misgivings about Fabio's headers for exactly the reasons you mention and did not like the high pitch shriek, but it turns out that proper mufflers add just the right amount of medium that makes the sound amazing and that for some reason does not reflect in any of the online videos I have found so far. The sound of my engine, at least with my Dimex mufflers, is nowhere near as aggressively high pitch as on videos. I have been in Fabio's 575M and the sound in reality is nowhere near as tediously aggressive as on videos. Capturing engine sound is a complex topic and no amount of technology will ever replace experiencing it first hand, in my opinion. It takes a certain leap of faith to spend a significant amount in exhaust mods when one has not heard the results in reality, but this is what forums are for and if it hadn't been for owners with 6-1 headers on here who kept repeating that stock headers did not do the engine justice, today I would probably still sit on the same fence as you.

Stock headers are probably the first components I'd throw away if I were start all over again.

 

PS : "the super classy GT" image is just that - an image. The car loses none of it with Fiammenghi's exhaust when the valves are closed but becomes the screaming supercar it should always have been when going full load, as again replicating the gorgeous carb'd sound of the past is unfortunately just not possible. What's wrong with adding an extra identity to the car as long as its original identity is preserved along the way?

 

It makes sense, especially if you say that that high pitch shriek is actually not that...high.
Call me crazy but I don't like the noise of F140 that much.

 

Its not that high with the H pipe setup.

 

599 GTO went from 6-2-1 with precats and primary cats in the GTB to 6-1 and only primary cats in the GTO and nobody has complained about the music that engine makes. Or the extra power.