[Toggie]

I had Josh at ECS install the new straight pipes I got to replace my x-pipe in my Ferrari 550.
I bought the stainless steel straight pipes from Bradan and had them shipped to my house.

Josh did a great job and the new pipes sound great. The mid-pipe I replaced leaves the catalytic converters installed between it and the headers. The mid-pipe then connects to the Tubi tailpipes I had already swapped out for the stock tailpipes a few years ago.

ECS's shop is located in Sterling, VA and that was a convenient location near where I live.

Here are a few pics of Josh's work. Some "before & after" photos of the mid-pipe section.
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[cribbj]

Looks nice Ron, I have the Rosso Corsa Maranello there at Josh's shop, and he's doing a similar mod to mine, however my resonators are coming off and are being replaced by the Larini X-pipe, rather than straight pipes from the cats back, with no Xover.

It would be interesting to compare notes and sounds between our two cars when mine is finished.

[Toggie]

John,

I saw your 550 while I was there at ECS. I love the red/black color combo on that car.

I'm pleased with the Bradan straight pipes so far.

Here are two video clips I uploaded to youtube.
The first clip is my stock x-pipe with Tubi tailpipes.
The second clip is with the Bradan straight mid-pipes with the same Tubis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmR06cXyUao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk9cDWurwf8

I tried to do these "before & after" video clips near the same location, using the same camera, and the same distance from the car, so that you could hear the difference.

[sunskr]

The new pipes sound cleaner if thats the right word, made sharper and more defined.

[wetpet]

can't wait to hear that in person ron. does it sound more like a harley now?

[355dreamer]

Sounds great! Brandan is really making a presence, and quickly.

Now, paint that 550 white and you will be onto something!

[Toggie]

Originally Posted by wetpet

can't wait to hear that in person ron. does it sound more like a harley now?

Ed,

Yes, just like V12 Harley!

[Andrew]

Those strait pipes look awesome. Good work Josh

How much louder is it?

[ECSofVirginia]

Thanks Andrew.
I don't think the volume change was crazy, it was mostly pitch. The resonator gives these cars a deep and "muddled" sound.

These pipes created a much sharper sound and accentuated the mid-range tones so it doesn't "bellow" so much.

I am interested to compare the Bradan/Tubi combo with CribbJ's Larini/Mille Miglia setup.

[wetpet]

did you do any tuning for the new exhaust. what are the implications of removing the x over. my guess would be lost torque. any dyno runs in the future?

ron, what was the motivation to make the change. You don't tell us the instigation or the intended results. Sound only? increased hp or torque?

[Toggie]

Originally Posted by wetpet

did you do any tuning for the new exhaust. what are the implications of removing the x over. my guess would be lost torque. any dyno runs in the future?

ron, what was the motivation to make the change. You don't tell us the instigation or the intended results. Sound only? increased hp or torque?

Ed,

Bradan is going to do some dyno runs on the straight mid-pipes. They think it might add a small % increase in hp and torque, but no dyno results have been published yet. This small performance increase is believable given how the stock xpipe is designed. There's little to no benefit from the cross-over air flow and the center resonator appears to only function as a noise suppressor.

Not sure if you've been tracking what the Bradan shop has been up to over the last year or so, but they appear to be putting a lot of effort into distinguishing their services with custom product development. They are up in New York State somewhere.
http://www.bradan.us/services

Car feels slightly stronger with the dual pipes installed, but that could just be a side-effect of hearing the exhaust sound better. Now I have the sound I was hoping to have when I installed the Tubi tailpipes a few years ago.

[wetpet]

have not heard about braden. thanks for the link, i will check it out. i'm skeptical about taking out the x-over. Ferrari clearly had a reason to put it in there. I'm sure it has to do with firing order.

[Toggie]

Originally Posted by wetpet

have not heard about braden. thanks for the link, i will check it out. i'm skeptical about taking out the x-over. Ferrari clearly had a reason to put it in there. I'm sure it has to do with firing order.

I don't think the vintage and classic V12 Ferraris had the cross-overs. Each side of a V12 has plenty of scavaging air flow to use in a bank of 6 cylinders within the headers, so the idea that an x-pipe could add a second layer of scavaging performance isn't very likely.

I've heard for years to give straight mid-pipes a try versus buying the high-performance x-pipes from companies like Tubi, Capristo, and Larini. Prior to the Bradan product offering, people had the straight pipes hand-bent by local muffler shops.

My hunch is the primary reason for the factory x-pipe was to share a single noise-reduction resonator.

Like you said, it would make for some interesting dyno runs to see which set-up works best.

[Killer58]

Originally Posted by wetpet

I'm sure it has to do with firing order.

Ed,

I think that's only part of the equation. The firing order and timing will affect the exhaust reversion waves (energy waves) that are reflected back toward the cylinder head. My guess is the crossover was used to tune the exhaust to minimize their effects.

Killer

[wetpet]

exactly

[wetpet]

Checked out the site. they sure are confident:

"Bradan has officially launched, and has declared its presence as the world's premier Ferrari tuning house. The gauntlet has been thrown down;"

[h2]"With our unmatched talent pedigree,"[/h2]


interestingly, they don't give any info on their talent pedigree. or even who works there. I also could find nothing about their products.

[ECSofVirginia]

For the resonator to actually make a difference it would need to be more defined and placed closer to the header outlets.

This resonator is a very "vague' piece mechanically and it'll have hardly any effect on power output or the shape of the power band. If it did, the information would've been published to help sell.

Exhaust design even for the OEM has become so good that the only true HP related gains come from removing catalytics and redesigning the headers if the engine has been bored, stroked etc etc.

The correlation between an ECU gain and resonator gain would be minimal..if anything an ECU tune would cover up the lack of gains the resonator made.

Modern exhausts (not including catalytic mods) are purely style and sound enhancements.

At a previous shop we dyno checked a Tubi exhaust on a 360CS...Zero power gain.

At another shop, on a CLK Black Series we built full headers and exhaust which included an x-pipe. We tested it with the stock AMG mufflers and then w/o mufflers, and with stock air filters and with BMC filters.

The mufflers made zero difference power wise either way...just sound...and the BMC filters nabbed a 1whp gain.

If we changed the header layout from the 3 into1 setup to a 6 into 1 and then did a properly sized full length exhaust with a properly placed x-pipe a ECU tune would be beneficial and the power band would be noticably different.

The 550 uses a variable volume intake plenum also though, so there are multiple factors that influence all of this. The resonator is definitely the weakest and least likely power modifier in the system.

[wetpet]

i think we all agree. what about the x pipe though?

[ECSofVirginia]

It's really a resonator, not an x-pipe.

[wetpet]

so you are saying the x pipe on the 550 has little effect on the power band and total hp? what about torque? The reason ferrari designed and installed this piece was for style and sound only? I find that hard to believe and would love to start a more fleshed out discussion. So the reason to remove it from the system was simply for style and sound? Surely ferrari didn't put it there to rob the engine of hp? I'm not busting your balls, i just want to know the reason for the mod. It seems from the posts so far it was just to change the sound a little. Please correct me if i am wrong. I'm not gonna lie, i put my tubi on to make more noise. I know i didn't get anything else.

clarification, my question is more why didn't you put an x-pipe back in. i certainly see the benefit of removing the resonator. I am probably not making myself clear.