Okay, so pulled the trigger from Spires on this

https://www.spires-st.com/product-ca...ports-exhaust/

the Stage 3 Active Exhaust system and all I have to say is "damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn" it's pretty amazing. Meaning, keep the Fuse 19 installed of course but the start up is deadly but not annoying and when you get on it...holy crap it's amazing. So if you have the chance, do it, don't hesitate, worth every penny and very easy to install, about under two hours or an hour for a good muffler shop. Now the question is can I sell the stock active exhaust, pipes to someone else?

 

Does the XKR have less restrictive CATs than the XK (5.0) ?

Interested in the spires setup but, i don't think it will get me
the same results on an XK.

 

both I believe have the same cats, I did not replace the cats yet but this system is for the XK and the XKR, check out their site/page.

 

Cats are identical

Xkr exhaust will fit xk 5l

 

Interesting on what the X section looks like. It almost appears that there is still a separation and not a true X pipe. Is there a cross over chamber and if so is it restrictive or fully open between both pipes. Also there is no active valve so the noise is constant. Overall the system look nice .

 

I've got the same exhaust, bloody amazing isn't it!

 

You can see a rectangular joinder between the two exhaust pipes effectively creating a cross over if you zoom in .

 

It's a fully active exhaust as it's a direct plug-and-play to the existing active stock exhaust hookups. Very quiet at idle nice Rumble nothing annoying but really is amazing when you get on it. Spires hands down knows what they are doing with these vehicles. Obviously just remember to keep the fuse 19 plugged in.

 

Here's a link to the video, wait until it after it warms up at the end of the video to hear how quiet it gets

k spires stage 3 video

 

Wow, for that kind of money I'd expect a superlative sound!

 

I had to listen to it a few times and for me it is to loud and would not suit my driving style. If I listen to start up (open loop) it is around what you would hear at between 1200 - 1500 rpm. At that range it would be to loud for our country cruises. I wouldn't have a problem during passing or WOT but for cruising anywhere from 40 - 70 mph with the top down wouldn't work for me. So enjoy it.