Hello Everyone!!!!! Here is my review on Larini's new Valve control exhaust system as well as other upgrades I did over the past few weeks.
First of all. My car is a Base model and Not the SQ4. Secondly, I am not affiliated with Formula Dynamics or owe them anything. To be honest, its actually my first time dealing with them, and in all honestly, These Guys Know there $Hit!!!! With that being said, lets begin...
I brought my car over to Jeff at Formula Dynamics the week before SEMA. We have discussed over the phone several weeks before about the many upgrades He and His shop (Formula Dynamics) will have to offer for the Ghibli and so I had schedule to drop off my car for Test fitting and installation. Initially, our original plan was to install Larini's X-pipe and Sports Cats. Then Jeff told me that the first set of Exhaust will be coming in soon and wanted to see if I wanted them install/test fitted on my car. "I told Jeff, was that a serious question"!!! So our initial plan was to install the exhaust, x-pipe, and spots cat. However....(This really Bummed me out) it seems like the Base model and the SQ4 has different size mid sections and sports cat. Their is a minimal few inches difference in length between the two cars in regards to the Mid pipes and the sport cats. The set he has from Larini was actually fitted for an SQ4 which we all might of thought it would fit on the Base model as well, however, this was not the case. So unfortunately, the mid section and sports cats are different so we just ended up installing the Valved Control Exhaust system.
For the Review Part: My last car was an E60 M5 with full Meistershaft Exhasut system/Xpipe/Evosport Headers so my standard for really loud cars is pretty high. With that being said, I LOVE THIS system!!! For a V6 engine, I was really shocked and surprise what Larini has developed for this car. The valve control is not your typical remote control system you have on your key chain. Its actually linked to your factory Sport mode button which is nice. With the valves Off the car is still louder than stock (on the Sport Mode). With the valves on, its sounds much alive and very much like what an Italian sports car should sound. I was able to make a quick and dirty sound video of the car. The video really doesn't do the exhaust system justice but I do hope it gives you guys an idea of what it sounds like. On a COLD start, the car is FREAKING LOUD!!!! I mean loud like a Ferrari with an Exhaust loud! You'll notice that the cold start I tried to show the difference between Valve on and off but I don't think the camera recorded it too well. The car was started with Valve OFF and then you can hear the difference with I turned the Valve ON. Please keep in mind that throughout the video I only revd the car to about 0 to 3500 RPM which is Nothing. The last Rev at 2.20 was all the way to 4,500 RPM. The car has great note throughout the RPM range and it really doesn't have much drone noise on the Highway. The inside cabin Noise is not too bad. I can however guarantee you that if you eventually add an X-pipe or Sports Cat the car will Sound extremely loud! I was told by Jeff that the X-pipe does exert a lot of unnecessary engine noise created by the Twin Turbo which is a love or hate for most people.
In Regards to the Power, I'll be really Honest and say that I cannot really give you a review on the power from the Exhaust because my car will installed with Formula Dynamics Drive-By-Wire System. But I can give you my review on the combo of the two! At first, I really didn't care much about the DBW system that FD had too offer, until I started doing more research about this upgrade. There are a Large amount of people on MaseratiLife with the GT and have FD's DBW system install on their cars and they all rave nothing but positive reviews. I will say that before when the car was stock, the turbo lag was dreadful! With the DBW system Jeff and his crew has literally eliminated the Turbo Lag. You step on the peddle and the power is instant. This especially works extremely well on Highways. Before when the car was stock, going at 65mph I would have to floor the car in order to jump to 75mph, but with the DBW system, you just press the pedal a little harder and the car revs much faster. The DBW comes in two different modes. One on sport, and the other on Sport Aggressive. To be honest, I just keep the car on Sport Aggressive so that the ECU can adapt more on it instead of me constantly changing it back and forth. I was told by Jeff that since my car was the first to have the DBW installed on the ghibli, he thinks he can actually eliminate the turbo lag even more if he had more time with my car to do the development. All in all, the DBW is an excellent product and go great along with the Exhaust system. Many of you might thinks that this is the same upgrade as a sprint booster, but I can tell that its different. Its adjusted differently and aggressively. I cannot compare the two since I havent installed a sprint booster on my Ghibli, but I had it before on the M5 and wasnt really too impressed. Im sure once Jeff has the final version of the DBW all tweeked/maxed out it will be a huge improvement.
Now to the Review of the Sport Springs by Formula Dynamics:
Right off the bat, I told Jeff that I am extremely use to driving low cars and when i mean low, I mean like No Finger Gap between the Fenders and the tires Low! Jeff mention to me many times that the ghibli has such a low undercarriage that if the car is really dropped too low, your going to have a hard time getting up drive ways and over speed bumps. My dump a$$ told Jeff, I really dont care but I want it low!!! Boy was I wrong, haha!!! (Jeff, you were right)!!! The sport springs on the Base Model actually drops the car to about 1.2 inches in the front and about 1 inch in the rear. For some reason, I took really crappy pictures and it doesnt seem that the car is lowered much from the angles but trust me, its lower. Plus, I think it looks weird currently on stock wheels and tires. I will be sure to post more pictures once I get my CF10's in 21's from Forgestar, which should be next week. The close up pictures were taken from me sitting on the ground so the angles is off. I want to say that there is about 2.5 finger gaps from the top of the tire to the fender. Like I said, I like my drops with NO finger gaps, but its lowered and I scrap something on the undercarriage everytime I go up my drive way. I know its the mud flaps in conjunction with another plastic item, but its very minimal. I'll be sure to post more pictures once I have the rims installed.
Here's the Link to the Larini exhaust. Again, sorry for the poor quality video image and my sloppy self, haha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slo1LHtbCmc&feature=youtu.be
First of all. My car is a Base model and Not the SQ4. Secondly, I am not affiliated with Formula Dynamics or owe them anything. To be honest, its actually my first time dealing with them, and in all honestly, These Guys Know there $Hit!!!! With that being said, lets begin...
I brought my car over to Jeff at Formula Dynamics the week before SEMA. We have discussed over the phone several weeks before about the many upgrades He and His shop (Formula Dynamics) will have to offer for the Ghibli and so I had schedule to drop off my car for Test fitting and installation. Initially, our original plan was to install Larini's X-pipe and Sports Cats. Then Jeff told me that the first set of Exhaust will be coming in soon and wanted to see if I wanted them install/test fitted on my car. "I told Jeff, was that a serious question"!!! So our initial plan was to install the exhaust, x-pipe, and spots cat. However....(This really Bummed me out) it seems like the Base model and the SQ4 has different size mid sections and sports cat. Their is a minimal few inches difference in length between the two cars in regards to the Mid pipes and the sport cats. The set he has from Larini was actually fitted for an SQ4 which we all might of thought it would fit on the Base model as well, however, this was not the case. So unfortunately, the mid section and sports cats are different so we just ended up installing the Valved Control Exhaust system.
For the Review Part: My last car was an E60 M5 with full Meistershaft Exhasut system/Xpipe/Evosport Headers so my standard for really loud cars is pretty high. With that being said, I LOVE THIS system!!! For a V6 engine, I was really shocked and surprise what Larini has developed for this car. The valve control is not your typical remote control system you have on your key chain. Its actually linked to your factory Sport mode button which is nice. With the valves Off the car is still louder than stock (on the Sport Mode). With the valves on, its sounds much alive and very much like what an Italian sports car should sound. I was able to make a quick and dirty sound video of the car. The video really doesn't do the exhaust system justice but I do hope it gives you guys an idea of what it sounds like. On a COLD start, the car is FREAKING LOUD!!!! I mean loud like a Ferrari with an Exhaust loud! You'll notice that the cold start I tried to show the difference between Valve on and off but I don't think the camera recorded it too well. The car was started with Valve OFF and then you can hear the difference with I turned the Valve ON. Please keep in mind that throughout the video I only revd the car to about 0 to 3500 RPM which is Nothing. The last Rev at 2.20 was all the way to 4,500 RPM. The car has great note throughout the RPM range and it really doesn't have much drone noise on the Highway. The inside cabin Noise is not too bad. I can however guarantee you that if you eventually add an X-pipe or Sports Cat the car will Sound extremely loud! I was told by Jeff that the X-pipe does exert a lot of unnecessary engine noise created by the Twin Turbo which is a love or hate for most people.
In Regards to the Power, I'll be really Honest and say that I cannot really give you a review on the power from the Exhaust because my car will installed with Formula Dynamics Drive-By-Wire System. But I can give you my review on the combo of the two! At first, I really didn't care much about the DBW system that FD had too offer, until I started doing more research about this upgrade. There are a Large amount of people on MaseratiLife with the GT and have FD's DBW system install on their cars and they all rave nothing but positive reviews. I will say that before when the car was stock, the turbo lag was dreadful! With the DBW system Jeff and his crew has literally eliminated the Turbo Lag. You step on the peddle and the power is instant. This especially works extremely well on Highways. Before when the car was stock, going at 65mph I would have to floor the car in order to jump to 75mph, but with the DBW system, you just press the pedal a little harder and the car revs much faster. The DBW comes in two different modes. One on sport, and the other on Sport Aggressive. To be honest, I just keep the car on Sport Aggressive so that the ECU can adapt more on it instead of me constantly changing it back and forth. I was told by Jeff that since my car was the first to have the DBW installed on the ghibli, he thinks he can actually eliminate the turbo lag even more if he had more time with my car to do the development. All in all, the DBW is an excellent product and go great along with the Exhaust system. Many of you might thinks that this is the same upgrade as a sprint booster, but I can tell that its different. Its adjusted differently and aggressively. I cannot compare the two since I havent installed a sprint booster on my Ghibli, but I had it before on the M5 and wasnt really too impressed. Im sure once Jeff has the final version of the DBW all tweeked/maxed out it will be a huge improvement.
Now to the Review of the Sport Springs by Formula Dynamics:
Right off the bat, I told Jeff that I am extremely use to driving low cars and when i mean low, I mean like No Finger Gap between the Fenders and the tires Low! Jeff mention to me many times that the ghibli has such a low undercarriage that if the car is really dropped too low, your going to have a hard time getting up drive ways and over speed bumps. My dump a$$ told Jeff, I really dont care but I want it low!!! Boy was I wrong, haha!!! (Jeff, you were right)!!! The sport springs on the Base Model actually drops the car to about 1.2 inches in the front and about 1 inch in the rear. For some reason, I took really crappy pictures and it doesnt seem that the car is lowered much from the angles but trust me, its lower. Plus, I think it looks weird currently on stock wheels and tires. I will be sure to post more pictures once I get my CF10's in 21's from Forgestar, which should be next week. The close up pictures were taken from me sitting on the ground so the angles is off. I want to say that there is about 2.5 finger gaps from the top of the tire to the fender. Like I said, I like my drops with NO finger gaps, but its lowered and I scrap something on the undercarriage everytime I go up my drive way. I know its the mud flaps in conjunction with another plastic item, but its very minimal. I'll be sure to post more pictures once I have the rims installed.
Here's the Link to the Larini exhaust. Again, sorry for the poor quality video image and my sloppy self, haha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slo1LHtbCmc&feature=youtu.be
