TTE Exhaust Installation Notes
By: Blitzo 

Introduction:

Back in March 2001, Greycom set up a group buy with CEC in California to import Five TTE exhausts to the US.  CEC is the sole US distributor for Remus automotive exhausts, so it figures they would be able to get the TTE units.  MG Racing in Marietta, GA also imports the TTE exhaust, there may be others.  This describes the install by Blitzo (I think I was the only self-install in the group buy), with pictures from Greycom, and a few other installation pictures at the bottom gleaned from previous SpyderChat posts. 
First, the unit weighs 28lbs - it is no lightweight.  The exhaust itself is slightly smaller than the stock unit, but not much.  The tips are separate items and attach via clamps and metal gaskets. 

This article is not necessarily a detailed step by step process on how to change an exhaust - there will be a future article on that subject.  This article is mainly to show all the parts and features of the TTE and what to expect if you decide to purchase one.

The Parts:

This shows the basic kit - muffler, two tips (held on with duct tape in the pic) two metal clamps, two metal gaskets, a hanger mount for the right tip (clamps onto sway bar bolt) and rubber hanger for right tip.  The instruction booklet is in German / English / French and doesn't help at all for the installation.  This picture does not do justice to the scale of the parts in the kit.  The tips look stock and make the muffler look quite small.  Don't be fooled, the new tips are 3 3/4" wide, not 2 1/2" like the stock tips.
TTE Exhaust assembled with duct tape
 

Here are the stamped label on the side of the muffler and the sticker at the inlet end of the muffler.  Let this cancel any doubt, the TTE exhaust is indeed made by Remus, and they are not shy about it.  The sticker appears to be vinyl, lets see how long it lasts before it burns to a crisp.  [One year later, the sticker has brown spots, but is still legible]

There's no doubt the TTE is manufactured by Remus

 

The vinyl sticker on the muffler shows it's the correct part for the Spyder
The tips are very high quality.  The shine is excellent.  The stainless tubing of the whole system is painted matte black.  Where the chrome transitions to painted steel, there is a stripe of tape along that edge.  After only 40 miles, the tape burned about 50% off both tips.  After 200 miles now, the tape is nearly gone.  There seems to be a foil base layer to the tape, so maybe it serves some purpose, but I have no idea what purpose that could be.  There is no secondary heat shielding clamped to the pipes like there is on the stock exhaust.  It might be a quick swap to fit the inlet and left tip shielding, but that still leaves the right tip exposed and adds probably 1 lbs or so. The tips on mine are about 3/4" from the bumper, so I'm not worried about burning or distorting it.  Time will tell, though.  [One year later no discoloration of the bumper at all and the chrome of the tips has held up magnificently.  Some resudie from the tape that burned off is still visible on the underneath portions of the tips.]
Detail of the tip from above

The tips themselves are huge.  They are oval - about 3 3/4" wide and 3 1/4 " tall.  The stock tips are 2 1/2" round with 2 1/4" tubing.  The inside of the TTE exhaust is 2 1/4" wide, so imagine the stock tips are about the size of the bright visible portion in this picture.  The inside is multi-walled.  The visible wall has perforations all inside of it.  It appears that the rear of the inner tube is not welded to the outer tube, so exhaust gasses must partially come from the outside tube through these holes before exiting.  The shiny spot is where the inside was groung after welding the part together.  After about 100 miles, the inside is uniform with soot and any paint imperfections are invisible.

 

Detail of the tip from the rear

 

Installation:

Installation took me about 2 1/2 hours while gabbing with my nephews who were 'helping'.  After doing it once, I think I could do it again in 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  [After having done it many times now, it takes me about an hour]  I had purchased all the gaskets and replacement bolts that pertain to the exhaust system well before the parts arrived, but as it turns out I only used the gaskets and one exhaust manifold nut.  The main cat to muffler gasket is quite expensive and does not need replacing unless you damage it, but I did so anyway.  The two smaller crush gaskets from the cat to the exhaust manifold should be replaced when doing exhaust work.  I did pull one stud out while taking the exhaust out, but a E-10 TORX socket put it right back in with no problems.

 

The only problem I encountered during installation is the bracket included to support the right tip.  I found that the hanger hung down about an inch too low - either causing the right tip to be an inch too low, or an inch too far inward.  It's because the rubber hangers only allow a little movement and forced the tip to be either too low or too far in.  My solution was to make a replacement bracket from a piece of scrap steel and a bolt bent at 90 degrees.  The head of the bolt was welded to the scrap of steel.  The end result was a right tip hanger that was an inch shorter than the one provided by TTE.  If I had to do it all over again, I would probably have cut down the TTE one and just made it an inch shorter since it is all stainless and mine is mild steel.

 

New shorter bracket I had to make from a bolt  to replace the one provided by TTE

 

Review:

The sound is unlike the stock or Team Moon exhausts.  The stock exhaust has no sound, except for that vacuum cleaner restriction sound when at full juice.  The Moon duals sound like a racecar - very poignant and the sound travels well.  The Moon's tone is very high and each exhaust pulse is detectable.  If you want to sound like a race car, there is no exhaust better than the Moon.  The sound of the TTE is VERY different.  It is VERY low and not loud at all.  In fact, when I first started the car up, I could not tell any difference at all - I was a bit disappointed.  But after a few hundred miles, the tone has changed louder and even deeper.  It seems to me now that when I start the car, the exhaust is very quiet.  As I drive and the goods get warmed up, it slowly gets louder.  By the time I get to my destination, it sounds cherry sweet!  [One year later, the sound is low and sweet all the time now - she's finally broken in]  I have tried making recording with my MP3 recorder, but I can't seem to get the files to tranfer to my PC without corruption.  Grrrr.  If I was to describe the exhausts with words, I would have to say : the stock exhaust would be spelled Pffffffffttt, the Moon exhaust spelled Whaaaghghgh, the TTE with Whhwwwwwwww.  The cabin noise is not loud at all.  It does not drone at all at any RPM range.  If you are coasting, there is no noise at all.  If you give it a little juice, it does get louder.  I can now hear it over my stereo turned up loud with the top either up or down. I could not hear it before.  

The performance difference is almost undetectable.  Yes, it 'seems' to pull harder, but that may just be the exhaust sound playing tricks with my mind.  I G-Teched the car before the install, and some days after.  The reduction in 0-60 times led me to believe that the TTE was only providing 1-2 hp gain over stock.  Later, I was able to test the TTE against the stock exhaust using the HomeDyno software and found that the TTE provides about 3 HP over stock over the entire RPM range.

 

Here is a shot of Greycom's silver with the TTE proudly protruding from the rear.  Since this angle is slightly down, the ovalness is a bit exaggerated.  They do stick out about an inch further than stock, but that's not a bad thing, is it?  His right tip sticks out a little farther than the left tip, but he should be able to adjust that by loosening the clamps and wiggling things a bit.  Just like the cat to muffler connection, the tip connections swivel quite a bit. After looking at this picture and inspecting my car, I found that I have my right tip angled slightly sideways and need to tweak that a bit.  I finally fixed my alignment by making the replacement hanger for the right tip.

 

Here is the TTE on Greycom's Spyder
Pictorial Comparisons:
TDCS has about the best picture I have seen of the TTE exhaust
Nightshade1's Remus branded exhaust (notice the round tips instead of oval)
MrSpyder2U's Team Moon Duals, serial number 1. Notice the tips are the same size as stock and cut polished stainless.
Here is the stock tip for comparison.  I bet you never realized it was so small after seeing the larger TTE tips.