Hello every one,

me and my cousin have just put on 2 new mods onto my GPW06 - J's exhaust manifold and the invidia 70mm dual exhaust.

J's Racing SPL Header
Much lighter than stock and very um...shiny. It had a lot of fingerprints on it but that's because i couldn't stop holding it The stainless steel contruction is very high quality and has very nice welds. I don't know about about other headers but after the installation of the header and exhaust, i started up the car and was greeted with a very nice deep rumble. My car hasn't started been on since last night 11:30 so it's been some time. After warming up a little bit the exhaust definitely quiet down and after running for about 5 minutes to check for leaks, the header turned gold!

Installation was pretty easy. Stock header comes off from the bottom and the new one comes in the same way. We even got the stock header off with the middle and lower heat shields/covers on! Just make sure the car is jacked up high enough and it should come off pretty easy with a little bit of wiggling and muscling! Take that thing off!












Invidia 70mm V3 Dual Exhaust
The exhaust installation was pretty simple too. Your basic bolt-on, nothing more. With this exhaust, it comes in 4 pieces: midpipe with resonator, the split pipe, and the 2 muffler cans. There's a lot of ways of going at it so there's no one way to do it. Not too hard.






Impression - Sound (Drone opinion also) and Performance
Loud. I did not think it would be this loud, but then again I've never drove in another S with another exhaust. The invidia has a very deep tone and provides nice little popping sounds when decelerating, and even sometimes when accelerating. I've only driven it for no more than an hour but I'm already loving it. First drive was with the top down and it's definitely loud but aggressive. My cousin even noted that it's a little loud, and he'd have one if it was a little quieter. Second drive was with the top up and I drove with the windows down and up. I drove let the engine decelerate with top up and down to catch the infamous drone.

So how bad is the drone? I still have the catalytic power-robber on (test pipe coming soon) so I can see and hear how bad this drone is. And to me, I can live with it everyday. It is not even half as bad as I expected. Maybe I expected it to be extremely bad. I decelerated with the top up, windows up, and I don't think I'll have any problems with it at all. It's true about the throttle input in the 3K - 4K rpm range. I can see how this can get ear-rattling but I can live with it.

Next, performance. First off, the low-end torque of my ap2 is GONE. In normal-to-slighty-aggressive accelerating, the car doesn't pull anymore like it was when it was stock. The butt dyno was very noticeable, because the car would usually give me a nice subtle push back in the seat. Not there anymore. So maybe it's all top end? So me and my cousin decided to test it out.

The fact that he has an MY06 is perfect. So we went at it. The best to see if it's the top end is to go at it at 60mph, in 3rd gear. First run, I think he got the jump but I was not pulling at all. Second run, this time we both got off at about the same time. On the 3rd honk we smashed the pedal. It was dead even.

POSSIBLE FACTORS
Catalytic converter still on
Parts need break-in period?
My cousin has been driving manual for 2 years longer (I think it's 2...)
My oil: honda engine oil @ 30%. His oil: Mobil1 Full synthetic @ 100% (just changed)

Conclusion
With only having it on for less than a few hours, I'm still waiting a bit for things to get settled. I love the sound and I'm sure the performance is there, just not now

The fitment on the J's header was perfect. Jacking the car to the floor jack's maximum height allowed me to wiggle the header up very easy. It'll seem a little tight and difficult but just remember how you took the previous header out and reverse the directions. Very happy with it, despite the butt dyno so far.

Exhaust was good also, welds not as good as the J's header which is as perfect as it gets, but I'm not complaining. AND I can live with the drone so

Side notes
There is a new exhaust smell when you run it. I've also read that there would be a colored smoke from the exhaust for the first 20 miles or so. So to help things out, I'll redline and vary the rpms while driving for the next week/50 miles.

Prospective buyers
If you're coming from a stock or quiet exhaust, it's gonna be a drastic change and it's gonna seem too loud at first. I was kinda scared that it might too loud, even though I expected it to be extremely loud anyway. But even after just an hour, I've already gotten used to it and I love it. I live in a quiet neighborhood and I don't think it will be too much of a problem. Idle in this car is also very quiet. Not as bad as you may think. It's actually just fairly louder than stock.

I'll put up pictures of the header on the car, and the exhaust on the car soon.


J's + Invidia

 

what exactly were you expecting? if you want performance you need to loose your CAT, and you should have gotten a single........ duals are not going to give you much power at all.

 

Better than stock at least

Any way, i searched a lot and was on the hill between the invidia v3 dual and the new invidia single. I decided with the dual because it looked better with the ap2 rear.

Awesome car btw

 

the Single is already for sale? the 70mm with greatly increase you power up top.

if you get a headerback.... looking at close to 15 whp gain.

 

70mm is too big for N/A application. You should have gone 60mm!

Side note: I love the burnt Ti tips!!!

THe J's header is BEAUTIFUL!!! I plan on getting the one in my sig though.....

 

wow, you felt a loss of low end torque? i have a stock ap2 and i can't imagine losing anymore low end torque than i have =(
btw, how is the j's header on a 2.2? The header was originally designed for the 2.0 liter correct?

 

The header is more designed for high output motors, including the 2.2L. It has some of the largest piping on the market compared to other companies.

 

Whats up buddy

Personally I feel you should have gotten a different exhaust to take full advantage of the header. You need something single and not restricted, and you will really notice a difference. I say rock the Invidia for a little, then sell it for a J's.

Good luck, you need any info hit me up.

 

[QUOTE=BlownAP,Apr 29 2007, 06:02 PM] what exactly were you expecting?

 

70mm is not too big for NA, it's perfect on this car. I think you should definately feel the power increase if you installed the system correctly ... I would just go back and make sure that it's installed correctly. A 70mm test pipe will really open up that system though, the stock cat is a huge bottleneck.

The better question might be why you're running around with your oil only filled 30%? It's a brand new car, how you could really burn that much oil is beyond me.