Review Invidia Q300 cat back exhaust
12-11-2008, 02:05 AM
#1
Invidia Q300 cat back exhaust
Well I took the time tonight to get my new exhaust installed. I'll give you my thoughts and opinions on it.
Vendor
I purchased this system from Import DPS for $759 shipped. I thought this was a great price for any full cat back system, especially one from a manufacturer with a solid reputation. I'm not ballin' like a lot of you so I appreciated that it cost half (or less) than a lot of your exhausts.
Shipping
It took a few extra days after I'd ordered to get it shipped out. Then UPS had some issue that delayed it a day or 2 getting here. I'm pretty patient so it was no big deal. Hey, shyte happens sometimes.
Packing
I came home to find a huge 73 pound box at my door. It was boxed from the manufacturer with an inner box inside the outer one. There were plenty of packing peanuts and even some injected foam to make sure it was secured inside the carton and wouldn't flop around. Each individual piece was wrapped in a heavy duty plastic bag as well. The tips were protected by very thick cardboard tubes over each one to protect them from an possible damage. It arrived in excellent shape.
Appearance
Wow! You've all seen photos of it. It's a mirror polished stainless finish. It was flawless. 4.5" very slightly angle cut double walled tips with a rolled edge. I think it's beautiful. Too bad it has to be hidden under the car.
Fit and Finish
Again, wow! Beautiful craftsmanship is on display here again. Besides the mirror polished stainless finish, the welds on this thing are top notch. Heavy duty, very solid flanges. A subtle etching of "Invidia" on the sides of each tip. Holes lined up. Hangers were where they were supposed to be. The tips were dead on perfect when installed.
Hardware
Ok, the system gets both an A and a D for this one. An A for the hardware that was provided: quality heavy duty stainless bolts and nuts. Shiny. Good quality gaskets (not he El Cheapo ones). The D is for the fact that not enough hardware was provided: I had to reuse 2 gaskets and 4 bolts/nuts. It's not a big deal, but it's not a big deal for them to be provided by the vendor either. Put the other gaskets and bolts in the box Invidia! The exhaust piping consists of the muffler/tailpipe section that uses 2 of the 3 factory hangers (a single muffler with dual entry/exit like the OEM one), 2 separate mid pipe sections that utilize factory hangers, an "X" pipe in the area where the OEM resonators were, and 2 separate front pipes with flex sections welded in. The front and X pipes take the place of a traditional "Y" pipe.
Installation
Much easier than I'd imagined. It took me about an hour and a half in my garage on jack stands. Less if I'd not stopped to look a the snow every now and again. This is the second exhaust I've put on Betty, the first being the Tanabe axle back. The G37 exhaust is very easy to work on even for a novice mechanic (NOT the HFCs though!). Except for the fact that the car is so low. I had to jack it up pretty high to be able to scoot under it. I need to lose weight.
Everything was very straightforward. None of the components I took off was particularly heavy or cumbersome. The only issue I had was that I rounded off a nut where the mid pipe joins the Y pipe. Very little problem with my handy set of bolt outs ready and standing by. Being the guy I am I soaked each nut/bolt with PB Blaster before beginning. They'd soaked about 10 minutes when I started on them and each came off with only moderate effort.
Putting the Invidia on was pretty easy as well. I started at the rear and hung the muffler section in the hangers, The 2 long section of mid pipe were placed in their hangers and connected next. The small X pipe section is great because since it is a separate component, it's very easy to swap it our for a custom one or place a resonator in the system if you like. This system has no resonators. The 2 front pipes bolted right up to the X pipe and my Berk HFCs perfectly. The flanges on the exhaust were slightly smaller than the HFC flanges, but still lined up and bolted perfectly without any binding or force needed.
Sound
One of the factors that attracted me to this system was that the sound clips I'd head of it did not sound obnoxiously loud like a of of guys like. It sounded mellow and exotic to me. In my initial evaluation I found that to be true.
Even though this is a non resonated X pipe type system, IT IS NOT LOUD. That was important to me because I loved the Tanabe that it is replacing but it was just a little too loud for me The Invidia Q300 isn't. It wont be for everybody. If you want to make loud noise get another system. If you want a mellow, low toned, throaty exhaust that sounds like it belongs on a G37 and not a B13 Sentra, then this one will work for you. I was unfortunately very limited in my test run because it's snowing like you wouldn't believe here in Houston. I checked from inside the car with windows up and down, idle, and redline acceleration. Idle is very quiet. Like stock. The sound in general is a lot lie the stock exhaust with a bit lower tone and just a few db's louder.Inside with windows up while driving, it was very slightly louder than stock with no drone. None. Cruising at highway speed I had to really listen to hear it at all. With windows down I could tell it wasn't OEM because it is deeper and throatier but not a lot louder except when pushed to the upper RPM range where it comes alive and sings that beautiful VVEL melody. Not as "exotic" sounding as the Tanabe, but very pleasant sounding overall IMO.
Performance/Power
I have no dyno because I just put it on and because I'm not the guy who needs a dyno to tell me if my car is quicker or not after adding a new exhaust. I'm not a dyno kind of guy period. There is a manufacturer's dyno posted somewhere on the forum, you can look it up. After driving it for a couple of days now, my butt dyno is definitely telling me that this exhaust does make some power - more than the Tanabe. The car revs quicker through the power band and particularly for 3500 to about 6000 RPM it is really quick. Noticeably more so than before.
Overall impression
I like it a lot. Once I can really open up with it and get it broken in, I can tell you more about it's performance. But considering it costs half of what a lot of other systems cost, looks great, and has similar dyno numbers, I'd say the Invidia Q300 is a win in almost every way, at lest for someone like me.
A package for me? What could it be?
all wrapped up just out of the box
The system all laid out in my floor
welds on the flex section
looks a lot like the OEM system but with bigger tips
dirty on the first day from snow last night
No installation photos as I did this on my back underneath the car in my garage, No lift.
Vendor
I purchased this system from Import DPS for $759 shipped. I thought this was a great price for any full cat back system, especially one from a manufacturer with a solid reputation. I'm not ballin' like a lot of you so I appreciated that it cost half (or less) than a lot of your exhausts.
Shipping
It took a few extra days after I'd ordered to get it shipped out. Then UPS had some issue that delayed it a day or 2 getting here. I'm pretty patient so it was no big deal. Hey, shyte happens sometimes.
Packing
I came home to find a huge 73 pound box at my door. It was boxed from the manufacturer with an inner box inside the outer one. There were plenty of packing peanuts and even some injected foam to make sure it was secured inside the carton and wouldn't flop around. Each individual piece was wrapped in a heavy duty plastic bag as well. The tips were protected by very thick cardboard tubes over each one to protect them from an possible damage. It arrived in excellent shape.
Appearance
Wow! You've all seen photos of it. It's a mirror polished stainless finish. It was flawless. 4.5" very slightly angle cut double walled tips with a rolled edge. I think it's beautiful. Too bad it has to be hidden under the car.
Fit and Finish
Again, wow! Beautiful craftsmanship is on display here again. Besides the mirror polished stainless finish, the welds on this thing are top notch. Heavy duty, very solid flanges. A subtle etching of "Invidia" on the sides of each tip. Holes lined up. Hangers were where they were supposed to be. The tips were dead on perfect when installed.
Hardware
Ok, the system gets both an A and a D for this one. An A for the hardware that was provided: quality heavy duty stainless bolts and nuts. Shiny. Good quality gaskets (not he El Cheapo ones). The D is for the fact that not enough hardware was provided: I had to reuse 2 gaskets and 4 bolts/nuts. It's not a big deal, but it's not a big deal for them to be provided by the vendor either. Put the other gaskets and bolts in the box Invidia! The exhaust piping consists of the muffler/tailpipe section that uses 2 of the 3 factory hangers (a single muffler with dual entry/exit like the OEM one), 2 separate mid pipe sections that utilize factory hangers, an "X" pipe in the area where the OEM resonators were, and 2 separate front pipes with flex sections welded in. The front and X pipes take the place of a traditional "Y" pipe.
Installation
Much easier than I'd imagined. It took me about an hour and a half in my garage on jack stands. Less if I'd not stopped to look a the snow every now and again. This is the second exhaust I've put on Betty, the first being the Tanabe axle back. The G37 exhaust is very easy to work on even for a novice mechanic (NOT the HFCs though!). Except for the fact that the car is so low. I had to jack it up pretty high to be able to scoot under it. I need to lose weight.
Everything was very straightforward. None of the components I took off was particularly heavy or cumbersome. The only issue I had was that I rounded off a nut where the mid pipe joins the Y pipe. Very little problem with my handy set of bolt outs ready and standing by. Being the guy I am I soaked each nut/bolt with PB Blaster before beginning. They'd soaked about 10 minutes when I started on them and each came off with only moderate effort.
Putting the Invidia on was pretty easy as well. I started at the rear and hung the muffler section in the hangers, The 2 long section of mid pipe were placed in their hangers and connected next. The small X pipe section is great because since it is a separate component, it's very easy to swap it our for a custom one or place a resonator in the system if you like. This system has no resonators. The 2 front pipes bolted right up to the X pipe and my Berk HFCs perfectly. The flanges on the exhaust were slightly smaller than the HFC flanges, but still lined up and bolted perfectly without any binding or force needed.
Sound
One of the factors that attracted me to this system was that the sound clips I'd head of it did not sound obnoxiously loud like a of of guys like. It sounded mellow and exotic to me. In my initial evaluation I found that to be true.
Even though this is a non resonated X pipe type system, IT IS NOT LOUD. That was important to me because I loved the Tanabe that it is replacing but it was just a little too loud for me The Invidia Q300 isn't. It wont be for everybody. If you want to make loud noise get another system. If you want a mellow, low toned, throaty exhaust that sounds like it belongs on a G37 and not a B13 Sentra, then this one will work for you. I was unfortunately very limited in my test run because it's snowing like you wouldn't believe here in Houston. I checked from inside the car with windows up and down, idle, and redline acceleration. Idle is very quiet. Like stock. The sound in general is a lot lie the stock exhaust with a bit lower tone and just a few db's louder.Inside with windows up while driving, it was very slightly louder than stock with no drone. None. Cruising at highway speed I had to really listen to hear it at all. With windows down I could tell it wasn't OEM because it is deeper and throatier but not a lot louder except when pushed to the upper RPM range where it comes alive and sings that beautiful VVEL melody. Not as "exotic" sounding as the Tanabe, but very pleasant sounding overall IMO.
Performance/Power
I have no dyno because I just put it on and because I'm not the guy who needs a dyno to tell me if my car is quicker or not after adding a new exhaust. I'm not a dyno kind of guy period. There is a manufacturer's dyno posted somewhere on the forum, you can look it up. After driving it for a couple of days now, my butt dyno is definitely telling me that this exhaust does make some power - more than the Tanabe. The car revs quicker through the power band and particularly for 3500 to about 6000 RPM it is really quick. Noticeably more so than before.
Overall impression
I like it a lot. Once I can really open up with it and get it broken in, I can tell you more about it's performance. But considering it costs half of what a lot of other systems cost, looks great, and has similar dyno numbers, I'd say the Invidia Q300 is a win in almost every way, at lest for someone like me.
A package for me? What could it be?
all wrapped up just out of the box
The system all laid out in my floor
welds on the flex section
looks a lot like the OEM system but with bigger tips
dirty on the first day from snow last night
No installation photos as I did this on my back underneath the car in my garage, No lift.
Last edited by Black Betty; 12-13-2008 at 01:45 AM. Reason: Added photos
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CRiME (09-28-2015)
what were you thinking???...lololol
Good write-up. Thanks!
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12-11-2008, 11:20 AM
#9
12-11-2008, 11:27 AM
#10
Probably. If is gets a little louder it won't be a problem because it is very quiet, I just cant take really loud or droning at cruising speed because I drive so many highway miles.
Last edited by Black Betty; 12-11-2008 at 11:34 AM.
12-15-2008, 05:56 PM
#15
Thanks for the great write up. I like your style. Next time I'm in Houston I might try to look you up to see if I can hear it in person. I believe you've gotten more snow than Nebraska has so far this year (knock on wood).
In your description you stated you don't have many miles on the new system. Would you let me know what you think of it after you put on a few more miles? Again, thanks for taking the time to write that up.
In your description you stated you don't have many miles on the new system. Would you let me know what you think of it after you put on a few more miles? Again, thanks for taking the time to write that up.