Invidia Gemini Review
 

I know there's a couple of these out here, but I wanted to add another review for anyone considering this exhaust.

I've not dyno'd the car before or after, and I unfortunately have not taken very many pictures along the way, mostly because the ones I did take turned out awful...so I gave up. I will, however, attempt to get a reasonable number of videos together so you can develop a good understanding of how the car sounds in a wide range of situations.

Starting off, initial impressions:
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...r101/010-3.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ser101/009.jpg
this is partially unpacked-- it wasn't packed like this:rofl2:

I pulled the exhaust out of the box, and was generally impressed with the quality. The welds were fairly tight, and although the system certainly won't be confused for a top dollar unit, it seemed more than adequate for the intended purpose.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ser101/011.jpg
I went with the significantly more tasteful rolled SS tips:inoutroflpuke:

I'm a big fan of having a system that looks like a beefy stock exhaust, and these do a pretty decent job there.


Install

Install was easy and took less than two hours working alone. Only issue I ran into was having lost my deep 17mm socket... but that's my own fault.

The fitment was pretty good overall, although the tips seem to stick out a bit more than I would like, even pushed all the way in. You can kind of see it in this picture.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...r101/012-2.jpg

Sound

I'm a big fan of the sound with this system. It's basically the sound I think the Z should have had from the factory: deep and full, without stepping into the realm of obnoxious. Check the vids at the bottom-- I will hopefully be updating with more soon as the weather permits.

I've noticed some members claiming that they have no drone on this system-- I will not entirely agree with that. Especially at highway speeds, there is a bit of drone with the system. Nothing bad-- less than most other exhaust options, but it is present, and anyone expecting it to sound like the stock exhaust at 70mph might be a bit surprised. Again, it's nothing a normal aftermarket exhaust wouldn't have, just want to give that heads-up.

Power

I haven't dyno'd my car, but average power gains from the Invidia usually hover around 8-12whp. Obviously, not as big of gains as some of the systems, but with the price these go for, as well as the sounds gains that are realized, I'm pretty happy with it.


As far as I'm concerned, the 10ish whp bump that this gives you is just a bonus on top of the sound. I listened to most of the alternatives for the Z, and this one came in first place by a long shot in my mind, at least for the balance of DD-ability coupled with enough throatiness to keep me happy. When you think about it, another 5-10 hp is not terribly substantial in the big picture, though to some it may be worth it.

The FI system is honestly the only other exhaust I would consider, and the low-hanging pipes kill that option for me.


Couple vids for ya:



Cold start




Quick shot of acceleration. You don't hear that much exhaust noise from where the camera is mounted, unfortunately.


Holler if you've got any questions!:driving:

Thanks for the write up. I think that this is the type of exhaust I have been looking for. I've been watching all type of videos trying to find an exhaust that has a decent bass tone without the "rice" sound. I'd love to hear some more videos.

I'm wondering how much of a difference there is in the cabin of a roadster compared to the coupe.

Sounds great! Thanks for the review.

Sounds like my Greddy. Sad thing is vids don't really do justice for the true sound. But close.

Hopefully at the meet this sat, we can get a good recording of all of our setups and post 'em up on here for everyone!

I have this exhaust and love it. Looks stockish and sounds great. My butt dyno can't feel the difference in power though. Is the 8-12 WHP gain documented somewhere?

Counting on it:tup:

This guy saw about 8 on a G.

I don't think a ~10whp bump is going to be anything you feel on the butt dyno, it's only a ~3% increase in power.

ARK has a dual canister design that produces zero drone when cruising. Of course, it's considerably more expensive than the Invidia. The drone-sensitive crew might wanna check out the ARK.

Thanks for the review. I should have my SS tip system on its way this week. I plan on doing the install on my Nismo this weekend and will try to take some pics.

Any plans on going with a HFC or TP in the future? I am trying to decide what I want to do with mine and definitely think I want one of the two, or ART pipes.

If you're not in a smog state I recommend a resonated Test pipe

some autocross footage...this is someone else driving my car...

Sounds great, good review - that autox video where he comes out of the turn skidding around is great - good control, he managed to stick it with acceleration!

Haha, that terrified me watching him...some dude had just put his car in the ditch pulling the same move