The power gains from any catback are negligible...

The power to be had is all in the downpipe

 

On a Cooper S you may pick up a few hp because the aftermarket exhaust will not have the downstream cat,on a factory Jcw you will not gain anything.

Thumper is right that the biggest gain would be a aftermarket downpipe.

 

So at this point...I should probably just do 2nd cat delete and buy a downpipe? I've seen some setups with custom Magnaflow 2.5" or 3" and they use the stock downpipe...I'm so confused right now haha. I just want to know what is good and for a good price not a SUPER cheap crap exhaust but not a SUPER expensive one either. I've been debating just doing a stock setup with a resonator delete or resonator and 2nd cat delete. I just need answers and help now. Sorry for complaining:-(.

 

I would get a akrapovic downpipe then do a resonator/2nd cat delete and add some jcw tips.

 

Is this what you have done to your JCW right now?

 

Sold my Jcw and bought a 1M.Had a full akrapovic system on the jcw,should have saved some cash and just done the downpipe and res delete.

 

Well I'll definitely be doing some research to find the parts for cheap! Thanks!

 

Akrapovic downpipe is around 600ish,res delete 40,jcw tips 100ish.

If you do alot of high speed highway driving install a small glasspak in place of the res/cat to kill the drone.

 

I noticed alot of people are having the clamps come loose. What type come with the exhaust? I assume it's a single bolt band clamp? I bet these would hold it together much better if so:

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performan...oductId=753274

 

Yea, the originals that come w/ the system are like that, except for they are 1 bolt and they do slip off, or come close to slipping off. I had my res deleted so, they welded on vibrant flanges to resolve this issue for me: http://vibrantperformance.com/catalo...1022_1122_1153

However, they decided to keep one of the slip clamps and just place a small, very tiny weld tack so if I ever decide to put my res back on, I can just grind it off and put the res back on. They did this because the vibrant flanges are somewhat expensive and this save me a little bit of dough $$.

The ones you list if you can get the correct size should be good and possibly hold up better; since they have a bolt on both connections left and right side.

 

SpeedRacer,

I like the sound of your Invidia without the resonator...I currently have mine in, but have been considering this mod. Do you notice any more drone at highway speeds? That's something I'm trying to avoid...

 

I would definitely say it has drone at highway speeds 50-60mph. For speeds 70-80 you can't really tell that you have drone because of the amount of wind that you are passing thru or going w/. IMHO, I actually like the drone, it's a +1 for me. Then again it might not be drone, and it is just different tone quality.

I can however, try an borrow my buddies GoPro Cam again, and record an inside run going 50-60 and 70-80. Then you can decide if it is something you want to mod or if it is a no go for you. (I on the other hand want it even louder, so I will be getting the DP, Riss Racing if I can find it or OBX or some other brand.) Its just a matter of time.

 

Thanks for offering to do that, but no worries...If you don't mind the drone anyway, maybe you're not the guy to ask! I might end up selling this system and going with the NM..

 

You make want to check yourself on the NM Engineering Exhaust system. It is quite expensive as it is now, but I recently came across a thread about a high pitch squeal that the system makes at high RPM.

Take a look at the thread yourself: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-problem.html

 

Wowwwww very interesting.. Thanks for posting that. I definitely will reconsider...

 

I opted to go with the NM Engineering cat-back exhaust. It does not have that high pitch sound.

 

I do love the look of that exhaust.. Anyway, not to get off topic. Thanks for the input guys :-)

 

Long term use update.

I've had the Q300 for a couple of years now. Still like the sound.

The rear band clamp kept working its way loose and causing the section to sag and bang on the plate at start up.

Had enough of that BS so off came the clamp, pipes placed correctly front to back and vertically, marked both front to back/vertically/rotationally, then the middle and rear section were removed and became one via welder.

Never been a fan of band clamps. Complete garbage.

Issue solved.

 

So I ended up putting in a stainless straight pipe where the resonator was on the Q300. LOVE the sound!

 

Can anyone confirm the high pitch noise on the Invidia exhaust? Every video I heard on YouTube seems to have it. Is this noise from the intake? I had an intake on my Audi that made that exact same noise and it drove me nuts and I took it off after a week.

 

As I said,(about 13 pages ago...lol), It droned so bad I could only take it for a week. Apply throttle at anything below 4K rpm and it it sounded like feed back from a guitar amp. Highway drive was almost unbearable.

 

My apologies, 16 pages was a lot to skim and I totally missed the comments about the high pitch noise on page 8. I had this exhaust on my Evo 8 and never had any problems of the sort but after reading this thread I think I'll spend my money else where.

Cheers

 

I have never experienced a high pitched noise out of my Invidia, but it does drone. However, it's no worse with the res. delete.

 

I never had a high pitched noise? Like others have said, it does drone....but thats a deep resonating drone

My guess is you have a leak somewhere

 

Drone is from the exhaust

High pitched noise is from the intake.

Most people that have the invidia have an intake as well (as invidia was one of the earliest exhausts that were made for the r56, and at that time almost everyone was doing "CAI"s