Vibration - Invidia Gemini - 2000rpm
07-09-2013, 09:34 PM
#84
New Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Delaware
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
@sry110
I don't know if you still were looking for feedback regarding the redesigned slip joints, but I've had great luck with mine. I bought my Gemini this past January. In doing my homework, I read about all the rattle issues of the prior design. I talked to the shop that I purchased mine from to make sure that they had new stock and not the old style that had been lying around. The exhaust went on easier and with less drama and massaging than any exhaust I've ever installed on any car (only had a minor issue with the tips, but no big deal). The slip joint sections fit wonderfully, fell into place, and do not contact anything that they aren't supposed to. I've had exactly zero problems since the initial install... no leaks, rattles, unwanted resonance, just that wonderful VQ symphony at WOT.
I don't know if you still were looking for feedback regarding the redesigned slip joints, but I've had great luck with mine. I bought my Gemini this past January. In doing my homework, I read about all the rattle issues of the prior design. I talked to the shop that I purchased mine from to make sure that they had new stock and not the old style that had been lying around. The exhaust went on easier and with less drama and massaging than any exhaust I've ever installed on any car (only had a minor issue with the tips, but no big deal). The slip joint sections fit wonderfully, fell into place, and do not contact anything that they aren't supposed to. I've had exactly zero problems since the initial install... no leaks, rattles, unwanted resonance, just that wonderful VQ symphony at WOT.
07-10-2013, 03:04 AM
#85
@sry110
I don't know if you still were looking for feedback regarding the redesigned slip joints, but I've had great luck with mine. I bought my Gemini this past January. In doing my homework, I read about all the rattle issues of the prior design. I talked to the shop that I purchased mine from to make sure that they had new stock and not the old style that had been lying around. The exhaust went on easier and with less drama and massaging than any exhaust I've ever installed on any car (only had a minor issue with the tips, but no big deal). The slip joint sections fit wonderfully, fell into place, and do not contact anything that they aren't supposed to. I've had exactly zero problems since the initial install... no leaks, rattles, unwanted resonance, just that wonderful VQ symphony at WOT.
I don't know if you still were looking for feedback regarding the redesigned slip joints, but I've had great luck with mine. I bought my Gemini this past January. In doing my homework, I read about all the rattle issues of the prior design. I talked to the shop that I purchased mine from to make sure that they had new stock and not the old style that had been lying around. The exhaust went on easier and with less drama and massaging than any exhaust I've ever installed on any car (only had a minor issue with the tips, but no big deal). The slip joint sections fit wonderfully, fell into place, and do not contact anything that they aren't supposed to. I've had exactly zero problems since the initial install... no leaks, rattles, unwanted resonance, just that wonderful VQ symphony at WOT.
07-10-2013, 08:09 PM
#86
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Colorado
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I too had this problem, it was really prominent when I was at idle with the A/C on.
I fixed it though as I found the rattle is coming from the exhaust hitting the passenger side sway bar, since it goes under it, not over. I just bought exhaust wrap from Autozone and used it as a cushion between the pipe and the bar... works like a charm
I fixed it though as I found the rattle is coming from the exhaust hitting the passenger side sway bar, since it goes under it, not over. I just bought exhaust wrap from Autozone and used it as a cushion between the pipe and the bar... works like a charm
07-11-2013, 04:30 AM
#87
I too had this problem, it was really prominent when I was at idle with the A/C on.
I fixed it though as I found the rattle is coming from the exhaust hitting the passenger side sway bar, since it goes under it, not over. I just bought exhaust wrap from Autozone and used it as a cushion between the pipe and the bar... works like a charm
I fixed it though as I found the rattle is coming from the exhaust hitting the passenger side sway bar, since it goes under it, not over. I just bought exhaust wrap from Autozone and used it as a cushion between the pipe and the bar... works like a charm
07-11-2013, 09:01 AM
#88
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Colorado
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Haha is it? I thought the newer model ones went under as the piping was a tad different, or so I saw from a thread. Oh well I haven't had any clearance issues, maybe if I get ocd about it I might change
07-11-2013, 10:24 AM
#90
I made sure to tell my shop to install the rear passenger pipe so that it goes over the sway bar. Kind of weird that Invidia designed it to be able to install either way. Would have made more sense to me to angle the mating flanges between the rear pipe and the resonator pipe so that it could only go together one way.
IMO, unless you have a low hanging rear bumper or diffuser of some kind to obstruct the view of the bottom of the car from behind, that pipe looks pretty janky when installed below the sway bar.
Then again, it even bothers me how the two pipes going to the muffler tips aren't symmetric to one another (because one has to hook out around the pipe going to the other rear muffler, if that makes any sense).
IMO, unless you have a low hanging rear bumper or diffuser of some kind to obstruct the view of the bottom of the car from behind, that pipe looks pretty janky when installed below the sway bar.
Then again, it even bothers me how the two pipes going to the muffler tips aren't symmetric to one another (because one has to hook out around the pipe going to the other rear muffler, if that makes any sense).
07-11-2013, 10:34 AM
#92
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Colorado
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I feel like Motordyne is, frankly, overpriced. I love the sound of this exhaust and the look is pure sex. Soo many Z owners are OCD about the most obscure stuff lol. For $850 I felt like this was a great exhaust
07-11-2013, 12:58 PM
#94
I agree that the Gemini is a good value. When I inspected it last year upon receipt, I thought that the material and weld quality looked excellent, and to get a true-dual system with resonators and dual transverse-mount rear mufflers and nice-quality burnt titanium effect rolled muffler tips seems like a really, really good deal.
07-11-2013, 01:12 PM
#95
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Colorado
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well if you got a buyer go for it, let us know the difference in sound quality! Yeah HKS is ridiculous, the replicas are just god awful too
07-24-2013, 09:19 AM
#96
An update: last month I contacted Invidia directly to tell them my situation, i.e. driver side flex joint contacting the bottom of the car and making all sorts of vibrating/hammering sounds. After a few emails back and forth, including one where I attached a video+audio clip where the sound was clearly audible, they sent me a set of the replacement spring-loaded slip joint pipes at no charge. They did not ask for the original pipes in return. Installation was fairly easy, although for whatever reason I was unable to get the driver side flange (where the flex pipe meets the cat) to seal up properly and I am getting a slight leak (puff-puff-puff-puff) out the top of the flange, toward the bottom of the car. And in the process of trying to get those flanges to sit flat together, I overtorqued the nut on the inner stud of the cat and I believe it stripped some of the threads on the stud. I am also noticing decreased torque output from the engine.....maybe this is placebo because I know about the leak, but I swear it feels less responsive/torquey now. Or maybe it's due to my UpRev tune accounting for the flex joint geometry which is now the slip-joint....although that seems like too insignificant of a change to noticeably affect performance.
The bright side: no more annoying/embarrassing vibrating/hammering sound when I start the car and pull away!
Anyway, here is a side-by-side pic of the original flex joint pipe and the new slip-joint pipe in case anyone it curious:
One more note: while the replacement pipe flange locations and angles were almost identical to the original pipe, it was not a 100.00% perfect retrofit. The actual flex joint in the original pipe takes care of any position error between the cat flange and the x-pipe flange and allows the unit to flex easily so that both flanges can sit perfectly flat. Meanwhile the slip joint is actually a very tight fit and I could not move it by hand, so you pretty much have to live with whatever the flange angles are and home that it fits. In my case, the flange to the x-pipe fit fine but as I mentioned the flange to the cat did not sit perfectly flat. In fact, I think I stripped the one cat stud because I was essentially using that nut to overcome the slip fit (which I would call more of a press fit) and bring those two flanges flat to each other. I will probably have my shop remove the pipe, run a die over the stud to clean up the threads, reinstall it as flat as possible and then apply some of Permatex high-temp sealant around the flange.
The bright side: no more annoying/embarrassing vibrating/hammering sound when I start the car and pull away!
Anyway, here is a side-by-side pic of the original flex joint pipe and the new slip-joint pipe in case anyone it curious:
One more note: while the replacement pipe flange locations and angles were almost identical to the original pipe, it was not a 100.00% perfect retrofit. The actual flex joint in the original pipe takes care of any position error between the cat flange and the x-pipe flange and allows the unit to flex easily so that both flanges can sit perfectly flat. Meanwhile the slip joint is actually a very tight fit and I could not move it by hand, so you pretty much have to live with whatever the flange angles are and home that it fits. In my case, the flange to the x-pipe fit fine but as I mentioned the flange to the cat did not sit perfectly flat. In fact, I think I stripped the one cat stud because I was essentially using that nut to overcome the slip fit (which I would call more of a press fit) and bring those two flanges flat to each other. I will probably have my shop remove the pipe, run a die over the stud to clean up the threads, reinstall it as flat as possible and then apply some of Permatex high-temp sealant around the flange.
Last edited by sry110; 07-24-2013 at 09:25 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
