Invidia Q300 with grimspeed gaskets went in today just in time for track tomorrow.

 

That looks great. Invidia is amazing. You just have to roll the window down 1/4 of an inch to really appreciate how amazing this exhaust sounds.

 

I had windows fully open! It sounds good for sure. I’ll likely go with a valved exhaust down the line so I can fully open when I get headers but this was available used locally for cheap so I figured it would be nice in the meantime.

 

You should also see a very noticeable increase in power/acceleration fairly immediately after you install it. I believe it is around +18 whp.

 

I only drove it a few blocks so far as I have a busy day today but could feel a difference. Used copper sealant that was recommended elsewhere on the forums with the grimmspeed gaskets and that is still curing and gives out a smell. Should go away after 1-2 heat cycles.

 

Yeah, the smell went away after 50 - 70 KM for me.

 

First track impressions this weekend.

Car needs to be lowered to drop center of gravity and I’m sure penskes will help with overall weight transfer.

Stock PS4S configuration was the main limiting factor in my opinion. The rear loves to slide when aggressively ramping up throttle upon exiting turns. This is worse the sharper the turn is. Front tires are also lackluster due to the large amount of weight on a 255mm contact patch in the front. Plenty of understeer. This was made worse by the fact I’m pretty big and had a passenger in the car all day. Penske’s and lowering will help there too and so will the wider R compound tires.

Was a 100F day here at Thunder Hill and I had to air down the tires quite a bit. Got them up to 48psi on my first session (from 34psi) so I aired down to 28psi and they would peak at 34-36psi. Brakes handled tremendously well but the front tire contact patch does not allow full braking potential with the weight of the car being transfered forward. That 255mm contact patch wants to slip! Heat was a bit of an issue on the engine. Both oil and water gauges inching higher. Hopefully rr-racing heatshield will help but I’d be concerned about overheating if there was boost on the engine. I ran with the hood vent open all day and no engine beauty cover.

Looking forward to trying it with the mods. I averaged ~4-5 gallons fuel consumption per 20 minute session on track. Was able to heavily pressure a c8 corvette but I feel they weren’t a very experienced track driver. No noticeable oil consumption over the course of the day and I don’t have the catch can installed yet.

I did overshoot a braking point at one point when trying to be more aggressive and drove a tiny bit off track. Car came out perfectly fine though. Just picked up a bit of dirt.

 

Great write-up. Thanks for sharing. You are right about the front tires. You have to go a lot more aggressive on the tire compounds (like. Cup 2 tires or R888 or Advan A052 etc.) and/or go wider than the 255 mm front. You can also add some toe-out as well for more front end grip. I used to have some toe-out and the front-end would grip like crazy before I got an alignment and Lexus put the toe back to zero. I went with a lot higher load rating on my PS4S (Extra Load) and it made the front end a lot more planted.

 

No doubt the Penske will totally transform your car. It's like day and night. Car will be totally planted and it will dial back the understeer, even without wider tires.

Can't wait to hear your impressions once you slap on the RR Racing Penske

 

This is what tires look like after 9650 miles and one day of hard use on track.

Includes the burnout from @rp2000r before he traded in. My apologies for poor lighting on the front.

 

Got a left bank o2 sensor reading code today. Haven’t investigated yet but obvious culprit is left side downpipe to midpipe gasket. Will have to see what’s happening with that q300

 

That sucks. Yes, either the gasket or the O2 sensor.

 

Permatex gold to the rescue.

Steve

 

Already had some in there at installation . I'll lift the car tomorrow and see what's happening. Maybe tracking it the day after sealing without letting it cure/dry long enough was tough on the sealant.

This specific one was used.

 

CEL turned off on it's own for the last ~100 miles. Didn’t even take a look at the exhaust. Good news I guess? Will still check when time allows as an intermittent CEL can be annoying. Also Launch control won’t engage when there is a check engine code apparently.