Dealer Inspection and Trust/GReddy Exhaust System, Part 2

 So with a new car, every 6 months or so the dealer calls you and invites you and your car over so they can do a free inspection.  I guess to see if there are any problems? Since I only have about 400km still on the car, not likely but I was hoping they would do me a small favor...

Not only was a fun drive over, but damn this car looks good!

Although MAYBE that dark film on top of the Nissan logo should be replaced with a transparent one?

So yes, another part from GReddy...  but this is a strange one.

Recall that I did not want to put the Nismo titanium exhaust on this car, because the sound it made was, frankly, pathetic - it looked great (except for the black tips) and served a technical purpose of lightening the car by 10kgs, but I just could not justify the price for no increase in sound or performance (in theory).

On the other hand, the Greddy Power Extreme R was less expensive (although steel) but sounded amazing in the video clips I saw. Plus with a wider diameter piping than OEM, this could only help the turbos, right? Further, in Japan while most cars are type registered with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ("MLIT"), the Skyline Nismo is different enough from the base Skyline 400R such that these limited edition cars are registered individually with MLIT.   This means that parts for the Skyline Nismo that have to be registered are few and far between, including the exhaust.  (and so yes not many aftermarket companies are in this space...).  Thankfully, this model from GReddy was available.

But then I saw that GReddy was offering a complementary part for install in Skyline Nismos with this exhaust - a spacer type adaptor!  Not that I thought the car needed it...

From https://greddy-shop.com/?pid=182880086

Unwrapped from the box, I was surprised to find two.

From the GReddy website, they show photos of the car with and without the adaptor:

Without - 42mm from the edge of the bumper

With adaptor - 26mm from edge of the bumper

Naturally, that almost flush look appears nice, so of course I want that too!

Top of the exhaust tip is slightl hidden behind the bumper

Already looks pretty good though.

While I was waiting for the inspection and oil change, the dealer was nice enough to offer a test drive in a new X-Trail Nismo (I was curious to see exactly what the difference was, driving dynamics-wise!)

So of course a quick spin to Nismo Omori Factory was in the works.

Anyway, once I got back, the install of the adaptor was done... and they took me into the workbay to show me from underneath! The car is still basically new, so everything underneath was super clean! (Now, how will I keep it this way...)

About 12mm measured, so not sure how this ends up reducing 42mm to 26mm (maybe the gaskets make up the extra 4mm?)

Well, the top of the exhaust tip is definitely flush with the bumper now.

I couldn't resist taking some additional photos, the car looked really good under this lighting.

And yes this was right after they washed the car.

So with still less than 500km, technically the car is still not run in/broken in. But the incredible power delivery is so tempting... even at 7/10ths this car is FAST. Easy rear wheelspin in 3rd gear. He he.

So what next? Well I actually had another part I was planning on installing, but when I opened the package, the aluminum was rusting in some places... weird... so that is NOT going on this car.  The same company sent me something else that I actually installed myself a few weeks ago and was really nice, so next post I will write about these. Until then...

New Trust Power Extreme R Mufflers!

So even though I am SLOWLY breaking in the car, one very odd feature of this Skyline NISMO is how quiet it is. Even at full throttle.

Check out the OEM muffler tips - same as on the Z!

So, I began to research what kind of aftermarket muffers/exhaust systems were available for this car. Turns out, as the laws here in Japan are quite strict it means that there are very few offerings. Basically, each exhaust system has to be certified for a particular vehicle, and technically the Skyline Nismo is NOT the same car as the Skyline 400R on which it is based (as a limited edition car, the NISMO is homologated on an individual basis, not in a batch like the 400R), and so I couldn't buy an aftermarket exhaust for the 400R and be done. No, the paperwork has to say the exhaust is for the Skyline NISMO, otherwise the car will not pass shaken in the future. 

Being a NISMO car, of course Nismo offers a titanium version that saves over 10kg.

https://www.nismo.co.jp/products/web_catalogue/exhaust/sports_titanium_muffler_v37.html

But... why the DLC coating that makes the tips look black? Who thought of that? I mean they should offer a non black version! And of course the Nismo pricing... and it looks just as constrictive as the OEM system.

As I was pondering what to do, my friends at Mine's told me that Trust/Greddy was coming out with a system certified for the Skyline Nismo.  (The photo below shows the system for the 400R upon which it was based, looks like the page for the Skyline Nismo has been taken down...)

https://greddy-shop.com/?pid=168483153

The Nismo system has a pipe diameter of 51mm, and a tail diameter of 110mm. The Trust system has a pipe diameter that starts at 60mm and expands to 70mm, with a tail diameter of 115mm.  For any turbo charged car, better exhaust breathing should result in better response, right?  And just the straightish pipe arrangement should in itself mean less restriction!

So, I found a day where I was free and the guys at Mine's said they had time, and drove down (got honked at and a thumbs up by a trucker who was excited to see one out on the road, I guess?)

Still think I made the right choice on the color.

They had Nakayama-san pull it into their garage for me.

I don't understand why the engine bay was so exciting but I guess they wanted to check it out!  
A future VX-Rom for this car?

As I drove back home, the difference was immediate! To be honest the car still felt fast, but wow it sounds SO much better, befitting the twin turbo 3.0 VRDDTT it has!  And of course it looks fantastic too! 

But there was one weird thing, I started hearing a weird buzzing sound from the rear seats.  At first, I thought it was because I hadn't removed the factory clear plastic from the rear seats (yep...). Now, it turns out that this car has two electronic aids to adjust the ambient cabin noise. One is Nissan's Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and the other is the Active Sound Enhancement to supplement the natural exhaust noise.  

And guess what - on its 1 year check up, the dealer figured out that the ANC was acting up by trying to counter the new exhaust tone! That led to a buzzing sound coming from the rear speaker that is used to cancel out ambient noise.  So I had them turn it off, but leave the ASE... so now the car sounds perfect! 

I wonder how many other owners out there with a Trust Power Extreme R muffler had the same issue?