I would recommend a tune after installing these, there is enough of a change in performance to take advantage.

Any problems should all be sorted now, they have good gaskets for the issue. They sound nothing like other TP's, so no worries there.

 

You'll get a bit of rasp with the stock exhaust so be prepared for that. You want to wait to get a tune until you've done all the breather mods you will be doing, but know with an intake and the ARTs you'll be running lean which can be dangerous for the motor if you run it like that for an extended period of time.

 

To add, the small amount of rasp on the stock system is around 3.5/4k mark, i used the XYZ pipe with a cat or resonator to remove it completely.

 

Xyz pipe and cat is in addition to art pipes? So the whole setup would cost me like 1k?

How long can I run without a tune with arts on?

 

Assuming you have a 2004.5 or newer car, you will have widebands from the factory, so you can run it forever if you don't go full throttle (where it ignores wideband input)

Yes, the XYZ pipe replaces the stock Y-pipe, which is a great upgrade as the stock pipe is very restrictive.

The ART with XYZ was my first upgrade, worth it (Well, spacer was, but yeah)

 

Installed the ART pipes last weekend and I have experienced a vibration noise around the 1-2k rpm mark when accelerating hard. I trimmed the bolt down that was said to be causing this vibration for others, and I still have the vibration. I changed my brake pads this weekend and got under the car again and looked at it, and I noticed that the heat shield was very close to the ART pipes and Im thinking that is what is causing the vibration sound Im hearing...Has anyone else had this problem? Could I trim the heat shield around the ART pipes or would that not be a good idea?

 

That is quite close.

do you have the rubber grommets in the support bar? the bolts are in the wrong way round there as well i think.

That should be enough clearance though, perhaps check your motor mounts are ok? if the engine is shifting enough, it will cause a problem there.

 

Yes I have the rubber grommets in the support bar, and which bolts are in the wrong way?? The art pipes are very snug in there I just don't understand why they're soo close to that heat shield..?

 

The ART pipes have 'turn' adjustment in them, which will change how close they are to the floor and how they align with the y-pipe, try re-adjusting them.

The bolts should pass through from the top, not the bottom as you have them now, also remember that those bolts should not be tightened right up, just snug, i think they have a ft-lb rating on them if you need it.

 

I have the same setup and same issue...my rasp is between 3-4k rpm...

I was a bit mislead to believe there would be little to no rasp even with the stock engine...Hopefully this will help others...

Looks like I will have to buy the XYZ resonated pipe from MD...this went from a $600 upgrade to closer to $1k...wasn't expecting this

 

That's where you'll see some rasp with the stock system, it's only a small amount, if you fit regular test pipes, then you'll hear rasp, it's *really* bad otherwise.
I can confirm the XYZ's resonator completely removes all hint of rasp on the stock system though.

 

^ good to hear, I will be getting the XYZ Resonated pipe sometime next week hopefully

then I will just need to get the shockwave, mrev2, spacer and ill be motordyne'd out

 

I tried re-adjusting them and it really didn't do much at all...
Do you think it would be okay to somehow place a piece of padding on the heat shield to help reduce the vibration noise or would that not be safe? I would assume it wouldn't catch fire or anything...?

 

It's kinda hard to adjust them, i've still to do mine again (i messed them up without realising it) You really have to have everything loose to do it properly, like not ever ginger tight, it's really important to tighten and align from the front and go back.

As for the closeness, are you sure it's even touching? i'd look into testing that theory first.

 

I got my ART pipes, but my borla cat back is 2.25". Is it worth my time and effort to bring it to an exhaust shop to get the borla inlet swapped for a 2.5" inlet?