First Impressions

Shipping was really quick, the exhaust was boxed and wrapped up very very well. Once I unwrapped and took a look, all the welds were top notch and there were no major imperfections I could see.


Only little imperfection I found was on the inside of my passenger muffler. But no big deal just grinded that down.


X-pipe with 6" extensions


Both mufflers with burnt tips installed


Sound
This exhaust sounds awesome. There is very little drone at all in regular driving, and pretty much none at highway speeds. It is quiet at part throttle and gets alot louder at WOT. No complaints about this exhausts sound at all.



Power Gain
I did feel a noticeable slight bit more power after 4000rpm. Havent been on the dyno yet.

Fitment / Installation
Here is the main problem for this exhaust. The rear passenger muffler flange does not easily clear the drive axle. I have taken my car to the shop 2 times for alignment of this exhaust, and still when I drive hard and heat up the exhaust it expands and hits the axle. It is very violent when it hits because the axle is rotating and hits all over the flange. If only the flange was positioned a few inches backwards it would clear no problem and this exhaust would be flawless.

Car at the shop




Only 3/4inch clearance here. This is after the guys at the shop had aligned it, and they gave me as much clearance as they could.
Seriously.... WTF was ARK thinking here... what an amazing spot for the flange.




Overall I give this exhaust a 6/10 Because of the fitment.... I am not satisfied at all with what I got for my money.... really there are so many other exhaust out there that will not give you the same problems. Because of the money Ive spent at the shop I could have gotten the Motordyne.


Would I recommend this exhaust to someone? No
Would I buy another ARK exhaust product? Yes - Only reason for that flange being positioned horribly is because this exhaust was designed for the 350z, and then they slapped on the 6" extensions and thought it would fit just as good, which is dosent....



Well thats my review... Hope you guys enjoy it. Any questions just ask.

 

What should we call this ARK exhaust, a knockoff done better due to the x-pipe?
Gary

 

Well, at least you're honest, that's gotta be a good thing these days. Shame about the fitment, and yes, the 6 inch extensions really hurt some exhausts.

 

Today I had Megan Racing Resonated Test Pipes installed
Pic





Couple of things to note:

-These have built in de-foulers, however they did not clear the Check engine light (Service Engine Soon light) on my 2006 Rev-up motor
-Because these have built in flex pipe, once installed my exhaust sagged and it caused the back passenger side muffler flange to yet again sit on my axle. (shop had to build a bracket to support the exhaust and prevent it from hitting my axle)

-LOTS OF PEOPLE SAY THEY EXPERIENCE DRONE WITH THE ARK GRIP EXHAUST. THIS IS TRUE IF YOU INSTALL TEST PIPES!!!!!!!!!!! x1000
But it sounds good with the stock cats.

-Power wise, your gonna loose alot of power under 3500rpm. Over 4000 to redline is some improvement but honestly not too great IMO.
-Also these make your exhaust smell like rotting mechanical fish.


So ya thats my take on that.
Im honestly considering putting the cats back on. Really all the negatives Ive got on this so far I dont care about loosing 10whp in the top end.

 

Pretty glad i went for the ART pipes now, i knew there was a power loss lower down, but i haven't experienced that with the ARTs, thank God.