I have had a set of Berk high flow cats paired with the Motordyne TDX2 catback on my 2006 6MT for the past 4 months and will be making the switch to the ART Pipes with the same TDX2 catback exhaust.

Next week I will also be adding an Osiris tune to go with the ART Pipes.

The Berks were a great mod. They sound grunty and pretty loud with the Motordyne TDX2, though I would say that it's not necessarily a crisp and fully refined exhaust note. I definitely felt an increase in power after the change and am curious as to how the ART Pipes + Tune will compare.

I will update this thread with my thoughts on the change in the event that anyone is interested or considering these mods.

My other bolt-on engine mods:
-MD 5/16th inch plenum spacer
-MD MRev2
-Z-Tube with drop in filter
-K&N oil filer

I also have the 19 lb. South Bend (Exedy) Flywheel and quiet clutch

 

The Berks new in wrapping, October 2013:

ARTs new in wrapping, today!

 

I'm curious to know how the sound changes as far as loudness from the outside and drone on the inside.
Can you take some before/after videos from inside and outside?

 

I already have some videos from inside the car with the Berk setup, and will take some from outside the car this weekend before the swap. I think I'll make a video and post it to help others, as I could not find a video of the Berk/MD TDX2 combo when I was shopping for HFCs.

I'll write up an explanation of sound changes as well.

I don't think I'll have the opportunity to dyno the car with the Berk HFCs before the swap - and not sure I'd want to, as I pulled a spark plug this past weekend and it's definitely running a bit lean right now.

But let's see.

 

Here's the car that the mods are going on.

 

Awesome, you're the man!

Can you link me to the videos you have now? I'm running a TDX2 with stock cats but am going to replace them in the next month or so with ARTs. Just curious how different HFCs are.

 

I tried to upload one quickly just now but it's too large. The sound quality on the clip isn't so good anyway, as it was taken with an iPhone. I'll use the video option on my point and shoot or my friend's iPad to grab better sound over the weekend.

 

Love Seein a clean coupe dropped with OEM rays.
Looks good
What lugs are you using?

 

Thanks for the compliment! The lug nuts are BWR.

 

I did the ART Pipes swap over the weekend. I'll post a more thorough review shortly, but here are some first impressions:

First my friend and I did a full turbo-back, cat-delete Cobb system with the Cobb tuner on his new WRX STI. Then we did the ART pipes install on the G.

Sound: when I fired up the coupe with the ART Pipes, I was disappointed with how much quieter it was over the Berks. It's definitely quieter with the ART Pipes at idle and in the low RPM range, noticeable as soon as we fired it up. With the ARTs it gets very loud at WOT, within 10% of the loudness of the Berks, but not quite as loud.

The ARTs have changed the tone as well. It has a much higher note now. I'd say that with the HFCs, the car definitely sounded meaner. I could simplify it by saying that with ART pipes it sounds more like a Z and less like a pushrod V-8, more purring and cat-like and less barking and dog-like. With either setup, at WOT, it's way louder than my friend's Subie. He said he can't hear his own exhaust when I'm in front of him and get on it WOT. Same from my cabin: I can't hear his exhaust when he's in front of me and we both get on it. My friend prefers the ART Pipes exhaust note over the HFC, said the tone fits the car better, and that he prefers it less obnoxious. But our car tastes are also different: he's from a Honda V-TEC and 3-series BMW tuner ilk, while my earlier modded cars were fox body Mustangs with full-length headers and Flowmasters. BTW, his car, after the mods we did over weekend, is now faster than mine.

Torque/HP: I didn't get to experience the drive too much yet as I bolted it up with the ARTs and had a 25 minute drive on the way to the speed shop to drop it off for the dyno session. It's now noticeably torquier and more responsive at low RPMs over the drive with HFCs. It even feels more drivable. So far it's really tough to tell whether there was a HP increase from the mod. I probably picked up a few HP before the tune but it's not incredibly noticeable yet.

Smell: too early to tell. It definitely doesn't smell like an old Chevy or anything.

More on all of these fronts very soon.

 

Beautiful OB coupe, although red lugs wouldn't be my choice! You'll love the results of the Osiris tune, that is the best bang for your $$! Hang on to the Berk's, if you're anything like me I love driving with the windows down...you're not going to like the exhaust smell. I only had my ART pipes on for a week, that was long enough.
Gary

 

Solid review. They're the way to go. If you didn't smell it within the first 25 min chances are it's not gonna get "worse" . At red lights it'll waft up for a quick second- Who cares. I just got out of mine and I only smelt it for a second after my car started up with the back against a brick wall. People like to exaggerate like the smell is some sort of landfill underneath you. Also when they break in a bit more your overall exhaust note should improve as well.

 

Had my car dyno tuned this afternoon on a Dynojet, though it was with the HFCs on my car! Long story, but to put it simply, the performance shop accidentally removed the new ART Pipes I had installed over the weekend for the Berk HFCs that I had lying in the trunk.

After the dyno tune I learned that the HFCs were on the car for the whole thing. The shop is making good on the mistake and put the ART Pipes back on immediately and they said they would have me retuned accordingly at no charge.

I took video of the session and will make some clips for YouTube when it's all said and done. I'll also have a dyno comparison as well for the car with Berk HFCs and MD ART Pipes.

My baseline pull was 255 HP and 226 ft/lb of torque
My tuned pull got me to 264 HP and 253 ft/lb of torque

+9 HP
+27 ft/b torque

But those are peak figures. On the printouts I have before me, +9 HP is at 6,000 RPM.

At 4,000 RPM I am +40 HP. At 3,000 RPM I am about +45 ft/lb torque.

I'll post the dyno charts when I receive digital copies.

 

Damn our cars are slow...

 

That's what I was thinking... I've spent thousands on bolt-ons for 264 WHP. Gears and forced induction seem like money well spent on these. Or I could just buy a used Z06, WRX STI, etc...

But my G sure does look pretty and sound sweet! It's a quick, fun car (prob a 13.7 or so in the 1/4 mile?) but as it sits today, fast it ain't.

Still trying to set up the dyno tune appointment with the ARTs on my car as it was supposed to be done yesterday. I'm starting to really like the sound of them on the car by the way.