Just received the new Ark Type 2 Grip True Dual exhaust
 

Well after over 2 months and $1800 later I finally have my exhaust. I believe I'm the first one to have it installed unless someone can correct me. As soon as I get home I'll post up my initial impressions, stay tuned!

Very curious! Post some videos if you get a chance.

Well let me start off by saying this was one hell of a buying experience and let's leave it at that
:tup: For Eric at Driveline who always kept me up to date on what was going on. BTW the only other mod I had on the car was berk test pipes which are garbage IMO but more on that later on.

Install:
We were at my friends shop in which he has a lift so it made things a lot easier. We started at 10pm and finished at 11pm from the time we loosened the first bolt on the stock exhaust until the last bolt on the Ark exhaust was tightened. The install was pretty straight forward and the build quality was very good IMO. I have to readjust some of the bolts since the driver side tip was sticking out more than the other but I believe that was due to our fault installing at such a fast pace. There were no clearance issues with the center brace like the Stillen exhaust. The exhaust comes in 4 pieces with all new hardware and gaskets.

Looks:
I've never been a fan of the burnt tips but I must say they look good. The exhaust does hang a little lower than the stock one but not by much. It looks great looking at it from the rear.

Sound:
Well since sound is relative I'll give you my opinion.
Good
It is loud and deep! Like V8 deep. The gurgle on deceleration is awesome. WOT sounds like a it just wants to eat you alive. I scared a couple of people just cruising by and downshifting with SRM lol!

Bad
It does have a slight drone on at certain throttle positions. I would like to say from 25% to 45% throttle is a drone spot. Right now I'm loving the exhaust but I am a little leery if I'm going to feel the same way in a couple of months because of the loudness.

Ugly
Well for those of you that already know the Berk test pipes have a rasp because they are non-resonated (thanks for the explanation DannyGT). Well with the exhaust the raspiness is amplified greatly and sounds almost like a squeal on decel. I'm going to promptly order a set of RESONATED GTM test pipes. Anyone who is replacing their cat please do yourself a favor and get HFC or resonated test pipes.

Price
Well the cost of the exhaust is $1130 but I spent over $600 to overnight it due to time constraints because of Ark's delay and poor planning.

Weight
I didn't weigh the exhaust but once I get the GTM test pipes in, I'll unbolt the exhaust and weigh it. Just to give you an idea however the Y pipe is heavier due to it being a true dual exhaust.

Power
Well I wasn't born with a butt dyno like some of you on here but the car does feel a lot smoother and more responsive. Once I get back from my business trip, I'll hit a dyno.

Hope this helps some of you that are looking into buying an exhaust in the near future. If you have any further questions please ask away. I'll try to upload some pics tonight and some video when i get back. Thanks! :tiphat:

Glad you got your exhaust. Looks like the right tip needs to move further to the right.

Just for anyone thinking HFCs will be rasp-free...they're not. They make the decel hiss much more noticeable as well. I don't know if resonation will solve it either. We just live with the hiss in exchange for the gains and great other sounds. That's what I've come to realize.

How about some videos!!!!

$600 to overnight! Holy crap!

looks good, but i agree it looks like both tips are positioned towards the center of the bumper cutout.

so even with the extra parallel piping it still has drone? I thougt that was suppose to be eliminated with those extra piping. But it does look good, need to post a sound clip for us.

man you must've been desperate for the exhaust to pay basically 1.5x the exhaust for overnighting fees. not quite clear on how ARK played into that in terms of your schedule/time constraint and their schedule delivery date. the way you write it, it's almost as if ARK should've been willing to help you with the shipping because of their delays...but maybe i read too much into it.

like spearfish said, hope those tips got adjusted lol :tup: and get used to the decel hiss...when i had my FI exhaust i got used to it pretty quick haha

now then, VIDS please!!!!

damn...drone even with those extra canisters? 25-45% throttle is where i'm at 90% of the time too.

Well as for shipping I will tell you exactly what would happened.

First promised dat was Dec 28
2nd Jan 15
3rd Jan 28
4th Feb 5
5th Feb 10
6th Feb 15
Finally shipped On Feb 17
Part of the reason I went for this exhaust is because i thought the wait time wouldn't be as long as the F.I. exhaust. I was very mistaken. I have a very hectic schedule and i was planning to have the exhaust installed before I left on my trip. If i didn't overnight it the exhaust would just be returned to sender because FedEx stated that they would not hold the package until I got back. Needless to say I had no choice. The vendor, Eric at Driveline, was great but dealing with however Ark themselves I will never do again. They gave unrealistic ship dates and that is what upset me the most.

As for the fitment we need to adjust it a bit because we rushed the install since we were on a time hack. I will definitely take vids and more data once I get back. The drone itself isn't that bad in my opinion. I will have our local members chime in and give their thoughts. Thanks for the comments guys, keep them coming.

No friends to accept a Fedex delivery? damn! $600 is 2/3 the cost of the Berk exhaust..........:icon14: In for updates on the vids!!!

F**KKKK!
I fell asleep waiting for you to text me!
DAMN IT!
I wanted to be there to witness the greatness!
:<
Glad you like it!

Damn. I didnt even get a tracking number yet. Ive waited this long. As long as it gets here by April I'm good. {rolling eyes!}

First off, We would like to apologize for the shipping dates. To coordinate the g37. 370z, and Genesis system from Korea wasn't easy and we still didnt get all the shipments yet. However, we will do a better job to keep the community updated with dates and such.

We did some research on the Hissing noise. We are testing out some solutions to this. For one, let me just say that the exhaust by itself does not make this noise. If you ever put your oem cat back on you will be able to hear its true tone.

we believe that the sound is generated from the flanges that meet at the HFC and headers. The sizes of these two pipes are different and by looking at some HFC's they do not taper down, but instead create a step between the two piping sizes.

Note: TONYBPD, tracking # will be in mailbox by this afternoon.

Subscribing for vids. :tup:

Team Ark,

Can you tell me what the dimensions are of the output on the stock header? I assume about 52mm OD. Thanks.

Will Ark also be producing HFC/Headers?
If not, which companies have you been testing with? :confused:

exhaust does look great, but it does look like there is a fitment issue with both of the tips. They seem to both be inward to much no?

Don't forget I'm looking from the bottom up and from an angle. It's not as bad as it looks. I'll get more detailed pics when I get back to NJ.

I would like to *think* I'm a pro now since I have been down this road and hacked my exhaust to death just to try and eliminate that sound.

There only seems to be a couple of ways of eliminating that rasp...From some old sources I have heard from in G37's etc etc - going 'true' dual seems to stop the rasp. But of course, we all know it makes less power.

The other way that seems to work is when you place resonators before the H/X setup - think Invidia Gemini - which is where I have verified the dreaded sound is at its worse. I was planning on adding some resonators at that spot but I haven’t done anything because I wanted to wait for a SC/TT kit so I can make the needed changes to the exhaust at that point.

Additionally - I want to point out that the GTM Res test pipes I have definitely killed alot of the rasp but it’s still there for a brief second around 2500rpms. Instead of hearing it from 2-4kish and all throughout decel it only quickly 'pings' around 2500 and quickly goes away and almost zero on deceleration. So, I was happy with the improvement but I've always been bugged by it.

^ I have Invidia Gemini and GTM test pipes, and it still drones =[

Trese, we aren't talking about the drone. We are talking about the raspiness which is what I hate the most. I know on S2000's which I had before Invidias were always the worst to drone. Do you have raspiness with your setup?

:iagree: Definitely the expert :D

This is what every exhaust is to look like. Slightly angled.

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/t...DSC_0038-2.jpg

We had all the 370z exhausts test fitted on to our test car and placed on a Jig to confirm that it is fitted the way its suppose to. Our flanged is bolted down and aligned perfectly.

Alex

Yup, we're not talking about the drone. We are talking about a metallic rattle/rasp/hiss you hear mainly in the 2-4k area and on deceleration during those rpms as well.

Do you have a new Invidia exhaust? I know the first one they released for the 370z was horrible but this new gemini with big resonators before the X and seperate mufflers for each exhaust was supposed to be much better.

Yeah, I have raspiness with my setup. The metallic hiss/rattle mostly happens on acceleration though and not really decel. The sound is reallly bad during the first several minutes of driving after start up, then it dies down a bit after it gets warmed up, but you can still hear it sometimes. Some exhausts just arent meant to be mated with TPs or HFCs I guess.

Edit: My setup is with the new Invidia Gemini btw.

the flanges look like they would be the first to scrape. that could be bad

Dont think the flanges are the problem. Even people with aftermarket headers are getting the hissing.

I kinda like the hiss, it, in combination with the G3's make a sweet combo, sounds like an angry cat, cats are scary.
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFi...346/568855.jpg

:facepalm:

:facepalm::facepalm:

:icon18:

lol...
It's okay Tony, you're not the only one...

Check your box.

Thanks again for all of the support David. It been a pleasure helping you out. If there is anything more you need, please let me know.

For anyone else interested in purchasing this exhaust, we have them in stock and on sale for $1199.99. You can make the purchase online at:

Exhausts - DriveLine Motoring - Your JDM Performance Specialists
http://www.the370z.com/group-buys/11...l-exhaust.html

Great exhaust, Alex and Ted at ARK know what they are doing.

For those interested, we have 1 left in stock :)

I still need to dyno mine.

Pot up the results when you do :)