How far is Akuma from you, AK? I'm sure if you told them you run the largest 370Z community they might give you a deal on a few dyno runs. :tup:

Looks and sounds good! Now put some Eibachs on that bad boy! :tiphat:

Actually what happened was HKS made the initial prototype and sent it to Japan. Japan made the jig and sent a production sample to HKS USA to approve (this is how all systems are made). HKS gave them the go ahead for production because the sample was an exact match. In an unusual mistake HKS Japan welded the brace between the sub resonators upsidedown on the first production run causing it to touch the drive shaft I think.

Here is a pic I took from the link AK provided on the first member to have an issue (bad):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2win/003-2.jpg

Here is a pic of AK's exhaust (good):
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03727.jpg

You can see how it was inverted.

Anyway I was told when I was there for the Nismo test fit that that first batch was resolved a long time ago and all systems shipping have the properly aligned brace.

that Super Sound Master exhaust sounds loud

Damn that exhaust is sick!

Thanks, AK! I've been contemplating on getting the HKS exhaust. Looks like I'm going for it!

Sounds great and looks totally awesome. Congrats AK.

Nice review, Is it just me or does your exhaust sound totally different in the videos comepared to ilive2win. Was his with the HFCs installeD?

bought it today :tup:

received it yesterday and had it installed today :D... sick sick sick im in love.. HFC next :D

Wow, that's a very well designed exhaust and the sound is tuned just right. Looks like everyone beat me to telling you "it's about time." :)

Anyone have an opinion on HKS VS ARK GRIP. They look very similar in design. $1,700 VS $1,200 price tag.

HKS :tup:

I was going for ARK at first but i end up with HKS....Look similar but different qulity and HKS is way more shinny. U can c the diffence very easy.

I don't think it does (I'm still on stock airbox and stock cat) but if I rev it (stand still) to the red real quick, I hear popping noise. :tup:

haha.. I know. I gotta stop by. I know he is Cobb Accessport dealer. He did a GREAT job on Daishi's car. I think I'm strongly thinking about COBB. Are you getting tuned as well? :excited:

Thanks. Living in East Coast suck :(. I would love to put some lowering springs on but I'll scrape everywhere (not that I don't do that now on stock springs :shakes head:).

Are you saying mine sounds more exotic? :icon17: Just kidding. It's probably camera. I used GoPRO HD where Lou uses camcorder (I think)

:woot: That's awesome man! :tup:

dude, wait till you put on some miles. It gets even more exotic :drool:. :tup:

Thanks man. Yeah was way overdue and I'm very happy with the product.

:iagree: It's much more cleaner. Quality and sound is much better (at least judging by the sound, HKS is much more fuller/slightly louder). Check out one of member's ARK thread: http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaus...ll-review.html . Also, ARK Burnt tips aren't titanium and don't have the finish quality of the HKS (also non adjustable). IIRC, ARK is Korean manufacturer where HKS is pure JDM. I have been HKS fan.
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...HKS-VS-ARK.jpg

I put on few more hundreds on miles on the exhaust. Sound is getting better as the exhaust burning in. It's slightly quieter now during cruising but becomes alive with an exotic sound the second you step on it! :driving:

Now, with any CBE (cat back exhaust), you lose a little low end tq. This is normal with any CBE, intake, HFC, headers etc. I felt that I lost some as well. So, I'm thinking about looking into COBB Accessport. I have only heard great things. Our member Red370 gaining quite some low end tq he lost from his I/E/H mods. Also last week Daishi gained some amazing low end numbers via COBB . I'm still researching what I want to do (and reading up on COBB). I can't do HFC since the sound is perfect right now. Best of both world. I am thinking about G3 but not quite sure (maybe G3+exhaust then tune?).

Thanks for the detailed review AK! Ive been on the fence lately about which exhaust to go with. HKS it is :tup:.

welcome to the HKS exhaust club..

HKS is probably my favorite JDM tuner.. besides NISMO but im a little mad at them right now... so yeah im team HKS for now

id put that HKS emblem on the opposite side of the 370z logo on the rear... man i didnt get one of those :(



oh and not sure if the 370z version will do this , it might just be the pretzel bends in the GTR ( and im going to try to make this sound the least homo erotic as possible) but when it gets hot the tips extend out and extra inch or so.... then when it cools down they go back to normal

the first pic is regular 2nd is heated up

Lol yes as in yours sounds so much better than his. When I heard his I was like Meh, but after your videos' I kinda want one lol.

Yeah after you put a few 1000 miles on it, the sound becomes deeper and more even tone. The only thing I hate about the VQ37 is the d@m hiss I get in low rpm, what do we call this agian??? The exhaust gets tons of fingers pointed at it on the road, ecspecialy buy other modded cars.
AK make sure you buy some stainless steal cleaner to keep this thing looking 100% dont use anything else to clean it or you could have chemical burns, ouch.

Thanks Matt. I didn't even knew you were running HKS until last night, when I saw your sig.

:ugh2: hahaha :rofl2: That's what she said! The tips looks beautiful even on Black color too.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...0Z_com/ii2.jpg

I actually adjusted them kinda more flush than usual so that when they heat up and extend, they still look great!

Thanks. He now has HFC so I'm curious to hear how it sounds now :excited:

I do have a metal polisher but I will look for Stainless Steel Cleaner/polisher. I think I exactly know what you want me to buy ;)

For anyone who cares, here's a cold start and small acceleration (inside) video. I had to slow down in the 2nd video because I caught up to the car in front of me ;) (VDC on BTW :ugh: )


Cold Start



Acceleration Inside noise



Chassis Cam .. lol (okay, I was bored):icon17:

woot! my pic of matt's car lol

looks good AK!!

im not a professional photographer but this pics I took of my car came out pretty nice.. :D.. The last one I took with my phone with the HKS CBE installed.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2599383_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...7_111954_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1882064_n.jpg

Hopefully if it doesn't rain ill be able to go to this event on sunday.. and take better pics

I don't know I think the tips don't look that nice when you look at them straight from the back like the pic above. Might just be me though.

Floor is uneven.. It may look a little weird.. But defo looks awesome and sounds sexy.. I'm a satisfied costumer :)

Uhoh.. AK.. License plate danger in your chassis cam!! ;) all that work to hide'em in your other vid got spoiled!

I finally received my exhaust. Unfortunately, I am missing one or more of the gasket plates! Mine only came with three. How important are these?

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03650.jpg

Gaskets?
Every muffler shops 'should' have these gaskets laying around in their shops.
And yes, you need it in order to prevent exhaust leaks..

Just call HKS and have them send you one over.

Someone's havin a lil too much fun with their GoPro cam...hehe. Aren't you afraid that you might ruin it somehow by hitting some road debris?

:iagree: They are pretty quick at replying emails. I emailed them with a question and they got back to me within 2 hours. Do you want the email address?

lol.. this camera is soo much fun! I guess this would be even crazier! :icon17: nah, camera is pretty well built :tup:

you gotta get stillen gen 3 intakes and berk hfcs!
then it'll be perfected!

Lets just say UPS and Fedex both were at my home today with Z goodies. ;)

Thanks, AK. I shot them an email earlier. Hoping for a response tomorrow.

Looking forward to finding out what new goodies you have for your Z!

Thank you AK. This is inspiring. What is the ground clearance from the ground to the lowest point of the exhaust?

I'll chime in and say I've had 0 scrapes on the piping or tips with mine and I've gone over several types of drive ways and speed bumps. It tucks pretty good. Although I'm not as low as you it's probably one of the better options. I've heard others with lowered cars say they had good results too.

^ Thank you. That's really a good information. :tup:

My car is stock height (but I think your is lowered) but if you like, I can still measure it for you tomorrow :tup:

When I was looking for exhaust, muffler with a good ground clearance was on of the important factor (posted in post 1). This HKS has a slightly better ground clearance than similarly designed exhaust systems (in my honest opinion)


Similar exhaust for 370Z
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...m/IMG_5100.jpg


HKS Hi Power Dual Ti Exhaust (pic courtesy ilive2win)
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s..._com/006-2.jpg

Thanks AK. FI will definitely give me a problem. HKS will probably be the best choice so far.

Im torn between a HKS System or the Tanabe Y pipe and axle back. Idk Always loved Tanabe up till now mebe ill have to rethink this a bit. Any Dyno sheets after or did i miss it?

It's posted in post 1 (pic 13th and 14th). He told me that my revs were bouncing at 6500 RPM and won't go forward. So, there was probably a glitch with his system or something else. According to him (upto the same rpm), there's wasn't any loss or gain (not sure how accurate is that).