Finally Got my exhaust! HKS Hi-Power Ti Exhaust (many Pics, Video inside AK370Z)
 

:woot: Finally after a long year, I got my exhaust. I was getting tired of stock exhaust sound. I put on more than 19,000 miles on stock exhaust :eek: . It was time for something new :tup:

As some knows, I wanted a exhaust that's not to loud but still has the nice aftermarket sound to it. I wanted to carry conversation with my passenger without raising my voice. My other criteria for aftermarket exhaust were

a. Burnt Titanium tips (preferably adjustable)
b. Good ground clearance (living in East Coast sucks)
c. V exhaust design (kinda like F.I. or HKS Hi Power where you can see the exhaust coming out like "V" instead of straight like other designs).
d. Exhaust that not only sounds good, but looks good too.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...370z/stock.png
Surprisingly, this HKS Hi Power Ti exhaust has all these features. It has adjustable burnt Titanium tips and unique design. I also liked the way it sounded. Also, it has much better ground clearance than similarly designed exhausts. Thanks to all existing HKS Hi Power owners that helped me out with their video and pm reply (video: Raziman, review: ilive2win, JB-370z and few others that I can't recall at the moment.)

Please note, I'm not 100% right now. 4 of my wisdom teeth were removed on Tuesday. I'm going to post some pictures and some videos now. This is just to give you guys an idea how the exhaust is. Later this week (or next week), I'll have a better videos (or a single put together video with everything) Also, best possible videos as I was shooting the videos in school zone :ugh:.


Packaging and Shipping:
Thanks to AJ (from ECS) for quick shipping. I ordered on Monday and on Wed it was here. Packaging was top notch from HKS. I think the Exhaust was put inside the box first and situated securely. Then, plastic bags were filled with foam with contour of the exhaust

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03598.jpg
That's a huge box. Even bigger than me!

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03635.jpg
Very well packaged. I guess I would pack well too if I ship my product across the WORLD! ;)

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03636.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03639.jpg

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

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03655.jpg



Dyno Dilemma
So after going to various different shops in my area, I find out that there's no dyno shop around. The closest one is 40 miles away and it's a Mustang turning shop (and the dyno in the backyard :ugh:). I really wanted to go to Jtune Performance in DE (also a sponsor here on the forum) but my exhaust didn't fit inside the car properly to go on a 100 mile trip :(. Basically this shop does ONLY Mustang stuff. When I arrived I saw many 5.0 in the lot.

During our Dyno, for some weird reason, the tach bounced up back and forth after 6500 and dyno had a lot of "noise" in the graph(as per operator). I don't know what these means. I simply wanted to get a Dyno and I was okay with whatever. So, here's the Dyno documents. I think something went wrong. I got same data (HP/TQ) before and after the install! :wtf: Oh well, time for a different shop next time :eekdance:. They are not used to dynoing these kind of cars anyway. The shop owner (Craig) did try his best but he couldn't figure out why the tach bounces back and forth after 6500 RPM.

I'll share some pictures of the Dyno shop here:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03670.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03668.jpg
Z cooling down before the Dyno. It was 90 degrees out! :eek:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03756.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03676.jpg
No Joke, that's 650 RWHP 'stang!

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03678.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03757.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03685.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Dyno2370z.png

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Dyno1370z.png

Getting it installed:
Simply drove to the nearest exhaust shop and dropped my Z there. Then put the exhaust in dads car and dropped that off too. My old stock exhaust was so rusted around the bolts, they had to cut it! :(. Maybe that's because of all the snow driving last winter? Oh well, time to move on.

Installation was very straight forward. It didn't took the tech long time at all. Very easy to instructions.



Pictures (Out of the box + outside + installation)

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03696.jpg
Beautifully designed.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03697.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03699.jpg
Newly updated midpipe from HKS. No rubbing issues. :tup:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03700.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03701.jpg
Close up

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03704.jpg
/\ Burnt Titanium - Perfectly DONE! :drool:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03725.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03727.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03728.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03733.jpg
I like how the color matches :tup: That's one of the reason I like burnt Ti on Monterey Blue. I have already gotten compliments on how the exhaust matches with the car.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03734.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03738.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03740.jpg
:tup:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03748.jpg
Came home and adjusted the tips so that they are even more flushed! :eek:

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03757.jpg



Sound Clip Comparison:
I absolutely love the sound. It's quiet when you're just cruising or in 5th or 6th gear. But it comes back alive as soon as you downshift. It just screams all the way to the redline without any rasp. Also, it'll probably get even more mellow after burn in. I'm very satisfied. :tup:


Revving (to 5K first then Redline)




On the dyno run



Revving then Take off



Highway Cruising at 72 MPH (very quiet)



Quick acceleration (rolling)



Cold Start



Acceleration Inside noise


Overall, I am very happy. I have waited way too long for this. I apologize if I posted too many pictures but I'm just excited. It's sounds exotic. Exactly what I wanted. I'll update this thread with new videos (when exhaust is burned in, fly by etc). This is me right now = :happydance:

Btw, they sent me this cool (raised) decal with the exhaust. Where should I put it?
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...z/DSC03719.jpg

Wow about time you mod your z.

Very nice! Yeah, I agree that the tip match nicely with the MB. :tup: Congrats!!

WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!!!











































Congrats, AK! :driving:

haha.....hey man, he's too busy maintaining this site. :tup:

AK, how about you provide us with a straight shot of the setup from there rear, so we can get a good look at that bad boy.

i have the same exhaust! absolutely love it! I put the decal on the plate that's welded on the midpipe in front of the diff. You can see it in the picture with the rear swaybar

No excuse!

excellent thread AK, very informative and interesting, sounds great. Just curious, did you ever do a baseline dyno to see how much you gained?

performance wise, I really hope this exhaust is on par with F.I ones. Dynos!

Congrats AK! nice license plate video editing skills! :p It looks and sounds fantastic and the tips look huge!

O m g :d

Is that the old MRC building?

nice choice, I bought HKS hi power exhaust for my g37 coupe. but when i was installing it.. there was issue with fitting it with 4WAS.. I didnt want to adjust it so i just send it back and got full refund.. but HKS was my first choice!!

Congrats Ak! it sounds awesome... I'm very happy for you, enjoy :hello: