customer review: Ark DT-S exhaust
 

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...xxx/arkdts.jpg
Hey guys, just wanted to do a quick review for the new Ark DT-S exhaust system. For those who haven't heard, this exhaust was just released a couple weeks ago. As you can see from the pictures, craftsmanship is top notch. Installation was easy... I was able to do most of the install by myself with the car being on jack stands in my driveway. The only part I needed help on was the rear muffler part as it is pretty heavy. No fitment issues whatsoever. Everything lined up like its supposed to with no adjustments needed. Install time was about 2 hours. If you have this done at a shop with a lift, can easily be done in 30minutes to an hour.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...x/DSC_1674.jpg
The burnt tips look awesome. They are adjustable as well.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ftxxx/newx.jpg
One reason why I wanted this exhaust was because of the ground clearance. As of right now, I'm lowered with Tein springs and as you can see, this is a lowered car friendly exhaust. I have BC coilovers which I plan on installing asap and have no worries about scrapping or clearance issues.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...xxx/newexh.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...txxx/reson.jpg
Ok,driving impressions... A little on the quite side. It does have a very deep tone to it, however it is not much louder than my stock Nismo exhaust. So I decided to cut out the resonators today. Wow, huge difference. Startup, idle, normal driving is mostly the same, but when you open it up it really comes alive! Not annoying or obnoxious loud, very exotic, deep sounding. No drone either which is always nice. Don't get me wrong, even with the resonators installed it sounded really good. Its just that I'm still running with stock cats and was wanting an exhaust on the louder side. Plus, this exhaust is about as heavy as stock, so by cutting out the resonators I was able to shed around 10lbs. Now most of the weight on this is in the rear, which works out perfectly since I wanted to add some weight in the back end anyways. I do feel extra power judging by the butt dyno. I had an Agency Power CBE installed before this one, which is true dual without a X or H pipe, so I felt like I lost some tq in the lower range with that setup. With this new exhaust having a X pipe configuration, I can definitely feel that I gained that tq back and then some. I'm going to get a tune after I install my HFC's here in the next couple weeks so I should have some dyno results. Sorry, I don't have a baseline dyno nor do I have my stock exhaust with me, so maybe I can do a comparison with this vs my AP cbe and see if I really did gain anything.
All in all, I'm happy about the purchase.

I wasn't able to get a video of the exhaust prior of the resonator removal.

Nice pictures and review! I've been looking forward to seeing this exhaust installed for so many months.

As I used to put it so eloquently in the past; It sounds dope.

Monstrous sound ;)

Yeah it sounds great:tup:. And this is still with the stock cats so I can't imagine how its going to sound once I install HFC's or LTH's. I understand I may get some hiss due to the fact I removed the resonators, but I'll deal with it. I can always weld those back in if need be.

Thanks for the pics, video, and review.
Mine is supposed to arrive in a few days. I can't wait!!
:eekdance:

Awesome :tup:. Are you still running with stock cats? Let us know how you like it once you get that bad boy installed!

That sounds great! Congrats.

:eek::eek::eek: oh my lord..that really surprised me man, if that's so then what are you waiting for? go get you HFC/LTH :tup:

Lol well I have some HFC's that I haven't installed yet because I'm not sure if i want to go LTH's instead. I'm just hoping I'm not going to get rasp due to the fact I removed the resonators.

sounds great! Maybe you should have waited till you installed the HFCs to see how your car was gonna sound? I have a feeling you will get rasp with HFCs
I like your video btw! :tup:

+1. If you were looking for more volume, you should have went with some HFC's or TP's. Nonetheless, it sounds very clean.

Thanks for the review! Sounds great :tup::tup:

I'm looking forward to trying out this exhaust real soon. MY F.I. setup has been great, but I'm lowered...and going even lower, so it's time to try a different CBE. Can't wait!

Any issues with your F.I. setup? I'm looking at them for my setup. It will probably be the only mod I make as this is my daily driver for now. :tup:

I really like the F.I. exhaust and was considering it. However I want to go lower with my Z so I needed a setup that wasnt going to scrape on every imperfection in the road. This DT-S is great for lowered cars.