Ark exhaust install and impressions

[bumble bee]

Intresting forum!

 

[TEAM ARK]

Hey Guys!

We're glad to read all of these comments and we're happy you're all satisfied with our exhaust system!

With ANY and ALL catbacks you will experience drone. When you increase air flow, noise is one of the side affects. Noise can be deep, throaty, F1-ish, and unfortunately drone is part of that noise. We spend a lot of time trying different combinations of hemholtz canisters in various places to minimize that drone as much as possible without sacrificing air flow and sound. Drone will exist within an RPM range and we try to minimize that RPM range. If you start to add resonators or more restrictive mufflers the closer you're getting back to stock. From our in person experience with our competitors versions of this exhaust, we feel we have the least amount of drone to performance ratio.

Another option to reduce the affect of the drone is to add insulation. Insulation will vary from vehicle to vehicle so focusing on the exhaust is not always the issue. An aftermarket catback exhaust is made to increase the performance of a vehicle. Insulation's purpose is to keep outside noise on the outside. Just make sure you're attacking the problem from the right angle.

We will have the exhaust back in stock towards the end of August. Tomorrow is the last day to take advantage of our 30% off anniversary sale so get those pre-orders in while you can!

Thank you,

ARK Performance

 

[Ozstung]

Hey Guys!

We're glad to read all of these comments and we're happy you're all satisfied with our exhaust system!

With ANY and ALL catbacks you will experience drone. When you increase air flow, noise is one of the side affects. Noise can be deep, throaty, F1-ish, and unfortunately drone is part of that noise. We spend a lot of time trying different combinations of hemholtz canisters in various places to minimize that drone as much as possible without sacrificing air flow and sound. Drone will exist within an RPM range and we try to minimize that RPM range. If you start to add resonators or more restrictive mufflers the closer you're getting back to stock. From our in person experience with our competitors versions of this exhaust, we feel we have the least amount of drone to performance ratio.

Another option to reduce the affect of the drone is to add insulation. Insulation will vary from vehicle to vehicle so focusing on the exhaust is not always the issue. An aftermarket catback exhaust is made to increase the performance of a vehicle. Insulation's purpose is to keep outside noise on the outside. Just make sure you're attacking the problem from the right angle.

We will have the exhaust back in stock towards the end of August. Tomorrow is the last day to take advantage of our 30% off anniversary sale so get those pre-orders in while you can!

Thank you,

ARK Performance

Good information thank you. I've got an exhaust on order since earlish June the distributor here said it will be here shortly as you where expecting your delivery end of July.
Are existing orders on this shipment? Or has this shipment been pushed back to The end of August? So far I'm getting very little joy, my distributor can't tell me a lot. Orginally I was told early July.

 

[TEAM ARK]

Good information thank you. I've got an exhaust on order since earlish June the distributor here said it will be here shortly as you where expecting your delivery end of July.
Are existing orders on this shipment? Or has this shipment been pushed back to The end of August? So far I'm getting very little joy, my distributor can't tell me a lot. Orginally I was told early July.

We're glad you have a pre-order on the way from one of our dealers! It's not any dealers fault when it comes to the ETA. Even though we manufacturer all of our exhaust systems, it's hard to tell when the batch will be ready and shipping estimations can be hard as well. We're sorry about the delay but I know our dealers are doing everything possible to keep passing the information along. We're definitely looking at a shipment mid to late August.

Thank you!

ARK Performance

 

[Johnny]

Any news from Aus distributor and could you tell me who it is please. Thanks.

 

[Ozstung]

Any news from Aus distributor and could you tell me who it is please. Thanks.

Hi, from previous post you'll probably know mine has been on order since late May.
My distributor tells me Ark USA have received the Ark grip exhaust to suit Stinger now from Sth Korea. Mine was due to leave the states on Fri 01 September by airfreight so they told me in late August.

Going to expect a call 10 days later?

Distributor in Sydney: Garage 88, Eastern creek.

Melbourne: Import Monster.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Hi, from previous post you'll probably know mine has been on order since late May.
My distributor tells me Ark USA have received the Ark grip exhaust to suit Stinger now from Sth Korea. Mine was due to leave the states on Fri 01 September by airfreight so they told me in late August.

Going to expect a call 10 days later?

Distributor in Sydney: Garage 88, Eastern creek.

Melbourne: Import Monster.

Man that’s taken forever, I thought you would have already had it fitted by now, was looking forward to checking it out in a couple of weeks.

 

[Ozstung]

Man that’s taken forever, I thought you would have already had it fitted by now, was looking forward to checking it out in a couple of weeks.

Yeah I thought so too, could still be ready for fitting in the next couple of weeks. Ps forgot to give you a big "Funny" award for that funny quip about the ceramic grey navy car

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Yeah I thought so too, could still be ready for fitting in the next couple of weeks. Ps forgot to give you a big "Funny" award for that funny quip about the ceramic grey navy car

Hahaha, no problems, I’m liking the Varex X-Force system.

 

[Ozstung]

Hahaha, no problems, I’m liking the Varex X-Force system.

Yeah is not half bad, had a Facebook local guy from the same suburb as you drive up to Panthers for me to hear it a couple of months ago. if interested I might PM on facebook .

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Yeah is not half bad, had a Facebook local guy from the same suburb as you drive up to Panthers for me to hear it a couple of months ago. if interested I might PM on facebook .

That’s ok, was he happy with it, get him to join this forum....

 

[Ozstung]

That’s ok, was he happy with it, get him to join this forum....

Yes he was impressed and as its EVC he has full control on whether its on or off. This is via a key fob. He got it done by Tony's Mufflers.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Yes he was impressed and as its EVC he has full control on whether its on or off. This is via a key fob. He got it done by Tony's Mufflers.

Thanks I have been watching Tony’s Mufflers vids on youtube, it sounds good.
I’m a rookie with this, what’s EVC?
Also do you know if he gets any drone inside the car?
Do you know what he paid for this system?

 

[Ozstung]

Thanks I have been watching Tony’s Mufflers vids on youtube, it sounds good.
I’m a rookie with this, what’s EVC?
Also do you know if he gets any drone inside the car?
Do you know what he paid for this system?

I believe its Electronic Valve control, he told me Peter Warren Kia Tee'd it up for him when he bought the car. I'm not a 100% certain on what his price was but I visited Tony's and spoke with him and he quoted me $2800 fitted. I'm assuming as it doesn't have the Technolgy of the Ark or the Jun L1 as in resonators that there would be more drone than theirs? That's just an assumption. From memory as I got taken for a test drive there was drone at mid revs 1500-1800? Under WOT it did sound impressive though. The only reason I didn't go for it was I was told by others it was of Chinese construction and maybe the open/close valve might bind further down the track. I might add this was just hearsay so don't take it as gospel. Exhaust note: really good.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I believe its Electronic Valve control, he told me Peter Warren Kia Tee'd it up for him when he bought the car. I'm not a 100% certain on what his price was but I visited Tony's and spoke with him and he quoted me $2800 fitted. I'm assuming as it doesn't have the Technolgy of the Ark or the Jun L1 as in resonators that there would be more drone than theirs? That's just an assumption. From memory as I got taken for a test drive there was drone at mid revs 1500-1800? Under WOT it did sound impressive though. The only reason I didn't go for it was I was told by others it was of Chinese construction and maybe the open/close valve might bind further down the track. I might add this was just hearsay so don't take it as gospel. Exhaust note: really good.

Thanks for the explanation, I was quoted $2200 fitted from CHE for X-Force Cat back Bi-modal with remote key fob.

 

[Hawk853]

Just received my Ark cat back. I looked it over very closely. Very nice clean TIG welds for a production exhaust; nice and shiny, no undercut.

I expected for the price they would use stainless flanges; disappointing to find plated steel. I called Ark to voice my opinion on the matter. They claimed the plating to be nickel. If so, it’s a thin nickel over copper electro plate that’s pretty thin, evidenced where some is scratched off on one of the flange faces. Probably a little scratch from the jig they use. I’m used to seeing a pass on the inside of a flange too. Good thing is it will be easy to remove if necessary.

The descriptions all say stainless construction and cnc machined flanges. Misleading, they should point out the flange material. It was also claimed on the phone that The flanges are 12mm steel, they’re under 9mm thick.

It’s not a big deal, but I received no parts inventory or instructions in the box and it appeared to have been opened already.
I found a decent YouTube that clued me into removing the small cross members under the exhaust.

All in all, it’s a nice looking exhaust. I’m sure I’ll be happy when it’s on and if worse comes to worst with the steel flanges, I’ll fit some v-bands and flex couplings.

 

[Ozstung]

Just received my Ark cat back. I looked it over very closely. Very nice clean TIG welds for a production exhaust; nice and shiny, no undercut.

I expected for the price they would use stainless flanges; disappointing to find plated steel. I called Ark to voice my opinion on the matter. They claimed the plating to be nickel. If so, it’s a thin nickel over copper electro plate that’s pretty thin, evidenced where some is scratched off on one of the flange faces. Probably a little scratch from the jig they use. I’m used to seeing a pass on the inside of a flange too. Good thing is it will be easy to remove if necessary.
View attachment 35516
The descriptions all say stainless construction and cnc machined flanges. Misleading, they should point out the flange material. It was also claimed on the phone that The flanges are 12mm steel, they’re under 9mm thick.View attachment 35515

It’s not a big deal, but I received no parts inventory or instructions in the box and it appeared to have been opened already.
I found a decent YouTube that clued me into removing the small cross members under the exhaust.

All in all, it’s a nice looking exhaust. I’m sure I’ll be happy when it’s on and if worse comes to worst with the steel flanges, I’ll fit some v-bands and flex couplings.

Thanks for the review to date. Please let us know your thoughts and views on the sound etc once you've installed it. My Ark grip has been on 18 months, It would be interesting to hear your interpretation.

 

[Hawk853]

Thanks for the review to date. Please let us know your thoughts and views on the sound etc once you've installed it. My Ark grip has been on 18 months, It would be interesting to hear your interpretation.

I’ve been driving around a few weeks with the Ark cat-back installed. It took a couple days to mellow out to what it is now. Just like a lot of people have commented, while the engine is under load in a tall gear (comfort mode) the drone and in-cabin vibration build, but that’s the life we’ve chosen putting on an exhaust like this.
It’s a nice sounding exhaust, not raspy, a little gurgle when the throttle closes; at its best on WOT runs.
It sounds best shifting manually or in sport mode when your just cruising around. I only use comfort mode on the highway now.

My biggest beefs are the mild steel flanges and the exhaust exits that don’t center in the exhaust tips.

 

[BrandonFYIA]

Anyone want to weigh in with a long term review?

 

[Hawk853]

Anyone want to weigh in with a long term review?

Same feelings as above. It’s been over a year now. The exhaust still looks good after two winters. Lots of compliments on how it sounds to others, even the V8 crowd. I’m happy with my purchase.

My major complaint is the tip issue. I’d have to fabricate and weld to center the exits. Not sure I hate the stock tips enough for all that.

I still need to meet up with @GregV to do the with/without mid pipe comparison.