So I ordered the Grip exhaust from Ark a week or so ago and decided I would do a review with some pics.
I have a 2011 G37 sedan sport 6mt.

Shipping box weight ~65 lbs.


Packaging was pretty good.


A mock up of the components in the box... I know some of the components are placed improperly. There was no label for which is left and right side of exhaust.



It came with all the bolts/washer/lock washer/nuts and gaskets.
2 of the 6 gaskets were a different size (smaller) to accomodate the different flange sizes for the middle pipe sections.


I noticed a few flaws in the welds. Seem to be only cosmetic. Looks like some pipe is slightly larger than others and they are welded together.
Overall most of the welds are very well done, they look like a role of dimes laid on its side and pushed over... Coins leaning on each other like dominoes.





The tips are beautiful. They were much larger than I expected, way larger than OEM tips.






There were some hiccups on install.
The gaskets that came with the exhaust did not fit with the OEM catalytic converters as well as the bolts. So I ended up using the OEM gasket and bolts. So I had left overs.

Also I had to remove the metal bracket from under the car because the Ark exhaust was touching the bracket and I didn't want them to rub and vibrate.


Some pics after install.



The left side is a little higher than the right by about 2 mm. I might go and put a washer in the rear hanger mount to lower it and even them out.


Overall a good looking and sounding exhaust. There is a slight hum when going 80mph on the freeway but its pretty quiet, almost not noticeable. On Cold start up its pretty loud and very deep sounding.

When the engine is warm at idle it sounds like it is stock. Dead silent.

 

looks great. no drone no rasp?

 

I get drone but there shouldn't be any rasp. To clarify I get drone on the highway when I accelerate but it is noticeable. The drone I hear seems to be coming from the cat area.

 

Thanks for the review RKS. I'm thinking about purchasing the Grip as well. So it's 2014 now, after extensive use, what's your overall opinion? Good, bad, reliable?

 

Great Exhaust yet it's heavier than Stock.

 

I had a shop install my ARK Grip. The guy was pleasantly surprised at how well it fit together. It's significantly heavier than the stock exhaust. Someday I'll weigh the OE parts.

I don't have any drone, as in resonance, but I'll say the mufflers accentuate the bass notes at lower rpm. Once you get to about 2,500 rpm, it starts sounding like you'd expect. Puttering around it doesn't sound like much but delay your shifts until 3,500 rpm and it sounds GOOD.

Cold start is a bit loud and bassy. If you're embarrassed by your squeaking cold Akebonos, you'll probably cringe at the cold start.

 

i installed my ark exhaust about 2 months ago.. fit well. i did it with hand tools. no complaints...