So I ordered an ARK exhaust and it should be here Wednesday. I have seen quite a few domestics with exhaust at stock height, particularly CTS-Vs and Chargers/300s.

Imports or Euro rides on the other hand; not so much. I have no desire to lower my sedan. I have sway bars on it and am extremely happy with my set up at stock height.

I know my exhaust won't be much of a performance upgrade, but I desired something for a louder, inoffensive tone that my VQ already puts out.

Anyone else rocking an exhaust without lowering your car and keeping the "4x4" look?

Share your thoughts..

 

I have the Ark and the cans hang low and they will occasionally scrape on a lowered car but you should be fine. Some people do complain about uneven tips so you may want to look out for it and adjust accordingly.

 

Nothing wrong w/ keeping your stock suspension, the ARK looks much better & sounds better so that's a couple "wins" right there, and like rks mentioned, should be able to keep it much cleaner than us dropped guys.

 

Thank you for your input gentlemen.

In all honesty, I would've jumped on a TopSpeed Y-back and paint it matte black, but I got such a good deal on the ARK I couldn't pass it up.

I really want a stockish look, but the car is too quiet for my liking. So ARK I go, hopefully it doesn't attract too much attention.

 

i have the topspeed (with the crappy cut tips, ugh) and i'm at stock x ride height with 19s.

Eh...it doesn't look bad, but it also doesn't look great. The cost/benefit with a drop on the x, though, is so off. I have an oem rwd rear sway on, so i'm not unhappy with the handling (relative to what the car is / how heavy it is,) but it's definitely riding at 4x4 height.

With winters here in the northeast, i'm very leery of a drop. Even 1" would make a big difference, visually, but with ~70k miles, it would be stupid to have the suspension out and not put in new shocks. Add in camber kits, and this quickly becomes a $2k to $3k proposition. Meh.

 

You could put BC coils on it for about $900 and just lower it to the point where you can still keep it in spec for toe & camber. If you DIY the install you'd be out of pocket about $1100 or less with the cost of alignment included.

 

ARK is probably one of the least stockish looking exhaust out there. If you want a stock looking exhaust, Invidia or FI would be your best choice.

 

Looks wise I agree, sound wise though, I dig it.

 

>You could put BC coils on it for about $900 and just lower it to the point where you can still keep it in spec for toe & camber. If you DIY the install you'd be out of pocket about $1100 or less with the cost of alignment included.



last thing i need to hear

Just installed my akebonos a few weeks ago, and I'm just waiting on my bumper to get painted to install the 2010 front. I think the next project is the 2010 nav swap.

My wife has been asking me quite often lately why I didn't just trade it in and get a new one.

What would be the fun in that?!

 

Unless you have the X, it's not really a 4x4 look. If the slammed look is your thing, then that's fine. But the stock rwd suspension is just fine. Here is a pic of when I had Tanabe on my car with stock suspension and 19in coupe wheels.

 

I guess I'll wait and see. According to ups it should arrive today.

 

Here is my "S" wheel gap with my winter 18"s:

 

everyone's suspension is different, I've seen some RWD at stock height look decent and some look terrible....a picture speaks a thousand words

 

I have the ARK but I am lowered, I would have probably painted the cans flat/matte black before I installed the exhaust if I were to do it again...

 

I don't know how I thought OP had an X, that was why I recommended BC coils since the choice is so limited for the AWD. Agreed about the RWD gap being more bearable, just a 2x4