Mike, you already have an exhaust system which looks pretty nice.
Why not change the HFCs to test pipes or even long tubes, like Rochester said?

 

Agreed. Maybe he can keep his Berks, and his Invidia mid-pipes, but weld on a Meisterschaft axel-back?


AFAIK, his current exhaust won't match up to long-tube headers. You either buy a full set that fits, or go custom from header-back. Also, living with a CEL 24/7 gets old real fast, unless he spoofs the ECU with an O2 Simulator, and IDK where that tech is for the G37. Lastly, aftermarket cats still look like cats, but long-tube headers not so much. Meaning, if NJ is a hardazz about visual inspections, he would need a real good relationship with a shop.

But yeah, long-tube headers and a tune would be sweet. Loud as hell, too.

 

That's exactly the way I'm thinking FI seems like a safe bet but then it'd be pretty cool to stand out from the crowd which I am a little known for. Idk though decisions...



While Ark doesnt sound too bad at all I'm not really interested in Ark, sits low is one as well as few other reasons I can't remember now.. And I already do have an exhaust but its no longer enough for me as it is one of the quieter aftermarket exhausts... Screw LTH. I'm interested in a new exhaust only haha

 

I've read comments about those fugly, oversized tips hitting, but not about the entire cat-back hanging lower than OEM. It's only 1/4" wider, Mike.

Since this is the cat-back I've dialed into for a while now, I'm very interested in what these few other reasons are. But if it's something only in your head, then I'm calling BS.

 

My driveway has a pretty serious pitch to it, dropping down to the road from the sidewalk. It's a wide, double-driveway that I share with my immediate neighbor, with our houses facing one another on both sides. The neighborhood was built in the 1920's, and with that come a lot of old design considerations. It's kind of eclectic.

The grade is significant but reasonable going down to the sidewalk, and the sidewalk itself is a little plateau of level cement. But the six foot apron from the sidewalk to the road is severe. Only trucks and SUV's can go straight in and out. Normal cars have to come at it from an angle. And now that my car is lowered, I have to come at it at the most severe angle possible. It's a heck of a dance. If I hit the hump too slow, one corner of the back end gets air and the TC has a hard time getting traction. And if I hit the hump too fast, then I bottom out the front air dam. And quite frankly, I'm worried about winter.

So this weekend, I went through a couple bags of cold-patch, and raised the joint between the road and the apron. Essentially flattening out that angle with a 6" patch of pavement. And now the car makes it up the driveway normal as can be. Can't believe how much of a difference that tiny change actually makes. It's like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders when driving my car.

(Phew!)

DOMO

 

The ARK most definitely sits much lower than OEM. It won't be too much of a problem for you if your car isn't lowered much. But for those who have their car lowered a substantial amount then the ARK will look like this eventually.

 

^^^THAT^^^ would drive me bat ****

ARK with OEM cats?

 

Holy ****. That's an unhappy photo right there.

Are you sure that problem is specific to ARK's design? Seems to me any 2.5" exhaust on a slammed G would be a candidate for speed-bump scraping.

 

there you go. Tony answered the question for you. thats one of the reasons I wouldn't get Ark because I've seen a bit too many of photos like that, also AFAIK they don't have rolled tips or anything like that , just single wall burnt tips...

 

He showed a picture of a scraped-up flex section. IDK how it is you've seen a bit too many of photos like that, while this is the first one I've seen. But perhaps you're much more thorough in research than I am. Could be, Mike. I'm getting forgetful in my old age.

The tips are hideous. No argument. Step One would be to cut them off and weld on something less ricey.

 

I've never seen THAT much damage before. I'm thinking that I would be trying to figure out a way to keep this from happening again AFTER replacing that poor abused Y-pipe.

 

It wasn't how it looked so much as the fact that the flex pipes broke and were leaking. The fluttering noise while accelerating drove me crazy!

And yes OEM cats, I never replaced them because my end goal has always been to add more power than just regular bolt ons.

You can see that part the cat shields are scraped too, so any exhaust probably have gotten scraped up. But the flex pipes on the ARK exhaust do sit quite low. I got the flex pipes replaced at a local muffler shop and they were able to adjust a little so the new ones don't scrape as much.

My fender arches were 24.5" at the time this damage occured; when I got my CS kit I raised the car to 25.5" and it isn't as bad now. But, the flex pipes still scrape on really large inclines at times. I had to lower the mufflers to fit the diffuser so the tips/mufflers scrape before the flex pipes do now.

At the end of the day you could say that this is self inflicted because of the chosen ride height, so I have learned to deal with it.

I talked to Tony at Motordyne and he assured me that their system leaves some room for adjustment to prevent this from happening (as much?).
I may consider getting that system at the end of the year, or get a custom 3" made to go along with the other planned upgrades..

 

Forced induction, baby! I wish I had the cheddar to make it happen on my car.

 

Thanks for all the details, Tony.

 

On a side note, I'm really liking the new headlight/shroud!