I originally had Berk HFC and then installed Ark exhaust on Monday. Last night, I went and compare it with my friend's Berk HFC + HKS. We did about 2.5 hours testing and comparison. Today, I went to take off the Berk HFC. Below is what we found and would like to share to you guys.

PERFORMANCE (WITH HFC)
Both had great throttle and consistent flow at high RPM. But, Ark seems to have slight better (not very noticable) throttle and flow. However, at 1.8~2K RPM, we feel the Ark loses more torque than HKS. Ark also seems to take a little longer to rev up over 3K. However, the difference is very minimal and very hard to tell.

PERFORMANCE (WITHOUT HFC)
My friend did not take off his HFC so there's no comparison between the Ark and HKS. But what I find is at low RPM, the original loss of torque and gap-time to rev up from 2k to 3k RPM does not exist anymore. Consequently, at high RPM, the flow is not as great as it was with HFC. From 4K RPM up, I feel it takes longer to reach the red line. Still, it performs better than stock of course.

SOUND (WITH HFC)
Hands down the Ark wins this battle. At lower RPM, Ark's sound is fuller and deeper. At high RPM, Ark beats the HKS by a mile. HKS has the ricey sound where as Ark exhausted sounded like a pure tuner car. The sound was loud, full, and NEVER ricey. It was pure sexy and sounded like a V10 engine lol! The down side of Ark is that its drone inside the car is MUCH MUCH worse than HKS and this is why I decided to change HFC back to stock.

SOUND (WITHOUT HFC)
No comparison between Ark and HKS. Although it does not sound as great as it was with HFC , I had no choice because I just couldn't live with the droning. It was very bad. Overall, without HFC, the sound is still very full and very low. Personally, I like the sound of Ark much better than HKS.


So, after the comparisons, we feel that Ark wins at sound and loses a bit at performance. But, with the price difference, Ark is a better pick.

 

Thanks for the review!

What is ARK's piping diameter BTW? Amps thread says 2.63" OD but ARK has been stating 2.5" OD.

Also, how is the volume of the HKS compared to ARK?

 

Any pics or videos on your comparison?

 

Very nice comparison! Should come in handy to some members

 

HKS ricer sound? Maybe im bias but i love my HKS.

 

I'll take HKS over Ark any day of the week. I've never even heard of Ark till MyG37.

 

nice review. By the way, Did u have the problem of hitting the transmission cover after you change ur HFC back to stock??

 

Any rasp w/ ARK + BERK? I guess there will be some droning like all HFCs.. but I don't want no rasp. Rasp and G does not belong together.. I can live with some droning I guess..

I plan to go this route for my 08 sedan once the sedan version becomes available. Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Can someone make guesstimate of HP/TQ gain from Berk HFC and ARK cat-back?
I am thinking about buying Berk.
Thanks

 

Both cars have same rims, tires, intake?

 

post sound clips please?

 

Thanks I didn't measure the piping OD so I can't tell. At low RPM, volume is about the same but Ark's volume is higher and fuller at high RPM.

Sorry, didn't take pics and videos.....totally forgot about it. I was gonna take pics for changing HFC back to stock but forgot camera again...

Thanks

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I was actually going for HKS. I hesitated because at high RPM, it has that ricey sound that I didn't like. Brand wise, i'd take HKS any day, but because of the ricey sound, I figured to give Ark a try. I never heard of Ark until I came on the forum. My friend said I got ***** to try out new exhaust with a new brand without even hearing or seeing it, lol. Anyways, I was impressed by the sound of the exhaust.

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I didn't have the problem of hitting the transmission cover after changing back to stock. I had a thick copper plate between the cat and mid pipe. I think that will solve the problem.

The good thing about the Ark + Berk set up is that it does not rasp at all. I was very impressed by it. However, the droning is extremely bad. It is much worse than HKS + Berk. I feel my interiors are falling apart from the droning lol.

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Both cars are on stock intake. We are both on the same tire set up. RE050A 245/35/19 front and 285/30/19 rear.

But, my friend has Advan wheels and I have HRE wheels. His wheel is ligher than mine. Also, he has already changed to light weight BBK where mine is still on stock until next week.

I'm sorry we totally forgot to video shoot it......very lame i know....

 

Does anybody knows how does it sound like if you have HKS with Berks test pipe?
With the stright flow without the cat

 

does the ark right canister hang lower

 

Thanks for the write up. I've got a Fast Intentions Carbon Fiber catback (everything else stock) right now, and there is in-cabin drone/resonance at slow speeds and low rpms and it's killing me. Either that, or I'm getting old HKS was my next choice after the FI Carbon, but then I found the Ark at almost half the price. And I agree, the Youtube videos of the HKS are a bit on the ricey side, in my opinion. So, I'm hoping, you're saying there is no in-cabin drone with the Ark. Is that true? Only with the HFC or is there some drone even w/o the HFC?

Thanks for the feedback.