Review Ark Grip CBE & R2C Intake - Sedan
02-23-2012, 04:23 AM
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Ark Grip CBE & R2C Intake - Sedan
I would like to make a quick shout out to Kyle from Importpartspro, overall great service from them. If your in the market for R2C intakes drop by their site and order from them!
Also to Edwin from Arkperformance (and the entire ark team for that matter..) He helped me with my purchase from beginning to end. i got to meet the guys at Ark in person and Edwin is a very nice guy, extremely helpful, and made sure i was fully satisfied.
Now onto the review.. lets start with the exhaust system.
ARK Dual GRIP True Dual Exhaust System
I am very new to the whole modding world and my G is the first car i have ever purchased. immediately after purchasing my car i had to find a forum to read up about the car. after lots of reading i decided on 3 aftermarket parts to start, the exhaust, intakes, and sway bars. (ill get into the intakes and sway bars later..). after even more reading on exhausts systems and brands.. to me it seemed like it mostly came down to my price range and what sound i wanted. i read too many threads comparing different brands on which had better gains, but i figured truly noticeable gains would come out of a tune.. and if a tune was in order then at that point, difference between the brands would be negligible. i hope thats not confusing.. long story short ark was having a sale, i liked the way ark sounded, they were local, and an exhaust system was purchased!
Quality
when i arrived to their warehouse my car was immediately hoisted up on a lift and they brought a big box out from the corner and they started to take off my old exhaust and assemble the new one. i didnt really look at the exhaust itself when it was still in the box.. but boy was it shiny. once it was installed i walked under my car and checked it out. needless to say the exhaust was beautiful. i know the thing is beneath the car but i love the polished finish and the welds looked excellent. the tips were much bigger than i expected and it looks very aggressive. im no expert but overall the finish was perfect, didnt notice anything off or weird, no scratches or dings.
Sound
One word: exhilarating. not much to say here really, i LOVE the way it sounds. I watched A LOT of videos on the exhaust sound and i thought it sounded pretty good, but hearing it in person is an entirely different experience. it was much louder than i expected, but not too loud. i tried to record the sound on my nikon but the microphone on the camera is too crappy.. ill try and borrow someones video camera and post a video. again, this is my opinion, i havent heard any other exhaust systems in person so i really cant compare.
it has been about a week and a half since the exhaust was installed and the sound has changed quite a bit. initially the exhaust had a little bit of drone.. it wasnt bad at all, just a tad over what i wanted. but now the drone is almost completely gone. the tone or volume hasnt changed, but when im cruising on the highway or freeway the exhaust is barely audible. if there was a light conversation in the car you probably wouldnt be able to hear it at all. i am very happy with the way it sounds after it 'broke in'
Performance?
you know i cant tell you with confidence if the power has increased. I didnt dyno this car and even if i tried to tell you guys it would just be a butt dyno. im not going to try and state anything here as if its fact since i dont know much.. however i did notice that my car is much faster when changing rpm's. maybe its all placebo and in my head.. but to me it felt like i was able to climb up the rpm ladder quicker than before.
Final words
overall i am VERY VERY happy with the ark exhaust. i am sure FI, stillen, tanabe, and whatever brands makes quality exhaust systems. i didnt want to write this review telling you guys how much better ark is than the rest, but that ark makes an awesome exhaust system that makes me very happy! which is what it all comes down to right?! if your deciding between brands i highly suggest you hear the systems in person, then decide for yourself! you cannot go wrong with ark, truly a piece of art!
PICTURES!!!
R2C Maxxflow Intakes
next up the intakes.. for me it boiled down to the stillen gen 3's or the R2C's. what pushed me over to purchase the R2C's were 3 main reasons..
1. ease of installation.. i didnt want to cut anything on the car and i imagine these are easier to maintain if i can see the entire unit just from popping the hood.
2. apparently the power gains from the stillens came at the very end of the rpm band, whereas the R2C's power increase was found in the middle of the rpm band. i rarely push my car to redline.. highest i have ever gone is probably 6.5k so i figured R2C's would be the better option..
3. i read many many many good things about the filters. they are so easy to clean as well! the manual says to just pop the filters off, use some pressurized air to blow out the dust every 15,000 miles! no oiling and just reinstall!
before i started the installation i unboxed everything, got the parts list and made sure all the parts were accounted for. lo and behold.. 16 washers were missing.. and 8 lock washers were missing. no biggie.. i just went to home depot and picked some up for cheap. i just dont get how something like that gets left out of a bag.
Install
I used this guide: Infiniti G37 R2C installation instruction how to.
it was pretty easy, this is my first real modding on a car.. so i was pretty nervous. to me it seemed really complicated DURING the install.. but when i was done i was like.. huh.... that wasnt so bad. i think the only hickup i went through during installation was the L bracket on the filter case lining up with the engine mount. the driver side intake was at a weird angle so it wouldnt line up perfectly.. i had to flip the L mount so it was facing downward so that it could fit.. you'll see in the pictures.
Initial Impression
once everything was secured and put back together.. i fired her up and took the car for a spin. i didnt notice much of a difference in the lower rpm's until i stepped on it a little. between 3k-5k rpm the intake really came alive. it sounded great! again i cant say if there was a real performance boost.. but my butt tells me there is
Final words
again.. i couldnt be happier with these intakes. they look AMAZING and they sound GREAT too. really not much to say.....am i leaving anything out? please ask me questions about the installation or whatnot if i left anything unanswered!
my other mods i would like to share.....
Hotchki sways! (which ark agreed to install when they were installing my exhaust!)
GTR Start button
i hope you enjoyed the reviews!
VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QF6C...2fjNTQUnmV0GDU
the video is pretty much done at 1:15.. watch it beyond that point if you want haha
Also to Edwin from Arkperformance (and the entire ark team for that matter..) He helped me with my purchase from beginning to end. i got to meet the guys at Ark in person and Edwin is a very nice guy, extremely helpful, and made sure i was fully satisfied.
Now onto the review.. lets start with the exhaust system.
ARK Dual GRIP True Dual Exhaust System
I am very new to the whole modding world and my G is the first car i have ever purchased. immediately after purchasing my car i had to find a forum to read up about the car. after lots of reading i decided on 3 aftermarket parts to start, the exhaust, intakes, and sway bars. (ill get into the intakes and sway bars later..). after even more reading on exhausts systems and brands.. to me it seemed like it mostly came down to my price range and what sound i wanted. i read too many threads comparing different brands on which had better gains, but i figured truly noticeable gains would come out of a tune.. and if a tune was in order then at that point, difference between the brands would be negligible. i hope thats not confusing.. long story short ark was having a sale, i liked the way ark sounded, they were local, and an exhaust system was purchased!
Quality
when i arrived to their warehouse my car was immediately hoisted up on a lift and they brought a big box out from the corner and they started to take off my old exhaust and assemble the new one. i didnt really look at the exhaust itself when it was still in the box.. but boy was it shiny. once it was installed i walked under my car and checked it out. needless to say the exhaust was beautiful. i know the thing is beneath the car but i love the polished finish and the welds looked excellent. the tips were much bigger than i expected and it looks very aggressive. im no expert but overall the finish was perfect, didnt notice anything off or weird, no scratches or dings.
Sound
One word: exhilarating. not much to say here really, i LOVE the way it sounds. I watched A LOT of videos on the exhaust sound and i thought it sounded pretty good, but hearing it in person is an entirely different experience. it was much louder than i expected, but not too loud. i tried to record the sound on my nikon but the microphone on the camera is too crappy.. ill try and borrow someones video camera and post a video. again, this is my opinion, i havent heard any other exhaust systems in person so i really cant compare.
it has been about a week and a half since the exhaust was installed and the sound has changed quite a bit. initially the exhaust had a little bit of drone.. it wasnt bad at all, just a tad over what i wanted. but now the drone is almost completely gone. the tone or volume hasnt changed, but when im cruising on the highway or freeway the exhaust is barely audible. if there was a light conversation in the car you probably wouldnt be able to hear it at all. i am very happy with the way it sounds after it 'broke in'
Performance?
you know i cant tell you with confidence if the power has increased. I didnt dyno this car and even if i tried to tell you guys it would just be a butt dyno. im not going to try and state anything here as if its fact since i dont know much.. however i did notice that my car is much faster when changing rpm's. maybe its all placebo and in my head.. but to me it felt like i was able to climb up the rpm ladder quicker than before.
Final words
overall i am VERY VERY happy with the ark exhaust. i am sure FI, stillen, tanabe, and whatever brands makes quality exhaust systems. i didnt want to write this review telling you guys how much better ark is than the rest, but that ark makes an awesome exhaust system that makes me very happy! which is what it all comes down to right?! if your deciding between brands i highly suggest you hear the systems in person, then decide for yourself! you cannot go wrong with ark, truly a piece of art!
PICTURES!!!
R2C Maxxflow Intakes
next up the intakes.. for me it boiled down to the stillen gen 3's or the R2C's. what pushed me over to purchase the R2C's were 3 main reasons..
1. ease of installation.. i didnt want to cut anything on the car and i imagine these are easier to maintain if i can see the entire unit just from popping the hood.
2. apparently the power gains from the stillens came at the very end of the rpm band, whereas the R2C's power increase was found in the middle of the rpm band. i rarely push my car to redline.. highest i have ever gone is probably 6.5k so i figured R2C's would be the better option..
3. i read many many many good things about the filters. they are so easy to clean as well! the manual says to just pop the filters off, use some pressurized air to blow out the dust every 15,000 miles! no oiling and just reinstall!
before i started the installation i unboxed everything, got the parts list and made sure all the parts were accounted for. lo and behold.. 16 washers were missing.. and 8 lock washers were missing. no biggie.. i just went to home depot and picked some up for cheap. i just dont get how something like that gets left out of a bag.
Install
I used this guide: Infiniti G37 R2C installation instruction how to.
it was pretty easy, this is my first real modding on a car.. so i was pretty nervous. to me it seemed really complicated DURING the install.. but when i was done i was like.. huh.... that wasnt so bad. i think the only hickup i went through during installation was the L bracket on the filter case lining up with the engine mount. the driver side intake was at a weird angle so it wouldnt line up perfectly.. i had to flip the L mount so it was facing downward so that it could fit.. you'll see in the pictures.
Initial Impression
once everything was secured and put back together.. i fired her up and took the car for a spin. i didnt notice much of a difference in the lower rpm's until i stepped on it a little. between 3k-5k rpm the intake really came alive. it sounded great! again i cant say if there was a real performance boost.. but my butt tells me there is
Final words
again.. i couldnt be happier with these intakes. they look AMAZING and they sound GREAT too. really not much to say.....am i leaving anything out? please ask me questions about the installation or whatnot if i left anything unanswered!
my other mods i would like to share.....
Hotchki sways! (which ark agreed to install when they were installing my exhaust!)
GTR Start button
i hope you enjoyed the reviews!
VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QF6C...2fjNTQUnmV0GDU
the video is pretty much done at 1:15.. watch it beyond that point if you want haha
Last edited by whatthefoie; 03-01-2012 at 09:09 PM.
02-23-2012, 09:52 AM
#2
great review thanks! may push me to pull the trigger on the ark myself. when you say it was louder than you thought it was do you mean while your driving and listening to it with the windows open or did you have someone rev it/drive off while you stood outside?
02-23-2012, 02:46 PM
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but what i meant was driving and listening to it with the windows open. actually i should rephrase what i said.. its not that it was so much louder than i expected, its just that hearing it in person was so different. hearing exhausts from your computer speakers is one thing.. but then actually hearing the true sound and feeling the exhaust was what caught me off guard. and it was glorious.. hahaha
ill try and get that video up asap!
You know what i wouldnt change the setting its at. the difference was night and day, ride isnt too stiff and i can take corners very quickly. thanks again for installing them for me!
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03-04-2012, 04:16 PM
#11
Good review, I bought the ARK for my Coupe this week, it is getting installed on Wednesday. I've been trying to decide on intakes, now I'm pretty sure I'm convinced. Good work and enjoy
03-08-2012, 06:00 AM
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