Question in title. Has anyone done a swap of their HFC to ART pipes? Is it much louder? Is it quieter? Relatively the same?

I'm currently running HFC paired with ARK exhaust I'd like a louder and more aggressive sound. I assume ART pipes are louder than HFC but I'm seeing mixed comments online and looking for the exhaust gurus here to chime in. I also don't wanna run test pipes as I wanna minimize rasp and also can't tolerate the smell lol

Been researching high and low across all the G and Z boards and getting mixed responses. Some posts say they're the same volume but different tone, some say it's louder, some say it's quieter?

 

yes, hfc = more restriction and less noise/smell

i would assume test pipe and art pipes to have the same level of smell.

 

Please, for the sake of everyone behind you, keep the HFC and buy louder mufflers.

 

i swapped from fast intentions rhfc to art pipes, they are louder. the idle is a tad louder and when at wot is louder as well. i was smiling from ear to ear when i left the shop lol. i don't have a sense of smell so the smell doesnt bother me hahaha sorry everyone else

 

Every time you drive your car, a baby kitten dies,

 

Was it much louder? Or just a bit? For myself, when I swapped my HFC for test pipes on my old muffler delete, it was MUCH louder. I believe I read that FI RHFC is one of the quieter ones as it's more restrictive AND it's resonated.

Strangely enough I've driven behind a buddy who has ART pipes many times and I smell more of my own exhaust fumes with my HFC than any of his. When I had test pipes on, I took em off after a week because of the smell.

I've also read that ART pipes somehow mask the smell pretty effectively? I don't get the science behind it but it's what I've read...

 

 

Mine smell but I don't think it's that bad. Then again I'm comparing it to my boosted SC300 I used to have which was a single 3 inch exhaust with no cats.

 

So here's an update and a definitive answer for anyone in the future:

Swapped out my HFC with ART Pipes paired with my ARK exhaust and the set up sounds pretty much EXACTLY THE SAME. Way too quiet and way too muffled for my liking. It's good if you want some noise and still wanna drive grandma out to lunch on Sundays. But I guess this is subjective and different for everyone.

Funny enough, my passenger side flex pipe cracked and the exhaust sound from the rear started to sound awesome as the crack grew (minus the rasp/hissing from the side due to the crack). To clarify, the sound coming out from the rear of the car was loud and super aggressive sounding. But you can also hear the air hissing/escaping the flex pipe from the side of the car as well. Would have been the perfect exhaust note without the leaking/hissing sound lol

Smell is definitely more noticeable, but isn't unbearable. This is as expected though so no complaints

 

Art pipes and ark exhaust on my sedan sounds sexy as hell , and pretty loud but not in a obnoxious way. Yes they are stinky but produce the best power out of any test pipe / hfc. I had a set of ebay test pipes on my car before I put on the art pipes and dynoed 301whp and 245tq. with the art pipes I dynoed 307whp and 259tq. Mind you, I have 3.90 gears as well so with stock gears I would have dynoed higher. the midrange torque was very noticeable. The art pipes were quieter than the test pipes I had on previously

 

Good to know about the torque boost - I do eventually want a tune once I finally get an exhaust setup I'm happy with.

I find the ARK + ART setup sounds OK when you're getting on it but regular city driving is too tame for my liking. Looking for a more rumbly/throaty sound and louder. Obviously just my opinion though!