Well, now that I've made an account:

Just picked up a 2009 G37 coupe a couple weeks ago with 40k miles. Got a pretty smoking deal on it. Only mods done currently are K&N SRI. Just received in the mail: ARK GRiP exhaust / ARk R-Spec HFC. Have an appointment with a shop next Friday 03/20/2015 for an UpRev tune with some dyno action. I'll be posting numbers and charts up after. I saw a Youtube video with the same setup (different SRI, can't remember name) that was producing 313whp, which I think is a bit exaggerated but we will see. I spent hours pouring this thread and researching Youtube to finally decide on ARK, hopefully I didn't go wrong. As far as the intakes currently on the vehicle, I was doing much debating on whether to go cold air. Maybe you guys can confirm or dispute, but the SRI provides near same power throughout mid range, less power at 6k RPM's and above. I almost dropped the $500 on the Stillen gen3's, but after doing some research, opted not to. Input? I can't justify spending the $500 on gen 3's and provide maybe 5whp extra at 6k RPM's and above. This is my daily driver, so I won't be romping on it THAT much . Anyway, just wanted to make a post and give some info on the new whip. Love this site, it is very informative and has given me some great insight on the car. Most of the posts I have been viewing are a couple years old, so maybe there has been some new data about the parts listed above. I didn't know much about the G37 until I saw it and said, "Hey that looks cool." Then after doing some research, I was sold. Thanks for all the input/advice/tips/hints!

 

Welcome! The CAI will provide you more top end power, thus increasing your dyno number, but this is not of too much use under typical daily driving conditions.

You could also consider the Takeda CAI, as it provides similar results of the Stillen CAI, at a lower price - and easier installation. Then, once you have it installed, you can sell your K&N intakes to recoup some of your investment.

 

Welcome to the site, congrats on your G, let the mod bug attack!

 

Thanks all!

I think I will stick with SRI, for ease of install and maintenance. The charts I've seen on here don't give sufficient evidence to make me want to pull the trigger on CAI. I have however, been considering picking up a set of R2C's. There just hasn't been much direct comparison between those and K&N. I'm sure the difference is marginal at best....

 

Don't get stuck on others dyno numbers. My car did put down 314whp after installing the Stillen gen 3's, Fast Intentions RHC's, and the Uprev tune, which was a 24hp gain over stock. Every dyno is different! The main thing you want to see is the baseline, then the gain after your mods are installed.
I am very happy with my set up.

 

Good luck, we're always ready to see more dyno results!

 

Yeah the guy doing the tune will be doing a baseline, then adding mods on, then dyno'ing again. I will see if I can get him to do the dyno with a one at a time pace Maybe do CBE, then HFC, then all with tune. To see if I can get an idea of what EXACTLY each mod is putting out. He is using a dynapack so i think it should be fairly easy as the car will be on rails the entire time. I was reading that the dynapack reads about 8-10% higher. Better than a mustang dyno reading depressingly low! Perhaps I will get the gen 3's after all said and done in a couple weeks and see what the difference is. I've been toying with TT for a couple weeks now... I'll put numbers and charts up tomorrow night for everyone to see. Appointment is tomorrow afternoon. I think at this point though, the only other performance mod I can do is forced induction. Makes me KIND OF regret not buying a 5.0 Mustang. 415 stock hp GHEEZUS.

 

I was hoping to push over 300, but this is decent. Talking to the shop about TT next. Going to get the ball rolling on that relatively soon. I can definitely feel the torque increase. Pulls a bit harder in the mid range. Sounds very mean too. Only downside to the ARk exhaust is that is sits so freaking low! Like incredibly low... Probably a good 4-6 inches below the lowest stock part on my car. In hindsight, I should have went with FI. ARk also didn't come with the gaskets that go between their cats and the stock exhaust manifold. The shop I took it to had to make them. There were also several dents in the exhaust. I'll be emailing them about this. Wasn't very happy overall with ARK. Sounds great, but the exhaust looks bulky and goofy when looking at the rear of the car for how low it sits. Coupled with the problems stated above.

 

This is why I decided to patiently wait on the FI Exhaust and RHFC....and I do mean patiently!!!

 

^^ He's not even kidding...it's only been a month for me but it feels like I've been waiting for a year.

 

So how does the car feel and sound? Do you think it was worth the investment?

 

MAN!!! I ordered mine early Feb. and it seems like an eternity!!!

 

Strong NO. I've been emailing ARK about the concerns stated above and feel I am being given the middle finger. Poor customer service from their end. I'll go in to a bit greater detail about my entire experience.

Parts came quick. In a week or so. I ordered the R-spec cats and the GRiP exhaust. Two large cardboard boxes that seemed in perfect condition. Opened them up to reveal each part individually wrapped in foam paper and taped well. My plan was to put them in backseat and open them when I got to the shop to preserve them as best as possible. I opened one cat (as it was a small part) just to make sure everything was good. It looked clean, welds were solid, no scratches or dent so I assumed everything was good. I went to the shop and had my stock exhaust + cats removed which was a PAIN. Started install at the cats and worked way back. First thing I noticed, missing gaskets that attach cats to stock exhaust manifold (see attached). My mechanic had to drive to 3 different parts stores to find material that would work. Then had to fabricate custom gaskets, and I'm not even sure if they will hold as it was not the optimal material to use. I called ARK to ask about this, the rep seemed irritated that I called him and was very blunt with me. Assured the stock gaskets would work. Adamantly insisted they would work. I even had the shop owner on the phone with him explaining the differences. As seen from photo, the stock gasket is a metal donut that fits around that lip on the flange. The R-spec is flush. No way it would work. Ok, fine. More money and time and frustration. Then I opened the other packages when it was time. As soon as I opened the packages I noticed several large dents with scratches around them. At this point, I am pretty irritated with ARK. I took pictures of EVERYTHING and documented it very well to send to them later on. I wasn't going to halt the process and bundle everything back up to send back to them. I am already 3-4 hours into the process and having to pay for labor and missing parts at this point. After install, the fitment was so poor. The left side was hanging lower by about 2 inches that the right. My mechanic had to bend some brackets to get it to fit right. This was AFTER we loosened and tightened and loosened and tightened for an hour, trying to make it line up. It still looks shoddy. After the fact, the exhaust hangs LOW. very low. It looks bulky and clustered from the rear (reminds me of a cheap honda fart can). You can find similar statements from ark owners of the height of the exhaust. The exhaust is blatantly obvious if viewing the vehicle from the rear and looks tacky and cheap. I scraped on a small driveway 2 days post install that I should not have scraped on. I emailed ARK with all the details of my experience. I provided photos, side by side comparison, etc. They basically gave me the "That's too bad" speel. I know they're a sponsor of this site, but come on. I paid over $2000 for this setup and I had problems from the get go. I honestly think my parts were used at one point due to the damages that were on them. I wills say, the packaging was good! There is no way THAT AMOUNT of damage could be instilled on that piping from shipping. You would have to throw the packages off the top of the semi multiple times to cause that kind of damage. Not impressed at all. The sound is great, but that is the ONLY thing I like about this exhaust, everything else is bad. I should have done a bit more research before I bought. By the way, this is my review, so please don't flame me and say, "You're an idiot I had a good experience." etc etc. This is my personal experience with this company and I am giving my honest review.

 

Thanks for posting. Decent gains.

Glad I decided to pass on the Ark. Hangs too low + isn't much louder than stock. So for the HP gains, it sounds like it definitely isn't worth it.

And sorry to hear about the lack of customer service.