As someone who's owned both, here are my opinions and maybe some facts.

1. I don't think the ark DT-S has 3" piping. Last I measured, they both have the same piping diameter, so I don't know what Zoren is talking about.

2. Ark grip is louder than DT-S

3. Ark grip hang's lower than DT-S. If you want to lower your car, get the DT-S. This is the reason I switched. Once I got coils, I was scraping too often. It wasn't so bad without a bunch of weight in the car. But once I loaded it up for track days it was nearly un-drivable (i stuff two full sized rims/tires in the boot, though.)

4. DT-S adjustable tips. I'm not a huge fan because they have bolts coming out of them for the adjustment but that's a subjective thing. Grip is nice and clean.

I think the quality was fine on both. I enjoyed the grip when I had it and was a little disappointed that the DT-S was a little quieter but it fit and worked well on the track so I'm happy. I had them both paired to FI HFCs so they were a little louder than they would be if I had them hooked onto the stock cats. No drone on EITHER exhaust, however, there is a "hiss" on decel, which I don't mind. In fact I kind of like it. This is due to HFCs, but something to consider if you have HFCs is that these exhausts do nothing to prevent a hiss.

I'll try to answer any other questions as they come up.

I absolutely love the hiss. I do not even know why people do not like the hiss. However the ART's are causing annoying rasp/rattle. I would like to see if my ART's will cause the same on the ARK.
If the DTS is too silent, Ill go the HFC route anyway (FI :D)

Some questions for you though.

When the car is idle, Does it have a (best description) rumble ?
Butt dyno any different ?
Turbo Compatible ? ( Some exhausts are too restrictive for turbo or so i understand)

No Test pipes? no drone.

:iagree: with every points Dpenguin made here. The pipings on both Grip and DT-s are 2.5"OD not sure where the 3" comes from.

Thanks for that post! I did not realize stupidly that those bolts were there for adjustment. I messed with the fitting for a while and got it 90% where I wanted but could not get it exact. I shall be doing that today!!! Thanks.

Once the car is warmed up, the idle is incredibly silent. Which is fine by me. I don't want it making a lot of noise unless I'm flooring it anyway. In fact, it's down right civil until about 4000 rpm. There is some rumble if you're standing behind it, you can really hear the cylinders firing. However, it's pretty quiet in the cabin. This is coming from someone who has his entire interior stripped out in the hatch area.

With some effort, I can hold a mobile conversation at highway speeds. Actually, most of the noise in the cabin is still coming from the tires rather than the exhaust.

I think the gains come mostly from the less restrictive cats. Honestly with the same diameter headers, you're not looking at much. The principle is to create less restriction in air flow and I'm not certain that an exhaust adds as much to that equation as HFCs or test pipes. The key is that exhausts are basically trumpets for your engine, and these sound great, IMO. In short, butt dyno is mostly the same if you swap exhaust only. But you certainly sound like you're going faster.

You're going to want 3" piping with a turbo. HKS is the answer for that. Or custom exhaust.

Glad I could help! Cheers. :tup:

The rumble at idle is a slight gurgling sound...sounds good to me.

Butt Dyno..seems faster but that is due to me driving it harder being it sounds beastly compared to OEM.

Careful with those bolts, they strip easily. You can get better ones at home depot that won't strip for a few cents.

Is 3 inch piping required for a Stillen Supercharger? After I get back from overseas when I go again was planning on installing one.

You should get in contact with Stillen regarding that. See what they recommend. I'm pretty sure they'll recommend a 3" exhaust. It's a bit outside my wheel house, I'm afraid. I defer to the experts when it comes to force induction.

I also forgot to mention that FI also offers 3" exhausts by request.

Eh will take some time to go TT anyway, I am set on ARK DTS for now.
But damn its 12 am here and i want ARK to reply so i can place the order before i sleep
BUT THEY ARE NOTTTTTTTTTT

How I was when I called FI that 10 week wait...could not do it lol. Amazon.com has ruined me.

I sent them a email. They recommend a 2.5 inch exhaust for a Stillen Supercharge set up..score. I can keep my exhaust. Cheers

Grip, I think its on the quite side also. I have Z1 HFC's also. ! But I wanted to more on the quite side.