**HELP** Can't make up my mind, BERK or F.I.
 

I marked stillen out of the picture. It's going to come down between BERK and F.I. I've searched the forums, and I think people lean more towards F.I. because of fitments, costumer service and quality.

The only thing that drives me away from F.I. is the looks. It just reminds me of those ricers honda civics with big canisters. Price wise, I can get the BERK CBE and HFC shipped for $1,300.00

Any inputs? please let me know your inputs, before I make a wrong decision lol.

If you really aren't sure, then flip a coin, go with whatever is cheapest, I don't know.

They're both great systems from what I've heard. Seems like you have reservations about the looks of the F.I. system. Sooooo, then go with BERK.

But man, are you really asking us to make the decision for you, especially when there's tons of information about the two on these forums? Come on.

what was your first instinct? whatever that was, go with it or you may be disappointed later.

keep it stock

agency power is very deep and aggressive and the canisters are hidden i have mine paired with the Berk HFC and i love it and you can get the exhaust for under 1000 through VIVID RACING

This may sound counter-intuitive, but believe it or not, the carbon fiber muffler option is WAY more low profile. It almost blends in with the black paint.

you could get the FI and paint the canisters flat black like the stock muffler. I did this on my last 2 cars and it looked WAY better.

F.I

I myself looked at the Stillens, Berk, FI, etc. I finally settled on the AAM Competition CBE with HFCs. The sound for me was not overpowering but was still strong in the low end and throughout without the rasp of some. Realizing everyone has different tastes in exhausts and the sounds they want, that is my input. If you are only looking at the FI or Berks I'd say go with FI. Good luck on whatever you choose!

:iagree: ftw

The F.I. exhaust is far from ricey. I know it reminds you of rice becuase of the use of can mufflers, but there's a big difference between a can muffler on a finely engineered setup and a fart-can muffler fit for install on a '95 Honda Civic.

Keep in mind that a lot of online pictures of the FI are trying to show off the exhaust and thus are taken from a very low view point. Someone posted a few pics from a standing view and it was much more subtle looking.

FI best all round IMO.

FI has to be heard in person to be appreciate!!

It all comes down to preference...As mentioned by others both are great exhausts....I too initially didn't really care for the FI look...I prefer the sleeper look which is why I went with Berk...Plus liked the sound of the Berk overall....I do have to admit though that the look of the FI exhaust after some time has grown on me...

The look of the FI is popular here on Guam, as many 350Z's sport exhausts which are FI look alikes....this factor also swayed my decision to go with Berk....Since both exhaust's are custom made, you can expect a wait for your exhaust to be completed.

werrrrd

I feel the same way. My ricer days are behind me, and the FI is just too gaudy for my tastes. Also, the Berk CBE with HFCs just sounds so pretty. I put in my order for the CBE and HFCs a few days ago, now I just have to wait for it to get here!

If its between Berk and FI...Go with Berk if you want the sleeper look, or FI if you want the "hey look at me" look.

I too am deciding between those two exhaust, along with Invidia Gemini and Ark Type 2.

I like the F.I look

go F.I,

i was in between the greddy turbo ti-c and the f.i, while i havent scrounged the funds yet i have decided that when i do have the full amount i will go f.i.

There will be customer service you can rely on,

fitment you can appreciate,

and power gains you can feel!.

as for the looks, personally i like it. i can see where you can make the similarities with the rice cans, however the rice cans are just for looks, these are utilized in order to create a better sound not the "fart" noise you hear on the civics,

just my 2cents, you should end with what you can live with as far as a decision.

Not to mention the FI CBE is significantly lighter than OEM (and the competition).

that is true, you can make it lighter by opting for the carbon fiber too!

(also, it tells you something if there are this many people advertising for F.I)

i think it actually gives the car a quite unique aggressive stance if you ask me :/

:iagree:

where did you get ur pricing from? did u call berk direct?

Get the Berk. I love it, amazing sound, amazing power.

edit: once again, an OP vanishes after making a thread

I had the chance to visit 370zSteve and listen to his Berk. It really is a terrific exhaust, and I don't think you'd be disappointed one bit. Aggressive and bold sound, tasteful design, and no drone while cruising.

:icon18: And he's a good guy too, bought me 2 margaritas :bowrofl:

FML my berk exhaust needs to get here sooner. Stupid waiting list :(

Haha....yeah. I'm noticing a trend.

When did you place your order? I ordered by CBE and HFC's from BERK on the first part of March..Was told ETA 4-6 weeks...April came, then was told May..May is now here and when I followed up with them this week, as you can guess...ETA for shipment is now first part to mid June..:shakes head: :wtf:

I heard that there were some guys that placed an order with Berks since February and still haven't received their exhaust....I was really :excited: when I frist ordered my exhaust, but after the delays I'm kinda just like :confused::( :mad: AND :ugh: ......I just really hope that its what everyone says it is and that it is worth the wait...

Honestly I came upon this thread hoping for someone to mention the difference in power. The berk exhaust + berk hfc combo is heavier than FI exhaust and FI hfc, but doesn't the berk combo make more power? Or do you lose some in the mid range and gain top end? And from what I remember doesn't the FI combo give you more power over the entire RPM band but won't have as much top end as the berk combo?

That's the comparison I'm really interested in and since the OP is missing I might as well put my question in here to cut down on useless threads. And yes, I've done my research but I cannot find consistent data.:tup:

^^ The F.I. CBE + Berk HFC combo is sick!

From what I know the Berks HFC/CBE combo is suppossed to put out 36WHP...It is heavier than the FI and Stillen....In regards to consistency on numbers, you're not gonna find it, unless you get all the cars with different parts to do Dynos at the same time and place...but even at that you won't get 100% consistency, being that every car responds differently in a sense due to the way the owners drive it...I know for sure that power gains done from Dynos won't be consistent with the numbers I will produce here on Guam only because of temp, altitude (sea level) and weather conditions overall being different from the States. The way I see it, the Dyno numbers are subjective, and are just a basis for you to go by....Hope that helps

Don't tell me how long you've been waiting, that's not helping :P It's only been two weeks so far :( Sounds like Berk needs to hire a couple extra people to get their exhausts made faster.

The problem is not their personnel...From what was explained to me by Bryan at Berk earlier this week is that Berk is waiting for their supplier to ship in the materials/parts for them to make the CBE's....They haven't received confirmation from their supplier yet, but anticiapte that they would receive it sometime in the last part of May to first part of June...Once Berks receives the parts/materials for the CBE from their supplier, then Berks would need to hold on to the exhaust for another 2 weeks to finalize everything and get the tips fitted and done....This is why (for those of us who have been inquiring as to an update or status of the CBE's,) we have been told that Berk would give us a 2 week notice before ship out date...Once they give us a two week notice, then you can pretty much be assured that they have the materials/parts on hand for the exhausts.....

If you look back at the first batch that received their exhausts in March (Berks GB#1 Thread), you will see that this is the same trend from before...As a matter of fact I recall seeing a remark in one of the threads that it was extended even longer because once the materials/parts actually arrived in Cali, it had to be cleared by Customs...so this held Berk back a couple of days from expediting their shipments...

I figured that Berk would have had all of these issues down pact, being that the first Group Buy was the initial launch of their system, however I guess there were still some trial and error issues that followed, such as the packaging from the first group...From what I was told this is what delayed the progress on those of us who ordered after the first batch of people....Because alignment issues were brought up, the production of our exhausts was stopped unitl they identified the issue...Once they figured that it was the packaging, they continued with the production of the systems...


If Berk has anything that then need to improve on, I would say its communicating with their clientel...From what I have experienced and heard from other customers, we are the ones calling for updates and keeping each other posted...Don't get me wrong...overall I know that I will love the product, but if they communicated more with their customers and kept them more updated, then that would calm a lot of us down...I may be blunt, but I'm just being real!!!!!

Not only improving communications, but also sounds like they need to find a new supplier. If my supplier couldn't keep up with demand, I sure as hell wouldn't keep them around for long. Maybe find one stateside. It might cost more, but I would gladly pay a bit more in order to receive my exhaust months sooner.

:iagree: Touche'...You hit it right on the nail...:tup:I was just thinking of this....They obviously had this problem with the first batch of systems that were done...If this was the case, they should have not gone with the same supplier unless they could meet the demand that is expected....If not then as you said toss that supplier out the door with a :icon23: and get with one that may cost more but provide better and faster production...I honestly would have paid more for the product to be delivered as promised, instead of paying less and having to play the waiting and guessing game...