CNT Racing exhaust vs Ark Grip Exhaust
 

I have a bit of a dilemma between the two exhausts. I have a great price on the Ark Grip that makes it hard to pass up but as you all know the CNT exhaust is much cheaper. Ive read the negative reviews about Ark's install problems and scraping issues, CNT has mostly all positive reviews. Both are very similar set ups, so I really cant decide, I like the cosmetic appearance of the Ark. But I'm leaning towards CNT...

i LOVE my cnt. probably the best bang for the buck system out there IMO. and like u said, u cant beat the price of this exhuast.

great quality, great cusomer service, great fitment. and as for sound, i've gotten tons of compliments on this system paired with the test pipes i have

I'm leaning towards their cbe & tp. Your the only one that has a video of that set up for CNT. Do you have any more videos of your car?

Also how much is your car lowered and what's the clearance like? I live in PA which is known for the worst roads.

i can get another vid this weekend if that would help since i will have the z out.

right now my car is lowered 1" on swifts. have never hit the mufflers or any exhaust conponenets on the ground, so i wouldnt worry at all about that. now the front chin spoiler is another issue.

Thanks edub, I'll prob have my exhaust ordered within the next 24hrs but sure if you want to make videos your more than welcome. There are not enough videos of the CNT exhaust

good deal. I might try and get a fly by vid or 2 this weekend with the gf's assistance

I just got an ARK around July 4. I absolutley love it. Great looks, and high quality sound. Its got a nice low burbley growl that turns in a higher pitched wail at high revs.

I have had no bad experience with either fitment or scraping. My impression is that those issues were with their earlier models, and that ARK have made changes which resolved those problems.

That is exactly what we did. We want to make sure that all comments and suggestions are taken into serious consideration.

Same here, ordered my Ark DT-S exhaust around the 4th of July. Fast shipping, top notch craftsmanship with no fitment issues. Nothing but positive things to say about Ark

I was about to order the cnt exhaust when a used ark came up. The ark sounds absolutely incredible. It is definitely the best mod I've done to my car so far.

+1 and we will continue to raise the bar on all of our 370z products.
GRiP, DTS, GTF Springs, GTS Springs, and Coilover systems.

If you guys have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Alex

Love my ARK exhaust. Sounds beautiful, never get tired of hearing it.

Might want to look at the Exotic Speed cat back also, Very few of us have it.. Not sure why. :/

probably because its a completely different style of exhaust. more comprable to invidia.

Explain? Comprable to invidia? How it's a true dual with a X pipe, Isnt that what ARK is or just came out with. Just IMO the best one out there, Sound is GREAT and has NO DROAN, none man @ any RPM or MPH.

Because invidia and exoticspeed are styled very similarly

these 2:

http://www.tarmacsportz.co.uk/UserFi...%202003-06.jpg

http://www.advancespeedshop.com/imag...70z-rolled.jpg

and cnt and ark are styled similarly

vs the styling of these 2:

http://www.velocityfactor.net/prodim...01-0209G-2.jpg

http://www.nextgentuning.com/admin/images/CB370z.jpg


2 different types of systems

A lot of the exhaust systems are styled similarly due to the limited space of the underbody for each specific vehicle. The main point here is that, there is a reason why these exhaust sounds different from one another.

These are just some of the factors that may contribute in producing a different sound or tone.

Not all resonators are the same
Not all piping are the same
the material used are not the same
bends occurs in different places
The thickness of the pipes are not the same
The inner design of the mufflers are not the same
The dual chambers where not measure correctly to eliminate or reduce drone.

With the exception of some top tier brands, FI, AMUSE, etc, I would be willingto bet most all these exhausts, invidia, topspeed, CNT, etc all come some the same overseas factories, the differences in most of them are barely notible, one might use a different resonator that the other or if 2 inch forward or something, fact is ALL of these companies cannot be making their own unique design or they would all cost more than they do. Go on ebay and look at some of the identical systems under different brands. How many plants REALLY manufacture those HKS type mufflers...?
This does not mean the product is not well made, myself I will most likely be buying a topspeed system, its just cheap and sounds just fine, they almost all sound the same from the inside, like exhaust gasses rushing through pipes...Pick the one you like.

So I installed my CNT exhaust last night..everything bolted up smoothly, but I ran into one problem. An exhaust leak...

http://www.cntracing.com/v/vspfiles/...CB-370z-10.jpg

Where the 2 pipes connect in the middle, the pipe is clamped and I can not get it to stop leaking. I'll try finding a better clamp than the one provided to see if I can get it shut, also I'll loosen up the exhaust and see if I can get it to sit better. It was getting late last night when I finished up. That's where the Ark exhaust doesn't have this connection which would help eliminate the problem.

Otherwise, the exhaust sounds great, with test pipes. I'll set up some pictures later on.

Here are some pictures of the install

I had a slight issue with a leak in the h pipe area as well. Had to adjust it multiple times.

Also had an issue with the piping hitting the sway bars (aftermarket thicker sways)

It made a sound, but it didnt nearly carry a tone with it. I sold it. Couldnt take the sound of it clanking against the sway bars.

The ARK on the otherhand, has an awesome tone to it. Probably the best sounding exhausts to me (based on my preference). Its fairly quiet for everyday driving, no drone. But when you get on it it def livens up and screams with (again) that awesome tone.