eBay exhaust guinnea pig (Videos/Pics inside)
 

Well, I'm usually not an ebay kind of guy if I'm honest. Maybe for small misc parts but never for Critical or exhaust components or important aesthetic components.

I came across an exhaust "knockoff" i've never seen until recently that looks very similar to the ARK GRiP exhaust. I found a random seller selling one for $400 bucks and decided to submit and after it surprisingly going through, decided to pick it up.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-SS-Catb...8cfd0a&vxp=mtr

Now, there are some of you who avoid ebay anything at all costs, only name brand expensive parts are the way to go, that will look at this and go EWWWWWWW. The other half of you doesn't care where it comes from or who's name is on it as long as its of decent quality at a reasonable price.

So in the name of science, in the name of a stupid impulse buy because I was having a bad day and had money from something in my paypal..

And because well I was genuinely curious given the price of the real ARK exhaust I figured what the hell..

My Loss is your gain, unless this works out to not be a royal POS.

I don't have a lot of hopes if I'm honest but im genuinely curious. If it sounds great I'll keep it, if it sounds like shit I'll sell it stupid cheap and pick up the DEZOD like I planned on later this year.

ebay Exhausts like the J2 sound good, but just looking at the Y pipe I hate how its designed, it favors one side, and it looks extremely inefficient.

Anywho, hoping to have it by the end of the week if it ships out like its supposed to. I will install it, take lots of pictures. Tell you what I think and take some nice sound clips..

Throughout this thread as of now on 10/11/2014 there have been posts pertaining to this exhaust, the few small hiccups i had, pictures and videos in which I will summarize here.

-2.5 Inch piping Confirmed with calipers

-The exhaust for the money is quite impressive. It's deep, it sounds smooth. It's a bit loud (very deep) under acceleration and deceleration inside the car however it doesn't drone when at cruising speed and being easy on the throttle. Depending on what you get the exhaust for (They sell it at $450 but you can submit "Best offer") its worth it for the sound if you don't want to spend a ton of money.

-Outside of the tips being off the rest of the exhaust fit well enough. A slight rattle from it JUST BARELY touching the sub frame when starting off from a dead stop, however it did not seem to hit, clank or rattle under driving conditions even over heavy bumps/speed bumps. This was "remedied" when I fixed the tip fitment issue

-It's not to loud on the outside. Noticeable but now ear bleeding (see drive by video below)

The negatives are this:
-It does overall look nice, however a few of the welds, and the seem on the canister are not the best.
-Fitment will be off, I have a feeling it may not be the same on every exhaust if someone orders one but in my case it was made better by a few fuel line hose clamps to keep the hangers in the right position (See pics below)
-You may want to pick up a spare bolt kit for the Mid Pipe/Cat Back flange. I snapped my shoulder bolts. I had to run to home depot in order to make it work as no one had the bolt kit in stock.
-It MIGHT hit the subframe. Mine did initially but seems to be fine once I fixed the fitment issue with the clamps.

Videos:

-Start up and quick Driveby (Slight rattle is due to exhaust hitting the subframe BEFORE i fixed the tips)

[ame]http://youtu.be/KkTE-c2iaLA[/ame]

-In car

[ame]http://youtu.be/itXg1_u4KCY[/ame]

-Drive by in parking garage

[ame]http://youtu.be/lic_a6u3C0I[/ame]


Images:

Exhaust laid out


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1412992263


Sub par weld

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1412992263

Initial Fitment a little off

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1412992263

Fitment much better after "fixing" it with hose clamps

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1413056814

Picture of hose clamps to show "fix"

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1413056814

Looking forward to the results.. Never know, it might be half decent!

Well, the J2 is pretty good just poor design as where the mufflers T off it favors one side and seems inefficient (Just from looking, im not expert) and I hate how chincy the tips looks.

I've heard the "N1" knockoff and it surprisingly sounds good.

I've heard the Megan and it sounds as good as it looks..

Same with both the Top Speed Racing Pro and Street exhausts

The DC Sports looks decent but sounds like shit.


As silly as it sounds, one of my concerns is as to how good or bad this might be, is the price for the amount of hardware there is. Meaning the mufflers/canisters.. The supporting plates etc. It's a lot of metal and work for something so cheap, china or not. The question of thickness, actual material used comes into play.

If it wasn't for some of the slight differences in the canisters I'd almost think maybe it was a reject/failed QoS from a factory where real ones are made, however the canisters don't have any welded joints and the exhaust can's have a "lip" to them.

We'll see..

In for the results! From the picture, it looks like the flanges might have been one of the major cost cutting areas?

cant wait to hear the results.. hopefully It sounds nice. ive heard a few knock offs on ebay are actually worth it. Not sure which route I want to go when it comes to the exhaust.

subscribed

I give that thing about a 10% chance of fitting correctly.

Kinda reminds me of an alien space weapon
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...nts_Purple.png

FWIW. I'm pretty sure my Brother bought that one to test out on his 2013. sounds is good but fitment is off. It isn't centered in the exhaust ports/opening and even messing with the hangers it still didn't line up right and is a little heavy.

looks very close to j2 dual. I like the resonator layout. I would consider this actually. Looks great from behind too.

also 2.5" instead of j2 is nearly 2.75" I think

I'm totally expecting fitment to be off.. Just a question of by how much

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@themajesticone

Excited to see where this one goes! Keep us updated!

Slated delivery is the 10th. Will be installing when I get home from work unless something comes up, so expect my thoughts come Friday night.

Surprised as many people seem interested as they do. I've looked up ebay exhaust threads on here in the past when I was curious and there wasnt to much, however its possible I was just searching for the wrong things.

Well, from what I've seen, the driver side exhaust comes close to the plastic and has hit a few times. I know when it was first installed it looked centered but after a little while on the road it moved. Hopefully yours fits better, but I would get stiffer hangers to keep it in place better. even if is off center.

Good friend of mine has his own place and can re-weld some new hangers on if I need. All depends on how it sounds. If the quality seems decent enough and the sound is smooth and not raspy/shitty then Ill throw him the few bucks to do it..

I'm actually super excited to see it on the car. I thoroughly enjoy how some of these similar designs look underneath the car.

This looks like a good place to ask a question.
Is there an e-bay catted header worth buying to go with this?

Believe top speed makes one that a few people have used..

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't see a catted one there.

Apologize its Tsudo that makes the catted one then.

So I got the exhaust in this morning.. I only live a couple miles from work so I stopped home on my lunch to check it out

Sorry did not take pics yet, will when I get home..

However initial impressions..

Th welds are OKAY.. They look uniform however there are a few tight spots that look a little "Meh" that a machine might have some issue with compared to a skilled tig welder doing the work.

The shipping container wasn't the best, was pretty beat up. While everything was nice and tight in the box, and there were no major dents or defects even with all the bubble wrapped it was a little scratched up. Nothing a quick once over with a hand polish won't fix.

There are some barbs in the piping where the opening for the chambers were drilled.. Nothing a couple swipes of a file won't fix..

I took out my digital calipers, and the screen was a bit hard to read because the battery was dieing however the Inner diameter of the piping I measured in 2 spots at the flange looked to be about approx 2.42" to 2.45" in diameter which I was pleased to see..

I DON'T have a lot of hopes for perfect fitment without some finesse and possible a re-weld of 1 of the hangers but we will see.. May get mostly lucky.

I mean honestly for the price it seems like pretty good quality. Packaged a bit better, Polished with all the barbs cleaned id' say it would pass for a more expensive exhaust.

Will take pics and install/sound clips when I get home after work.

So after a little ****ery I got the exhaust installed.

It was pretty straight forward and the only REAL hiccup I had was snapping one of the damn shoulder bolts with the spring that connects the Catback to the mid pipe. Had to make a run to Home depot to remedy the situation because NO ONE HAD THE GOD DAMN BOLT KIT IN STOCK.

So as expected the fitment is off. The left side tip touches the bumper, and the right side tip sits a little low compared to the left.

The rest of the fitment was actually pretty good. I was worried there was going to be some rubbing/hitting of the Y split because it was nearly touching the diff, however I went over a lot of bumps and sharp turns and it never hit once, im actually quite impressed with how well the exhaust fit together and how its not rubbing anything

As for the sound..

Upon cold start, it was a bit louder than I expected, not ear bleeding but a very DEEP bassy tone. Once the cold start subsided and the idle went down it was very quiet, a bit louder than stock. Notable that the car is on but not blatent.

I had my wife rev the car up a few times and I was impressed, it sounded smooth without any real tinny shitty sound like most knock off/ebay mufflers I've heard in the past, so I lowered the car down to the ground

After letting my car warm back up I went for a drive. Starting off the car has a really deep tone, that boxer rumble even with the stock header is present and it really makes the car sound like its got some power (notice I said sound :bellyroll::bellyroll:)

Driving around town the exhaust is quite noticeable inside the cabin at the lower RPM's when under light acceleration (drone), nice and deep and sounds good and calms down when at cruising speed even at slower speeds its barely noticeable when just cruising. However if a loud deep rumble when getting up to speed throughout town bothers you.. Not the exhaust for you.

Hoping on the throughway I went through 2nd,3rd,4th all the way up to redline, a nice smooth tone throughout

Cruising at 75-80MPH you can barely hear the exhaust, no drone at all at a steady cruising speed, it will drone a bit if you have some load on the car like going up a hill or accelerating to overtake another car, but its never overbearing. Im not worried about my monthly trips to long island at all.

overall I'm quite pleased, drove about 40 miles tonight and was just thrilled with how it sounded. Even with the rest of the exhaust stock it really brings out some of that rumble and really makes you appreciate how good a boxer motor can sound.

It was dark out by the time I got back from home depot and finished installing it, so I will get some sound clips etc tomorrow.

Heres a few pics.

After looking at what I wrote I'm going to change a comment a bit..

When putting through town, there is drone while under acceleration, you can hear the deep rumble in the cabin, however at any point if your cruising even at lower speeds and not in the throttle, the exhaust is barely notable in the car. Which for me is exactly what I wanted, if I was in the gas I want to hear my car even if im not hard into it.. but when cruising I want it to be quiet.

What do you think you can do to get the right side lined up better?


Looks really nice installed. He'll I wish I had been brave enough to try a cheap one and save almost $400!!

Well I think theirs a few options..

Find a way to get shorter grommets for the hangers.

Cut the hangers down in size on the exhaust itself

Re weld the hangers completely on the canister

I gotta bring it to my friend John and see what he thinks

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Video?

I'll have a couple up. Later today

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Alright so..

So after last night with the car settling, today I noticed a fitment issue besides the tip. The exhaust does JUST barely make contact with the subframe. It doesn't seem to hit over bumps, even large ones or in any other way except when the car is sitting still idling/first pulling off. You can hear it just chatter a tiny bit when coming off from a stop. You will hear it slightly as a "tinny" sound when the car first started and the stationary Rev. I drove around a lot this morning. Hit a lot of bumps and bad roads on purpose, did some hard spirited driving and never noticed it hit outside of that. I can live with that for now.

Also, I made the tips a lot better. I stopped by my friends shop and I said hey think we can re-weld these or do this or that. He told me, go to Advance, get a fuel injector clamp and use it as a spacer to keep the exhaust pointed where you want it. If that doesn't work then we can re-weld them.

Well, it seemed to have made it much better. It's still slightly off but I can live with it for now.

As for the Video, I apologize its not great. My daughter was taking a nap and I'm the only one here so I took a quick stroll down the road. You can see as you pull over and accel the chattering from it hitting goes away.

[ame]http://youtu.be/KkTE-c2iaLA[/ame]

It sounds and looks great. Just get a UEL and you'll be in good shape.

I might try this with my axleback. One tip sits slightly further out than the other. Did you loosen up any of the exhaust bolts in the process? No contact is made anywhere with mine, but its just a bit uneven. You cant tell from 10 feet away.

Diden't loosen up anything.. Just muscled it. Wasn't about to jack my car up again :bellyroll:

More Videos:

In-Car/Cruising on the thruway - I will say while this exhaust is very bassy when accelerating and decelerating, and while you can still hear some bass while Im at cruising speed, its not as loud as my video makes it seem. At cruising speed its very comfortable IMO and not droney at all, however it is loud under accel/decel. The Vibrant exhaust on my Honda Fit was worse :bellyroll: (Also sorry for the shitty video and listening to me breath, was holding my phone in 1 hand)

[ame]http://youtu.be/itXg1_u4KCY[/ame]

Parking Garage Driveby - Went to the local parking garage in an empty straight and did a complete first gear pull into some of second.

[ame]http://youtu.be/lic_a6u3C0I[/ame]

Also: After "fixing" the tip fitment with the clamps. The exhaust seems to have just enough clearance and doesn't hit any longer when starting off from a stop :thumbup:


Edit: Also updated second post with a quick summary and all the pictures/videos thus far.

So about a month in:

Very happy with the exhaust. Honestly for the price, the slight modification you have to do to make it fit right is worth it. I was able to add a 3rd Hose clamp on the hanger and the exhaust is completely centered now. I also had to heat up and slightly flatten a part of the Y Split, noticed it slightly hitting again after a few days. Not much, honestly wouldn't even know I did it unless I told you. No rubbing, bumping or hitting even over large bumps (I may have purposely hit a few speed bumps faster than normal to test this theory)

The exhaust seems to have quieted down a little bit (wife confirms and she doesn't drive with me as often so she would certainly be the one to really notice)

Still has a nice smooth deep tone, I've gotten A LOT of compliments on it. Even more so when i tell them where it came from :bellyroll:.

If you want a good sounding exhaust that will require a couple hose clamps, some time with a map gas torch and a few whack of the hammer to get it to fit perfect. For ~300 bucks you can't beat it.

I think this would give you the same "performance' benefits any 2.5 inch exhaust would. really comes down to whether or not you would rather spend 2 or 3 times the money without having to fuss with anything.

Congrats on the great exhaust and price!

Well I figured I'd give everyone an update.

Exhaust still sounds great. Looking forward to hear it with a header and the HKS dual resonated front pipe. Really hoping for a nice smooth tone.

Anyone else bought this? Did it last? It's like 300$on eBay rn

Hey how did it hold up for your brother? It's 280 in eBay rn seems tempting

Love the eBay exhausts...this was an older video with the 'Manzo V2' [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUdb-Pj1ffA[/ame]

A bit too loud inside the car with a UEL, so I went to a catback with a muffler.

He sold the car about a year after install. personally, for 280 and at least a year, what do you really have to loose. If you don't like it sell it. either way you are not out that much.