Hey guys!
This spring/summer I'm looking to change my exhaust. I've looked around the forums and both ARK and JoeZ have taken my interest in particular.

However, after watching videos on YouTube of people and their builds, I was particularly impressed by the sound that came out of Alvin Q's car ( ), which seems to be an Invidia q300 which was modified. Because of this, I started thinking about just making a custom exhaust from the ground up. Would the price I pay be worth going that route? Is there anybody here that has gone the custom route and have any advice on what to do/where to go (located in NYC)?

 

I haven't heard either exhaust but from my experience with past cars, I would not purchase or aim to copy a certain exhaust build based on youtube videos. Exhausts sound a lot different in person. I bought a Vanguard exhaust for my old E92 335 that everyone on the forums raved about and sounded great on youtube, and it ended up sounding like dog poop in person. My friends all agreed. Sold it the same week.

Plus everyone has a different idea of what's loud and what's not. For example, some would say a muffler delete is very loud and has too much drone, others would say muffler delete is very tame.

Just my 2 cents.

 

before i installed my invidia axle back, i removed the factory muffler and started it up. this in itself, made more noise than the invidia axle back AND sounded pretty good. try this, first?

 

I have a 2015 250 awd and I went from invidia catback(too quiet) to invidia catback with muffler delete(way too loud/headaches from drone) to invidia midpipe with ark axleback(perfect). Wasted a lot of money trying different things but in the end its the only way to know cause videos don't do any justice. To be specific, I had to custom weld the invidia midpipe since I have awd, and the ark axleback is for the 200t(slightly different resonator than 250/350), and added quad burnt tips to finish it off. Pretty frankensteiny exhaust but it was worth it in the end.

 

ARK doesn't sell the axleback back seperately do they?

 

First week within getting the car I had done a muffler delete haha
I like it, it's just not enough

 

You make a really good point, it's honestly really unfortunate that there's no easier way in order for you to choose an exhaust without having to go through some trial and error.

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you end up paying for that job?

 

Contact us for the Ark exhaust!

-Josh

 

No they only sell it as a catback. You have to find someone selling the axle. I'd just get the full ark catback imo.

 

I think I paid $240 to install the full catback and custom weld.

 

Lots of trial & error. I have the Ark catback and thought it was too quiet for my liking. Got a resonator delete last Monday and it sounded a little louder. Actually started to like the sound it produced after a few days. Should’ve just stopped here

I didn’t like how the tips were hidden and rubbing against the diffuser since I have the generic eBay one and my Seibon diffuser won’t be here for another month. So this past Tuesday, I decided to have my exhaust extended so that the tips stick out a little more. Now I’m upset & annoyed it’s even more quieter than before the res delete. I feel like I took 2 steps forward then 5 steps back LOL time to remove the mufflers... If it still sucks, custom exhaust it is then.

 

If you want loud go with the setup I have is the apexi midpipes and Stillen axle back. Here’s a video of my car.

 

Here’s pictures of what it looks like from behind.

 

^ your setup sounds beautiful, I was thinking of going with the apexi mid pipe because its like the only one that fits on a AWD and the invidia axle back. i wish i could here both in person before pulling the trigger.