Think twice about purchasing borla atak

[galaxy]

[MENTION=33934]galaxy[/MENTION] Let us know how the shifteck mod works? Sound power etc. I may do the lethal 350 Res delete X pipe when they have a discount going on and use my points as well.

I will. I would have done it by now, but I ordered my MGW shifter this week. Perfect time to combine the install and have the x-pipe out of the way for the shifter install.

Borla is an OEM for Ford...

Yup...but the Ford Performance system (absolutely completely made my Borla) and the ATAK are completely different systems.

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[Epiphany]

The Shiftek internals are indeed clean. The difference may be that Shiftek is gas purging when welding and Borla is not. At the end of the day there is little difference in terms of performance but everyone appreciates cleanliness. No biggie.

 

[Bcobb85]

Just got an email back from Borla in response to me asking why the Ford Performance exhaust now uses a different (stamped) x-pipe instead of the mandrel bent one that the OP has and the older FP kits had. Here was his response:

"There is no difference in between the two as far as performance goes. The only difference is that one is a direct Ford part that they supply to us and the other is a Borla made part. Both have the same gains and sound identical. It really just boils down to what Ford wanted included in their newer kits and what we supply with them."

This is a wild guess but perhaps Ford had similar issues as the OP with the quality of the x-pipe and now supplies their own for Borla to include in the kit.

 

[Niz55]

I installed a kit yesterday on a customers car and I showed him the x pipe and he did not care and agreed to get it installed.

30% of the flat crank voodoo sound is gone. It doesn't have the high pitch sound anymore. Is more of a thicker sound. Even the owner was not happy with the product and the sound.

Is this exhaust worth the $2k price tag, absolutely not. Shiftteck and stock exhaust hands down.

Also want to add that this kit no way in hell will add 18whp not from just a catback.

 

[Zitrosounds]

Just got an email back from Borla in response to me asking why the Ford Performance exhaust now uses a different (stamped) x-pipe instead of the mandrel bent one that the OP has and the older FP kits had. Here was his response:

"There is no difference in between the two as far as performance goes. The only difference is that one is a direct Ford part that they supply to us and the other is a Borla made part. Both have the same gains and sound identical. It really just boils down to what Ford wanted included in their newer kits and what we supply with them."

This is a wild guess but perhaps Ford had similar issues as the OP with the quality of the x-pipe and now supplies their own for Borla to include in the kit.

I don't normally look at my bung hole regularly but when I do, I expect it will look like poo. To each there own but this is nit picking. To Epiphany's point I offer this, https://www.hotrod.com/articles/eng...es-headers-for-horsepowerso-you-dont-have-to/. No power loss through dented headers. You will have no performance issues.

Every x-pipe i have purchased and installed through various companies had ugly welds inside the crossover. I have personally communicated through email and over the phone with D. Borla. You will get excellent customer service which is something that cant be said of many other companies. I got my first system and had some fitment issues which they corrected tooling and change procedure and then provided me with a new system which was great! Atak Borla on my R gets a 10/10 for performance, 10/10 for sounds, 9/10 fitment and most importantly 10/10 in customer service especially for such a small market.

 

[galaxy]

The Shiftek internals are indeed clean. The difference may be that Shiftek is gas purging when welding and Borla is not. At the end of the day there is little difference in terms of performance but everyone appreciates cleanliness. No biggie.

I think the difference is more than that. The designs between the two are night and day. I don't think I need to speak to how well designed the ShifTech piece looks. The Borla looks more like a small hole was cut (butchered actually) into the sides of the two pipes and then the two pipes were just kinda welded together with the holes facing each other. There's no merging, no flow. etc. Doesn't seem this would be beneficial to scavenging or flow characteristics. And I'm typically a stress free person that doesn't get bent out of shape over the smaller stuff, but for whatever reason this x-pipe is making me lose sleep, LOL! I do agree the performance difference is nil at best, but it's having some weird placebo effect on me. Oh well.

This is a wild guess but perhaps Ford had similar issues as the OP with the quality of the x-pipe and now supplies their own for Borla to include in the kit.

I'd like to see the inside of the stamped one just for giggles. That's interesting it's a Ford part; didn't know that one.

 

[Zitrosounds]

I installed a kit yesterday on a customers car and I showed him the x pipe and he did not care and agreed to get it installed.

30% of the flat crank voodoo sound is gone. It doesn't have the high pitch sound anymore. Is more of a thicker sound. Even the owner was not happy with the product and the sound.

Is this exhaust worth the $2k price tag, absolutely not. Shiftteck and stock exhaust hands down.

Also want to add that this kit no way in hell will add 18whp not from just a catback.

Sound is subjective and many will disagree. The exhaust on my R with the ATAK has been complimented at track events, on the road while driving and during start ups. Sound is subjective.

 

[galaxy]

Yea dude (@Niz55), I gotta disagree and go with Harold on this one...I don't see how anyone could not like the sound of this system or claim is doesn't sound like a voodoo. You got me stumped there. And even though I'm hung up on the appearance of the x-pipe, my opinion of the system overall and with Borla has been top shelf. (and if you buy from Meraki, you're not paying $2K ;-) I'll also admit at the risk of ridicule, had I not had a ShifTeck and seen how purdy it is, I would have been none the wiser to the Borla one. But, we're here now, so...

 

[Niz55]

Specially at crusing speed you can't really here the high pitch unless you really get on.

 

[Bcobb85]

I'd like to see the inside of the stamped one just for giggles. That's interesting it's a Ford part; didn't know that one.

Unfortunately I din't take a pic but its pretty much identical to this:

 

[Bcobb85]

To chime in on the sound, my FP took time to break in. I can say for sure that it has alot more pops/burbles now than it did when I first installed it. FWIW, I was told by Borla that it takes around 500-1,200 miles to fully break in. Around 1k miles on it now and this is how it sounds: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkp-5X2BqTS/?taken-by=fp350

 

[MikeMM]

To chime in on the sound, my FP took time to break in. I can say for sure that it has alot more pops/burbles now than it did when I first installed it. FWIW, I was told by Borla that it takes around 500-1,200 miles to fully break in. Around 1k miles on it now and this is how it sounds: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkp-5X2BqTS/?taken-by=fp350

I agree there. I can see what OP is saying with the x-pipe being rather unimpressive with cleanliness. But the sounds that thing makes when it breaks in is incredible. Mine has changed drastically in the 2000 miles I've had it on. When you first get it on, it sounds almost muffled and not overly fantastic. It's definitely loud, hands down. After about 500 miles it starts to wake up and it's a whole other world of difference. Mine has changed sound multiple times since I've had it on, setting into it's current sound around 1800 miles and I doubt it'll pack in any more so I expect it to not change pitch/loudness going forward. I will say however that the car under 2K RPM (while accelerating and not flooring it) with this exhaust leaves a lot to be desired. It's relatively quiet and not overly aggressive; coasting under 2K gets you the snaps and burbles. Above 2K RPM is where it really shines. If you kick her over the 2K threshold on downshifts she cracks (quite loudly at that). Ultimately everyone has their own opinions on sound, but with the ATAK you have to give it time to break in to really make a solid decision. I know the prospect of "a dollar a mile" while you wait for the exhaust to break in is unappealing to most, but before you rule out the ATAK try to find someone who has a broken in one and listen to that before you make a decision. The videos also don't really do it justice for sound, so if you can listen to it in person then I highly recommend it.

 

[Creedog]

I installed a kit yesterday on a customers car and I showed him the x pipe and he did not care and agreed to get it installed.

30% of the flat crank voodoo sound is gone. It doesn't have the high pitch sound anymore. Is more of a thicker sound. Even the owner was not happy with the product and the sound.

Is this exhaust worth the $2k price tag, absolutely not. Shiftteck and stock exhaust hands down.

Which kit are you referring to here, the Ford Performance by Borla or the Borla Atak system?

 

[Niz55]

Borla atak.

I guess we have to wait longer to see if it changes after the break in.

 

[jefc73]

Mine sounds awesome. Love it. Got over 500 miles on mine and it has gotten louder and sounding better.

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