Borla ATAK Exhaust Review for the DE5 🔥

[drysol]

I haven’t seen many people running the Borla ATAK on the DE5, so I figured I’d share my thoughts for anyone considering it.

I’m currently running it with the stock downpipe/frontpipe and no tune, and honestly — this exhaust sounds incredible. Easily one of the best-sounding setups I’ve heard for this platform. It’s aggressive without being obnoxious, and the tone is super clean throughout the rev range.

The only downside? The price. It’s definitely on the expensive side. Luckily for me, my brother gifted it to me (shoutout to him!), because I probably would’ve gone with a more budget-friendly option otherwise. But now that I’ve had it on the car, I can say it’s totally worth it.

If you’re on the fence and have the budget, it’s a solid choice — definitely deserves more attention in the DE5 community.

Feel free to message me if you want more sound clips!

Sponsored

 

[Old_Dad_Actual]

Sounds amazing. What intake do you have? I’m not sure if I want to do an intake or an exhaust first…

 

[nowakm9]

I made the mistake of buying a Borla exhaust for an RX8 about 15 years ago. While it sounded good, the build quality was pure junk and the mufflers disintegrated in less than 2 years. I had to replace the entire thing with another brand. It was honestly the cheapest made exhaust that I’ve ever owned and, based on that experience, would never purchase a Borla product again. I really hope that their quality has improved. On the contrary, , I purchased an AWE exhaust for my Audi S4 which sounded amazing and is still running strong 9 years later. I dont plan on installing and aftermarket on my ITS but would go with AWE all the way as I’ve seen these on several brands of cars and they always sound great Build quality is also top notch

 

[MERAKIAUTOWORKS]

Nice review! Definitely an overlooked exhaust considering how many options are out there.

-Josh

 

[Victorofhavoc]

When I got my borla I didn't like the look of the welds and found loose weld beads all over, including inside the helmholtz. Borla customer service was great and they were ready to ship a new muffler section quickly, but I got the weld balls out and all was okay. Given my experience with them, I anticipate any need to use the lifetime warranty would likely be okay.

1500 street miles and 12 track sessions later, the borla sounds fantastic, gets a lot of compliments, and has dramatically toned down. Comfort is way quieter after breaking it in. The system in general sounds "mature" and not like a clapped out Honda as is typical for most exhaust changes on these engines.

Fwiw, I've seen many exhausts rust out or fall apart, including awe, invidia, and others. No factory assembled exhaust is ever going to be perfect, and if they got the stainless steel too hot during welding, it may fail way sooner. You won't get crazy awesome quality until you move to a fully custom piece made by a fabricator. The fabricators also don't have the time or money to invest in sound tuning to determine things like helmholtz sizing.

Only thing I don't like about the borla currently is the exhaust tips. I wish they were all oem sized and not cheap rolled edge stuff. The black and carbon were also unappealing to me, and chrome looked best imo. I may still chop them at some point and put some ark or corsa tips on it or something.

 

[drysol]

Sounds amazing. What intake do you have? I’m not sure if I want to do an intake or an exhaust first…

PRL HVI

definitely worth it

Sponsored