whats up all, looking for some input on timing belts.

I'm going to be getting new belts and everything else that I need for this service, but before I purchased the belts, I wanted to get some opinions.
I am pretty sure about getting a Gates belt, but am wondering about some of the other brands, such as HKS, Toda, or Power Ent.... What are some thoughts on these? With names like the HKS, are you simply paying for well, the name? Just wanted to get some input before I purchase anything...

Cheers

 

What are you doing with the car? Just a DD or a road/track warrior?

Sometimes the Gates belts can have premature wear, or have annoying noise issues. If you are just using the car as a DD with even a considerable amount of track time the OEM belt will work just fine. You will save $ too, so you can add some more go fast parts.

 

well the car is a DD for now, am just wanting to get something thats going to last, something thats going to give me the best for what I spend. It will be getting some extensive mods in the near future though.

 

Stick with an OEM belt... They do very well and the price is right!

Cheers!

 

Dont go with the gates. Heard of to many bad things not just in the evo community but several others also. If you dont go with OEM belt you want to go with something stronger like the power enterprise belt.

 

I just bought a evo 8 on Friday....and was really suprised to see that the timing belt change is at 60k...I dont think i've ever seen them needed to be done at that low of mileage. It seems like the usual is 90-105k my WRX was 105k. Is this mitsubishi's way of playing it safe for the small percentage of timing belt failure before 90k?

 

My car sees over a dozen autocross events a year and I didn't think twice about using an OEM timing belt. At 66k I could still see the lettering on the back of the belt and the pulleys still felt like new.

 

oem is the way to go...it will support any power the stock turbo will make. not sure what mileage ur at or why you want to change it but the oem belts hold up very well against both mileage and time. i changed my original 2004 belt a few months ago at 43k cus my water pump was leaky and figured id change the belt while i was in there. you would think that over 5 yrs would cause some wear, but this belt was in pristine condition. it looked just like the new one i was installing. the job is a pain in the *** and if u change one belt u might as well change them all...requires special tools, removing motor mount, replace the tensioner blah blah. its good preventive maintenance however, so if you've already made up ur mind go for it!!

 

well the car has roughly 110k...the guy i bought it from had it changed at 56k when he had some other work done, so it is due. I will be (hopefully) doing a larger turbo and other mods within the next 6-8 months, depending on work. Sounds like OEM is the way to go...thanks all