then whats the point of upgrading... if OEM parts worked fine at above and beyond use we wouldnt have companies like HKS.... I am not saying that HKS isnt great... I have an HKS exhaust... but their blow off valves FOR the EVO X that is NOT tuned to speed density, and running VTA, OR is being used as a DV..... does suck.... here is a video example.... made by synaptic ( synapse engineering )

at 4:42 there is a SIDE BY SIDE view... so... see for your self about their response times..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU5Y6...mbedded#at=210

 

why would you buy a product from a company in the US that was already here but decided to pull out from?

 

HKS stuff is usally pretty nice never had a problem with quality they make some of the best parts if you ask me.

 

You understand that they were here only from a logistical standpoint, right? They didn't develop parts here. It was cheaper to have an HKS warehouse here so it would decrease lead time for parts supply and save YOU money. Motovicity Distribution has taken over that role if I'm not mistaken.

 

My buddy worked for the HKS USA branch, and it was mainly for logistics reasons as you've said. He was a mechanic and said they only did small maintenance work for the HKS cars that came stateside along with minor R&D work. A lot of the manufacturer sportslines (ie nismo/trd/etc) gave contract work to that location. One I remember him telling me about was the TRD exhaust for the is250/350.

I remember him telling me all about the engines(they were testing different stroke/bores) on the GTRs almost 6 months before those specs were release publically. I'm not saying they built the engines, but some of the minor piping and such were developed there(HKS Japan).

 

they subbed their distro to an american company, so did Greddy. No big deal, parts are still easy to find, an MAperformance can get you whatver.

 

The HKS catback is awesome, wish I never got rid of mine.

 

^^^ Now, let's compare this to the development of parts for the X by US tuners: A shop would buy a car, run it on the dyno over the course of a few days with newly welded piping, and a mod path was born. Literally. Some don't believe me? All this is documented on the forum by those same shops. Just search.

I was unfamiliar with the tuner scene, when I bought by Evo in '06. In my mind, as a middle-aged car guy raised on conservative automotive values, modifications were developed over an extended period, tested vigorously for reliability, durability, and of course performance, and only then offered to the costumer. Well, not so much, right? Once I got to EvoM and started devouring information, going back to the platform's release, reading every single thread by every single shop who tested a part, it became clear that many modifications were offered solely as modifications with nothing else implied. Worse, the buying public simply didn't care; they wanted mods and shops gave them mods. Then there's the forum culture that reinforced truly bad decisions with snippets of text upload by total strangers who truly MUST have the same concerns as the OP, and the world keeps turning.

 

I never been forums before, but i am around car racing circa 30 years now.

I started go karting at age 8.
So when i came to the forum i thought a same as you did. I was dumb funded when i find it out most of the people doesn't even know what rally means, in a rally car based enthusiast forum... Even most shocking was me i had to argue with those who thought the evo is a drag car... etc.
Was definitely a shocking experience for me.
.........
I have to agree with your statement, and really shocked me how much some of the moderators vendors etc doesn't know about the evo, and so on so forth.
But really fight for they "rights" even they give me points for not being right... LOL I have sweet memories for those points .
Since my English was even worst then now , there for i must be an idiot and know nothing about the subject.

But i def. do find this forum amusing. I truly have a good time on it

 

One great example a Z-chip lol
that was ****ing cool ... lol

 

I guess you never heard of this Evo...



http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009...t230r-evo.aspx

The HKS CT230R set records in Tsukuba Circuit, and Willow as well. and for the Evo X there is the HKS CZ200S. not as Track oriented as the CT9A, but nice numbers for around 28 PSI.



http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009...00s-evo-x.aspx

For the OP. HKS has had problems with fake BOVs and a few other products. if you search on-line you should be able to see markers to tell the real one from the fake. I think that HKS, like a lot of other aftermarket performance companies in Japan do a level of R&D on their products that is just not done anywhere else. some parts just dont work on certain cars, but if you did happen to get a fake part. it makes the situation more difficult to deal with. I have HKS parts on my CT9A and love the bespoke craftwork they have. I had 4 DSMs as well and they all had HKS parts on them. Some people like American made, and thats all good. but I like to choose my parts based on the quality, not location made.

In the end, some OEM parts work better than aftermarket. The OEM Mitsubishi diverter valves work so well, they are standard equipment on GT-R's..so that says something about them, right?

N

 

GReddy is still here AND they develop some parts here. What gave you the idea that they weren't? The internet is a wild place lol

 

I really do not care about the IX. I am more talking about the X. Do you think that car has there small *** downpipe on it or any / much other off the shelf HKS product?
Sure HKS may have made the parts on that car but I bet less then 50% is something they sold to the public.

I do not expect everyone to agree with me I am just saying that are a lot of products out there that look better, perform better, and cost less then HKS. It does not make since to me to just spend money on a name because its associated with Japan.

 

mean while i see your point, that is not actually make the original posters and HKS flamers right, wont you agree?

 

I do agree with that to a degree. Its not really good to bash the all there products. But dam there bov for the X is bad haha