Brand Don't mean anything?
 

BEFORE I START TALKING I DONT WANNA START FIGHTS OR TRASH BRANDS

Here is my story... I was going to do a BR build everything, I LOVE BR.. .Everyone stays they are the best n make the best stuff...

Well due to the ecomic times ive choose to pick a cheaper route...

I have all megan racing n injen parts n im making just as much as any other person with simlar mods with BR, ETS, or AMS parts.

ect.. BR, ETS, AMS n are great brands but the prices a near double then what i paid for mine n im making maybe less then 5-10whp then them...

When i got dynoed it was also 96 degrees..

so may question is do brands really matter?

I will be the first to reply to that. Yes some of these companys have high prices on some of thier products, but the big factor is always going to be you get what you pay for. I had a megan manifold on my car and when i took it off it had cracked in maybe 6 different spots. These companys have put hours and hours and tons of money into making products that produce good numbers and last a while. Injen products are not that bad its just when you want to get into the higher horsepower range your going to have to sacrafice some things here and there and the only way to make it work is to purchase their products. you want a small battery kit your going to have to ditch the injen. If you want a gt35 your going to need a good manifold not an ebay product. just my opinion

You can hash out brand discussions in the newbie section.

All of the products may also appear the same, but like stated above you get what you pay for. They may not make much of a difference to someone who is not looking for high horsepower in their car. Welds, metals, porting, flow ratings, etc. All of those have been considered in all of the higher priced products and they have the testing to back them and the overall gain from buying these products will overcome the price that they cost in the long run. Take an intercooler for instance, they may all the same on the outside but its how they are constructed on the inside parts that you can not see that effect how they flow. This applies to almost all of the aftermarket parts you can buy, and usually the fitment of the higher priced parts are far superior to an ebay part and you get a more consistent quality product.

You vote with your wallet. You support companies by buying their product. I always ran products in and on my Evo that I supported (still holds true with my SVTF).

By purchasing a Chinese knock-off, you are saying "hey I really like brand X, but I am going to pay China-X for the part that is the illusion to brand X". Its not really brand X, you are not helping brand X, but you have something that looks like brand X. Note, I did not say performs like brand X.

there's lots of ways to go fast and I can tell you as a tuner that works with more than just your one car, the guys who buy the good parts get good results most of the time. The guys who buy cheap parts usually get dismal results. Occasionally I get a freak car that has a unusual mix of cheap parts that runs great, but it's rare.

also I think it's important to support the companies who have supported us by creating innovative new products. I don't want these guys to close their doors because the community gets cheap and supports companies that merely clone existing parts and have nothing to do with evom.

so pretty much unless ur making serious numbers, and relieablity all products are pretty much the same?

Upgrade to firefox. It has a little red line under words that are spelled wrong. Really helps us to take you serious when we think you are at least literate.


On a side note, you can make power with any parts combo you want. I personally feel that the tune is the most crucial mod of all and makes or breaks your cars performance. Bolt on's will all produce "similar" power because lets face it, a 3" pipe is a 3" pipe. Now, you pay extra for (titanium,aluminum) if you want a light weight exhaust. All filters are basically the same, and of course the knock off manifolds still flow, but you have to be concerned with cracking.

Things you should NEVER cheap out on....

Brakes
Suspension
Engine Internals (labor and parts)
Fuel (I refuse to run giant eagle and a few others)
A GOOD TUNE (dont let a friend of a friend flash it)
A pretty girl (find it, keep it at all costs)

And thats about it.

Oh and one other thing i noticed. When you buy cheap no name china parts, if you plan to resell them good luck. They are as high in demand as aids. People like to buy known quality that lasts... So if you decide to sell this stuff down the road, dont be surprised if you have to pay someone to take it away.

Look at every ATP turbo kit sold, megan manifold, knock off tial BOV, injen UICP kit etc etc.

yes
you may get similar result
but watch how long will your product last compare to the real deal
the reliability and after sales support
but well
whatever roll your boats, theres alot of thread regarding this if u pls search, u will find abundane reasons on why not to skim on buying parts for your car

I see no reason to buy cheap parts. Notice that I didn't say inexpensive. I firmly believe in investing in proven, tested, refined products and the results speak for themselves. Our Evo with just a (Works) TBE w/cat, panel filter, (Buschur) FMIC, a (Hallman) MBC, a tune, and 30lbs less rotational mass pulls the equivalent of ~117mph trap speed on STM's MD. That's not all. The parts fit perfectly, nothing rattles or buzzes, nothing is rusting - no small feat in Upstate, NY.

I guess I could have saved a few hundred bucks by buying untested parts made from substandard materials, but why? Note how just a few parts made a lot of power without the need to compromise drivability and/or reliability, in addition to not purchasing additional parts that can only alter these factors. Win-win.

i agree with everything u said.. good stuff...

i no cant spell ha

The difference is Quality, Support and Customer Service. You can buy an eBay or Chinese knock off product, but the quality control will be OK in the best circumstances. We have seen several customers ruin turbos by running an overseas manifold. It only takes a little bit of slag to destroy a turbo. Do you think the eBay company is going to help you? Nope.... it's just a product to them. If you have questions regarding your install, what other mods to get, tuning advice... The eBay guy isn't going to be help you out in most cases.

FJF had it right. Proven, Tested and Tested Some More! We run what we sell.. you get real results when you bolt the products on.

We can go on and on about the quality difference and design differences. Some guys just "WANT" the upgrade parts, others want the upgrade parts to perform. Most guys can make power with an eBay part, but will power stay pull after pull? Chances are... nope.

Michael

I think the brand name has some significance, more so in quality than performance. I'm sure something ebay might perform nearly as well as a brand name part, but it probably won't last as long ... there's a reason why brand names cost a bit more, although granted part of that is just overhead..

honestly, when it comes to exhaust parts (downpipe back. would never go with a china exhaust manifold.). i would say go china,

but when it comes to things like intercooler and such and such things that really where quality is key. YES you should go with buschur or ets.. brand name products

I think you mean seriously. That's all I needed to do here :D No green line for words that are grammatically incorrect :beer: