from what i can tell in the bushur thread the ebay core performed relatively well… it had temps that were a few degrees higher and made similar horsepower… if you’re running a professional race car like he is then get the real deal. if you’re running a 350hp street car then save a few hundred… you’ll likely not notice the difference.
also, ‘ebay’ grade is a bit of a misnomer. There are varying degrees of quality on ebay. sometimes you get fly by nighters off loading overstock or old model parts… then you have the more established ebay sellers who are selling more current variations of the same products.
a lot of the stuff has gotten better over the years. an SR20 intake manifold from the last 12 months is waaaaay different than what they were 5 years ago.
you can find good quality stuff for decent prices, on my s13 i had a intercooler from a company called treadstone that intercooler was really good quality. i crashed my s13 the intercooler was bent to shit, but still did not have any leaks. they go for the same price as ebay ones, i believe american made. the site seems to be down as of recently. as for piping ebay piping is usaually stainless steel, i prefer aluminum.
but yeah with big brands you pay more for the name then the quality. im sure if for less then a 1000 dollars you can pay a local intercooler shop to make you a intercooler that is better then a 1000 dollar greddy or watever brand intercooler. but yeah i guess car parts are like clothes you want the name more then anything.
Every time a thread discussing this topic pops up people get mad heated. Anyways I’ll state my piece and then leave. I’m all for name brand since I support what I like. In order to continue to enjoy what I like, I’ll support companies with my money. Now I don’t mind buying from smaller companies like PBM, and I’m down for supporting local companies…I’ll still spend money on name products.
I think the most important is suspension peices…knock offs will do if your hard parking but when the high loads come with sticky tires…knock of shit breaks
you dont have to get brand names to get good quality, but with that being said when getting brand names you have some piece of mind because you know companies need to live up to there rep and make something good quality. but dont rule the smaller not so big companies out because every big company was once one of those not so famous brands you may not know about.
I kinda like the idea of protecting my investment with BFGoodrichKDGforce VS. Nexxan NX3000 (at walmart)
^becasue that one time you are pushing it a little too hard, its nice to not have to explain a dicey accident to a cop and a bunch of
witness’, while your pride/joy lay mangled and leaking…
did a 5 lug swap on the 240sx to go with bigger rims package… offshore hubs/bearings from Bing lasted about 10 laps at mosport before the play got so bad that it was altering my camber.
and then one of the offshore 5 lug rear hubs got sheared off by torque at shannonville at an event…
then the longer studs began to fall out, since the splines on them were shit…
All true… also had to warranty a couple other sets… these were brand names you would know if i posted them…
Now Adam did have probably the worst luck ever, breaking all hubs. I’m pretty sure the vendors refused warranty on them as well… it was a few years ago now, i can’t remember.
I don’t list them or sell them anymore at all after that. Always recommend going with OEM stuff.
Mind you, my Attain hubs are more than 5 years old now with no issues… but that was when it cost $500 for front conversion hubs… not $250 like today.
