Project Racer - Part 7: Recipe for Racing

Is that an E bay STB I spy on page 5?

that would be a huge contradiction...did you read her article? Guessing at first glance STB=Whiteline

The STB was a hand me down from one of my projects and I can't remember what it was, maybe Eibach or Motivational? When the car was done it had a custom Technosquare fabricated triangulated part.

Ok just making sure. (don't think it is Whiteline though)

I whole heartedly agree with the topic. Our economy is suffering because of knock offs and every cheaper copy made in China. This is a very important message. Well said Annie Sam

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1316/categoryid/1/revenge-of-the-nerd-boycott-fakes.aspx

Thanks for posting that up urbanjacup! Also a very good article Mike Kojima!

I bought one of those counterfeit Freddy BOVs from Ebay once. Luckily I realized that it was fake before the guy even shipped it. What got me was it had "Greddy" cast into it. It wasn't just a BS sticker...That is what I thought copyright laws were for

Look, I did not write this article! They are no laws in China and Customs can't keep up with the torrent of crap coming in.

urbanjacup posted a link to the Boycott fakes article from back in September. My last comment was directed towards that article. Sorry next time I will post under the proper article

Thanks for the comments. No worries about the other article comment either. It was a helpless feeling to see Hotshot close its doors for all the wrong reasons. It's an important message... speaking up is my way of trying to do something about it and I'm glad the detour caught people's attention.

The same thing happened back when I was into airsoft, all the knock-offs made money, and a bunch of the really good brands either disappeared or relegated themselves to making super exclusive limited editions. I think the problem is 2-fold. first the products have a reputation that exceeds their availability, so the people who think image is more important than engineering tend to go for the knock offs because the looks the same, right? Second, the marketing teams that sell the engineering regardless of origin or facts, does the $69 "supercharger" sound familiar? Or the CAI/header combo good for +200 hp? The fact they're not CARB approved or even DOT legal doesn't bother the sellers. I unfortunately know people that got tricked into junk bolt-ons based on the lies of advertisers.

I think the problem could be partially solved if parts had a federal grading system like they do for eggs. No one buys grade "B" eggs, who's gonna by grade "B" intake manifolds, especially if it's grade is in plain view.

That's my $0.02

my ingredients would be something like this 3 cups drivers skill, 1 cup killer suspension, 1 cup of grip, a dash of reliability, 1 tablespoons of horsepower, and 1 tablespoon of weight reduction.

Nice article Annie!!!!!

It's nice to see a bit of "honest talk" in these articles. The copying of innovative and usually pricier parts is truly killing the very market and platforms that they themselves cater to. Although I can't deny that I myself have used some very generic parts before (sometimes making me wish that I hadn't after some breakage, and sometimes not); overall I feel very strongly about protecting those companies and people that pioneer the development of better performance parts. I'm not truly sure what the answer to this problem is other than legit companies constant innovation and continuing to release newer and better products. A large feat for a small operation :(

Only CAI close to that Hotshot I've been able to get new short of making one custom came through Overkill Engineering, WAI or CAI in 3" Aluminum (not SS, oh well) - but rather than just copy something they did some actual research and produced a good product made in USA, rare nowadays for SR20's -

http://www.overkillengineeringmotorsports.com/sr20lowportcai.html

I helped them with the highport fitment for the B13, so I can attest to both it fits, and it works. Non-stock tubing bends are mandrel bent, welds are good quality. Whp is up about +6-9 over the intake Dave had on the car several years back, which is probably significant enough to say it's not just dyno variability. I also used Mike's approach with the JWT PopC Ring out on the end in the fender. After a year of beating on the car I can attest to the

Photo here of installed on my B13:
http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/.Pictures/B13_PSRes_GRNDkit/PS_Res_and_GRND11.JPG

They also make an excellent low-cost MAF adapter in 3" that beats the crap out of the cheap sh*t you see on eBay, very handy if you just need a really good MAF adapter for not a lot of money. Unlike crappy generic knock-offs the adapter doesn't intrude into the opening for the MAF.

More pics here:
http://s407.photobucket.com/albums/pp154/stracy01/B13/

Btw love that magna setup, have the perf core on two cars and HFC's, love their performance line. Late 90's style Borla SS on my second B13 just isn't quite the same, more a restrictive setup with smaller tubing, more under the radar type street exhaust. I don't track that car or I'd strip the borla and sell it.

I've heard contradicting stories about Hotshot and OBX. Hotshot was always on the high-end priceline of the market while OBX (even if they did copy the design) does seem to make a quality product. I've heard nothing bad about the quality of OBX components especially since they primarily cater to the niche market. I'm not defending either one just telling it like I've seen it. There are great parts out there but then sometimes there are equal parts for less because there is no mark-up for the "name." I"m sorry to see companies like Hotshot and garages like XAT (in my backyard) die as well.