Biggest difference between cheap and expensive hfc

ddvette9

Soneonle please post a link or chime in on berk for 500-600 vs ERZ or kinetix for like 300-400

m4a1mustang

Build quality.

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puckshaw

Bingo. I've seen the difference for myself.

ddvette9

Who's got top "cheap price tag" build quality that someone has seen first hand

m4a1mustang

Berk and FI should both be top quality. I have held the FIs in my hands and they are very solid.

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puckshaw

I've seen the ERZ and FI HFC's in person. Night and day difference. I posted pics of my ERZ HFC in a review thread. Had to send the first set back because the inlets were so bad. Second set was better but nowhere near as nice as the FI set. You really do pay for what you get with these. If I could do it over I'd definitely spring the extra cash for a quality part. Needless to say I didn't cheap out when it came time to buy a CBE and went with FI.

F.I. Inc.

Thanks for the positive words about our products.

As you all know it is hard (not impossible) but hard to get quality parts in your hands that are made overseas. We have explored overseas options in the past but in the end I have found the only way to keep the quality up is build it in house!

In addition whenever you see a part that is priced real low compared to everyone else, it is a safe bet to say it was not made in this country.

Now I have never seen the ERZ high flow cats in person so I cannot nor will not comment on their quality. I will leave that up to consumers like yourself that have had them in hand next to mine...

Thanks, Tony

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TypeOne

^^^

I would have to agree.

China/Taiwan made parts aren't ever really a good idea if you are looking for quality. In some cases you can get it, but I'd say most of the time it's just a gamble.

Definitely looking at the FI stuff, all looks top notch.

Jordo!

Could you elaborate...?

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TypeOne

I can't speak for him, but I can honestly see it in the difference in quality of anything in the automotive aftermarket industry.

Compare an Amuse cat back to an Agency Power. (I hate to say it) but Agency Power stuff is made in China and Taiwan. There is a wholesale company overseas that sells all of the parts that AP brands and sells under their own name.

The Amuse stuff is by far some of the nicest, highest quality stuff I have ever seen and the AP is just a low cost, copy.

You can see it in the thickness of the pipes, welds, and quality of the hardware... it's very noticeable.

I'm not trying to call anyone out, but if you look close enough, you'll see it. You get what you pay for... remember that.

PR370z

I have ERZ HFC's (china built) and JIC magic Y pipe (japan built) and I have to say the Y pipe looks a lot better built. For me its not a big deal because its something you cant see, and overtime looks all discolored from heat. As far as I know performance wise (cel count) its the same as the expensive ones. I did not have any issues installing or defects on mine. Hope this info helps

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TypeOne

Sure, it might not apply for some things. China and Taiwan supply a large majority of the worlds auto manufactures with parts. In some cases, you can buy directly from the same company overseas that supply an OEM company.

Obviously that isn't feasible for all companies to do that because it requires such large resources to do so, but it is possible.

G Fo12ce

I want cats but I have a concern.

I've heard and seen first hand on my friends S/C 350 that OEM cats can crack on FI and NA cars. Sometimes the particles can be sucked back into the head and score the cylinder walls and rings. How many aftermarket catalytic converter core manufactueres are there? For the ones made here like Berk, Stillen, FI sure there are build quality differences, but how do you know you are not getting the same (for example) Magnaflow core with nicer welds and flanges?

I can't really say for sure, and I don't like to spread misinformation but my friend says he read about people on the 350 forums cracking Berks. I don't know if it's a few people and it's blown out of proportion compared to happy customers or what. Maybe it's the most popular so you hear about more failures?

How does a customer know what kind of heat these things are good for? I think with the well known engine heat the VQ has I'd probably want something designed for a turbo car. I guess we're probably not going to know until people have had these for a while and you just get what you think is the best at the time....

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spearfish25

My ERZ cats have been perfectly fine for over 7k miles now. For a part that is buried under the car, I couldn't care less about how it looks. IIRC, they looked pretty nice when I unpacked them too. Maybe I got a special set since I was one of the first to install them on this site. If I had it to do over, I'd still buy the ERZs which left me $300 for sways.

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TypeOne

I think the only real way would be to get the companies information on where their cores are coming from. As a consumer and end user, you would have the right to know.

If you are getting a part made over seas which is being used in other brand parts (some who have or haven't had failures) it would be important to know.

If company X uses parts from manufacturer Y, and company Z also uses Y parts, then X and Z should have similar results as far as longevity. Take into account MSRP for both X and Z parts.. then you'll have something to compare.