Nissan 370Z Forum - Biggest difference between cheap and expensive hfc

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- - Biggest difference between cheap and expensive hfc (http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaust/27875-biggest-difference-between-cheap-expensive-hfc.html)

I have the ERZ and they are awesome. Fit perfectly and no CEL issues at all. Paired up just fine to my FI CBE.

http://www.the370z.com/members/tjlaz...4-erz-hfcs.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by TypeOne (Post 812838)

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.

:stirthepot:

Well... okay.

But what I mean is, so long as nothing cracks or leaks, and everything bolts up, it probably doesn't really matter if it was made in a sweat shop in China or lovingly welded by elves in Wonderland.

How it looks doesn't really matter...

My point though is how often does a guy look at the inlet side of the cat after install? I'm talking about the mesh media inside, not the welds. I'm willing to bet never. How do you know it's not cracked at some point down the road....? I'm not saying anyones stuff here is bad, it's just a concern. I want something designed to handle the heat of turbo charging, even if I never go that way.

I have the ERZ test pipes personally. But I will say that if I were going for high flow cats I would be more inclined to spend a little more money. There's a big difference between a piece of pipe and a cat.

Build quality for sure, BUT the internal quality of the cats is a bit different. While FI and Berk are better quality than most others it seems, they are not up to the quality of the OEM internals or some German high flow cats. OEM cats are not just marked up junkers, the internals are meant to last. Aftermarket OEM cats will last a while but probably not nearly as long as the OEM. Some European companies sell HFC's with extremely nice quality internals but they run about $900+ per pair. At that price, its either buy a mid grade set and replace as needed or go with the quality ones and leave em on for longer.

That being said, I doubt the Euro versions make any more power, just last longer before burning out.