Anybody actually tried the xspower (ssautochrome) ebay intercooler?
#76
Originally Posted by XxMerlinxX
It'd probably be cheaper to get one bent to specs rather than buy that.
#77
Originally Posted by Julian
...But you know what I can not get upset with a consumer trying to find the cheapest price for what he buys .. if we here in the US can not use our efficiencies to reduce our costs of basic goods (by the way IC's are not high tech anymore), or provided ever increasing performance of a product through leading edge technology to justify leading edge pricing, then we will go broke. Either by spending our GNP on overpriced goods made in our own market (remaining our countries last customer) or by going out of business in all market areas and no longer even being able to afford the cheaper foreign products with our service jobs; read, "McDees" as our higher paying service jobs continue to flow out to India, China and Thailand
Julian
Julian
The quality issue, as I see it, is primarily a function of the culture surrounding the workers that manufacture it. China, for example, uses peasant labor in conditions of near slavery for low volume grunt products like the ones we're talking about. The workers don't give a crap about the product and it comes through in build quality. Cars are the ultimate example. In places where the factory workers are either extremely low wage or heavily unionized cars are junk. German cars for example have gone down the toilet in reliability. BMW's turn into rattle traps that break down nonstop, Audi/VW is even worse, American cars are no better. It's also unreasonable to lump the pacific rim into one. There are vast differences between say Japan and China or Malaysia or Thailand. The culture in Japan, for example, creates an environment where the production workers actually care about what they're building and it shows. Look through consumer reports for auto reliability etc. Almost all of the best are Japanese.
The major flaw with your theory on needing to produce leading edge technology to stay ahead is that in a large number of sectors it's a waste of time because countries like China actively pirate the technology, ignoring patents or other intellectual property rights. Of course it's hard to complain about that when the same people are talking about how copying is good for the consumer.
Also you should probably know with all of your travels that the fad of tech and customer support being outsourced to India and other low wage countries isn't flowing out like everyone feared, and you seem to be suggesting. A lot of the domestic companies that tried it ended up flushing the project and moving the service jobs back to the US because consumers got angry about not being able to understand the ESL support person on the other end amongst other issues.
The reality is to fix the problem, outside of punitive measures against those not playing by the rules like China, we need to change the domestic culture, both pride in production to improve the quality of our own products but also in popularizing higher quality items and molding the public to not be satisfied with the cheapest thing that can get them by. A couple good phrases for this, "buy cheap, get cheap" or "An item you paid a lot for but use every day is a bargain compared to something you paid very little for but rarely use."
I'll shut up now since I'm rambling on.
#78
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Originally Posted by Kevin T. Wyum
Do you think I would have spent thousands to have prototypes and foundry molds made if it was as easy as "get one bent to spec"?
#79
Lets Go Hokies!
iTrader: (5)
I think most people accept the fact that this SMIC is nowhere near the quality of the ASP SMIC's. But is knocking off an extra 5 degrees from the intake temp and maybe adding a little efficiency (pressure drop) worth an extra $1,000? Depends on the person I guess...
I'm kind of itching to try this SMIC just out of curiosity. If I end up using it I will also measure pressure drop since I haven't seen any numbers on that yet.
I need to get my car back together first though lol.
I'm kind of itching to try this SMIC just out of curiosity. If I end up using it I will also measure pressure drop since I haven't seen any numbers on that yet.
I need to get my car back together first though lol.
#81
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
Originally Posted by afterburn27
I think most people accept the fact that this SMIC is nowhere near the quality of the ASP SMIC's. But is knocking off an extra 5 degrees from the intake temp and maybe adding a little efficiency (pressure drop) worth an extra $1,000? Depends on the person I guess...
I'm kind of itching to try this SMIC just out of curiosity. If I end up using it I will also measure pressure drop since I haven't seen any numbers on that yet.
I need to get my car back together first though lol.
I'm kind of itching to try this SMIC just out of curiosity. If I end up using it I will also measure pressure drop since I haven't seen any numbers on that yet.
I need to get my car back together first though lol.
#83
Originally Posted by afterburn27
I think most people accept the fact that this SMIC is nowhere near the quality of the ASP SMIC's. But is knocking off an extra 5 degrees from the intake temp and maybe adding a little efficiency (pressure drop) worth an extra $1,000? Depends on the person I guess...
I'm kind of itching to try this SMIC just out of curiosity. If I end up using it I will also measure pressure drop since I haven't seen any numbers on that yet.
I need to get my car back together first though lol.
I'm kind of itching to try this SMIC just out of curiosity. If I end up using it I will also measure pressure drop since I haven't seen any numbers on that yet.
I need to get my car back together first though lol.
#84
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
It will be pretty funny to see the ducts people come up with. Doing a good job is not fun, the tubing work is a cake walk compared to the duct.
#86
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
Originally Posted by fritts
If you can wet out fiberglass and sand construction foam a duct is simple. I have used the lost foam technicue several times for different types of ducts. Works great.
#87
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
alright, got home and my intercooler arrived today, I took it out an my first impression, keep in mind I don't have much exp. with them, but this thing is nicer than I thought for 250.00. It is very solid and the welds look nice, inlets are 2.75' and the couplers are three ply, and the clamps are even beefed up. the most surprising thing was the crossover pipe is nice, the pipes have flares at the ends and look to be heavy duty. I can't wait to get this thing in. I have to say if it does half of what it is suppose to, its wort every penny. I will report back later. Just for bling factor and better than stock is worth $250.00. wow.
#88
Lets Go Hokies!
iTrader: (5)
Originally Posted by Kevin T. Wyum
My post about Chinese quality isn't meant to sell my intercoolers. To be blunt IC's represent less than 1% of my total income and they can be quite a headache to build. My life wouldn't be impacted if I never built another, except I'd be a little cleaner. I will always have a moral issue with people trying to make direct knock offs, but not a financial one. I'm not too sure this cheapo thing is a copy. I did almost pee myself when the "experts in super power" were making these with 2.5" tubing and input/outputs. Of course back then it was still "race proven". It will be pretty funny to see the ducts people come up with. Doing a good job is not fun, the tubing work is a cake walk compared to the duct.
Anyway, I'm not ratting on your products... because I know they rock! But sometimes I like to try unproven things and yes... I am a bit of a cheap bastard.
#89
FD3SW211E55
iTrader: (1)
Originally Posted by sonix7
alright, got home and my intercooler arrived today, I took it out an my first impression, keep in mind I don't have much exp. with them, but this thing is nicer than I thought for 250.00. It is very solid and the welds look nice, inlets are 2.75' and the couplers are three ply, and the clamps are even beefed up. the most surprising thing was the crossover pipe is nice, the pipes have flares at the ends and look to be heavy duty. I can't wait to get this thing in. I have to say if it does half of what it is suppose to, its wort every penny. I will report back later. Just for bling factor and better than stock is worth $250.00. wow.
#90
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
I will do that, I just went out to the car and took out the stock intercooler and vent and set the intercooler in there and hooked up the crossover pipe. Impression: the crossover pipe is thicker and seems to be better pipe then my greddy 3-piece elbow kit. I have the greddy elbow so I need a straight pipe instead of the little pipe that connects to the stock elbow piece. Otherwise it is a perfect fit with my air pump. just as much clearance from the air pump belt and x-over pipe as the lower s curve greddy pipe is to the pulley on the stock setup. I am going to modify the duct for the stock intercooler to work with the 4 times larger SMIC. it should be nice and clean when I am done. the other thing I like was that all my intercooler pipes are going to be straight except for the bend to the y-pipe. no bends, yes! the only thing is I had to lose the upper tower strut bar, I got it for like 20 bucks on e-bay, worth it to install this badass intercooler. I will post some pics in the morn.
Last edited by sonix7; 09-18-05 at 12:29 AM.
#91
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
ok, I have one other question for you all. On the passenger side engine bay looking from front, right above the radiator between the front bumper support, there seems to be a piece of plastic blocking that side of the car from venting. the stock vent for the smic only uses half of the width of the front air dam to vent. I want to make the stock vent longer and therefore bringing in more air? I am wondering how I can make room above the radiator all the way across. can I take that section out, do I have to cut it out, or not a good idea? It does not look as if it supports anything and I have a theory that the wider the opening to bring in air, the more air I can get into the intercooler. I am not an engineer so I could be wrong. anyone?
#92
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
here is a pic of what I am talking about. the red x is where the stock vent goes, why is it blocked off where the red circle is? I want to open that up and make a vent that will utilize a bigger opening. Can I do it?
#95
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
look at the very last pic of the fans and top of radiator. I circled and x'd out the part I want to remove, can I or should I? if I make a duct all the way across the front of the nose will I get more air to the intercooler (if I make the duct right of course)? I can't see that this part does anything except for obstruct more air from coming in. am I wrong?
#96
Lets Go Hokies!
iTrader: (5)
Originally Posted by sonix7
look at the very last pic of the fans and top of radiator. I circled and x'd out the part I want to remove, can I or should I? if I make a duct all the way across the front of the nose will I get more air to the intercooler (if I make the duct right of course)? I can't see that this part does anything except for obstruct more air from coming in. am I wrong?
-edit- and your PS/AC belt should go under the tensioner pulley. It'll give you more contact area that way.
Last edited by afterburn27; 09-18-05 at 11:20 AM.
#98
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
Originally Posted by afterburn27
You are looking at part of the airguide. I guess you could dremel the back part off, but it's all a matter of how much air you want diverted from the radiator to the IC core.
-edit- and your PS/AC belt should go under the tensioner pulley. It'll give you more contact area that way.
-edit- and your PS/AC belt should go under the tensioner pulley. It'll give you more contact area that way.
Your hood will not close how it sits in there. it needs to be sitting on the frame rail. can you put your hood prop down completely?