China Intake Pipe Kit For Your Gtr - A Review.

[rev210]

I recently purchased one of these Autobarn88 Intake pipe kits for my R32 GTR.So I thought I would tell a cautionary tale about my experience yesterday.

Lets begin.

I came across the kit on the performance-wise website and thought " hey why not give this a go? "

The Intake kit is advertised as a 'bolt on kit' but, it's far from one.

Yesterday I started the morning in the sunshine under the bonnet of the R32 GTR striping out the factory intake bits with the new parts laid out on the grass ready to go in.

The first and most obvious indication that things are not as they seem is in the instruction leaflet. Well 'instructions' would be a misleading term to apply to what is basically just an inventory list and for those who need some instructions you would be up the creek (not a big deal for me though).

The first indication that the kit isn't 'bolt on' is there is a page in the booklet that has a pic and an instruction to relocate your power steering tank to the front of the engine bay. Well thats not to bad you might say. But, you will need to pop out and buy some new transmission oil hoses and clamps.

You will find that isn't the only set of hoses that need purchasing in order to 'bolt on' the kit. You will also need a new longer oil breather hose. You will also need some new factory BOV recirculation hoses although that part of the design is so flawed you might like to go out and just buy an atmospheric BOV kit and plug them.

The first snag I ran into was the front intake pipe that attaches to the turbo. It won't go on. It hits the power steering pump.

Being a good little modifier I was not detered. I got my die grinder out and sanded off a few mm of alloy to give clearence and then on it went. Hurrah and Huzzar I said.

I then noticed that the rear pipe (the one that necessitates relocation of the power steering pump) has need of a much longer oil breather hose (off to the shops) and it also has a rather large nipple for the very small vacume line pickup. So I threaded in a brass nipple for that. At this point you can tell I am one of those 'positive' people, most would have boxed everything up by now and started drinking and cursing, not me (well not yet).

After bolting that one on I then went to examine how the recirculation pipes for the BOV went together. Oh dear. The supplied T peice and the replacement elbow (replace the factory single all in one metal pipe) require new custom length pipes at first glance. I fortunately have access to alot of the correct diameter pipes that can be trimmed down (lots of GTR parts).

This is where it began to dawn on me that the china kit was never going to fit. EVER. You see, you simply cant use those bits. I tried, with access to more fittings than most. In the end you couldn't get this to work even if you cut and rewelded the pipes, I actually thought about it.

I thought for interest sake before I went making any new pipes up myself I would dummy fit everything else. Here is the most condeming part of this mystery.

* The front intake pipe ,that required power steering pump machining, Points straight into the recirculation pipe with the AFM attached --- Not going to happen. It also required a custom length bolt for one side of the connection to the turbo (not supplied I supplied one)

* The front turbo outlet pipe also ends up pointing into the recirc pipe, all roads lead to recirc pipe.

* The Y collector angles have no relationship to joining with anything in the kit, in so far as the outlet pipes want to point at something else, in most cases the recirc pipe. In China that spot in your engine bay has good feng shui no doubt.

I have applied to get a full refund from Performance-Wise, so I will keep an update on this part of the review.

In summary my review of the experience is as follows;

# Paul at Performance-wise is prompt, friendly and professional. ******* 3 stars for Service so far.*****

# The Performance-wise website is HIGHLY misleading about the product ***** 0 stars for product info ***

# The KIT is a giant chinese practical joke *** 1 star , I can see the funny side but, I'm not laughing yet **

My advice is that this kit ,even if it worked, is so poorly designed that it should never have seen the light of day in manufacture. There is simply no need to have to re-locate the power steering bottle to achieve the result.

Is this the last cheapo china part I will ever buy? Who knows?

If people think it would help to have some pics to laugh at let me know and I will post a few for amusement. remember this is a good example to bring up next time you argue with me in a topic thread

Edited November 16, 2008 by rev210

[rev210]

Err...no you physically can't 'finish' with this kit unless I took out a saw and a welder.

[RB30-POWER]

to much essay, not enough pics.

without reading it all, who uses ebay/china parts on a gtr?

factory setup is good to 300rwkw, after that a core upgrade might be required.

maybe you have a big single upgrade and needed this kit, i'm not sure?

[rev210]

No it's the twin turbo intake pipe replacement. I am pretty sure this kit was a dud, perhaps a one off bad one.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

an this is why i have 0 china parts on my car

[skylinecouple]

You asked for a kit and got a kit. Quit complaining. Ok, well, it isn't obviously for a GTR but hey, it's a kit right ? I to have bought kits before and let me tell you unless your tongue is hanging out the left side of your mouth and your using a left handed screw driver it isn't going to work. I did four years of university to learn this so I can't be wrong. Clearly there are other flaws in your mechanical skills. Did you lubricate the mechanic with the appropriate beverages, ie: beer, bourbon or mud shakes ? Some of these air filter and intake kits need to have the motor pulled for clearance while using chinese spanners, you do realise you can't install a chinese kit wthout chinese spanners don't you ? Please dear God in heaven you did use chinese spanners ? Really, I don't know some times. You guys kill me. You think you know it all but your just fooling yourslves. Did you at least have a flee bitten blue heeler under the car licking his bollocks while scratching his ear with his back foot ? You do see my point here don't you ? I hope so because I can't.

[Bumblebee]

lol @ chinese parts on a gtr

ur awesome!

[tridentt150v]

And they wonder why our balance of payments trade with china is so one way!!!

I had a similar try with a GTSt unit years ago,,,,it also ended in failure, arguments and after legals and threats a partial refund [that business now no longer exists]. I wish you luck!!! And I'm with JoeyJoey on this, no china parts.

[GTR1993]

lol @ chinese parts on a gtr

ur awesome!

Didn't you use eagle rods! just having a dig

[Bumblebee]

Eagle is made in america last time i checked...

even says on the box

[GTR1993]

They made in china. They might be finished in america but there is so many forgings all coming out the same factory.

[The Bogan]

My china knock off of the Greedy inlet on my 25 works a treat, Sorry that you got screwed, Some stuff is good some stuff aint, I have a problem with the amount of money some companys charge, I know that R % D costs money but its a joke when these items are developed years ago and they still charge top dollar, if the big companys items were at least more competitive price wise they would get my money, which they do with some items.

When i shop i dont go out looking for brand names i go out looking for a part, compare price, quality, then make a informed decision.

Chinas fabrication has evolved 100 fold over the last couple of years.

Also if a comany in Australia says its a bolt on item and its not you return it and if it is a good company they will fix the problem, if not ring fair traiding and get it sorted.

My 2 cents.

[rev210]

Clearly there are other flaws in your mechanical skills. Did you lubricate the mechanic with the appropriate beverages, ie: beer, bourbon or mud shakes ? Some of these air filter and intake kits need to have the motor pulled for clearance while using chinese spanners, you do realise you can't install a chinese kit wthout chinese spanners don't you ? Please dear God in heaven you did use chinese spanners ? Really, I don't know some times. You guys kill me. You think you know it all but your just fooling yourslves. Did you at least have a flee bitten blue heeler under the car licking his bollocks while scratching his ear with his back foot ? You do see my point here don't you ? I hope so because I can't.

damn I knew I wasn't drunk enough aaand I was using taiwanese china-copy spanners. They aren't made of easy break copper with chrome spray paint.

Doh!

mlr,

I hear what you are saying,the thing that hasn't evolved in china fabrication is quality control. It's too hard to throw out the production line rejects when some westerner can be stitched up for a dud or two. They don't care because life is cheap and short.

Paul at Performance-Wise has been right onto this issue for me so I'm sure the outcome will be fair.

[Blitz]

Awesome write up mate.

I have a feeling I know what the bulk of your issues were though, I have seen those Autobahn88 kits, they are copied directly off the Greddy version, and Autobahn88 only makes them for R33/R34 GTR, so if you were sold one for R32 GTR, I reckon thats a big part of your problem as they are very different.

Nick

[Blitz]

You asked for a kit and got a kit. Quit complaining. Ok, well, it isn't obviously for a GTR but hey, it's a kit right ? I to have bought kits before and let me tell you unless your tongue is hanging out the left side of your mouth and your using a left handed screw driver it isn't going to work. I did four years of university to learn this so I can't be wrong. Clearly there are other flaws in your mechanical skills. Did you lubricate the mechanic with the appropriate beverages, ie: beer, bourbon or mud shakes ? Some of these air filter and intake kits need to have the motor pulled for clearance while using chinese spanners, you do realise you can't install a chinese kit wthout chinese spanners don't you ? Please dear God in heaven you did use chinese spanners ? Really, I don't know some times. You guys kill me. You think you know it all but your just fooling yourslves. Did you at least have a flee bitten blue heeler under the car licking his bollocks while scratching his ear with his back foot ? You do see my point here don't you ? I hope so because I can't.

I really shouldn't have read this post while drinking my coffee as half of it is now on my keyboard

[Beer Baron]

japanese parts good. chinese copy parts bad.

this is tattooed to the back of my right hand, so that as I'm about to click "order" with my mouse I ensure i'm making the right choice.

the problem is chinese bits may be a little cheaper but in the end you spend more time fitting, more time modifying, often need to buy extra bits to fit, and in the end you end up with an inferior quality of part and an inferior installation that if you had just bought the japanese part in the first place. so in my eyes there is no saving at all. and if you factor in your stress and time etc i recckon the cheap parts "cost" you more...

[Blitz]

japanese parts good. chinese copy parts bad.

the problem is chinese bits may be a little cheaper but in the end you spend more time fitting, more time modifying, often need to buy extra bits to fit, and in the end you end up with an inferior quality of part and an inferior installation that if you had just bought the japanese part in the first place. so in my eyes there is no saving at all. and if you factor in your stress and time etc i recckon the cheap parts "cost" you more...

Bit of a blanket comment there Richo.

The Cooling-Pro Alloy Radiator I ran in the GTR certainly didn't fit the picture you describe - I gave one a go and wasn't disappointed.

Well priced, dropped straight in, has run solidly in a 400awkw GTR without a hiccup for well over a year now.

And not forgetting I am very very anal when it comes to the parts that I fit to any of my cars.

[NYTSKY]

SOME china bits are ok. However if i do use a "china" made product on my car it has to have a very good reputation or been proven many many times over.

I have a "china" made intercooler on my car that has been there since i started all my mods. But they are pretty much all made in China these days.

[DAS KAMU]

i love jdm parts

always go in 1st time with everything you need

although i do like chinese girls.......

[Blitz]

although i do like chinese girls.......

How do you find the fit quality and performance on them? Warranty?