RB25DET engine rebuild, MaXpeedingRods con rods

[hardsteppa]

Yo...

So, after picking up an RB25 block and crank cheap on here from AngryRB, a forged short block build project has been on the cards for the last few months as I already had a lot of parts left over from the last engine build. Will be using Ross Pistons, and I had been leaning towards Spool rods as they will no doubt handle the 600-700hp the engine is being built for. However, after posting a review of the maxpeedingrods turbo I used recently, which I found to be outstanding value for money, I was contacted by MaXpeedingRods asking me if I had any projects happening and if I was interested in using any of their other parts. They make a conrod for the RB25, and loads of other cars, but unfortunately I couldn't find any real info on them as far as the RB/skyline community goes, although a few reviews and a bit of info on other forums, and a more detailed review here https://bofiracing.co.uk/blog/maxpeedingrods-cheap-chinese-rods-our-verdict/
No real horror stories found, (only 2 issues on a VW forums which seemed to result from a rod bolt failure, rather than the rods themselves) with most of the negatives I found seeming to be the ol' " no way I'd use ebay parts" which to me is an attitude about 15 years out of date. After seeing their conrods and comparing the specs to Spool, Scat, Eagle rods, they seemed to be very comparable, (if not the same but rebranded), and MUCH cheaper. Then after discussing with them regarding the product and what my upcoming build will be needing, they have sent me a set which arrived within a few days from the AU warehouse - nice secure box with plenty of foam packing, each rod in a sealed bag and greasepaper-wrapped.

The rod itself, when compared to the stock rod, there's no comparison. Nice even finish across it, laser-etched marking on the big ends showing the final measurements, the caps are dowelled giving a precise fitment on the rod.

 

I was a little suss on the genuine-ity of the ARP fastener but have confirmed with ARP, yes they are an official ARP product, made under license. The block and crank are with the rebuilder at the moment (but have confirmed, the crank and bores have measured up fine, so thanks AngryRB ) and I will be dropping the rods into them next week for the engine balancing, so will post up their feedback on the rods shortly.

[KiwiRS4T]

Looking good...

[Dil-Dog]

Where did u post the turbo review? No lie i am very skepitcal about max speeding rods as a whole. The company seems very  Chinese. It legit doesnt make sense with their pricing, i would never trust em 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Dil-Dog

[KiwiRS4T]

Plenty of Japanese and US brand name products are made in China as are iPhones!

[Ben C34]

19 minutes ago, KiwiRS4T said:

Plenty of Japanese and US brand name products are made in China as are iPhones!

That's true, being made in China alone isn't a sign for concern.

typically the proper name brands being made in china are done so in factories owned by said brand so it's not like Apple is letting anyone make their stuff. Or there is an employee of said brand stationed there to oversee production, as otherwise before you know it quality goes out the window.

 

[tridentt150v]

Sometimes its by the same factory......ie on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we make Honda motors...……..on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we make something that looks like a Honda motor in every detail BUT has a different name [pick one].

[Murray_Calavera]

I don't understand why people use cheap rods. Doesn't even have to be this brand, just any of the cheap $500ish Chinese rods. 

When an engine build is in the area of $10,000, why would you not spend the extra $200 on a set of Spool rods for peace of mind. 

[hardsteppa]

5 hours ago, Murray_Calavera said:

I don't understand why people use cheap rods. Doesn't even have to be this brand, just any of the cheap $500ish Chinese rods. . 

hold on, Spool rods are $600, these are $460-500 range depending on special or not? Add in brand markup, and you're talking the same price range? I assume then, you have seen them both side by side to compare and test the products to be so assured there is a vast difference in the quality for less than $20 a rod?  I'm not knocking Spool's quality or products; they're a fantastic company and I've used/still using several of their products;  but no it would not give me peace of mind to pay $100 just to have a different logo on it.

I did say right in the first post " with most of the negatives I found seeming to be the ol' " no way I'd use ebay parts" which to me is an attitude about 15 years out of date. "   If people have specific first hand examples on proven issues of product failure (not user/installer error, or other unrelated failure which then caused the issue, and not, " my mate dave knew this bloke, that rekoned he once heard of this guy that had something bad happen with this thing") then it would be relevant to the topic ; however trotting out the same old rhetoric is not, as it's been posted 1000 times before and doesn't give any relevant information. You're certainly welcome to use and buy whatever you want of course, and don't let me try to change your mind - the purpose of this post is as I said, I couldn't find any info about these specific to RB's when I was researching, and my aim is to post info about them and my experience for other's future reference. I think the more reported FACTS (as opposed to just hearsay) there are of what has worked well for the money, and what hasn't, the better.

My goal for this engine is 600ish hp, mayyybe pushing to 700 in the future. Stock bottom ends are known to handle 450-500hp without drama, so to get some reliability at 600 in my opinion you don't need to do massive overengineering upgrades. If I was to get 2ndhand GTR rods, as probably the cheapest basic upgrade for stock RB25det rods; by the time you paid for resizing, ARP bolts, small end bushes, balancing, you would be up for similar/maybe more money as a set of maxpeedingrods brand new, not a 2ndhand unknown age/history rod. So bit of a no-brainer as to why I'm giving these a go.

 

[Ben C34]

Such a dumb brand name though

[hardsteppa]

lol....if I was to give them feedback, yep agreed. Probably sounds very dynamic in Cantonese but, doesn't translate well. 

[Murray_Calavera]

I think it's great that you are happy to run these rods and then share your experiences. 

Just my stance on things of this nature, I wouldn't want to be the first person to trial a new thing. RB's have been around for so long now, I'd be much more comfortable using something that has been tried and tested hundred of times over. Especially when spending $10,000+ on an engine build. 

On a random note, I have personally handled a set of maxpeedingrods. I can't remember what engine they were for though (most likely some flavour of LS) however if they were non-branded, I probably couldn't pick it between a Spool rod.

More anecdotal stuff, the rods had been balanced and it appeared that not a lot of material hand been taken off them. 

So maybe they are as good as every other cheap rod out there? who knows. 

[hardsteppa]

well, thing is, not counting the parts I already have lying around, the whole shortblock build inc parts and machining is going to be less than $4000. So while I would prefer it doesn't grenade, it's not the end of the world if it does. 

 

[Murray_Calavera]

Oh and just to be clear, I never said anything about parts coming from ebay or not. My only issue is using something untested, I don't care where the part came from. 

I'm actually using a set of vitara pistons in a swift motor I'm putting together that are an ebay item. Lucky for me there are a bunch of Honda guys running these pistons in their D series motors, so I'm confident they will be up to the task. 

$4000 is a great price to put a bottom end together, what machine work are you getting done as part of the build? 

[hardsteppa]

sure; the work outline is here>>

 

Also, further to the above discussion on pricing of the rods; MaXspeedingRods have emailed me a link for a discount offer on the purchase price, which is https://bit.ly/2U3Q2AU  and said "coupon code is - hardsteppa  -9% off for all orders over 300AUD". 

Please note - I don't work for them, I don't get any percentage of sales etc if the code is used, and the feedback I have posted, and will be further posting on the rods, is my own opinion. It really chafes me raw when I have a bad unresolved experience with a company (a certain very average overpriced tuner springs to mind), and so I have no issues in recommending any company that has given me a good product and service experience. 

[Murray_Calavera]

I'm surprised how good the prices are on your machine work, do you mind posting who is doing the job for you? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to make it public. 

[Blakeo]

4 hours ago, hardsteppa said:

sure; the work outline is here>>

 

Also, further to the above discussion on pricing of the rods; MaXspeedingRods have emailed me a link for a discount offer on the purchase price, which is https://bit.ly/2U3Q2AU  and said "coupon code is - hardsteppa  -9% off for all orders over 300AUD". 

Please note - I don't work for them, I don't get any percentage of sales etc if the code is used, and the feedback I have posted, and will be further posting on the rods, is my own opinion. It really chafes me raw when I have a bad unresolved experience with a company (a certain very average overpriced tuner springs to mind), and so I have no issues in recommending any company that has given me a good product and service experience. 

Linishing a rb crank is a bad idea will remove the nitrided surface. 

Will be interesting to see how it goes.

[Ben C34]

You sure about that?

[Blakeo]

7 minutes ago, Ben C34 said:

You sure about that?

Yep, they are nitrided. A lot of factory crankshafts are nitrided from factory.. 

[hardsteppa]

picked everything up from the engine shop the other week. All good; the only thing they had to do for the rods was a slight hone of small ends to match the new piston pins. Asked their tech for his opinion on the rods, any concerns or issues and he gave them the ok, said will be more than fine for the planned power level. So pretty happy with that alright. 

Rods and RossIsBoss pistons ready to go>

[Blakeo]

On 5/24/2020 at 7:02 AM, hardsteppa said:

picked everything up from the engine shop the other week. All good; the only thing they had to do for the rods was a slight hone of small ends to match the new piston pins. Asked their tech for his opinion on the rods, any concerns or issues and he gave them the ok, said will be more than fine for the planned power level. So pretty happy with that alright. 

Rods and RossIsBoss pistons ready to go>

Getting the small ends touched up is pretty normal as most rods come "pre-finished". My nitto rods came like that even when ordered with nitto pistons and machine shop is going to have to touch them up too. 

They seem to be a good score, just not too sure I'd want to support a chinese company given the current climate with Coronavirus.