love/hate knockoffs? vent here
 

Let me know what you don't like about "knockoffs" and why.

Lack of innovation and originality.

No Research and Development.

Morally wrong to copy. We are taught this from the time we begin learning; copying someone else's answers is cheating, and it's wrong.


My response will now fall upon deaf ears as people complain about the price of original parts, using such arguments as my "X-company" parts are just as good as "Name Brand" counterpart and I didn't have to pay for the name. Or, why should I spend money on quality parts for a car I only paid $1500 for, blah, blah, blah.

I don't know why I'm even bothering to post.

Honestly, there are some knockoff parts that work great, and are totally fine. I just hate having something where people go "Oh he's got a knockoff", and of course you have assurance when you buy name brand. I won't lie, I've purchased ebay parts, my downpipe for example, cracked all along the welds and broke clean off.

Same thing with my Megan manifold I had. Clean broke off the welds. Speaking of Megan, I hate Megan with all my heart I've officially boycotted Megan Racing because every single fucking part I've had from them has either had super shitty fitment or just didn't work right. I know everyone's saying now "Oh Megan has gotten better though" or "Look how low the Megan coilovers go", I don't give a fuck Megan is still Megan, and Megan is still knockoff bullshit to me.

And knockoff body kits, we all know they don't fit right, ever.

I don't care if people are like "Oh I'm broke, on a budget, blah blah blah" I am one broke mother fucker and let me tell you, I save up for good parts now. After experiencing with my old car the knockoff shit, it just makes you feel like shit. Running Godspeed suspension I felt good I had adjustable everything, but just knowing it was 'Godspeed' and when people as I had to tell them 'Godspeed' it made me feel like shit like my car wasen't good enough for me and I was not satisfied.

Fuck knockoffs.

Depends on what it is. I dropped the money for Stance coils but I'm gonna go with ISIS for a lot of the parts in my KA-T build.

Knockoff is alright sometimes.

my cxracing raidator and ebay downpipe have been running strong for about 2 years now

I had megan coils on my S14.

They sucked asshole.

Tons of people on here will recommend them...because they don't know any better.

Poor people buy poopy parts.

lemme chime in. im 16 years old. none of the parts in my car are of my parents money, unless you consider insurance and gas money. and i mean none, 0, zip. I've been saving up for a long ass time just to buy a car, i found a 240sx and parts arent cheap. Guess what body kit i bought, vertex. Why? Because i earned the fucking money. Do i wish i didnt, yes because now my car needs other things fixed. Did i learn my lesson? no. because i love buying parts for my car. Only "knock off" i have, to my knowledge cause previous owner has wierd shit on this car thats being removed, is my megan headers. Those are coming off soon since i hate the fitment. I have stance, all battleversion, and some exhaust. My car needs lots of shit done so im getting a job, im going to save up and buy things once. not twice because i don't like wasting money. even if i can't drive my car around, i dont give a shit, as long as i know im letting her rest so i can afford quality parts that wont give me a worse headache later on.

knock offs are cheap for a reason.

plain and simple, i have a wife and 3 children...we can afford to have a very very high quality of living because i don't buy outrageous shit for my car. i REFUSE to spend outrageous amounts of money on two things. aero and wheels. for a track car it's inevitable the above parts will eventually get mangled. so i tend to buy the cheaper i can. for aero i won't touch anything less then Bmagic and wheels are rota. now as far engine/suspension parts, yeah i usually go all name brand shit there. drifting/cars is just a hobby...i'm not going to spend AT LEAST double on something just because the majority of people approve it.

i don't mean to call you out or anything...but wow. who gives a shit dude what other people thought. In your own words it worked and didn't ride like shit...screw other people it's your money not theirs. i feel bad that you literally starting hating your ride because in your head you thought other people were thinking you were inferior! thats crazy lol.

(in no way was that supposed to be an attack on you btw)

^I have a wife and 4 kids (I win :ddog: ), yet I still don't buy knock-offs.

I didn't buy knock offs for my 240, I don't buy knock off parts for my Suburban.

I also don't short my family on anything they need. It's called budgeting, and I do it without cutting corners on the parts I want.

I understand the point you are trying to make, but I have also heard it used as an excuse to justify buying cheap parts, too many times. I am not stating that is the direction you were headed, just plotting points for my own argument. There have been more than a handful of occasions when I have sat down with someone to discuss the parts they have bought, and they have ended up spending just as much money buying knock offs various times as it would have to buy the part from a quality manufacturer that they wanted to begin with.

I'm not out to change everyone's mind about fake parts. I'm not THAT naive.

I am hoping that people can at least take SOMETHING out of my rants, if nothing more then to NEVER offer me a knock off part. lol

you get what you pay for

I hate knock-offs. My reason is because all these knock-off company's are popping up everywhere and making all the good company's that have been around for awhile go out of business. The other thing is ppl build a 240 with alllllll knock-off parts and try to sell it for the same price as 240's with legit parts then they get all pissed when u say something about it. Fuck while im on it I hate when ppl post up all there new parts and there all knock-off's then everyone makes fun of the person and they start crying. But I do understand that not everyone has a bunch of money for the good parts but shit if your going to do something do it right and use the legit parts.

I dont mind knockoffs if they FUNCTION properly and aren't for show. I know a bunch of people that run Freddy intake manifolds that work fine, so thats cool. I know people that run megan exhaust manifolds and they crack and suck, so thats not cool.

(and i personally have Megan coilovers on my S13 and I hate them)(a lot)

The one thing that REALLY pisses me off are knock of wheels. That is a whole different game to me. I hate when people buy shitty rota's or xxr's and then try and act all baller like they have volks ssrs works ect..

i don't like knock offs because of barry's sig. (seriously, when i first read it, i thought 'holy crap, he's right')

i only buy legit stuff also. i've had my car for 2 years all i got so far are cusco strut bars, HKS exhaust, HAD volk racing rims, and legit vertex body kit (not installed due to lack of funds).

i'd rather run a fully stock car instead of a fully loaded car with knock offs.

I have a dog and his name is BINGO!!!!!

thats the WORST misconception when it comes to people not "saving up" to buy volk wheels or whatever


i like alot of people here make enough money to afford 'baller' wheels or whatever else but i'm rational enough to know that blowing a grand a month or so on car parts that i dont need is a waste of money

that said, do i have knockoff parts on my car? nope. a relatively stock car > a slammed car with crap heavy wheels and giant bodykits/whatever

Can you give me a specific product that bugs you the most? If you're not comfortable speaking in public you can PM me.

Yea most knockoffs kinda piss me off. I mean i roll sportmax, and i fuckin hate them. But u know what, right now i cant afford anything better, and they dont look terible on my car. so whatever. Other then that i cant think of much knockoff shit im runinn (on the xB at least, s13 is no where near even needing knockoff or legit parts. haha)

Safety Equipment - "Variant" Seats, generic webbing harnesses
Suspension Components - Blatant reproductions of long standing companies parts
Engine Components - to include exhausts
Wheels - This list can go on for days, and we all know it
Aerodynamics and Bodykits - If you have to include the word "style" in the title, or change the spelling of the original manufacturer, something is wrong

Fitment is always hit and miss with knock-off. I prefer the piece of mind a quality part offers.

Let's take this one. I have several questions for you.

200 years ago when Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers sat around the table drafting the Constitution, they wanted to promote innovation and the progress of science, but they also wanted to protect inventors from being copied. They wanted to encourage scientists and inventors to develop new technology to benefit the public without fear of someone stealing their hard work.

This is the exact same problem we're talking about so this is nothing new.

The solution they came up with is very close to our current legal system.

When you design a new product, you pay the government, a neutral arbitor, a nominal fee. The government then does an independent inspection to make sure you didn't in fact steal the product from someone else.

If you pass the test, you are granted a limited time to benefit from your invention. After the time period expires, the invention becomes part of the public domain and anybody can use your invention.

The limited time period is your payoff for allowing the public to further develop your invention later on so we can have more technology.


Now if you don't go through the process and bring your product to the market, they assume that you don't care or your invention is not worth protecting. Your product instantly becomes part of the public domain and anybody can freely copy you with no penalty.

Now comes the questions for you.

1. If a company never went through the process, how do you know they actually invented their product without stealing from someone else? Their sworn statement is not good enough. Someone has to actually investigate to see that they actually came up with the idea and that there was no foul play.

2. If a company doesn't want to go through the process and sells the product any way, the Founding Fathers considers this to be that the company doesn't care about their product. It only costs $100 to register your invention and anyone can do it. You don't need a legal background.

So if they don't want to pay $100 to protect their own invention from being copied, why should we care?

3. Selling your product without going through the process is the same as intentionally leaving your money on public property and not claiming your money. Anyone can take the money and it's not considered theft because you never claimed it. Whose fault is it that you lost money?

honestly, ive come to care less about the people that run knockoffs.

I understand thier reasoning 110%. Most of those dudes just wanna get out there asap and "tear shit up". I have no problem with that at all.

as for me, im one of the guys that wants to have a really nice personal car that will see the track often, but im not going to be doing door to door tandems untill I have a daily driver, or just decide to give up on having a super baller car so I can initiate inches from the wall.


In the end im just a huge "jdm drift style" (or whatever you guys want to call it) fucking fanboi, but I keep my shit fucking REAL .

Dont know if you guys have noticed, but from what ive seen, these cars are like the mustangs/camaros of japan. In japan they are really fucking serious about performance shit. Why do you think ikeya formula arms ect.... are so expensive? Most likely because the people designing those parts are actually enginners and have years of experience under thier belts.

I really don't care if it's a knockoff as long as quality isn't compromised.
just comes down to doing research and finding out what gets the job done.

I've got a Megan catback in my s14 (that may or may not be a knockoff).
It works fine, fits well, has been durable, and best of all cost a modest $300.
I have a set of Rotas on my civic beater and it gets the job done.
Don't care a whole lot if they get stolen (has happened before).

If it serves it purpose, that's all I care.
I won't skimp if it jeopardizes reliability or utility.

lol, I thought I was the only one on Zilvia that felt that way.

I bought a set of MEGAN ruca's that was the worst investment on my car to this day. I bought them because i was in a bind and wanted to fix my camber issue so i wouldnt go through a set of tires on my trip to texas. I did a local run here and bent one of the RUCA's. Megan is by far a good company.

After i saved the money i got a set of PBM ruca's and i should of saved for them in the first place. I learned that knock offs are knock offs some people love them some people hate them but to each there own.

Why buy the fake thing people say? I Agree. Someone took the time to create a quality product. The most common response I hear from the public is, it cost so much less to get the knock off. Yes it may, but the knock items you buy for your car are not always a perfect fitment. I am sure many of us ( I will not lie I have had this happen ) have bought something you thought would work just as well and it didn't even fit well.

That is one reason why I stay to name brands. They have done the research and they have the cars in their shops to test fit the products produced. Some companies dyno their new products to give you realistic gains. Knock off products are companies that create the same ( Look ) but not always the same quality.

A few things I never skim on are wheels, brakes, turbos, fuel parts, and drive train. Who cares what shift knob you use, or what floor mats you have. It is about creating a true car that will last and run well. Knock offs are to get people by, until their car blows up.

/rant

The name brand parts don't always fit or work all that great.
Look at some of the Greddy parts for instance.
Fitment of their elbow/dp on my S14 was shit.
Their boost controller (w/dial) is a complete pita.

I have a knock off Quick release and Steering wheel I got it mostly for security but I'm still gonna buy the Sparco one I want. Soon...Cash is low so.

some of the knockoffs nowadays look like they come from toys r us.

literrally. go look at the little kid bikes @ toys r us, and compare them to knockoff coilovers. There probably made in the same factory.

Only knockoff i think is acceptable is front bumper/side skirts/rear bumper if youre car is extremey low, and is daily driven.

a lot of good points here. to add a few more, im not paying 1700 for a kit that i could very well throw into a wall. im getting better on the track but not enough to spend real money and no sponsors to help me out.

for wheels, im not buying $2,000 rims and putting them on my daily. i have a garage now but in the future i may not be so lucky and would be pissed if my car gets stolen or my rims get "jacked".

too many poor peeps in so cal looking to steal anything for a buck socal-ftl

I get Legit parts to support the companies that did all the R&D. I don't want some other company to steal their hardwork. I wait it out until I have enough money. Takes a really long ass time though.

lol i see your point. my thing is it's just a hobby so if i'm going to save money for a big purchase...instead of wheels i'd rather it be a 46" lcd tv. and that $600 bucks saved on aero goes right into the trusty ol' TSP (so when i retire i can buy by porsche gt3-rs and never have to buy an after market part again LOL). i also think are some people who truly can't afford name brand. why should they roll stock because they can't afford top dollar parts? thats like saying unless you have a rolex or tag you should'nt where a watch. some people make the best out of what they can afford...who are we to judge them and deprive them from the fun and hobby of owning a modded car? but unfortuneatley, not everyone is as truthful or noble as me :cool: and they do hide behind the family excuse or the money excuse just because they are impulsive or cheap, especially the ones who say "it's a track car, thats why.." but never track their car. but i'll tell you what...my ABSOLUTE BIGGEST PET PEEVE IS: people who buy fake shit and try to pass it off as the real deal!