hey pepepr,
how much louder is it compared to stock?
is it alot louder inside the car?
I just love my stock sound thats why.

 

you guys should read this...

Exposed - Knock Off Parts
The Truth Behind Counterfeit Car Parts

http://www.importtuner.com/tech/0612...ner_car_parts/

"Exhaust systems from GReddy, HKS, Injen and A'PEXi are dyno-tested before release, ensuring that a satisfactory power gain will be had. Fake parts have no testing carried out on them, and the money pirate who manufactures them could care less about how much power you're expecting to make. The buzzing leaf blower tone and vibrating interior trim might lead you to believe that you're pulling 10-second slips out of your ***, but don't be surprised when you're left with just 200dB and 85 wheel hp."

 

people are going to refute this, easily. but i agree. same thing with most all knock offs.

redlude97 had a related post earlier, about brand name bulbs versus cheap no name bulbs. the brand name undergoes a series of test and is accurate as far as color temperature and lumen rating whereas color temp and lumen rating will vary greatly on no name brands. same goes for most all replica body kits, exhausts, etc. imo.

 

its called capitalism! what this country is based on! nothing is safe!!

 

Yes, you have to evaluate each individual part on its own basis, some replica or generic parts are good, just because they are replicas doesn't make them ineherently poor. Usually it has to do with how the manufacturer backs their product. A good example of a quality replica is the richie strut bar, it performs nearly as well and is well constructed as the arc bar it replicates, which is why alot of people purchased it. IMO, the xo2 exhaust is also a decent quality piece based on the pictures I've seen and the weld quality. Yes, the tips are not as nice, but bang for the buck performance, I'll bet its at least 80% of what the HKS is at half the price. Most people buy exhausts for the sound and look though, which is enough of a reason to choose the HKS over the replica. 99% of the people on the street won't be able to tell the difference, but you will and thats the only person you have to justify it to. Some parts however, have almost no backing by the manufacturer, and no warranty such as the generic bulbs mentioned earlier, once again, you may get something that you like as far as color and output are concerned, but you can never be sure, so its up to you. To sum up my point, evaluate each individual mod you purchase, whether it be authentic or replica/generic, and weigh the pros and cons, and decide for YOURSELF which is a better option

 

your last statement is entirely correct. what's best is subjective and unique to each individual.

however, while xo2 did a great job in replicating the looks of hks i question the internals the most. as drew said, probably not everything was copied from hks - especially the material inside the canisters. the lasting factor of the material inside the canisters and the baffling capabilities will drastically diminish once the exhaust ages. as the exhaust ages, the materials will probably disintegrate and gradually get louder and louder. though this is true for most all exhausts, i'm willing to bet that it'll happen faster on this xo2 exhaust.

as far as the tips go, people don't have to be able to tell the difference from the real hks tips and these fake ones to know they look cheap, imo.

 

As I said, perfomance will be nearly the same, even with aging, the differences mainly lie in the sound and looks department. I personally don't like the flamed look of either tips, and I somewhat skeptical of HKS build quality seeing some of the pics posted recently of their weld quality and piping internals. While it may be an isolated number of exhausts, it never should have gotten that far if HKS's quality control was anywhere near decent. The parts had to first be made poorly, then pass inspection of at least 1 other person that missed it. My experience with manufacturing is that quality control should consist of at least 2 independant checks, so that such a blatant manufacturing error could never have been shipped, so HKS is certainly not perfect, and until I see proof of inferior internals on the X02, I won't jump to conclusions. I probably wouldn't buy it personally, because I don't like the tip design like you, but that doesn't mean its not a decent exhaust.

 

if i were a betting man, i'd bet my wheels that no one will crack open an authentic hks and a replica hks to compare them. seeing how xo2 cut corners on the tips leads me to believe that they may be cutting corners else where. not to mention, the two extra extention pipes whereas the hks has two different/distinct exhausts for the z and g. i suppose one could argue the same against hks, though.

i'm agreeing to disagree.

and keep in mind, i do have replica skirts. so i'm not biased toward authentic this, authentic that, authentic everything.

first hand experience (with both authentic/replica impuls) has told me i made a good choice with my replica skirts. first hand experience (with both authentic/replica hks) has told me i made a good choice with the authentic.

 

Notice...

but then...
Sounds like a conclusion if you ask me

Anyway, at the end of the day... it's a copy. A cheap one at that.
A copy that we can conclude looks very similar to the original HiPower but components WILL BE different as long as it's not put together at the same factory.
This includes the composition of the metal throughout the exhaust, the packing material within the exhaust, etc.

I've seen many instances, with many other aftermarket parts manufacturers, that have let bad runs slip through QC.
But that's why there's WARRANTY.

HKS stands behind their products and their eff-ups.
Not sure what X02's policy is but if you're happy with it, more power to ya.

BOTTOM LINE:
It's cheaper in price because it was cheaper to make.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not a hater of replicas.
Replica bodykits can sometimes fit better than original bodykits
(*cough* TOP SECRET *cough*)
But when it comes to performance, and there are gains to be had with the HKS, i myself would (and did) go for the real thing.

It is what it is,
-DRU

 

Which conclusions did I jump to exactly?

 

you concluded that the 2 exhausts will perform similarly even after aging...

just merely pointing out what you said.
that's all.


-DRU

 

I said that I wouldn't jump to conclusions about interior build until I saw pictures in response to Cal's comment that because the tips are inferior, they must have taken shortcuts on the interior. That is what I was trying to get across
You are right that I myself "jumped to a conclusion" though it may be true, I have no proof. There are dynos of the x02 making gains similar to the HKS though, so my only stretch was the aging portion

 

Exhaust manufacturing isnt all that expenisve.... HKS has enormous overhead making more expensive right off the bat. Exhausts cant cost more than $200 at cost... I understand there is R&D behind the HKS and all that but I honestly dont care because if the packing goes bad its still gonna be cheaper to repack the XO2 than buying the HKS. Im not knocking the HKS at all... just stating some smalls points. Whether I gain 5hp or 15 hp.. wont matter to me... I just love the sound.

 

you should have gotten the HKS...
j/k
it sounds really good, i heard it in person and I even drove the car... deep, deep sound to it, I liked it a lot, I'm even thinking about picking one up myself...

 

c'mon hai, you and i both know those dyno numbers mean absolutely nothing. it's all a hype (and yes, this goes for everything out there, lol - including HKS).

that's the thing, hks is not deep at all.