Synderesis

Hey everyone! So I am thinking about how I want to mod my car. Still saving up money, but I think it's good to have a plan for the future so as I get money for parts I will be going towards an ultimate goal.

My question is though, since I assume most of the people visiting this forum like jdm stuff, why? I mean is it because the S is a Japanese car? Or is it just because Japanese tuners are so serious which leads to very focuses products? But Japanese products are usually more expensive too, so is it worth it? And most importantly, do you have anything against American products? Or, if given an equal quality product at a cheaper price, would you go for the cheaper one even if it isn't from a Japanese tuner?

Thanks for the input! I do think you get what you pay for, but I also feel like a lot of the time what you are paying for is good advertising..

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Chris_Lum

i personally like to buy japanese parts for the S2000 b/c it's a japanese car and most of the parts available are from the japanese companies anyway. I personally have nothing against American companies or any other companies outside of Japan as long as they do good work. I just feel like the guys over in Japan know the car very well and have great pride in the tuning the car. Not that American companies don't have pride in what they do, but the Japanese are hard workers, perfectionists and usually very very proud of what they do.

You can see a little bit of the difference in 'focus' in that there are many S2000 specialized tuning companies in Japan, like Amuse, Spoon, Mugen, ASM, etc. As far as American companies go, i don't think i can think of one big name company that has such focus on the car. Sure you can buy Sparco seats (which i like btw) or an APR wing (which are nice too), but these companies don't really specialize in the s2000. I feel more comfortable buying parts from a company that has the intimate knowledge of the car--kind of like taking your car to a repair shop that specializes in a specific make vs. taking your car to a pep boys for maintenance. I'm not really comparing Sparco and APR to Pep Boys, i actually like Sparco and APR products, but i hope you get the idea. For other cars like the MItsu Evo, there are American shops like AMS that have extreme specialization in the car and proven success that i wouldn't mind supporting at all--i just feel like there aren't brands/shops like that for the s2000. We have shops like Evasive that know the s2k well, but they don't actually make a line of specific Evasive brand parts for the car.

whiteflash

I personally dislike most JDM parts. They're all under performing, and over priced; that is of course for the mainstream brands. There maybe more lowkey part makers in JDM land that make great parts, unfortunately I'm not aware of them. I find the 'handcrafted' nature of parts like Hytech and Asura, parts by SOS, and comptech, to be far superior to the ASM's, ARC's, Spoon's. This is of course for 'performance' parts; they take the cake on most aero parts since well there's not really big other-market support in the aero category.

I feel like somewhere along the line the aftermarket kings of Japan got too confident in their name, and started settling in their engineering and production.

Synderesis

I can see overpriced, but under performing too? I mean their intakes are incredibly expensive, but they do look like they would function better than the stuff by AEM which is just a tube. I mean it should function better just because they get more air. Of course, I wish they didn't feel the need to "bling" everything out in carbon fiber. I mean I can understand if their parts are more expensive due to shipping, and with Mugen and ASM I feel like the quality is really high, but the prices even higher.. I agree that I also like SoS and Comptech, but I haven't heard of Hytech and Asura. I'll be sure to check them out

And to the other poster, Sparco isn't American, it's Italian. I would have to agree that we don't have as much of a tuning culture here, but there still are companies like Comptech that make very good products. Well, I guess CT Engineering now.

s2000vtecvtec

companies like j's racing, spoon, and mugen have had their tuning business for more than 20 years. asm s2000 had 57 seconds tsukuba lap, and amuse s2300 gt1 lapped 1 min 57 seconds on fuji speedway. can you name any US tuner that can achieve the same performance by their own parts???

amuse, spoon, asm, mugen, voltex, etc tested their aerodynamic parts on the wind tunnel. i dont see any us tuner designed real aero parts for s2000. instead, things like "pw jdm", "downforce" diffusers are just made based on the theory. there isn't any specific result.

s2000vtecvtec

Chris_Lum

ah yes, i always forget Sparco is Italian. Anyhow, my point is the specialization, not that non-japanese companies can't make quality parts. There are A LOT of non-japanese companies that make quality parts, but they usually only have a handful of significant mods for our cars. If you look at my example of AMS for evo's, you'll see how much time and effort they spend with the car--you can almost replace every performance part on the engine with an actual AMS branded part.

Specialization is exactly the point i was making using Sparco and APR as examples--or non-specialization in these cases. In sparco's case, they make a seat and it'll fit in any car if the dimensions fit, but nothing specific for the s2000 (not counting a seat base). APR offers a bit more, with a widebody, a front bumper, splitters and a wing, but aside from the widebody and front, the wing and splitter are pretty generic and made to fit the s2k with specific mounts. This does NOT mean i think they are low in quality, i just prefer parts from a company that specializes more in our car. CT engineering makes a decent supercharger kit, but their exhaust isn't that great. Now that i discuss this more, I think it comes down to the individual parts, not necessarily by company. I have a Berk HFC and Downforce fenders, because these are great quality parts, however i'm not so much into the few other parts for our cars that these companies offer.

Asura and Hytech are great companies, they actually remind me a lot of the way the Japanese companies like Mugen and Spoon run, they are smaller companies that pretty much make the parts to order, so they are usually high in quality due to more time spent on them individually (as opposed to mass production in a huge factory).

On the performance aspect, ASM, J's racing, Mugen, Spoon all make many specific parts for the s2000 and actually the performance parts do decently, if not pretty well. The J's intake and header are known to make a good amount of power. I believe the mugen and asm headers do well also. They're just damn expensive, which is a turn off for a lot of people. Again, i don't doubt non-japanese companies can make great parts and i'm not trying to sway anyone one way or the other, i just telling you what you wanted to know, that is, why i like the japanese companies and parts. Most of the parts are great quality, I think if they were lower in price, the parts would be WAY more attractive to customers. The quality, engineering and design are all there in most cases. Sometimes there will be an intake like ARC's that doesn't make power or do anything but provide engine bling, but that's to be expected--everyone can't make a successful product! hah

You can think about this from the other side as well--trying not to let this thread turn into a japanese vs. everyone else thread--If i owned a Corvette, i'd more than likely find everything i needed from the American companies. Sure, a few australian or european companies might make an exhaust or intake for the LSX that would perform well, but there are probably many more American companies that make parts just as good if not better due to specialization and experience with multiple generations of Corvettes--which would likely earn my dollar at the end of the day.

Synderesis

I don't think the companies that make parts from the US have nearly that much invested into a car to compete like they do. I think it's great they have that culture there though, and I wish we'd see some more of that here. I'm not saying that they aren't good, they definitely are. But at the same time, you should realize we are the ones who are paying for them for those endeavors by buying their products. Don't get me wrong, I have an absolute love for ASM parts though. But when I look at their catalog, I feel like things get a little bit too crazy in terms of price.

That said, I feel like I can trust companies like SoS and Comptech too. I mean Comptech has a tuned car that Keiichi Tsuchiya was impressed with and said was on par with Japanese tuners too. I don't think it got to the point of ASM's level though. I almost feel like ASM has become a luxury brand or something. Even their tow hooks are much more expensive than everyone else's although admittedly they are way cooler, but it's not like it makes you go faster. Then again, there are other companies like J's and Amuse that do keep things more in line, so maybe it's not so overpriced after all.

I wish there were a comparison for all the parts that different manufacturers make. After all, it's not like all the parts those tuners use are made in house.

s2000vtecvtec

in japan, they have different culture. carview.co.jp has a lot of enthusiasts there. those people really spend money on those jdm parts. i agree asm parts are overpriced, but those things are really proven. they don't make such bs like the pw diffuser is designed by a F1 engineer when there isn't any specific data available.
this is the real R&D from c west http://www.c-westusa.com/labs/fudo1_s2000spec.asp

again, i really agree what chris said. japanese tuners know the car very well and have great pride in the tuning the car. they are very very proud of what they do.

whiteflash

The PW:JDM is the best performing intake on our car, last I checked they're out of California. You lose power and gain heatsoak with the ARC, the mugen is an overpriced joke, and the ASM is basically a PWJDM (although the secondary is smaller) at ~3.7x the cost ($3700).

The Hytech header are the best performing headers on our cars that I've seen for N/A and S/C'd applications.

The Asura duals are the best dual exhaust on this car, period end of story. (Sideways gained 30whp+ in his turbo setup by switching from an already 3" exhaust, the Invidia q300 to the Asura duals, just to give you a hint).

Yes, JDM companies have fast s2000's that are re-built almost completely with their own parts. The engine performance however would barely hold a candle to a mishmash of the best parts. And p.s. the comptech/ct engineering s2000 is ridiculously fast, it does however lack some aero qualities. The problem with non-JDM company cars is that, there's not a host of non-jdm companies that make an extremely wide variety of parts to support their own s2000. That's just the nature of the beast