Soarer Central: DRiFT

Soarer Central Off-Topic DRiFT

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Phillip Evans
Tinkerer
Western Australia
TT

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Reg: 12-2009

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Friday, February 05, 2010 - 01:22 pm, by: Phillip Evans (Guesswho)

G'day guys, my buddy an I are currently working on our cars and we have started to follow a brand called DRiFT performance. They are sold at Autobarn/AutoPro.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone used any of their stuff and anything to say about them? From everything we've seen and the part's we already have, they seem to be a decent product.

Aaron Casey
Goo Roo
nsw
'94 jzz30 gttl, 2 mini's one supercharged :-)

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Friday, February 05, 2010 - 07:50 pm, by: Aaron Casey (Blownminiturbo)

most of their stuff is alright
i have some electronic gauges of theirs and they look pretty sweet.

Matt Sartori
DieHard
Western Australia
Rx7

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Friday, February 05, 2010 - 09:51 pm, by: Matt Sartori (Klutch)

Personally i wouldn't buy anything thats branded "DRiFT"
Just sounds cheap.

But im a bit of a brandwhore.

Ben Lipman
Goo Roo
NT
Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car

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Friday, February 05, 2010 - 10:13 pm, by: Ben Lipman (Ben12a)

Matt Sartori wrote on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 09:51 pm:
Personally i wouldn't buy anything thats branded "DRiFT"
Just sounds cheap.

Same. having 'drift' on your car just screams TRYHARD WANNABE to me. There stuff could be alright, but I just see it is cheap fashion.

Phillip Evans
Tinkerer
Western Australia
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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 12:53 am, by: Phillip Evans (Guesswho)

Aaron Casey wrote on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 07:50 pm:
most of their stuff is alright
i have some electronic gauges of theirs and they look pretty sweet.

Sweet. No problems with them at all? I am thinking of getting a few of their part's. Mainly Boost gauge at the moment. I want the seat's they have at the Autopro i frequent. Nice Black comfy seats, and very small branding on it. I also want to get some piping. As far as that I won't do much more. They do other things like brakes and suspension and Im pretty sure some exhaust, but I have other brands/people for that stuff.

Ben Lipman wrote on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 10:13 pm:
Matt Sartori wrote on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 09:51 pm:

Personally i wouldn't buy anything thats branded "DRiFT"
Just sounds cheap.

Same. having 'drift' on your car just screams TRYHARD WANNABE to me. There stuff could be alright, but I just see it is cheap fashion.

I get that, but I and my mate mainly, don't have all the money in the world for the brand's we do.

I do see that people will think we are tryhard, but then I'm not doing it for the approval of anyone else, and I'm all for people to say what they want.
Cheers for the opinion's though.

Anyone out there apart from Aaron who use them and have any problems or thumbs up for

Matt Sartori
DieHard
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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 01:11 am, by: Matt Sartori (Klutch)

You have to ask yourself how accurate those gauges are going to be, though. When real branded gauges cost upwards into the $100's.

Phillip Evans
Tinkerer
Western Australia
TT

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 01:48 am, by: Phillip Evans (Guesswho)

Your still looking at about $150.00 for the gauges from Drift.

Matt Sartori wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 01:11 am:
When real branded gauges cost upwards into the $100's.

I'm curious. When you say branded; do you mean well known brand's versus uncommon brands.
If so, you can't say Drift is an not a legitimate brand. It's distributed by autobarn but is manufactured by it's own company. Drift is a named performance brand, specialising in performance item's.
How do you define real brand? Something out of Japan or used on race car's? That's like saying Target or Big W are distributors of non-real brand's.

Sorry if it seem's arguementative at all. I am in a discussion mood.

Matt Sartori
DieHard
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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 03:42 am, by: Matt Sartori (Klutch)

By a "Real" brand, i mean products that have undergone trials/testing, and put out quality products.

Is there a DRiFT performance parts website? Nope.
How many proffesional race cars and/or drifters do you see using DRiFT gauges or seats?

Everyone uses HKS/Apexi/Omori gauges, and bride/recaro seats. That has to account for something, right?
Why else would everyone fork out the extra $$$ if it wasn't a superior product?

I'm not saying the DRiFT parts aren't good for people on a budget, but personally i'd rather fork out that little extra and get a known product that guarentee's quality.

Phillip Evans
Tinkerer
Western Australia
TT

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 03:56 am, by: Phillip Evans (Guesswho)

Fair reasoning, I get what you mean.

I personally already have HKS and Monza products in my car. Which by coincidence, I'm pretty sure my HKS turbo timer is faulty which I need to check.

I would hope to see some results with the Drift items as they seem genuinely good. I mean, yes the salesmen have to sell it, it's their stock they are pushing, but hopefully they push it because they back it up.

Oh and for reference;
http://www.shopdrift.com/
http://www.shopdrift.com/default.aspx

All in all, I would believe that which I was told, that most of these unknown/uncommon brand's are most of the time, reverse engineered from thing's coming out of Japan or America, wherever said item is from. By that, you'd hope to see them as quality products, being made off the making's of a higher known, better quality brand.

Cheers,
Phil

Matt Sartori
DieHard
Western Australia
Rx7

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 04:05 am, by: Matt Sartori (Klutch)

Phillip Evans wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 03:56 am:
All in all, I would believe that which I was told, that most of these unknown/uncommon brand's are most of the time, reverse engineered from thing's coming out of Japan or America, wherever said item is from. By that, you'd hope to see them as quality products, being made off the making's of a higher known, better quality brand.

By this logic, China coilovers should be as good as JiC's and the like. It just isn't the case, though.

Jeff Smith
Goo Roo
NSW
GT30/37r Single T 5 speed

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 11:03 am, by: Jeff Smith (Mozzie)

I'm using a DRiFT Pod filter and It's been fine.. The quality is quite good .. I had an issue trying to find a 4inch pod filter and this was all I could find.. Was ok in price I guess $70

I think sometimes.. I agree with sticking with known brands as mentioned above.. But in some cases with a company that just comes into the market with no backing will need people to buy there stuff and get feedback.. So really I can't see any reason to dismiss it cause no one knows anything about the product.. It might actually be better then known brands.. Just hasn't been tested!
I say go for it mate we all have choices and it's a way of learning.. It's what all moders go through and selecting the right part ain't easy.. And with your feed back may just help others to avoid or take on this brand..

Marc Hoffmann
TryHard
Vic
Soarer TT

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 11:38 am, by: Marc Hoffmann (Rushed)

i have installed some of their gear on some friends cars, was surprised actually, seems to be some good gear.

i try to get named parts but sometimes the cost gain just isnt worth it, eg i have a drift boost gauge, and it reads exactly what my gizzmo ms-ibc, only issue is it always turns on green, doesnt stay set on blue.

i read an article, in i think last months HPI about a jap v's china intercoolers and they were shocked to reveal that the jap lost out.

cheap parts does NOT equal "try hard", if done tastefully (and carefully if engine related). it doesn't matter if you have "bride" seats or auto-barn specials, the effect can be the same, but you save many many 100's for other parts in the car, as its your car built for you to enjoy not other.

eg. i had a fake leather interior in my last falcon (see build thread) and some people said things like "oh those are those crappy ebay covers" often they actually changed their mind once they sat in them as they were perfect, or i turned to look at the ripped and torn 15yo "real" crap in thier car, and just laughed

Paul Mainey
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NSW
Supercharged V8

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 01:59 pm, by: Paul Mainey (Gttv8)

I have a set of DRiFT carbon seats in my soarer and to be honest they are alot better for comfort and support than my mates sparco seats in his supra. I also have a drift air filter that i was using on my supercharger setup and will definitely use them again on my twin turbo build. There is an article in Zoom or HPI on air filter comparisons and you'll find the DRiFT air filter rates higher than the major japanese brands at a fraction of the costs.
Personally, with the increased number of chinese imports on the market now i try to stay away from anything that would jeopardise the health and safety of my car eg. fuel pump, turbo etc. On another note, if you are working on a small budget than there are plenty of cheap chinese products out there that are pretty good for the money. Like the intercooler comparison in a previous HPI magazine there was also a turbo comparison in another issue. I personally wouldn't use a turbo but i have used an intercooler in the past and would again without hesitation.

Steven Anderson
TryHard
NSW
UZZ31 Manual

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 05:13 pm, by: Steven Anderson (Cusscuss)

Any pics of the seats/rest of the car Paul?

I think stuff that is easily made/developed is fine (air filters/coolers etc) but more complex stuff I wouldnt go near, not because it is a chinese brand, im sure being of a particular nation doesnt mean you are incapable of engineering decent parts, but because it is a no name brand with no track record.

Paul Mainey
TryHard
NSW
Twin Turbo V8

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 06:09 pm, by: Paul Mainey (Gttv8)

Sorry Steven,

I don't have any pics of the seats or any of the car since my other computer died. I've got a couple of the old supercharger setup in the build but i'm keeping the rest of the car and the new setup private till it's all done and then i'll show it to everyone. Right now the interior is stripped out besides the front seats and dash to a degree. The spare motor is at the machinist getting prepped and i bought a new acdc pulse tig welder last week so i'll start fabricating those custom ideas i have in my head. I've got a few parts from the old setup to sell to make way for the new and hopefully once they're sold this build wont take to long to complete.

Aaron Casey
Goo Roo
nsw
'94 jzz30 gttl, 2 mini's one supercharged :-)

Posts: 1837
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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 06:48 pm, by: Aaron Casey (Blownminiturbo)

well you say known brands. how often do you go into stores and see autometer gauges with the neele not set to zero aswell? i have both brands and so far no probs.
its good to be weary with cheaper products but so far im happy with them. they also have gauge adaptors to fit your water temp gauge into a radiator hose and they havent leaked in few cars ive fitted them too.
same thing with speco/ they are cheap as and ive known alot of people to use them only problem ive seen is a mate crimped his oil pressure line when he installed it so was reading wrong and he didnt put sealer on the thread so leaked a little lol
but that was user error not so much the brand.

and a video of them turning on

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j250/aaroncasey24/?action=view&current=30052009052.flv

Paul Ince
TryHard
QLD
TT Auto

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 07:14 pm, by: Paul Ince (Incey)

I use a drift pod filter in both my cars since they tested strongly against about 10 other brands. Saw the test in a fast fours or something about 2 years ago.
Have not had a drama since putting them on

Aaron Mead
Goo Roo
NT
Celsior 1UZ-FE Mines, JZZ30 1.5JZ-GTE To4z

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 07:45 pm, by: Aaron Mead (Aaron)

Any product is only as good as the testing you have done yourself. The amount of times Ive come across people badmouthing for example: Gizzmo boost controllers, then finding tuners who swear by them, people who swear by turbosmart FPR's, and tuners who have failed to get the same results they were getting out of Aeromotive FPR's at less than 70% the TS cost, is enough to make you question anything. HKS latest manifolds are awesome, totally awesome, yet GReddy ones are still the thin walled •••• from the 90's, and are outshone by local fabricator 6Boost.

I have a 'drift' pod filterunder the cover on my 1.5JZ, its available, it fits, and theres a large range.
Drift sponsors Cat Coliero, a Drift Australia competitor for many years now.

End of the day, its what works for you.

Ty Mackay
Goo Roo
WA
Soarer TT 1jz-gte

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 09:57 pm, by: Ty Mackay (Duo89)

hahaha aaron i cant get over how much the gauges and switch look like a face haha! who put them together like that? was it on purpose?

Phillip Evans
Tinkerer
Western Australia
TT

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 10:29 pm, by: Phillip Evans (Guesswho)

Paul Mainey wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 06:09 pm:
I've got a few parts from the old setup to sell to make way for the new and hopefully once they're sold this build wont take to long to complete.

By any chance, are those the Carbon or Carbon Kevlar seat's? And are you selling? *puppy dog eyes and such*

Can anyone confirm that Drift is Chinese? From everything I gather, they are Australian.

Ben Lipman
Goo Roo
NT
Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car

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Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 11:11 pm, by: Ben Lipman (Ben12a)

Phillip Evans wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 12:53 am:
I get that, but I and my mate mainly, don't have all the money in the world for the brand's we do.

Speco- you can get them from repco, supercheap, ebay etc. I've been using them for years since watching their boost gauge and temp gauges beat Autometer and others in a series of accuracy tests. Reasonably cheap, too.

Matt Sartori wrote on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 03:42 am:
Everyone uses HKS/Apexi/Omori gauges, and bride/recaro seats. That has to account for something, right?
Why else would everyone fork out the extra $$$ if it wasn't a superior product?

Because they are mindless brand followers. Some guys on here have had real problems with HKS for example- not all of it is developed by the big brand.