Beware of Skunk2 Racing

[Tnwagn]

They handled the issue like a bunch of children. A bounty for the information about some guys who questioned their products? You have to be fucking kidding me.

The product you put out should be the response to any questions about your validity in the current market. So what if you outsource production or even R&D to to foreign markets; As long as the end product is up to par then the market will be satisfied.

What Scott said about the skill level of people buying there products is also a major issues. I don't want to hear a person who is building their motor for the first time's viewpoint of a cam/header combination because, odds are, they don't know the first thing about the intricacies of properly designing a full build.

[owequitit]

From what I remember, he had a Euro-R head, which may have had something to do with it. But I don't think he mixed + matched badly, or at least in a way that was negligent. IOW I don't think there's anything he could have done to avoid the issues he had, short of downgrading his head.

IIRC, he had an issue with his rocker arms. That is a known issue with high valve lift setups, and especially with harder metal cams (which the S2's were). It was such an issue in fact that Endyn actually designed hardened/extended rockers for the H series just for such applications. Clearly there was a need for it.

I think there was also some discussion about whether or not the valve springs were reaching coil bind, which I don't think they should have, but is possible. If the springs bottom out, then stuff is going to get torn up. At this point, like I said, I don't remember specifically, but I do remember that I had a few questions about it. I don't know if Mike ever figured it out or not.

[wed3k]

in the machining industry, you pretty much are working with trial and error.

we've had come backs from replacement iron valve guides in a f22c head to comp lifters in SBC. you just live and learn from it, its not going to make you any more money from bitching about it.

more spring pressure and shitty oils can wear valve train components out however theres a lot of poor metallurgy. look at the ford v6 cylinder heads...there's hardly any wear on the valve yet they pound the cast iron seats into the head until it bottoms out the lifter. you just don't know about it until something goes wrong or breaks.

[ferenza]

I dont think stuff thats being made in foriegn countries is a bad idea all together.they just have alot of quality control issues that need to be dealt with for their products to be acceptable. whose to say that because its made in america that something will never get screwed up?(very little chance of that happening because we take pride in our work and what goes into our cars)

Skunk2 made a very bad decision of putting a bounty out these 2 guys.It made them look like they had something very nasty to hide.If the statements or evidence that was shown against skunk2 was untrue,they wouldnt be worrying about it too much.There will be people that will always be true to the skunk2 brand like the guy that lives next door to me who has a eg with nothing but skunk2 parts in his b18 motor(hey what can you say?).They are not going anywhere............. yet.

We want high-end parts.But most of us don't have high-end part money(hence DIY and how-to videos and etc.) Yeah we do buy BS stuff. The Tuners in japan are laughing at us everyday because we are stupid enough to buy the crap.But then i think somehow they have the right to because they work 2, sometimes 3 and 4 jobs to get those real parts.We are responsible in some form because we allowed a market to come about for knockoff parts to be made for us.Some of the stuff isnt bad and does the exact same thing that the real one does (i.e short ram intakes) both of them pull in the unwanted hot air from the engine bay. My point is we made our own bed by being cheap.

[gloryaccordy]

We want high-end parts.But most of us don't have high-end part money(hence DIY and how-to videos and etc.) Yeah we do buy BS stuff. The Tuners in japan are laughing at us everyday because we are stupid enough to buy the crap.But then i think somehow they have the right to because they work 2, sometimes 3 and 4 jobs to get those real parts.We are responsible in some form because we allowed a market to come about for knockoff parts to be made for us.Some of the stuff isnt bad and does the exact same thing that the real one does (i.e short ram intakes) both of them pull in the unwanted hot air from the engine bay. My point is we made our own bed by being cheap.

The bolded is exactly why Skunk2 is able to flourish.

A lot of tuners should stop and think... "what am i doing" "what effect will this part have on my car" "how does this part fit into the overall use of my car" "how will cheaping out potentially come back to bite me in the ass". Nobody seems to think about that. All people seem to care about are impressing other people and completing builds with the cheapest parts possible. And it's fucking shit up.

I am not one of those goofballs who thinks people should only buy Volks for hardparkers. But you have to spend $$$ where it counts. If you don't, don't cry when you get your money's worth. I found this out the hard way so many times, I don't even bother with mods unless I can afford them.

[deevergote]

The issue is that we're getting "knockoff" parts for the lower end of "high end" prices.
If Skunk2 was seen by the tuner world as just another Megan Racing or OBX, fine. If they grew their company away from such a reputation by offering quality parts, fine. But it seems that they're doing the same thing as those "knockoff" companies, and charging prices to be expected from "original" companies.

They've really done nothing wrong, honestly. Not when it comes to their products. The scene just feels misled because they've held Skunk2 in such high regard, only to see that their stuff isn't quite as special as they thought it was.

[alb_accord]

s2 didn't handle the situation as a good company should have. i think we all can agree with this.

at the same time if you dont like their products, then don't buy them.

it is sad but true that 80% of the car parts around the world, are not produced by the big car companies. these companies might have a hand in designing these parts, but not building them. 98-2000 Honda 4cyl car, their transmission was designed by Honda but build by another company. accord alternators are used by gm and Opel in Europe. Power steering in a Camry is used by gm and Chrysler companies or the other way around. for them to build these parts around the world is good business for company. whether they are cheap and overpriced, well that is up to the buyer.

[gloryaccordy]

s2 didn't handle the situation as a good company should have. i think we all can agree with this.

at the same time if you dont like their products, then don't buy them.

it is sad but true that 80% of the car parts around the world, are not produced by the big car companies. these companies might have a hand in designing these parts, but not building them. 98-2000 Honda 4cyl car, their transmission was designed by Honda but build by another company. accord alternators are used by gm and Opel in Europe. Power steering in a Camry is used by gm and Chrysler companies or the other way around. for them to build these parts around the world is good business for company. whether they are cheap and overpriced, well that is up to the buyer.

Outsourcing manufacturing is cool, just call a spade a spade.

To make an analogy what S2 has done would be like Honda trying to shit on other car makers for outsourcing transmission manufacturing, while having problems with outsourced transmissions themselves. Makes more business sense to just man up, accept blame and show you learned from it. S2 has been putting out questionable shit for years, but when called on it blames the customer, or puts a bounty out on "haters", or make videos falsely slandering their competition and admins of forums that have S2 as sponsors. The company is a joke that's gone on too long.

[Gemini]

Never purchased any with their name on it.

[BIGRICH]

wow....a little late on this one....but, i love my skunk2 intake manifold on my d16z6......just saying

[98vtec]

Cant beat their camshafts. Mine and many other race motors who use them are proof of that. Don't agree with their handling but whatever. Life goes on.

[deevergote]

Skunk2 knows the B and D series engines, and a fair amount about the H series.
They know Civics and Integras.

The things they know, they seem to do pretty well. They DO race, and therefore they have real-world testing done on the cars they race. Regardless of where the parts are made, who makes them, etc... that racing experience will certainly make those parts worthwhile. No company is going to race with their own parts if those parts are inferior!
Skunk2's lack of quality comes in the areas that they clearly don't care about... such as 90-93 Accord suspension components. For a company that has had success racing Civics and Integras, they surely gave us a sub-par suspension setup in their "matched" spring/shock combo. That tells me that they're just looking to make a buck, and they have no problem putting their name on inferior parts for cars they know nothing about. They should stick to what they know. Then at least their reputation for performance for ALL of their products would be more than enough to argue any question of shoddy R&D or production process. If it works well, I truly don't care where it comes from.

Still, they handled this issue like a scorned 16 year old kid in a forum's Classifieds section!

If you have nothing to hide, then the truth will never hurt you. Lies will be shown for what they are sooner or later.


In the end, Skunk2's handling of this situation may possibly hurt them far more than the accusations made.

[deevergote]

Outsourcing manufacturing is cool, just call a spade a spade.

To make an analogy what S2 has done would be like Honda trying to shit on other car makers for outsourcing transmission manufacturing, while having problems with outsourced transmissions themselves. Makes more business sense to just man up, accept blame and show you learned from it. S2 has been putting out questionable shit for years, but when called on it blames the customer, or puts a bounty out on "haters", or make videos falsely slandering their competition and admins of forums that have S2 as sponsors. The company is a joke that's gone on too long.

Wow, that video is even worse. Could they be more childish? I agree with their stance on cheap knockoff parts 100% (ignoring the claims that their own parts are potentially such...) However, making a video that is 1) offensive to their customers, and 2) blatantly attacking a competitor in such a childish manner (I assume "Blax Power" is a thinly veiled attack at Blackworks Racing?)



Congratulations, Skunk2... you have successfully brought yourself an image worthy of the worst trolling noobs on Honda-Tech (no offense intended to the people on that site that are clearly knowledgeable, intelligent, and helpful...)

[redlined302]

RIP skunk2

[luckyflip]

I lol'd when I heard people were trying to get rid of there S2 stuff.