I'm thinking of getting a replica lip on Ebay, but a friend of mind has scared me a little by saying that I might save money on the ebay replica but I will pay for it when the fitment is bad.

Is Replicas that bad in fitment compared to the originals?

Help a worried fellow Z owner out.

 

generally yes...

you usually spend more on prep work to get the paint to not bubble up after time, and more time getting it to fit properly...

when you purchase original parts... the fit is generally like OEM... Plus, usually those manufactuers stand behind their product better...

 

+1

replicas...in the end you will probably spend about the same...maybe just a bit less...with MUCH less quality.

 

Ebay replicas are the worst of the worst usually.

 

Depends on which company does the Replica.

AeroSync's (gruppe-S/KurumaZ) urethane JDM Nismo-styled bumper fits and looks fanstatic... AND it's outta urethane.. Evo-R's nismo-styled wing looks and fits really well... while some ebay specials take a bit more work... smaller pieces i think are easier to copy. I've also seen some authentic pieces that weren't the best either so... it goes both ways.

 

Ebay replicas cost around 500 bucks shipped
Real thing cost around 2000 bucks shipped
No way in hell its +1500 installation

 

Yes sometimes install is that much!

Considering the time to make it fit, filling all the pin holes, taking out bubbles, and waveyness, cutting the kit and fiberglassing it back together + paint its not cheap.

I seen a few people on here spend $1200 bucks on to fix replica Ings kits .

There are very few and far between replicas that fit as well as an orginals. It takes more work and as others said the quality is bad even after all the body shops work.

Also the 350Z is a 25,000+ car why would you even think about putting anything cheap on the car .

 

one of the side skirts in my replica kit was just over an inch too short...

getting it the correct length would be 10 hours labor...

 

Do it once and do it right. Been through it and Ill never go through it again!

 

AeroSync's (gruppe-S/KurumaZ) urethane is scary. They made a knockoff front lip for the EVO and the urethane bled some sort of oil all over the place which stripped the paint right off the car.

It's not worth changing parts on your car unless the quality of the parts you're putting on is better than what you're taking off....and in most cases with replicas, you're better off leaving your car stock.

 

exactly!

 

i believe that Evo lip you were referring to is a different mfg than the one that produced the Nismo-styled bumper HERE in the USA. Have you even SEEN the KurumaZ front bumper in person?

 

Yeah, they said it was manufacturered in china.

 

Have you personally seen or painted the bumper? I have not had any complaints on paint stripping off our bumpers. Also, what Evo lip are you talking about? The only one we ever carried was the Do-luck one and that fit perfectly.

Tom

 

Gruppe-s 's Evo lip is FRP, according to the website. If anything caused stripped the paint, it would have been the person who installed/painted it and their final techniques.

 

I'm talking about the "V Style" urethane Varis knockoff lip you did a group buy on evolutionm.net

 

Topsecret2001 - I would appreciate it if you would refrain from misrepresenting our company (and I'm sure Aerosync or Kurumaz would also). Specifically Aerosync does NOT manufacture a polyurethane front lip for the Mitsubishi EVO (any generation), and we do not carry one. I therefore respectfully request a retraction or a clarification of your statements.

In regards to the 350Z Z33 front bumper, this bumper is pretty far from a replica and closer to an improvement. The original design was discussed and developed by a highly competent custom kit maker to address the needs of our customers, who were cracking their extremely expensive fiberglass kits. Aerosync obtained a 350Z for the period of no less than 2 months where a master fabricator created the mold, FROM RAW MATERIALS directly onto the vehicle. A Nismo type bumper was never used. And I'm sure if you were to measure you'll find the dimensions are somewhat different. And of course the Aerosync bumper is full polyurethane, versus the Nismo fiberglass.

Thanks,

Gary
Gruppe-S

 

here's the thread: http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=90071

 

Yup, we were planning on working with Aerosync to do that lip in PU. However we opted for the fiberglass version. The PU lip was never made and never sold. I don't think any samples exist either.

Now in my experience I think it's difficult for a non-existent lip to bleed and get oil everywhere.

Cheers,

Gary
Gruppe-S

 

BTW, in response to the actual thread topic of replicas, you probably want to stay away from replicas sold on ebay, especially low price ones.

Most of these replicas are of low quality and sold by vendors and manufactured by manufacturers that do not know or care about the performance aftermarket.

Generally speaking you will get what you pay for. If the replica is cheap and you're buying it from a vendor you do not know, it's probably going to be more trouble than it's worth. As with anything, do your research first before you buy. A good indicator is to ask others in the community with their experience with THAT particular replica. Another factor to keep in mind is that if you're buying fiberglass, fiberglass molds will break down rapidly, so #1 is going to fit better than #99.

Cheers,

Gary