Hey Junk2! FU!

[Samurai_Blue]

Here is my opinion on Skunk2 after reading everything and letting it sit in my head, also speaking with Matt (jdmxdb8 ) helped with this as well.

Skunk2 is a racing company which has been seen to provide products which have been race proven by Sportcar Motion and Compass 360. In one of their videos, they show that they are doing RnD in house with a CNC machine. I think that this is for the most part true. They outsource their designs to Tiwan to be produced and then shipped here and then Skunk2 slaps their price on the products. With the advent of the Alpha Series products, I wouldnt see a problem as they are priced like a made in china product. (Skunk2's 66mm TB for example was $130, the Alpha header $400). The company probably does zero RnD on the products and therefore people have had problems with the products. My question now is, does Skunk2's favored customers (Morgan Jade of Sportcar Motion etc.) get special stuff from the company made especially by their in house machines?

 

[thenoxus1]

I've had several people ask me as a distributor for Skunk2 my honest opinions on the issues here, so I figured I'd post here to have it out there to see.

Let's go over some basic facts. Skunk2 has always been Group A. They don't attempt to mask that at all. When they started in 1994, they were doing business under that name. At this point, they were like me, a company importing and distributing parts. These parts came from overseas a lot, and they housed it in their warehouse to resell. They were retailers/distributers at that time, not manufacturers.

1994
Skunk2 (Group-A Autosports) is founded in Northern California.

Before we started the Skunkworks product line, Group-A was a distributor of performance products.

They don't hide this...ever.

A couple years later, the sales were up, and they got into racing, subsequently, this led to some in house designing of products. They were still distributors at this time. They changed the name to Skunkworks, because of the famous lockheed project. They developed some products in house, early on the big ones being the cast manifolds. They gathered some steam, and were sued by lockheed, changing the name to Skunk2. Most of the products were devloped in house, the R and D being done by the racing teams they have. The best way to test a product is not in the shop, but out on the track, under legit conditions.

Skunk2 continues to RD products in house, but when it comes to the manufacturing of these ideas, they get sent overseas, where they can afford to actually mass produce these. With labor and material cost in the States, it'd be impossible to sell products, your Pro cams would be 1000 plus dollars. They only claim to develop and test in house, which I believe they do. They never mention that all the product is manufactured in the house and that's it. Why do you think Apple and every other company produces overseas what they develop over here? It's alll about costs.

Skunk2 attacking the guys on the forum? It was an unprofessional move, but probably the easiest way to locate the guys quick, since people in the community will know them. Someone is bound to know them and want to turn them in for some cash. Why? These guys are trying to completely slander Skunk2, if my business was being slandered, I'd want to find the guys myself and slap an injuction on them as quick as I could. Or, they potentially tried to blackmail or extort Skunk2 and they denied it, and then made the threads. I don't really care about shipping records, prove that they don't RD a SINGLE product in the shop they have, and that the race cars they built were only using parts sourced overseas already made by other companies, and then I will change my opinion.

For now, SKunk2 has proven to be a quality brand, and until I hear otherwise, I will stand by the products.

 

[klutchDb7]

Boom

 

[DailyDB8]

Gbaby2089 & BlazedD & signalpuke ... they are very opinionated folks. from experience on the forums... they always gotta put in their 2 cents. sometimes their approach makes them seem like assholes, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. just cause they hate it... they want everyone to hate it, the thing is they dont give up and they feel like they need to be heard... watever helps them sleep at night.

i have mixed feelings about s2. some stuff is great, some stuff sucks... we as consumers are the real ones that R&D these stuff... so either find out yourself first hand... or take someones word.

i just buy it, use it, if i like it, keep it otherwise re-sell it.

 

[Gbaby2089]

PRO-series:

Junk2 Pro Series manifold

yup this is epoxy in the runner

If I can afford to buy non-Junk2, why would I risk something like that?

And the owner of that part was told that's how ALL Junk2 manifolds look.

 

[Samurai_Blue]

one thing that is being overlooked is the quality control from skunk2. IMO and this tends to be a little bit more true form what ive read for the K series stuff. There really isnt much being done lately. its really a hit or miss, on the quality of skunk2 parts. As gbaby has stated above, there are problems with the quality of skunk2 products and that needs to be adressed. I think some sort of quality control needs to be happening in house with the company, instead of them thinking its okay to sell. For instance, i was speaking to a member on here wite2nr (before we went out of touch) about the K series tensioners by Skunk. He said they were going bad really quick and there was no explanation for it, and he told me to stay away from Skunk2 for the time being. This is just another story of how Skunk2 isnt doing the quality control they need to be doing, i feel that they are a race oriented company and they do their own RnD. But, they are lacking in the front of quality control when they mass produce these products. IMO thats the biggest flaw with that company, that and the special treatment some "elite members" of Skunk2 get.


Either way i still stand by the company, i will rely on dyno sheets from independent adjudicators rather than skunk2 posted dynos or people posting dynos to prove a point.

 

[XjoEnX]

...they are a race oriented company and they do their own RnD. But, they are lacking in the front of quality control when they mass produce these products. IMO thats the biggest flaw with that company, that and the special treatment some "elite members" of Skunk2 get.

This could very well be true.

 

[Samurai_Blue]

if thats the case thats piss poor practice on their part

 

[OGstackadoIIa]

Either way, I feel like they lack fundamentals. It should be a federal offense for them to request information about a source and I believe anyone involved should be reprimanded in some form. I may not be the nicest person in the world, but I expect a minimum level of professionalism from a company operating at this level.
I'm going to see how this shakes out, obviously there are two sides, but I'm pretty disappointed in Sk2's conduct right now

 

[Integraguy04]

I just think it was dumb on both parties to start a shouting match..as long as they do their R&D in house I will still be buying them


Sent from my iPhone 4S

 

[jdmjim]

money is tight, everybody is hurting. companies are cutting costs wherever they can

 

[Excitable Kid]

Oh no..look who else jumped in the fray...:roll:

[youtube="PasswordUSDM"]C5vP6mL7hNs[/youtube]

 

[hgocasca]

I have many s2 products, and I feel (from ACTUAL use and satisfaction) they make a solid product. I'm using cams, valves, shocks, camber kits, and cam seal from them. All of which get abused to the fullest on the daily. Anyone who has rode with or driven next to me knows I beat the piss out of my car. Anything that can handle my driving is a proven part IMO. I will have to post up new drag times from the local strip when it opens back up. I'm sure I'll gain at least half a second or more. The fact that "crybaby" is bashing them w/o actually using their products is just stupid. He is, IMHO, the true fanboi, because he just goes off what others say and what he reads, w/o actually having first hand experience on what he's talking about. I personally have proof that they make a solid product, their claims are realistic (if not, they are usually selling themselves short), and their prices are fair. If the cams I have made their claimed numbers at ~6000ft elevation, imagine what it would do at sea level. I'm in no way tied to s2 or any of it's financial interest other than a satisfied paying customer who has proof to their quality & claims. So unless you have proof that they don't make quality (as in dyno and track proven) parts, then please stfu & gtfo!

 

[OGstackadoIIa]

As I said, I'm more upset about the business practices they've shown through this situation; enough to not care to purchase their products, unless I got a dummy ass deal on that header I wanted

 

[Integraguy04]

I have many s2 products, and I feel (from ACTUAL use and satisfaction) they make a solid product. I'm using cams, valves, shocks, camber kits, and cam seal from them. All of which get abused to the fullest on the daily. Anyone who has rode with or driven next to me knows I beat the piss out of my car. Anything that can handle my driving is a proven part IMO. I will have to post up new drag times from the local strip when it opens back up. I'm sure I'll gain at least half a second or more. The fact that "crybaby" is bashing them w/o actually using their products is just stupid. He is, IMHO, the true fanboi, because he just goes off what others say and what he reads, w/o actually having first hand experience on what he's talking about. I personally have proof that they make a solid product, their claims are realistic (if not, they are usually selling themselves short), and their prices are fair. If the cams I have made their claimed numbers at ~6000ft elevation, imagine what it would do at sea level. I'm in no way tied to s2 or any of it's financial interest other than a satisfied paying customer who has proof to their quality & claims. So unless you have proof that they don't make quality (as in dyno and track proven) parts, then please stfu & gtfo!

yeah i agree...i have their cams, valvetrain and i road race my car and they have held up amaizing and give good power