A couple months ago I submitted my car details to Skunk2 as part of their Skunk2 Certified program. As many of you may know I've been sporting there stuff for many years now and had great results (which those who have shared track time with me can attest to )

I'm now a fully certified Street Team member and my badge just arrived today and its time to show it off





And another goodie that I picked up this weekend...

 

Not sure how well this is going to be received...


https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...ight=certified

Frankly, most of us have had bad experiences with Skunk2 and their "marketing" department.

 

My experience with Skunk2 has been nothing but positive... Mugen, Spoon, Toda and the rest gave up on the ITR as soon as Honda stopped making it. I'll support a company that continues to offer new updated products.

I've taken dated Mugen and Spoon parts off my car to make room for better performing Skunk2 parts.

I don't see the world in JDM colored glasses.

 

Lets not project your or others bad experience on NSX (Todd). While there may be mixed opinions on purchasing S2 parts BABY NSX already owns them and is happy with them. I see no purpose in bring this thread down.

Congrats, NSX. I actually tour'd the factory when I went out to LA a couple years ago. They had a bunch of crate Mugen motors (rev to like 10-12K) and were RDing cams for a K20/24 Motor and had Vtec engaged while ideling and it sound just like a cam'd Hemi. Saw some pretty cool stuff, and they were extremely cool and shocked I was from TN.

 

WOW! Just Wow....

i have no words for this, just glad i didn't drink the kool-aid.

smh.

 

just wondering if you can give us a run down of all the skunk 2 parts you have on you car?
thanks

 

thats sweet better then a blue jdm badge LOl
I use to have that Momo wheel and combo not a bad setup

 

you should have used rivets to attach it.

 

Here is what's on the car (or waiting to go on the car):

Pro1 cams
Pro series cam gears
mega power header (replaced my old Spoon header)
mega power RR exhaust (3") (replaced my old Mugen TL)
composite fuel rail
70mm throttle body (not installed yet)
Pro series intake manifold (not installed yet)
Front camber kit
VTEC solenoid cover
Radiator cap
Billet oil cap
Billet wire cover
Billet battery tie down
Shift **** (replaced my Mugen ****)
Short shifter

I appreciate everyone's opinion about Skunk2 and understand that for many reason's people are going to hate on them. Some reason's may be for personal bad first hand experience, while most I believe are simply opinions echoed from other people who themselves are simply echoing opinions formed by other people.

 

 

I realize that a company will put out a poor part once in a while, but Skunk2 had/has a habit of doing so on regular occasions.

For all of their good, there is equal part bad.

Some may look past this and some may not have encountered any of them. However, for those of us who have seen the poor R&D put into several of their offerings...let's just say that my money is spent elsewhere.

And it is highly ironic that they don't want you to use "knock-off" parts when a lot of their product is a copy of something else.

 

"Todddddddddddddd!!!!" (From the fox and the hound). This is the internet and everyone one has their opinion. If the OP asked for your opinion on purchasing ... Skunk2 products you reply would be extrememly justified.
However, this thread is not about that. So the mature action would just let it be.


OP, I'm not familiar with there header design for the B series. I did see them custom fabbing a S2k header. It had about 20 cut and welds in it. (Kinds like anti reversion chambers) They guy quoted some pretty large HP increases. How did you like the Pro 1's. I almost ran them in my GSR, but after I tracked in it I was happy with the power it had.

 

nice, I was thinking about doing the same but I'm a few parts shy of the requirements

 

i love skunk 2 parts have had and do have a ton of those parts!!! to i never have had a problem with them yet how do you get certified from them? i think i pretty much have all the same stuff except the exhaust

 

Reminds me of a knockoff of these...



:-/

 

Not sure being S2 certified is something to be proud of... And just because Toda/Mugen/Spoon stopped making new parts for the DC2R just because it was discontinued does NOT mean those parts are outdated and/or inferior in performance. In fact, they are most likely still top of the line.

 

Nothing wrong with wanting validation from the company you dropped some serious coin with. Especially since he tracks his car thus proving the reliability of the parts.

 

Yep

 

No matter what certified is kind of goofy in the sense all you did was spend a lot of your money with the same company.

 

I dont think Its goofy, Just means the guy likes there parts.

I dont see why people hate on there parts (or brand) so much, I've used there parts in almost all my cars, and no problem's.

 

That's your opinion and I'm fine with it... I don't share the same view.

It's kinda funny how many people hate on Skunk2 simply because they believe Skunk2 "copies" other designs, while at the same time praise companies like Mugen and Spoon for their outstanding quality and product offerings.

Spoon:
I don't believe they make ANY parts themselves. The vast majority of the parts they offer are simply OE parts with some small adjustments. It's hard to copy when you are simply buying straight from Honda and re-branding the parts under your own name. I guess that's why they have the same OE reliability...

The only product that Spoon offers that is truly great, and not bested by other brands, are the front brake calipers, and those are simply offered under an exclusive arrangement Spoon clearly has from Honda's OE brake supplier.

Mugen:
Similar to Spoon they tend to use OE parts or buy parts from the OE suppliers with different specifications. Their bushing kits are pretty much just like this, I've heard in the past (from a somewhat reputable source that the Mugen bushings are basically just re-branded TypeR bushings).

Cams... well I know Mugen makes cams for the B18C5 but they were never openly offered to the public for sale.

The ITR brake kit is just a repackaged S2K brake setup... very original.

The twin-loop is a great exhaust concept and would have been even better if they didn't kill it with such small diameter piping. The North American setup has a 2" restriction in it which, when I had mine, I had cut out to improve flow. The resonator is HUGE and entirely impractical. It is impossible to drive around without crushing it. Did Mugen ever redesign this to solve this problem... nope. Yes the sound is great...

Their header... dated.

The Mugen intake is the one part that stands out as a "must have" and pretty much the only Mugen part available today that leads the way in terms of performance. I can't think of another Mugen part that doesn't have plenty of competition in the market that out performs it.

I had Zeal B2 coil-overs on my car for a few years... They were crap and blew very quickly. A Friend of mine also ran these on his Civic which also blew in less than a year. JDM isn't everything its cracked up to be.

Sporting PICs now and love them!

My point is, there is no one company making the "best" stuff out there and no one company making completely original parts. No company has a perfect record and some times it takes a few failures to improve the breed.

As companies both Mugen and Spoon have a major advantage over EVERY other performance parts supplier for Honda's and if what they offer is the best they can do... then they aren't doing much with this advantage. Skunk2 should be respected for keeping up with the likes of these guys and in many ways besting them.

Haters are going to hate... but not supporting your local companies has already brought the American economy to the brink of collapse.

 

Did they give u a mantle or something framed to hang on the wall or is it just the plate? quite an accomplishment. I agree that u should've used rivets.

What r ur thoughts on Blox or blackworks?

well said. vey well thought out as well. so, skunk2 manufactures their products in the USA then?

 

I just recieved the plate. I'll be changing the mounting hardware shortly... I just used what I had available yesterday.

I don't have any thoughts on Blox or Blackworks as I have not used any of their products.

Cheers,
Doug

 

I don't blame u for installing it right away; I wouldn't be able to hold off either..the excitement.

So, skunk2 manufactures parts in the USA? do u know where? I'm all for supporting american economy, more important now than ever.

I heard that blox and blackworks has the same quality parts as skunk2 but they cost much cheaper. Since u have such a broad knowledge of so many companies, thought u could shed some light on them as well.

 

Do you really want to drag this post into shooting holes in Mugen/Spoon/whatever product offerings? Because really now...I could almost write a book about the utter **** Skunk2 has introducted into the market and how childish their marketing department is (and how non-existant their R&D seems to be).

Half of your mods are cosmetic anyway??

I wasn't going to post again as you obviously enjoy their parts and I don't want to be a buzzkill, but by making your above comments you're opened up the door.

And why aren't you running Skunk2 coilovers? Is it because they farmed them out to Taiwan (aka Megan, F1, etc)? Although, you'd probably be quick to slam Mugen suspension because they use Showa components and have them built to Mugen Specs. Yeah...what crap those are, right? OEM quality in performance upgrades is for the birds!

I could go on, commenting that the Mugen TL exhaust is a *STREET* exhaust and one of the best made/best soundling exhausts on the market. But, you seem to think it is inferior to an "N1 style" racing exhaust that'll be loud as sin on the street. Mugen does not design a race exhaust as they know anyone serious about racing will use a resonator and a turndown.

Feel good about your badge though (that Spoon had 10 years ago, BTW). Just don't slam other products that have a different philosophy when it comes to part upgrades. It's not about drinking the JDM cool-aid...it's about buying parts that are reliable as stock, yet provide a performance and appearance upgrade.

And of course there are better speciality parts...but what has Skunk2 made superior that already wasn't around 10 years ago for the B series?