slammed_93_hatch

Just because hardrace sells stuff to megan, does not mean that there stuff is equal.

It wouldn't be the first time a company sells a lesser quality product to another company.

Maybe Megan even requested the supposedly "lower quality bushings" so that they could save on costs..

essex

Of course all of it is the same ****, from **** spherical's to **** rubber. What do you expect?

Danronian

It's true. I don't see this making a 100% connection in any way. Hard Race could be selling Megan a cheaper quality version which they rename and sell as theirs.

Until I see solid evidence of Hard Race bushing failure, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

phunhaus

Legion:

I think this thread is a good idea and the topic has been discussed on other forums previously. But the more I read your posts it seems like your mind is already made up and this is turning into a witch-hunt.

Although I don't work for PIC I am friends with Jason (pb16b) from Suja 1. People have been asking him about their bushings versus the Hardrace bushings because apperantly Hardrace is the marquee name. In the interests of comparison he (along with a Hardrace retailer) sent their bushings out to a lab for third party testing.

I can't and won't say which is better, but I can tell you they are DIFFERENT. The results were not identical. The differences between the bushings can be seen a either positive or negative depending on what you want out of a bushings. He told me in more ways than I can recall so I can't cite specifics but I know that he wanted to publish (or at least share with the Hardrace retailer) the differences once he was able to compile it into graph form.

Like I said, this thread is a good idea but only if you look at the information objectively. Attacking people that have knowledge of overseas business and overseas shipping isn't going to get you the answers you're looking for. Hopefully Huyabusa160 can get some insider info.

white5thgen

I dont know if they are the same or not, but I will say that after looking over that tracking shipment from importgenious.com, that megan racing received 407kg(897lbs.) of whatever it was from hardrace. If i am reading it correctly then it says that it was 33 containers worth as well. That kinda rules out what someone else above said about them ordering stuff for a project and whatnot.

PIC Performance

Way to take it personally. You're looking for definite answers on this?:
Again, you shouldn't talk about things you don't understand, let alone make claims about a business you know nothing about. It's one thing to raise concerns, its another to make false accusations and spread misinformation. You're not doing anyone any favors, and throwing names around doesn't help your case either.

Legion_2

^^I'm a bandwagon killer. I'll gladly **** on anyone/everyone who has an unnecessary following. Honda-tech is a disgusting place when it comes to product quality and consumer following being in proportion.

Still waiting for the guy who knows the owner though. That's the only quasi-reliable fragment of info we can get. If I say Hardrace sucks *** and you say "nuh-uh" it doesn't really get us anywhere.

And LOL at this thread becoming about "overseas shipping." Lol, what are you going on about?? Forget that I posted that link. The issue here is that two products with an identical appearance both marketed as "hardened rubber bushings" are more than likely the same product. The "hardened rubber import bushing" business isn't exactly booming with manufacturers.

phunhaus

I read in a local Chicago paper (RedEye) today that Old Style beer was going back to their old "formula." The beer is currently breing made in the Miller Brewing Plant in Wisconsin along side Schlitz, Miller (all products), Pabst Blue Ribbon, and other smaller brews.

So with them being made in the same place and labelled as "beer" does that mean they have the same taste? Same ingredients? Same "quality?" Or how about even the same company?

I'm not jumping in to say that Megan and Hardrace are or aren't the same product but even in our own country do you find a large company making products for small companies rebadged and redesigned to THEIR specs. After all, how else could you market them and NOT use the terms "hardened rubber bushings?" That's what they are.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

You mean they no longer brew it themselves next to the "Worlds Largest Six Pack"?!?!?

There goes another of my childhood memories...

maxogsr

Personnaly, I'm tracking almost every week during summer for the last five year and i'm driving also my car in the street. I've tried OEM, poly and now I'm giving the Hardrace a try. I bought the full kit last summer and so far I'm happy with the way it makes my car react (timeattack, lapping and autoX).

I can say that OEM is tough but not adequate for track purpose if you want performance... Poly I had had cracked up within 2 year of abuse even well lubricate... Brand new I liked them but it suck to have to change them every 2 years. Now I'll see how much time the hardrace will last. If they do 4-5 years that'be great!

Thinking that you'll find some bushing that won't ever wear out is dreaming... They gets all the bad shots! Actually they are on you car to avoid bolts to fail, they absorb vibrations, so for sure they'll end up to be deform or crack someday...

Legion_2

Did anyone ever find out any conclusive info on this?

Pinja

We need someone to chime in that has had Hardrace bushings for a while and see what they have to say...

redzcstandardhatch

exactly. the 150-200$ people spend on bushings is CHEAP for what our silly little cars can do.

its a wear item. a stiffer rubber will wear quicker, and fail quicker than oem, under street-driving situations. until people have tons of issues with hardrace stuff, whats the benefit of bashing them, just because they are made overseas? most stuff is made overseas

racebum

that's where i'm at too

i personally have no idea why poly gets bashed either for its service life. i mean, it's a wear item. it's harder than oem and it has its place.

wenlyone

things that look alike sometimes are not alike though

http://www.importtuner.com/tech/0612...rts/index.html

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

My issue with poly is its tendency to bind up, and not spring back into shape after deforming. Polyurethane is a type of plastic, and it tends to not hold its shape like rubber will.

Legion_2

You're missing the point. Megan bushings are ****, and until someone proves to me that Hardrace != Megan, I'm not going to buy any Hardrace products. Nobody is doing any bashing, I'm just looking for proof that the two companies are separate.

wenlyone

well. hardracing has been good to most of us.
its only 200 bones or so for a set... its cheaper than oem. you could give it a try yourself and decide.

92integraVTECgsr

Nothing last forever. Energy Suspension kit costs less than $200 and you can buy all the bushings seperately for pretty darn cheap. If they last 2 years of hard track use, I would say that is pretty good.

I'm currently in the middle of replacing all my bushings with Energy Suspension except for the RTA bushing which will be hardrace ($87 shipped).

The nice thing about ES, is that they are easy to take out and replace rather than having to hammer/press the hardrace kit.

Either way, for the price, they are good. Will they last longer than stock for daily driver? Sure. Will they last long than stock on the track? Probably. I've torn up all my stock bushings on the track after 4 track days (240 miles), but they were already 8 years old with 160,000 miles on them.

bsmith100

The Hardrace and Megan bushings look the same. I have a tough time believing they would spend the money to produce a different recipe for hard rubber bushings.

There are always the Mugen bushings of course. Too bad they are really expensive.

b18c5 power

iTrader: (3)

Any updates ? I can tell you Megan = U.S old name Hardrace= U.S new name . Look at the rear camber for the 94-01 integra BOTH the same part # lol ,only a new marketing strategy! They just put a hardrace sticker or a Megan sticker!

meb58

I'm with Patrick here; poly will bind and wear away the surfaces that do bind. Absolute freedom of motion is key and why heim type joints are best for pure track use. But OEM rubber or Mugen rubber is the way to go for most of us...I used Mugen bushings for a couple hundred thousand miles with no failures. FYI

bsmith100

Is that really true? If the part numbers are really the same, then they are probably exactly the same part with a different name on it.

racebum

this is exactly why some of these bushing topics don't make sense. you identified the #1 issue with most of these posts: your weather conditions!

i've had energy bushings on mine for over 40k miles and they still look new, mild oregon weather. other states, **** they would probably be shot in a harsh winter salted road high humidity environment.

SoCal EJ1

I'll tell you conclusively that hardrace isn't even the manufacturer of these parts. I have the spherical version of every control arm they have, and they came directly from the manufacturer in taiwan, sans stickers and labels (even on the boxes).The manufacturer is not hardrace -- From my understanding, Hardrace just buys enough that they have permission to add their label to it.