Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironheadspearo
My experience with harleys is they tend to run best left stock. all the aftermarket stuff tends to screw up eventually. remember the manufacturer does extensive testing to hopefully give you something worry free..... that goes out the window when you start adding aftermarket parts that have not gone through the same R&D
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Well I agree that generally the manufacturer puts in a lot more R&D into their parts than aftermarket companies. But you have to realize a lot of that R&D is aimed at a performance vs cost perspective. They have to keep costs below a certain point so that it will be cheap enough for them to make a profit and people will still buy it.
With the aftermarket, there often isn't as much of a restriction on cost because people will pay a pretty penny for something that performs better. So often times aftermarket companies will use higher quality parts than stock parts. The perfect example is wheels. A 3-piece forged wheel weighs less and the finish lasts longer than stock cast wheels, but they cost $4000+ in most cases. Just imagine if GM put $4000 wheels on every car just because it was more durable? Who would buy a $20k Aveo??
In the case of the wheels, and with many other parts that come stock. GM builds it just good enough for 95% of consumers and long enough to outlast the factory warranty. Now, I don't want to imply that they're trying to make stuff last just long enough so that they can wash their hands of any liability, I'm just saying cost is VERY important and cheaper parts lower cost.
It is also obvious that GM does not follow the cheapest route in all cases. They need their cars to compete in a very tough market, and they need to satisfy their customers so they'll keep coming back! So I have no doubt that my stock parts will exceed my expectations in many cases! I mean, who can claim the car is built cheaply when they include a "competitive launch mode" in the car that does not void your warranty? I know that's off topic, but that's friggin awesome!