If you have found this blog and thought "Oh great, another tosser with an opinion nobody wants to hear"... You're welcome! With this blog we hope to provide updates on upcoming products, stir up keyboard warriors with some knowledge bombs & challenge some long-held beliefs within the automotive fabrication industry. Who knows, we may even re-invent the wheel! And so it begins...
So here goes - Not everything NEEDS to be #billet!
Shock horror, I know. OK, OK. Sure, our signature #4age & #3sgebeams intake manifolds are a genuine all-billet item. But producing such items is getting harder and harder to justify, given the rising cost of raw materials and rising costs more generally.
Billet intake manifold design can also present another problem caused by packaging constraints in the myriad of engine conversions for any given engine platform (#barratheworld). The usual sad story is that runner length is significantly sacrificed (along with all your midrange torque) to be able to shoehorn in your junkyard engine attached to your favourite shiny intake manifold and a turbo bigger than your first born child. I mean call me old fashioned, but I believe that an aftermarket performance product should, you know, IMPROVE the performance of your engine....fuck me, right?
Don't get your knickers in a knot, OBVIOUSLY there are applications where you have no choice, or your chosen competitive motorsport only requires a narrow powerband at the peak of the rev range. But these applications are the minority.
FALSE ADVERTISING!
THEN you have the fact that there are #intakemanifold manufacturers claiming a #billet product with what is actually a hybrid item, constructed with a mix of billet parts & sheet metal or castings. Now, I'm not against these methods of construction at all, but this false advertising proves my point that manufacturers & customers alike are chasing the billet sales pitch without a care for whether or not the item is actually all-billet, or whether they "need" a billet item. /endrant
OK smarty-pants, so WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
In short, I don't know. But a good start is being truthful about the construction on your products, followed by moving outside your comfort zone.
Our latest Intake Manifold design to suit the #gryaris & #grcorolla was a clean-slate design which firstly allowed us to experiment with different casting methods, as well as show off what's achievable for intake manifold design to maximise performance within the space constraints of an modern engine bay. #castisfast
Our other newly released #fordduratec intake manifold explores another method of design, being of modular construction and tig-welded, to achieve the same end and be easily customisable to suit a variety of applications. Which method is BEST? Horses for courses, I guess.
Of course we will continue to offer some all-billet products, and we will also continue to dabble in other methods of production to make the products people want at a price point that we feel is appropriate.
Feel free to comment, share or contact us.
Mark Weldspeed Sales & Media
