Buddy Club products, opinions?


BuddyClubctr said:
hey mfactory.. how can you determine if your purchasing a buddyclub original japanese product or a cheap us fake buddyclub product?
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I wouldn't say they are "fake"; they are still genuine Buddyclub products. It's just the Parent Company and Manufacturing Facilities that changed.

It's been quite a few years now, so it would be harder and harder to find the First Inc. products. I guess probably the only way to make sure you have the original version wheels, bodykits or seats is if you purchase 2nd hand directly from Japan.

For exhausts, make sure that you purchase only the Spec 1-4 (I,II,III,IV) exhausts. For coilovers, only the extremely expensive P1 Racing Dampers.

Everything else in their catalog, are not First Inc. products.
 
MFactory said:
Although Feels are a respected brand (and mostly known for their outrageous bodykits), they certainly didn't put the high performance (as in Power) Honda on the map. As good as the Japanese powertrain companies such as Toda and JUN were, the current popularity of tuning Hondas would not be what it is if it wasn't for Group-A back in the mid '90's. If they did not exist, a Honda would be like a Mazda. Highly popular, but not the phenomenon that it is just now in the import world.
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First ever tuning compnay to touch a VTEC engine so to be fair they were the inspriation for the brands you have named.
i fully back your statement Group - a though but i reckon only 20% of honda enthusiast have ever heard of group A and what they did to the scene.
where as all have heard of JUN and TODA.
 
Also i just tried doing a quick search to teach myself some more history behind group A.

nothing on google or Bing.... and i tried so many varients.
any help on where i coudl get more info would be appreciated... thanks in advance.
 
First Inc. have never made LCA's (infact, most Japanese companies don't), and were never part of the original Buddyclub catalog. The Buddyclub LCA's that you have are 100% a Buddyclub US/AAI product, and is made in Taiwan, not Japan.

Also, nearly all genuine Japanese "JDM Yo!" products are made in China or Taiwan, regardless of what it says on the sticker or box. Although we have strict "Country of Origin" laws in the USA, the Japanese government shows a blind eye towards this law because, if they actually enforced it, around 90% of the Japanese export market would collapse over night. JDM is one big overpriced lie.
 
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i don't know i rechecked and here is a pic of what exactly it says the box :eek:
DSC00036.jpg
 
abunai888

sorry to rain on your parade mate but it doesn't say made in japan.
it looks like to me they are using the advertising side of things by saying buddy club japan.
as i guess its not really a lie as the company started in japan.

Off topic but things like those chicken bites you can get in tesco say 100% marinated chicken breast........ when the chicken content is like 91%, in fact it is a true statement but its worded cleverly.
100% of the 91% chicken breast is marinated...... thats advertising for you mate. sorry
 
pure bullshit if the company is not Japanese then is a lie.
like me sayin that in my previous life was a samurai ...

i would shear that i saw the ''made in Japan'' somewhere ...
finally here it is !!
DSC00001.jpg

DSC00002.jpg

it propably means the instruction sheet is made in japan....:angry2:
 
Besides the fact that Buddyclub Japan has never made LCA's, there are two other clues on that sheet of paper:

1) Buddyclub.com (this is the US site)
2) Honda Civic K6 (this is what the Taiwan EG Civic is called)
 
in my opinion you get what you pay for, parts like buddy club/skunk2 are on the expensive end of cheap and the actual build quality isnt there.

Id say avoid "JDM" parts as much as you can and stick to eibach suspension parts, i ditched my skunk2 front camber arms after seeing the eibach pair.
 
abunai888 said:
pure bullshit if the company is not Japanese then is a lie.
like me sayin that in my previous life was a samurai ...

i would shear that i saw the ''made in Japan'' somewhere ...
finally here it is !!
DSC00001.jpg

DSC00002.jpg

it propably means the instruction sheet is made in japan....:angry2:
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Buddyclub japan is not a lie it is simply saying .... buddy club japan.

it does not say buddy club a japanese company or buddy club made in japan...... it is just a name mate..
and the made in japan like said is on an instruction sheet...

if on the box it said buddy club LCA's made in japan then yes that is a fraud but it doesn't so unfortunately these were not made in japan.
sorry dude.
i mean look at feels their full name is
Feels honda twincam works.
they tune SOHC aswell so is the name a lie.....quite simply no, again it is just a name...
 
MFactory said:
Besides the fact that Buddyclub Japan has never made LCA's, there are two other clues on that sheet of paper:

1) Buddyclub.com (this is the US site)
2) Honda Civic K6 (this is what the Taiwan EG Civic is called)
Click to expand...


damm this guy has an awesome eye for detail lol.
 
So I'm guessing the P-1 SF wheels I've got aren't the real deal either, although the tags that came with em had the first-Inc web address on them?

Bit disappointing but like you say they're not fakes just lesser quality than they used to be.
 
AFAIK, First Inc. have never offered the SF Wheels.

The Official First Inc. (the original Buddyclub Japan) lineup:

- P1 Racing Wheels (1pc wheels. Completely different design from the SF)
- P1 Racing II Wheels (2pc wheels)
- P1 Racing QF Wheels (1pc Forged)
- P1 Racing Damper (these, and the wheels, are what made Buddyclub what it is. Very expensive if you buy the originals)
- Racing Spec Damper (their budget lineup)
- Racing Spec Muffler I/II/III/IV
- Racing Spec Condenser (most Japanese companies offer some form of Grounding Kit. They do actually work)
- Racing Spec Computer, Spec A (Honda) and Spec B (both are piggyback programmable. Similar to e-Manage)
- Racing Spec Aero (Bodykits)
- Racing Spec Wing, Spec 1 and Spec 2 GT Wings. Available in Wet Carbon/GRP, and the super expensive dry carbon
- Racing Spec Bucket Seat (Not the same as current offering. Very expensive)
- Racing Spec Chemical (Oil, Oil Filter, Comp Treatment, Oil Treatment, Wheel Cleaner, Parts Cleaner, Auto Lube)
- Racing Spec Series (Wheels Nuts, Oil Caps, Radiator Caps, Shifter, Shift Knobs)
- Original Goods (Polo Shirt, T-Shirts, Jackets, Mechanics Suit, Caps, Sun Visors, Bandana, Lighter Case, Rotor Key Holder, Stickers)

Anything else currently available (regardless of the First Inc. name being used or not) are AAI products (with the majority being rebranded ZSpeed products).

Buddyclub UK/EU will probably deny all of this, saying that everything is original Japanese products (like their coilover statement on their website). Either they are deliberately lying, or are so stupid they don't know what's really going on over in Asia and actually believe in "JDM Yo!".

How do I know all of this, and why bother sharing this with you? Because AAI are unscrupulous and, partnered with ZSpeed/Henna, been trying to copy our products for the past few years.

The fact of the matter is, if you are not Chinese or Taiwanese (like myself, Dave Hsu from Skunk2, Dave Shih from Blox, James Shi from Zspeed etc), you will never really know the truth.

Disclaimer: I am not telling you to not purchase their products. I have nothing against Buddyclub (besides the fact that they copy our gears). In general, their products are good quality, just not as good as the original First Inc. products. However, any respect towards the brand name, is for First Inc/Buddyclub Japan. I do not hold that same regard for AAI/Buddyclub US.
 
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