# CXRacing/Chinese/Ebay Intercooler Piping Kit Comparison - Lots of Pics



## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

I decided to take a look at the CXRacing/Ebay/Chinese mandrel bent aluminum pipes and bought the Mazda Miata kit. It seems to have the most bends for the cheapest amount of money. At 80 bucks shipped you get the following.
Two 90 Degree Bends
Two 45 Degree Bends
Two 180 Degree Bends
Six 3-Ply 2.5" Silicone Couplers
Twelve 2.5" T-Bolt Clamps








I've ordered a lot of piping from various other places along with T-Bolts and silicone pieces so I thought I'd compare them side by side and just post up my thoughts of the whole kit.
*Price*
80 bucks for all those pieces is a pretty good deal. I will post up some prices from various other sites that I have ordered piping and silicone from and some popular ones.
Race Parts Solutions - http://racepartssolutions.com/ - A local joint that I just to order stuff online. If I order it before 5 I'll get it next day with standard UPS shipment. If I'm in a crunch for time then I go through them. 
12 T-Bolts x $4 = $48
6 Silicones x $7.95 = $47.70
2(45) x $21.95 + 2(90) x $23.95 + 2(180) x $39 = $169.80
Total = 265.5 + Shipping
Grand Total = 285.50 About
Silicone Intakes - http://www.siliconeintakes.com - We all know this place
12 T-Bolts x $2.60 = $31.20
6 Silicones x $5.99 = $35.94
Total = 67.14 + Shipping
Woolf Aircraft Supply - http://woolfaircraft.thomasnet.com - Awesome bends. They offer the biggest variety of bends that you could every need. They offer almost every bend in three different radius's. Tight which is a 1 to 1 ratio with the bend meaning a 2.5" pipe has a 2.5" radius bend. Then they offer normal and wide. A normal radius is 4". Most people would opt for a tight radius bend. Most places that sell pipe only sell the normal or standard radius bend.
2(45) x $30.00 + 2(90) x $36.50 + 2(180) x $49.75 = $232.50 + Shipping
As you can tell from all of the prices you will be paying around 200, closer to 300 bucks for a kit that includes all of these items in it. I have no clue how the hell they make all these things for so cheap but it's awesome. 80 shipped for everything!
*Quality of Piping*
Unfortunately I didn't have any brand new aluminum sitting around but I had a few pieces from RPS that were sitting in my metal bin. They are a little scratched up but were not to far from how I got them. The finish on the CXRacing/Ebay/Chinese kit is really nice. It's a pretty consistent brushed aluminum finish. My RPS piping I would not install in a clean engine bay unless I painted it. It's a rough aluminum finish and really for the money could be a lot better.
My view, the piping is awesome. I was concerned with the thickness of the piping when I was ordering but now that I've seen it it's the same thickness as any other aluminum piping you buy anywhere else that costs a ton more.
Ebay
























RPS
























Side By Side








*Quality of Silicone*
Get ready for a lot of pics! Their silicone came in blue but you can request different colors if you wish. Theirs is a 3-ply silicone and looks pretty good to the eye. I was impressed with it when it came out because I was expecting some cheap rubber joiners. The threading or reinforcement is a lot tighter than the RPS silicone that I have which I think would be better but I'm not exactly sure. When picking up the silicone I noticed that there was a small hump in a part of every single piece. This hump is where the reinforcement / threads overlap for a really small portion. It's hard to tell in the pics but you can see it. After further inspection and installing I noticed that they didn't fit as well either. They are all a tad bigger than 2.5" causing a small gap to form between the pipe and the silicone. Pics of that too. The RPS silicone was gapless and i had to slightly work to get on. I prefer this because I think it gives a better air tight seal.
Whole Set of 6








Thread / Reinforcement Difference








Thread / Reinforcement Overlap








Ebay Silicone








RPS Silicone








Pipe Gap

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*Quality of T-Bolts*
The T-Bolts look to be ok but they aren't anything of good quality. I'm sure they will work fine and do the job just fine like any T-Bolt will but there are a few small things I don't like about them. I don't even have high priced T-Bolts and you can tell the difference. On one set of my T-Bolts there are three spot welds on the back where as the Ebay set only has two spot welds. The part where the nut comes in contact with, not the screw, isn't flared out for extra coverage and load distribution, and the upper "sleeve" that connects both sides of the metal band is connected with a folded over metal tab. I don't particularly like this but it works.
I've got three different T-Bolts I took pics of. They will all be labeled.
T-Bolt #1 - I think from Silicone Intakes - Notice how the swivel part that holds the bolt down has a collar where it hits the nut. Also notice how the band that holds the swivel part down is directly touch the swivel and there's no gap. Lastly note that the swivel part that goes into the band holding it down is a perfect circle.








Spot weld points on the back side of the bolt. On this T-Bolt they aren't very prominent and it doesn't look like it penetrated very well.
























Nylon Insert Nut








T-Bolt #2 - I think this is from RPS - Notice the gap between the swivel area and the band. This one has a collar where it meets the nut.
















Front two spot welds, back side, Good penetration








Look at the rear hinged bolt here. Notice that there's not much gap there. Keep this in mind when we get to the Ebay one.








Triple Spot Weld on back side








Ebay T-Bolt - The bolt has some of the threads smashed. It's this way on every single one of the clamps








Nylon Inserted Nut








Front two spot welds








Rear two spot welds








Swivel part that holds down the screw. Notice it has no collar where it meets the nut and that there is a big gap in the band that holds down the swivel. Lastly notice that the swivel piece that goes into the band that holds it down is a two piece oval.








Side by Side shots of the RPS vs Ebay








































*Quality of Packing*
I'm not sure how other places pack but RPS doesn't really pack very well. They semi-loosely put some thick packing paper in there and pieces still move around and hit each other. The ebay kit was very nicely packed. Each piece was wrapped in it's own foam, sometimes two layers thick, all the T-Bolts were in a baggy, and there was a piece of cardboard separating the bolts from the pipes and silicone. I was impressed with it and... you get two AWESOME COOL AMAZING SUPER SUPER cxracing.com stickers with it.








Overall I'm impressed with the setup. I have yet to weld on it and that's the next step. I don't foresee any problems welding it but ya never know. I'm pretty sure it's 6061 aluminum which is what everybody else sells. Really you can't beat the price of these mandrel bends. The pricing up top speaks for itself. I plan on buying a few more of these kits as time goes on. I just wish they offered them without the T-Bolts and without the silicone but you can always turn around and re-sell those back on the tex if you don't need them and are welding most of it together.


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## slc92 (Feb 9, 2005)

*Re: CXRacing/Chinese/Ebay Intercooler Piping Kit Comparison - Lots of Pics (CDJetta)*

cxracing.com for the win.
My entire IC setup is from them save some silicone reducer bends.
No issues w/ anything. The car runs it's a55 off and is daily driver reliable. Oh yeah and the price is great http://****************.com/smile/emgift.gif


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## kompressorgolf (Dec 6, 2005)

this is alot of research, i also went with CRX racing, sans 3 2"-2.5" 90 degree hoses from silicone intakes. works extremely well. for what this type of product does this may have been a little un-necesarry








PIC for setup, this is pre welding together










_Modified by kompressorgolf at 9:29 AM 3-27-2010_


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

*Re: (kompressorgolf)*

Well there's been a few threads on here and I figured I'd take 30 minutes or so to put up pictures and some text for the archives.


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## swagger rob (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: (CDJetta)*

I've been running a CX intercooler for a good 2 years now with no problems, and once again the price was pretty unbeatable


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## TIGninja (Mar 21, 2010)

*Re: (swagger rob)*

VW guys make me giggle.


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## Corrado_from_hell (Oct 1, 2007)

*Re: (TIGninja)*

Im also running a CX racing intercooler and piping. It seems to be pretty good quality, especially for the money http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## slc92 (Feb 9, 2005)

*Re: (Corrado_from_hell)*

I am by no means saying this is fact, but look at pictures close up of the Kinetic kit's intercooler core and then look at a cxracing core. They look identical. Obviously the end tanks are different, but fin count, bar thickness, etc. looks exactly the same.


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## mk4dub88 (Mar 4, 2008)

awesome def. need to get one for this summer


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## halchka99 (Apr 18, 2002)

*FV-QR*

has anyone welded the cx pipes? how do they weld?


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (halchka99)*

I'll post an update when I get around to re-doing my intercooler pipe which is what all this stuff was for of course.


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## vr6swap (Aug 17, 2001)

*Re: FV-QR (halchka99)*


_Quote, originally posted by *halchka99* »_has anyone welded the cx pipes? how do they weld?

Acceptable, but not as good as high-quality 6061 I've bought elsewhere. Clean it up really thoroughly, inside and out, before you start welding.


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## dub_slug (May 12, 2008)

*Re: CXRacing/Chinese/Ebay Intercooler Piping Kit Comparison - Lots of Pics (CDJetta)*

im very happy with my cxracing piping http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Will definatly be buying from them again and highly suggest their kits for the diy'r


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## dubbinmk2 (Jan 15, 2008)

cxracing.com so which one will fit vrt in a mk2? or close to fitting


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## halchka99 (Apr 18, 2002)

*FV-QR*

if you guys are interested i can get some decent deals from cxracing... you can shoot me a PM for info.


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## dub_slug (May 12, 2008)

*Re: (dubbinmk2)*


_Quote, originally posted by *dubbinmk2* »_cxracing.com so which one will fit vrt in a mk2? or close to fitting 

ask for their 2.5" 2mm piping kit with the free u bend. thats what i have and the piping is nice and thick = easy to weld... good quality silicone and great tbolt clamps http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Comes with plenty of piping to do almost any fmic. I buy the rest of my couplers from siliconeintakes.com. 
I really couldnt have been happier with the kit since they even had black silicone to send out with it


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

*Re: (dub_slug)*

Haven't welded my piping yet but I tried out their T-Bolt clamps and they blow anus. So far 3 of them snapped in half while I was tightening them.


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## halchka99 (Apr 18, 2002)

*FV-QR*

ive never had problems with the tbolts, thats strange


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## slc92 (Feb 9, 2005)

*Re: FV-QR (halchka99)*


_Quote, originally posted by *halchka99* »_ive never had problems with the tbolts, thats strange

x2 and I tighten the heck out of them. Cordless impact, cordless ratchet, you name it. Maybe they got a bad batch


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (slc92)*

I'll take a video, i didnt get them very tight at all and they just snap.


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

*FV-QR*

cx racing...the bolts in the clamps rust..and the piping is coated with some **** that makes it a bithc to clean and weld properly.


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR ([email protected])*

Gotcha. I'll take it to the wire wheel really well then before I weld the ends. As for the bolts. I'm using two of them right now but judging by how little pressure is needed to break them I'm not planning on them lasting very long so I'm going to go out and buy some good ones.


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

*FV-QR*

the bolts i havent broken any.


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## slc92 (Feb 9, 2005)

*Re: FV-QR ([email protected])*

I've been tightening/loosening those clamps for over 2 years. How long ago did you get them? Maybe they changed suppliers or something.
Seriously, I'll bend the piping before I'll ever break a clamp. Where are they breaking.
No rust issues here, but then again the car doesn't see rain or snow


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (slc92)*

I got the kit in the same day I made the first post. The part that is snapping is the actual bolt part where the threads are.


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