Jump to content

Kinetix or Berks HFC?


bhavin85

Recommended Posts

Hey Guys,

 

I am trying to assemble a decent exhaust setup...starting with some HFC's

 

I have been offered a set of Kinetix or Berks cats...not sure which ones I should go for!

 

Any opinions on which is better? do either throw cel's? Im guessing not as they are jsut HFC's and no full decats...

 

Im also a bit of a n00b when it comes to exhaust parts so bare with me :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have the kinetix HFC's and have been happy with them, i got mine 2nd hand, low miles on them for only £200, so couldn't see the point of turning them down at that price.

 

been on for over a week and no CEL's as yet.

 

i like the berks as the have fixings that bolt them into place and togehter which the kinetix don't, but both are a good piece of kit.

 

i'd say both are good but if you have the extra cash then go for the berks. if you don't then the kinetix will do a grand job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

" Holy thread revival Batman! " ... lol :p

 

Didnt want to start a new one so im recycling this one ...

 

After not hearing anything from a potential Berks HFC's seller ... I started looking about again ... at the moment im interested in Z1Autos AAM range of HFC's and also priced up a set of Kinetix for the HR ...

 

Can get them posted from USA from Kinetix themselves for £317.46.

 

Now all I need is peoples opinions, are kinetix any good? I knwo they are not crap by any means but do they throw up problems with fitting or do they throw up unwanted CEL's as their website says they dont?

 

Let me know anyways ...

 

Thanks alot :)

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

" Holy thread revival Batman! " ... lol :p

 

Didnt want to start a new one so im recycling this one ...

 

After not hearing anything from a potential Berks HFC's seller ... I started looking about again ... at the moment im interested in Z1Autos AAM range of HFC's and also priced up a set of Kinetix for the HR ...

 

Can get them posted from USA from Kinetix themselves for £317.46.

 

Now all I need is peoples opinions, are kinetix any good? I knwo they are not crap by any means but do they throw up problems with fitting or do they throw up unwanted CEL's as their website says they dont?

 

Let me know anyways ...

 

Thanks alot :)

 

Chris

Get a set of these from Abbey (they stock some motordyne stuff)

http://www.motordyneengineering.com/ind ... 0126e406f5

Advanced Resonance Tuning (ART test pipes) for the HR engine

:evil:

 

(note that its not a cat so wont pass mot)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do the test pipes really make a larger difference to that of the high flow range?

 

Quite expensive though for test pipes nearly £500 are they not?

true but they are art cans not decats really...

 

read here:

http://www.importtuner.com/tech/impp_10 ... index.html

 

and here:

http://www.my350z.com/forum/intake-exha ... pipes.html

 

:snack: maybe not worth it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmm I can see what the appeal is to them but for £500 i just dont think I could justify the very small gains in comparison to the High Flow Cats ... N/A engine after all, I think id always be thinking theres £250 that I could I have set aside for the coilover fund or wheels fund.

 

Think ill maybe go with the Kinetix if they are good build quality and no issues ... lifetime garantee also the guy was telling me.

 

Opinions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmm I can see what the appeal is to them but for £500 i just dont think I could justify the very small gains in comparison to the High Flow Cats ... N/A engine after all, I think id always be thinking theres £250 that I could I have set aside for the coilover fund or wheels fund.

 

Think ill maybe go with the Kinetix if they are good build quality and no issues ... lifetime garantee also the guy was telling me.

 

Opinions?

lifetime warranty? :lol: funny that one...

 

Anyway I use Berks and have had no problem with them so far and the flow nicely. Will still see if they'll pass the NCT though.

 

thats pretty nice value:

http://www.kinetixracing.com/kinetixple ... 03-06.aspx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I've read the Berks have a better rep than the Kinetix ones. When I looked into HFCs it seemed that more people had experienced problems (i.e. cracking Y pipes) with the Kinetix. Some say it's due to the lack of a support bracket (that the Berks and OEM cats have) and others say it's due to the tolerences on the flanges being slightly out which in turn stresses the Y-pipe. The latter seems like the more plausible explanation to me since the Ultimate Racing cats don't have a support bracket either and people don't seem to have them same issues with them. The Y-pipe in question also seems to be a factor though, with Nismo exhausts fairing particularly badly.

 

If it is just the flanges that are a bit off then there's no reason why Kinetix couldn't have corrected this which might explain there being less problems reported with them lately.

 

The other thing to note with HFCs is that they can give the exhaust note a raspy effect which isn't to everyone's taste. This seems to be more a characteristic of the ones with a metallic substrate (the OEM cats use a ceramic substrate). I didn't want the rasp so I went for some Ultimate Racing cermamic substrate HFCs from Adam at Z1Auto. They only rasp for about a minute or two from cold and then it disappears completely. :)

 

The CEL issue seems fairly random and whilst more prevalent with decat pipes it can happen with HFCs too. It might be good insurance to get some O2 simulators from ZMANALEX ( viewtopic.php?f=38&t=23979 ) and fit them whilst the cats are going on. That's what I did and they've been fine. :thumbs: Buying a cheap code reader off ebay (£20 ish) might be a good idea as well just in case you do get the odd CEL and then you can check it and clear it.

 

Oh and don't be surprised if one or more of your O2 sensors decide to die on you when you swap the cats! :lol: They're pretty fragile and just the act of removing and refitting them can be enough to bugger them. If that happens you'll get a CEL stating which one is broken. ZMANALEX can help you out again here as he can supply preowned and new sensors for good prices. Just bear in mind all 4 sensors are unique so you need to know which one is knackered before ordering. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My berks have the anit foulers build in but as you mentions have thrown a CEL but engine reset cleared it, as for rasp ... first time i took the car over 4k i pulled over and stopped as i thought somthing was forked ! at certain revs it rasps like mad , but again this is probably just the metalic substrate which incendintly you can see clean through the gaps in !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...