To be honest I have no hard data that the clones are any worse or not. My viewpoint was based on the number of carb issues posted here on the forums. That being said, when I acquired a 3W 70 twin last year as usual I rebuilt the Tillotson carb right off. No matter what I just could not get the metering needle to seal so I contacted DA and ordered a Walbro. During a conversation with Dave Johnson a few years ago he did inform me that he only purchases genuine Walbro carbs. If nothing else I paid a bit more for some peice of mind. No problem there as the engine is in a rather irreplaceable airplane but most likely an even peice of mind was that if there would have been an issue with the carb I know that DA would have taken care of me. At the end of the day the carb swap worked out and the engine runs great.