No kidding. Too bad more people won't admit to it. If they did, it would certainly give new modelers a better set of facts to base their engine purchases on.

China has never been known for their metal quality either. I remember an article from several years ago where a popular gun magazine did a "destructive test" on the Springfield M1A, and the Norinco (Chinese) import M1A. The tests included such things as 500 round rapid fire, then dunk the gun in water. If I recall correctly, the Norinco failed before 1000 rounds went through it... Broken springs. The US made Springfield? Well, it went on for thousands of rounds before it ceased to function due to being extremely dirty.

I'd love to see such an extreme test conducted on the Japanese engines vs. the Chinese engines. I'd bet the Japanese engines come out shining like diamonds. Some would argue that no one would ever subject their engines to such treatment as a hot, lean run, then dunk in water to cool and repeat, but personally I take comfort in the knowledge that my extra money went toward better metals and refined machining.

This test was an excellent example of how well different countries manufacture their metals which includes the quality of ore, the metalurgical makeup, the tempering process, etc. Japan, perhaps with the help of US technology after WWII, makes fine metal, and their processes are more refined than Southeast Asian countries.

There are plenty more examples of this, but I doubt they will change the minds of the die-hard bargain shoppers among us that think saving a few bucks is the most important aspect of our hobby. If it is to them, cool. I'll spend the extra money just to avoid the headaches of returning/exchanging engines to get one that runs well, and also for the superior materials/craftsmanship.