The point I'm trying to make, and you are not seeing, is that what you seem to feel is necessary for "the next level of performance" is in fact not the case.

My examples were of things that are of reasonably equivalent function but one is significantly more expensive. There are of course instances where the more expensive item does indeed offer much more functionality over the less expensive one. A V-AFC is not reasonably equivalent to a Hondata. A DC ceramic coated mild steel header is not reasonably equivalent to a Hytech.

There are many things however, such as the examples I mentioned, where you can spend twice the money or even more than that for an incremental improvement. Think about it: what's the difference between the coilover setups I mentioned? A spiffy aluminum housing and a theaded lower mount. The "cheap" option still does a damn good job. What's the difference between the brake setups I mentioned? A slightly larger rotor and more brand recognition. Again, the "cheap" option still does a damn good job. The parallel which I drew, is that strut bars are another such instance. Sure, a triangulated bar sure is great. But for less than half the price, you can get almost all of the same effect. I mean really, it's just a strut bar.

"So you can say the same thing about the Neuspeed over the eBay crap."

No. Because the eBay crap doesn't even do its job. It just looks the part so cheap ricers can have something shiny under the hood.

For most people, most of the time, paying twice as much for "the next level of performance" is not a realistic aspiration when they're trying to buy more than one thing for their car. Getting the part that still does a more than fine job while not breaking the bank, especially for these cars, is a far more favorable option. It may not win car shows, but really, who cares?

And now since this has gone on far too long and you are obviously failing to even read what I am trying to say without forumulating some way to prove yourself, I'm done.