Recently Greg the owner of GSC contacted us about some new valves that he had coming out for Subarus. The guys at GSC are awesome and we have known Greg for years. Greg knows that if we don't like something then we won't use it. The guys at GSC shipped a test set out to us and we got to work inspecting them this week. They will be going in a test engine very soon so we can get evaluate their performance. Ohhh new stuff in boxes Intake Valve 1 Intake Valve 2 Intake Valve 3 Intake Valve 4 Exhaust Valve 1 Exhaust Valve 2 Exhaust Valve 3 Exhaust Valve 4 GSC has supplied us with nothing but quality products in the past and we expect nothing less this time. With the addition of these valves to the GSC product line they now have complete drivetrain solutions. If these are as good as we think they will be they will almost certainly be finding their way into our cylinder head packages. About GSC's new valves Valve tech · Swirl polished: for smoother air flow over the valve · Back cut to reduce valve weight for higher rpm, higher boost pressure and allow for more aggressive cam profiles without increasing valve spring seat pressures. · Valve stems are micropolished to allow for less oil retention on the stem which creates less drag on the stem to guide for a smoother motion. · Fully nitrated ( this includes the 45 which increases valve life and makes a better seal at the valve seat for improved cylinder pressure) also reduces carbon buildup on the backside of the valve. · Intake valves are a modified 21-4n stainless and Exhausts are a 23-8n stainless material for high heat capacity while maintaining longevity. · Valve tips are either hardened or have a stelite wafer tip fused so that the tip is within 5 Rockwell C of the rocker or valve tappet for extended life and less ware. · Valve tip lengths. We have taken extra time to adjust tip heights on the applications to require less tipping of the valve to maintain proper tip height for proper valve train geometry, and to cut down on install times when setting valve lash. ((BR) This may doesn't effect the consumer as much as it does us as a machine shop, its nice that they have compensated for the cutting of the seat by reducing the tip length. It should take much less time to adjust the valves this way. In the end if it saves us time it reduces the cost to the consumer) · We have also adjusted the Keeper grove to properly balance intake and exhaust spring pressures to reduce the use of valve spring shims and maximize performance from our spring and retainer kits. ((BR)Again another time saver for the machine shop. Not all shops shim the spring to adjust them to the proper tension, we do when its necessary.) · Valves will work with an oem keeper/lock or when available our upgrade keeper/lock. It's not mandatory but it is suggested that any valve lock not be reused on performance applications do to material grooving. Valve shape and design. Using both flopro (same software we use when designing cam and port profiles) and solidworks 3d modeling we have created a stronger valve and higher flowing valve head. With the materials used we have less valve distortion at the face than any of the tested designs (Ferrea 6000, Ferrea comp plus, and Supertech). Less distortion allows or better sealing under extreme conditions and more consistent performance threw the life of the valve. In short I feel we have the best engineered performance valve in the price range of any of the aftermarket valve manufactures.
can you explain the potential benefits of this product over some of their competitors, such as BC or other big name manufacturers? Would a product such as this benefit the average commercial user or is this something geared for 500+ HP machines?
Ill post more tonight. I actually thought I had hidden this from public view. I got tired last night and decided to sleep instead.
I've edited the first post now with more info. There are quite a few differences which are noted. These are 1mm oversize. Quite frankly BC isn't even competition for these valves, the only thing on the market which I would consider direct competition is Ferrea. We have always used Ferrea valves but I'm always willing to look at other manufacturer to see what they have to offer especially when its someone like GSC who is know for putting out a quality product. The price point is quite a bit lower than the Ferrea Valves and the finish is nice. Obviously it there is more to evaluating the performance of these valves than just looking at them. We should be installing them next week. Matt