You seemed to be stating that the fact that your belt was made in Japan maked it better than the Chinese or Taiwanese-made belts yeah i did, i would be more inclined to trust japan made products, but it was from a brand i didnt hear about before so MAYBE it would be better if it was... forgive my ignorance. But since cha5a said brand doesn't mean anything, i'll just give it a go. in the end its a drive belt... if i was going for more parts like alternators, brake fluids, coolants etc. i would stick to the OEMs.