Engine From DirtSmart.com

Alright, this is a bit of a strange thing for us to review, but we feel like it could be fun, so here it goes.

Recently my uncle (who is a big speed freak) wanted to replace the engine in one of his project cars. And while he’s the engine guy, I’m more of the computers/internet shopping person.

So my uncle came to me because he found a site on the internet that builds engines for you, and ships them – ready to run – right out of the box. Sounds crazy right?

Well, he asked me to check them out for him to see if they’re legit.

Honestly, I thought there was no way that buying an engine on the internet would work at all, let alone be a good idea.

First I went to the website (www.DirtSmart.com) and was actually pretty impressed with the quality of information and the overall presentation of the site. But I thought… Anyone can make a good site right?

So I gave them a call, and to my surprise they picked up! That hardly ever happens online.

Just to make sure they’re actually real I asked them a few questions about their engines, how they’re built, how long they take, what the specialize in, what their refund policy was, how much shipping was, etc.

And let me tell you, they are very friendly people, who impressed me on the phone. I had my uncle call back just to ask a few questions about the exact specifications of the engine he wanted, but everything seemed to check out.

He did end up buying an engine, and I told him to put it on his credit card so he could dispute it later if for some reason the engine never arrived.

But it did get to him about 3 weeks later (that’s how long they take to build it from scratch) but when it got there, my uncle told me it was the best engine he’d ever seen built in person. It ran perfect right out of the box (it actually came on a wooden palate to keep it in place during transport) but it was a beauty! And it was *loud* to say the least.

Pretty cool if you ask me.

I’ve bought pretty much everything online that you can, from shoes, to food, to computers, and even cars, but never had an engine built and shipped online before we found DirtSmart.com and I didn’t even find it. My uncle did!

So this is my official endorsement of DirtSmart.com, they rock, they make great engines for a very reasonable price (by the way I couldn’t find a better engine for less money than DirtSmart.com) so they win my seal of approval.

If you want an awesome engine, for the best price, and built quick, with incredible customer service, then you need to check out DirtSmart.com today.

Final Review:

Price: 10/10 – We couldn’t find a better price for the quality anywhere else.

Quality: 10/10 – According to my uncle this was the best engine he’d ever seen build, period. And it sounds and performs awesome!

Speed: 8/10 – While I understand that it takes a little while to create the “perfect” engine. It took 3 weeks, and I’m used to instant gratification.

Overall: 9.5/10 – If these guys could figure out a way to make engines faster, I’d give them a 10/10, but there’s always room for improvement right?

Our #1 Pick

So you’re looking for a great pair of cross country running shoes? Well that’s not the easiest thing to do, let me tell you!

Why isn’t it easy?

Simply put, cross country runners are challenged with a wide variety of running terrain.

Click here to see our top choices of cross country running shoes.

In cross country you can expect to be running on the road, through trails, over grassy patches, up hill, down hill, around sharp corners, etc.

Basically, you can’t just get a good pair of street running shoes and expect them to perform well under cross country circumstances.

And because of that you need to find a good pair of shoes that will perform across all terrains.

The problem with that is – you’ll need a shoe that is a “jack of all trades” but a master of none. Which means you can’t get a shoe that *specializes* in one specific thing. You need a shoe that is *pretty* good at everything, but is not designed for only one specific thing.

But the “problem” of getting a shoe that is only average to above average at everything instead of *excellent* at only one thing is actually a good thing for cross country runners.

And that’s exactly what you want to look for.

Below are our top choices for cross country running shoes. They’re the top shoes we’ve found that give a great combination of support for trails, roads, sharp turns, and rugged terrain. And all of them are very light and *won’t* weigh you down, which is very important for competitive runners. (And comfort.)

Before we get into the shoes we recommend, you should know that if you’re going to get a pair of shoes you should check out Endless.com, it’s owned by Amazon.com and has some of the best deals we’ve ever seen. And their customer support and shipping speed is insanely awesome.

You may want to check them out. And we’ve linked to each shoe at Endless.com so you can find them easily and get more details about each shoe. We have links to both the men’s and the women’s versions of each shoe for your convenience. And each shoe is usually available in multiple colors on Endless.com

Choice #1

Men’s

Mizuno Men’s Wave Ascend 4

Women’s

Mizuno Women’s Wave Ascend 4

By far and away our top choice for cross country shoes is the Mizzuno Wave 4.

This shoe is extremely light, flexible, comfortable, and fits very well. We love the Mizzuno brand, it just feels right, and out performs almost every other brand on the market today. And they don’t wear out very easily either, they hold up to the rugged cross country terrain, and they keep on keeping on!

Plus they’re less expensive than lots of the more popular brands. At this point I almost don’t think there’s a point in continuing on, but I feel obligated to give you some other options just in case you don’t like the Mizzuno’s for whatever reason. But really, you should get yourself a pair, you won’t regret it!

Choice #2

Men’s

New Balance Men’s MT100

Women’s

New Balance Women’s Wt100

The New Balance Wt100 comes in a distant second to the Mizzunos but still beats most of the shoes you’ll see on the shelves at most of the stores in the malls, or in your local shoe shop.

Notice the low profile of the shoe, and the protected front tip of the shoe (that’s for when you’re running through trails and hit some roots, shrubs, etc.)

The best part about these shoes is that they are very light, and breathe really well.

They don’t give quite the same support as the Mizzunos (can you tell we like Mizzuno ) but they still hold up well, and perform better than you’d need for a cross country shoe.

If you don’t like Mizzuno, you should definitely check out the Wt100.

Choice #3

Men’s

ASICS Men’s GT-2140

Women’s

ASICS Women’s GT-2140

The ASICS GT-2140 (how’s that for a name?) is our 3rd choice, and it would have been our second choice except it’s a bit “clunkier” than the New Balance, it’s a little too high up, which can cause some ankle rolling over rough and unexpected terrain.

It *does* have good support, and is pretty light and breathable, but overall, it’s too high for my liking… There’s just a little too much cushion. It would probably be better for cross country races that don’t have much trail, and mostly roads, or gravel and/or dirt trails that are pretty well maintained.

As soon as you get into lots of twists and turns, or uneven terrain, I think you may run into problems with this shoe.

Choice #4

Brooks Men’s Cascadia 4

Brooks Women’s Cascadia 4

The Brooks Cascadia 4 takes… 4th place! How fitting Simply put, this is too high up, and too stiff for my liking. It’s just a little too rigid, and kind of funny feeling. Granted I didn’t give it enough time to really break them in… But unless you really like the look of the shoe (it’s a little unique) then I wouldn’t really bother with these shoes.

So if you’re looking for a great cross country shoe, honestly all 4 of these should work better than getting a shoe from a popular shoe store in the mall, but I’m pretty picky.

That being said, again… I’m going to recommend the Mizzunos once again, I really don’t think you can top them.