Western Potteries ARIA v. Toto Drake

Hello. First off, a very big thank you to Terry for such an excellent, informative website. I know there was a post in 2001 on Western v. Toto but I still have some questions:

I am in the midst of replacing my terribly inadequate Elger that requires two-four flushes EVERY TIME. After reading the product review, I was keen on a DRAKE round bowl (as I have limited space and can't use an elongated bowl). I called locally (living in Edmonton, Alberta) for prices. The Drake was $360 all included. A WP Aria was $189 all in. The gentleman who sold the WP claimed it was certainly superior to the Toto because a) it was double glazed versus Toto's single glaze; b) Toto copied WPs design and c) the price was much better.

The Drake has G-Max flushing and while WP has Vortex Jet (which I cant seem to find any further info on) The Drake has a 2 1/8 inch drain v. a 2 inch for the Aria. The Drake has a bigger water surface area as well. Do these two operate reasonably equally or does the Drake beat it hands down? ANy help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Toto did not copy Western.
Toto's design is different, 3" flush valve, more sweeping bends, bigger siphon jet.

These are totally differnent animals.
The Drake wins hands down.
That being said, the Western does work for many people.
The Toto G-Max is hard to beat though.

Thanks for the quick response. I wonder how you can keep up to date on all this stuff AND still respond so quick. Anyways, given this will be the only toilet for me, my wife and two kids I think i will just pay the little bit extra ($150 Canadian is only something like $3 US )

Thanks again.

It's because I work with this all the time that I can answer right away.
It's not something I have to think about, I see it all the time. I do try to keep my answers to certain hours though. It's easier when the phone calls have slowed down.

Hey, If the exchange has dropped that much, I'm booking a skiing trip to Blackcomb.

Many toilets use a siphon jet. They all have a trademarked name for their advertising. It is important to get past the hype and into the guts of how these things work.