As stated, you'll more than likely sell a few of these in 52mm since Gruppe-S stopped selling them:

 

^+1 never liked pillar pods that much, a gruppe-s style I feel would sell a lot more.

 

the problems I see with the gruppe-s style:
1. i don't wanna copy gruppe-s, they're a good company and I don't wanna clone their stuff...so I'd have to have a mold machined...
2. molds/setups for that kind of clip-in thing are extremely expensive; I couldn't charge enough to ever dig outta the hole :/
3...has anyone talked to gruppe-s about remaking them? They're a vendor here. If the mold is still good they may be able to whip more up??

 

How bad is 3d printing for limited production?

 

Or why not
http://www.lancershop.com/customer/p...cat=181&page=1

Then mold from that? I have this currently installed

 

Just a warning from someone who has entered this venture before.

The Evo 8-9 is becoming a dated chassis, and is now hitting the 2nd, 3rd, or sometimes even 4th owner. As such, the owners (on the whole.... I know there are still fanatics out there) are getting cheaper, and are less likely to pay top dollar for a Great product, when they can pay bottom dollar for an "OK" product.

Flame me all you want, but that's the reality. There's a reason that many of the high dollar products are no longer available. It's because the ROI (Return on investment) for the products is just not there for this market. The companies are moving onto products where the ROI is higher, and that is ALWAYS when the car is new, and the first owners are the wealthier owners.

Also, remember that for every 10 people that on a forum say "Hells yeah! I would buy that TODAY" that when it actually comes to market you will get one, maybe two sales. It's just the way that it is.

If you want to see what your sales will REALLY be, design a product, create a timeline, and offer it to the market with the caviat that they need to give you a 50% deposit, and if you get "X" amount of orders, you will produce it. To give incentive for a pre-purchase, offer a 10-20% discount on pre-orders.

Phrase it like this. "Ok guys, you want this widget. I am willing to make it. However I will only do so if I get 20 orders with a 50% deposit. I will offer 20% off for these pre-orders. I will have them made within 25 days. If they are not made, or we don't get 20 orders, all deposits will be refunded. If they are made, you pay me the remaining 50% when it's completed"

This will show you what the market REALLY is. It will also fund your development costs. However what really happens is that few people put their money where their mouth (or in this case, fingers) is.

 

As for the gruppe-s parts. I doubt they are the manufacturer. I am sure that they are made by an injection mold company exclusively for them, but it's highly unlikely they are produced in-house. As such, you can't just order 10-20 of them to get competitive pricing. You have to order 100+ to be able to do a run. I doubt they want to have 100 of them made, and have 10-20 sold, to sit on the unsold remaining.

 

Agree 100%.

I've already got two Gruppe-S pods because I purchased them a few years ago.

 

+100^^^^^^^^^ On this. Unfortunately this place is becoming more and more like craiglist when it comes to part outs and product sales for the VIII's and IX's. True Story.

 

Dated chassis yes, but also the parts have been around so long prices have dropped. In the X market, I quit making carbon fiber interior stuff (most of it) when Rexpeed entered.

As for the pre-purchase stuff...I kinda got into the pod market because so many people were getting ripped off by DSG, which isn't even a company. It looks like one, but it's just one guy, a shady body shop, and a bunch of Bondo; same story tho, everyone pays their money 100% up front...and they're completely screwed with excuse after excuse. Internet lets you look like whatever you want to look like. There's no need to pay for my R&D, no reason the customer should have to fund my research or materials (I think). Be a business or don't be a business, but so much in between leaves a lot of people getting ripped off. Gauge pods aren't custom parts. They're not purple or pink or upside down.