Nope. It wouldn't make sense for an auto manufacturer to have TWO performance divisions.

I wish they'd start selling Ralliart parts in the US too, but for whatever reason, their financial/strategic planning people seem to think that would be a less lucrative business than we think. It's an unfortunate circumstance that we must live with.

I don't really keep track of all the companies, but other than Toyota, are any of the other Nippon auto manufacturers allowing people to buy ~parts~ from their performance division?

 

Subaru does and I believe Nissan does too.

 

amby got the main two.

Honda - Mugen parts are hard to get locally, usually must be imported.
Mazda - Some Mazdaspeed parts are available at dealerships.
Mitsubishi - Ralliart, as we're discussing.
Nissan - Some Nismo parts are available at dealerships.
Subaru - STI stuff is readily available at dealerships.
Toyota - TRD stuff is readily available at dealerships.

That's all that comes to mind. Of the 6, is hands-down the worst. Mugen and Ralliart are basically not sold commercially in the U.S., but thanks to the Civic's popularity, a lot of Mugen products get imported. With Ralliart, it's usually just Evo parts (for the exact same reason). Those are the only two companies that don't really sell the parts at the dealership.

 

its all pretty weird..

i talked to a guy at my local mitsubishi earlyer today and he told me that in the future mitsubishi is coming out with a turbo and they'll install it and warrenty it. how long the warrenty he said is undetermined but its a minimum of 2 years he thinks

 

weird that these "rumors" just won't die. either all these dealers are THAT stupid and don't know the difference between the GTS with a turbo kit and the new RA or there really is some truth to the whole turbo kit.

IMO it'd be smart to cash in on the tuners. imagine the money they'd make if they voided the warranty on all parts and made you buy their aftermarket products? bad for us but it'd sure make them money. for the average owner it's be ok as long as the parts are quality and the price isn't the imported from japan price

 

Most companies only want to offer people enough customization options that they'll stick around but not so much that they can truly make a beast of a car.

 

well i was mainly thinking about little things like intake pipe, exhaust, header (NA cars only), strut braces, springs, etc. all very EASY to make and most people who want to mod go there first. makes perfect sense. i'll never understand why car manufacturers stand by while TONS of companies make a lot of money off of simple mods that they refuse to sell.

case in point AEM, most famous for their popular honda intakes. now imagine if honda had sold as good a quality intake as AEM, and under warranty, from the get go... AEM would almost have never existed. same with performance springs. companies like progress or eibach would take a HUGE hit if manufacturers offered their own springs guaranteed under warranty for a fair price.

 

Those kinds of things I can see Mitsubishi making, Nissan does with their Nismo line, but turbo kits, coilovers, etc. are a big stretch.

 

But isn't it way easier for to go "hey, you have Eibach springs, your warranty is void, and if you have a problem with that, call our lawyer?" Factory-approved bolt-ons are never an easy proposition.

 

I wish Mitsu would have some drop spings and Exhaust for us.. that would be nice!

 

i'm no expert but i'd bet that mitsu as a company would void that warranty. too bad dealers want to get paid and will fix the car regardless. but besides that point, my problem is that mitsu DOESN'T sell warrantied factory aftermarket parts even as tame as something like a strut tower bar. why wouldn't they try to make money? makes no sense. how expensive could a colored piece of metal be? is it just me? what am i not getting?

 

Dealers might fix it but they'll make you pay for it. A dealership doesn't want to do warranty work, it's not fun for them and the mechanics indeed make less money doing it. Mitsubishi probably hasn't bothered because the fact is it's not a massive money maker. Most of the companies you see out there that are associated with a particular company are not directly operated by that company but rather have a contract or some sort of unspoken agreement with them. Mugen isn't owned by Honda, STI isn't owned by Subaru and Ralliart isn't owned by Mitsubishi in the sense that the car company doesn't make substantial amounts of money from the parts company. Moreover, who's going to pay 200$+ for a strut bar when an aftermarket unit is 100$? At the moment the expensive aftermarket industry is not fully developed in North America. People cry bloody murder about spending 100$ on decent brake pads, imagine how they'd react to spending 2000$ on a set of struts and springs.

 

but this is my point. why can't mitsu or all the other companies make a $100 strut bar? i find it hard to believe aftermarket companies have more resources or funding. i find it weird how the major car companies can just stand by while all the companies that show up at SEMA can make all that money. if the stuff is well made and installed correctly then what seems to be the problem of making and selling their own performance oriented parts?

and i'm not talking about race cams or turbo kits. i'm talking about quality lowering springs, brake kits, mufflers, filters or other seemingly easy to sell parts that most of us would buy if it was reasonable in cost and quality in construction and materials.

 

So this rumour is still going then? I'm not sure how it all got started but unfortunately the number of people falling for this is going up exponentially

 

Something to keep in mind, aftermarket companies are not held to the same standards as original manufacturers are. As an obvious example, look at RRM (none of this is meant as a jab against them, they're just one of the most recognized companies on here). Does RRM have to worry about emissions? Nope. Does RRM have to have 100% perfect fitment everytime? Nope. Does RRM have to worry about defective products? Nope. If RRM screwed up and someone's motor blew up because of it, they could just say "woops, sorry about that but that's the risk you take" and move on. If Mitsubishi made a defective kit and an engine failed because of it, they'd have to pay for the new engine as well as put out a recall and pay for any repairs on cars with their kit. This is why their parts cost so much. They have to be perfect.