hmmm this is interesting info. this may be something me and speedcorps could persue if there was enough interest.

cheaper sway and strut bars should be something that would sell. Maybe its an advertising issue, if alchemist and pdx weren't really promoting their stuff very well.

 

MotoRex is still around? I thought they got busted a few years back for selling stolen skylines and other cars with no VIN's and ripping people off. There was a pretty big commotion about it on the skyline forums back then.

 

Alchemist didn't have the greatest advertisment, but PDX did.
It's a vicious circle in the Lancer coomunity. You'll announce a possible new products are thousands will get in line to get it. Once you get the product out, only a few will actually stay in line and buy it

 

Nope. They won't sell. People will go "it's not RRM" and "it's too cheap" (crazy, but people said it) and "it must suck!" I watched it happen to both Alchemist and PDX.

(And for the record, I owned RRM, Alchemist and PDX parts. I spread my business around. )

 

well people are idiots. I will see what my marketing skills can do.

we got a lot of ideas, and hopefully we are gonna have a lot of custom parts.
i figure if enough EvoM veterans approve a product, it will sway this RRM bias we have going on. Infact Hobie is planning on taking his car up to speed corps for him to work on and do some research and test fitting.

we shall see how things play out though.

 

I purchased the full set of PDX bars way back when and I absolutely love them. I thought everyone else did too. I still have all of them installed and the workmanship shows even til this day.

 

It doesn't matter what us veterans say, people will believe what they want to believe. Both Doug and I dynoed our cars (and got similar results) but people simply ignore it and believe that they can get huge power from the 4G94 with just some bolt-ons. We're (as in, people who have been there, don that) constantly telling people not to buy huge rims, coilover sleeves, big brake kits, etc. but of course other people know better. Unfortunately when it comes to lancers, a handful of vendors have a hold on the entire market and the rule is, what they say goes. If you want dyno-proven results, tough, if you want cheaper and competitive prices, tough, basically if you want what other cars have, tough, go buy the other car.
Note: This isn't directed at any vendor in particular, it's just the way I see. The vendors out there still make good products, it's just a very small market thus the rules of small markets apply.

 

yeh i know what your saying mate. it is a sad truth. Hopefully we can get into the lancer market. I have been chatting with various members getting their feedback, and things are looking positive.
I mean A2 came pretty close, they even got some of the other vendors a little worried. Obviously that didn't work out, but that shows me that if we do things right, we can do well also

 

Something to keep in mind, for every 20 people that say they'd buy a strut bar from you, only one actually will. We saw this with Buschur and with RRM high comp pistons.

 

lol i know. its pretty sad
thankfully we aren't just relying on the lancer market. We already have a lot of stuff for DSM's and Evo's. and are continuing to get new stuff.
once things get more organized and settled for us, we are gonna get a vendors status and start advertising parts and what not.

one step at a time though.

 

A2 committed suicide when they decided to take months to fulfill orders. Otherwise, I think they'd still be around.

 

Well that and producing crappy products like Drucea's twin throttlebody fiasco.

 

A2 pretty much got in over their heads. Phil didn't expect there would be such an interest in the products he offered, he really only had one dual throttle body built. so when orders came in for them, he had to quickly whip something up.....Drucea's dual TB. same thing with the FPR's.

 

I'll remember to quote this when you get your business up and running.

Just kidding.

Seriously, though. As Amby said, people won't believe us veterans unless we say what they want to hear. Over the years, I've seriously told people "no, you cannot do that, I've tried it and it didn't work/fit" and they went "well, I'm going to try it." Yeah, maybe people are idiots, but you think you're going to sell to those idiots...

A2 had one thing going for him - he claimed to be a business. Alchemist and PDX said "hey, I'm a guy doing this in my garage" and that was a big problem. Phillip made himself look like a reputable business with great products and that was the key. He was doing stuff no one else was. PDX and Alchemist were making parts already on the market.
As for A2, the only thing I don't understand is why he wasn't just honest. Maybe it was too easy to take the money and run, but I don't get why he didn't just say "hey, I don't have enough stock for everyone so some folks will have to wait"...

 

Aside from A2 not being organized, he was flat out just an *******, acting like a nice guy through PMs. But when it came down to being confronted about his crap, he became an *** acting like he knew everything. Sorry to vent but reading this stuff brought it back. He knew he screwed people over and tried to blame it on them for not knowing either how to install it or that he told them they shouldn't buy it in the first place. My parents want to take a vacation to Orlando sometime this or next year. I hope he hasn't moved recently.