Yea I totally understand that mentality. The scary/annoying part about trying to offer some obscure part is there's no way to know cost until you've designed it. For the simple stuff like an engine mount, it's very predictable. I've also come to realize that regardless of how good or useful a product is, if people aren't familiar with that part or haven't been exposed to it before they're less likely to buy it. People like familiar things, which is most often the boring stuff. It's a reality I've come to accept over the past year now.

I'll just keep the cool stuff for myself

 

If it helps, I bought TWO sets of camber locks. Turns out I already had your camber AND toe locks when I ordered the last set.

 

the logo makes a huge difference. I'm scared of clowns

 

Well I appreciate the unintended support haha. We do have a return policy just FYI. They camber and toe locks have done better than I thought they would. Can't say the same for some of the other stuff I've come up with as of late.


Are you saying the products would be more appealing without the logo? It is something that's crossed my mind but we haven't gotten any critical feedback about the logo before.

 

Well... you know how it goes with car guys. you want to say some 'battle version' type of name/branding when you describe your upgrades, like JDM stuff. Dont you notice Mishimoto commands a high price for the same ebay junk and people proudly say I got 'Mishimoto this and that'. Just saying that aspect is untapped. I'm sure 'Nangkang' is losing potential clients too
I promoted one of your products on FB today. It showed up as a clown on my post.

 

I think theres a few issues also. Prototyping and small batch items are just expensive to produce. so when you do ur costings people go whoa im not paying that for that. but you cant offer it any cheaper because thats just what it costs. ontop of that you have somebody established smashing the item out 100 units at a time at 1/4 your cost so their price is much lower.

Theres definitely a market for bespoke items and custom design its just a small market. im starting to fall into that category on occasion because things im beginning to need just literally dont exist.

Generally the way ive done things with the items i sell is i develop it for myself because i want/need it. and then i offer it for sale with a margin after ive implemented it on my own car and if somebody wants to copy what ive got great i make a little bit back but if not it doesnt bother me.

So if you do make cool stuff for yourself just chuck it up and see if other people are interested in it.

 

Well, to really make money you have to be the first one to solve a problem EVERYONE has. Cool **** will command a high price for a reason. But you hit the nail on the head with "knowing" about something. Everyone and their mother has read everywhere or even experienced low oil pressure so of course RS's pan is going to be hot because he backed it up with data. Simple parts like reverse housings and camber locks would only apply to someone who has had a problem stripping said bolts or burned cam sensors but there's dozens of housings out there. The brake idea is hot ...to me at least. I'm curious why you haven't tested that one yourself? Everything's gotta be alpha'd by you lol.

 

Since we're already this far off topic, its also exactly why I upgraded my CNC to build my own parts. I still farm out a couple things but the cost to pay someone else to make my parts would price them right out of anyones interest. You just have to be able to bring that stuff in-house unless its a volume item.

Then of course, once you buy a big tool for your own stuff all the sudden everyone else has projects for you to machine as well.

 

That's exactly what took me down this rabbit hole to begin with. I needed parts that don't exist or are not readily available. Well, I've got a design degree and do CAD design for a living. There's basically nothing I can't design now. And now I've got business partners and a local machine shop with 5 axis mills that can hog out just about anything I can come up with. But it's true that scales of economy drive everything for sales.


The Evo market is weird compared to most others. Of course there's the track community that want functional parts but there is a huge community that want flashy blingy parts that just add cosmetic appeal.

As to why I haven't tested stuff on my own car, simple. It hasn't ran in over 2.5 years. I pushed myself down a rabbit hole of fixing everything and my OCD is carrying that out to the Nth degree. I have had so much **** break on this car I am now leaving no stone unturned. I burned myself out after years of rushing to get the car ready every winter and I began to despise the heavy rush mentality that left me leaving things done in a less than desirable fashion. When the car is ready it will be as I want it and I can feel confident that I haven't rushed it back together. Unfortunately the past year has had a ton of sidetracks as the business has taken precedence and I've been pushed to make more parts for more sustainable markets.


It's still a long term goal to get a machine for myself and after the move I'll actually have space for it, but still a few years out from it being in the budget. But I totally understand what you're saying, being able to DIY whatever you want is basically the best thing you can get to a racer's playground. I am grateful the cards have fallen how they have and I am in the position I am now, I can't get one off stuff made super cheap but it's a hell of a lot cheaper for our local shop to make it than for me to go anywhere else.

 

Ayoustin did reach out to me but i havnt had a chance to get back to him but it keeps getting pushed down the priority list. Pretty much the rear of my car is super light as it is and i have issues where i have too much rear brake even on factory brakes. The only reason i can see to do it would be for cosmetic reasons. So i dont really have the desire to purchase calipers to test with for something that isnt really going to give me more than a cosmetic benefit. Ive had to prioritize spending and upgrades on other things that do give me a benefit due to recent issues ive had this season.

It all sort of comes down to the equation of how bad does the customer need it, how much are they willing to spend to get it and is there a more cost effective competitor out there.

 

I've just purchased an ENDLESS 6POT kit with 345x32mm discs. They will fit in both my 17" wheels (WedsSport TC105X and ADVAN RG3).
Will be around 3-4mm clearance to the barrel.

Another option you could do if you dont mind some custom work, you could use the 328x35mm disc that's used on many TA and Muscle cars.
I stock and sell them here. They have a full annulus - 65mm. So they are heavy, which is what you want. Then you could use any aftermarket caliper, AP-Racing/Brembo etc to make it work. This will give you more barrel clearance if you're worried about stones and debris getting jammed in the wheel and caliper. This can be a problem with some circuits, but mostly for road based Targa events.

I made a setup for a customer using this disc and the AP Pro5000R caliper with 18mm thickness pads (because of wheel clearance). They were stoked with the results.

 

AP has an OTS Radical setup that I think will suffice.

 

Ya we're speaking about the rear's specifically.

 

ENDLESS does a 2POT caliper only kit - so you can use the OEM rear disc or any other "OEM" rear disc.
Japanese retail is 198,000. So around $1540usd plus freight.
You'll get calipers, pads, brake lines, brackets and bolts.

Rear Kit for Evo 4-9 with S2 (2POT) ENDLESS Caliper:



Caliper only replacement kit from ENDLESS

 

That's what Austin's built for the AP calipers we can get here in the states. I'll let him comment on price with/without certain components.