POX on OBX! No Archive Beating a dead horse I think....

[Will Norton]

Ok so you can buy a knock off piece for much much less.  Think about the big
picture here.  Those who dont agree that the hotshot unit deserves to cost
much more than a knock off have very little experience in either engineering
or economics.   My background is engineering so please forgive my spelling,
and grammar

Most importantly to me is the development Hotshot and other companies have
put into the SR20.  I am not sure how many generations there their header
has had but there have been several.  For each of these headers many
prototypes were built varying primary and secondary lengths, tube diameters
and packaging etc etc.  After these configurations get built they gobble up
dyno time.  All of these development costs need to be absorbed into
production units.  This can drive up the cost of parts substantially on
lower volumes of  production (SR20 tuner cars are a small market in the
automotive segment).    At the point Hotshot broke even and had some extra
dough were did they spend it?  On further tweaks directly for our benefit
(1st gen 2nd gen, 3rd gen etc) .

Will OBX develop anything for our cars?  I doubt it.

Will tuners stop developing hardware for our cars when the business case
shows the design will be copied and sold at below cost before the tuner can
break even?  I think so.

It must be disheartening for aftermarket tuners on this list to hear people
saying that they endorse the idea of ripping off their design or other
companies designs.

If the OBX suppliers of the world put out their own unique parts I would
have no soap box to stand on

Labor is cheaper in China that is for sure those guys make in a day what a
French-fry flipper over here makes in an hour.   That discrepancy will exist
for a while but not forever.  Knock offs could pay royalties to the tunners
but they dont. (I am guessing here..)   They are most likely halting some
companies from developing cool parts for our cars.

Ok where is this going?  I want CAMS ( the big BOLT ON ones  Mike was
excited about a few weeks ago) and I want development of the SR20 to
continue.  If  you buy knock off parts you are undermining this effort and
any others tuners might be considering.  If you dont have the cash to buy
the part from the developer dont buy one and if you do dont try to justify
your actions on this list  you are simply undermining what this list is
supposed to be about.

Regards,

Will Norton
94 B-13

PS.  I spent more money for my Triumph header and I WISH it was HALF as nice
as the Hotshot  3rd gen I have on my Nissan, and yes it has been subject to
many long salty winters..