Trusted brands

d_stroy_r · Post by **d_stroy_r** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:01 pm

Which brands do u trust for their quality, price and availabilty?

This is not a certain product but the whole company.

SilentBob · Post by **SilentBob** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:34 pm

can we select multiple

and what if we trust Unique's but not RPW's?

SilentBob

d_stroy_r · Post by **d_stroy_r** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:43 pm

i would prefer one vote, but if u like more than one brand, ye.

The last choice is just Austrlian brands in general, not just RPW and Unique.

HEK-71Q · Post by **HEK-71Q** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:02 pm

hks all the wayy!!
but theres the price u havta payy!!

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:12 pm

tis kinda a hard one to judge, unless you have used all the different brands..... i must admit from my experience and what ive been told from others, im happy enough to use the local brands when it comes to exhaust systems - as long as it is a reputable company.

the most confusing thing for me when it comes to buying anything for my FTO is the numerous conflicting ideas i am given, as soon as i have my eyes set on a apexi set of springs for example, 5 people tell me to get something else instead and vice versa, but i guess thats what makes it interesting!

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 10:04 pm

personally, regardless of the product, I would never trust a brand per se, to do so just shows that you got sucked in by their marketing hype and that you haven't done your research.

The best product you can use is the one that best suits your needs, regardless of brand.

Post by **smorison** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 10:15 pm

i agree with ruchi no one brand fits all.

some places are good making air filters others exhausts.

most of the Jap brand products are manufactured in a handful of factories in China / Korea. they all share manufacturers and the quality is the same (be it good or bad).

it comes down to in my opinion why pay for a brand name when you can get as good or better quality from local brands?

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 8:11 am

"The best product you can use is the one that best suits your needs, regardless of brand"

I totally agree, although thats what i find hard, because you might know what you want, but if you havent tried all the different types you will never know which one is better then the other, or which one suits you more, and because of the conflicting ideas & opinions of people it makes it hard to actually choose, ....if that makes sense?

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 9:46 am

Euro, I half agree with you

There are two very important things to understand:
1) No single product can be the best in every aspect
2) Most people do not know what they really need, and instead buy what they think will gain them approval amongst their peers

Like anything in life, to accurately work out what you need, you first have to clearly define two thing:
a) An accurate assesment of where you are
b) A goal of where you want to be

Once you have the answers to these two questions you will also have the answer to the requirement of what you will need to bridge this gap. The next step is to then talk to a number of experts in this field and tell them of your requirement. It can be amazing the difference in response that you will get from them when you can clearly tell them what it is you need. If you find it hard to articulate what you need, then give them a clear understanding of a) and b) (listed above) and they will tell you what is required to bridge the gap.

If people were to post messages on this forum with the a) and b) information, they would get much better responses than what they get to posting messages saying they are looking for the "best".

No product can be the "best" in all areas. Virtually all products are a trade-off of one variable to another - e.g. fuel economy vs. power, road noise vs. wet weather grip, cornering grip vs. longevity of tyre, road holding vs. harshness of ride etc.

Once you know which variables are important to you and which you are not concerned about, then and only then, can you go about looking for a product which best suits your needs, anything less than this and you are wasting both your own time and that of the person you are talking to.

I'll stop here to avoid this message getting too long

But am happy to response if you or othes have more questions.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 10:09 am

I agree with you Euro, cause is just like petrol you don't know which car respond better to which petrol, unless you try them out.

And if ask the "professional" which one is better, the person could be bias, due to number of factors

1.) Commissions/promotions on the products where he/she can earn extra income.

2.) Not an authorize dealer for the other products.

3.) Or simply never heard of the other brands before.

D-TRAIN · Post by **D-TRAIN** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 10:29 am

I guess it also depends on what product of what brands you're talking about.

Say for example sake (hypothetically speaking), Apexi might have a great exhaust product but their air filter range might be crap compared to a HKS.

But in general, those Jap brands you listed are like the Maccas of aftermarket parts, very popular.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 10:55 am

FTO338 wrote:I agree with you Euro, cause is just like petrol you don't know which car respond better to which petrol, unless you try them out.

That obviously works for something like petrol, but it's not like a tyre company will put half-a-dozen sets of new tyres on your car to tests them all out, likewise suspension, exhaust etc.

FTO338 wrote:And if ask the "professional" which one is better, the person could be bias,

I fully agree with this, and that is why I said in my message above "talk to a number of experts".

Firstly, there is a BIG difference between an expert and a salesperson, and most sales people are not experts. It is however VERY important that you talk to MULTIPLE experts to overcome any biases etc.

It's just a process of filtering / elimination. If you were to start with 100 products, by clearly defining what you need, you can probably eliminate around 90% of them. Then by talking to a number of experts, even with their biases, you will find a common thread and this will bring the list down by around half again. Once you have this short list, it is then personal preference as to which best fits your budget, the way it looks etc.

The important point is, however, by the time you reach this short list, all the items you are considering are close enough to your needs that you really can't go wrong.

One of the things I have learnt as a good way to test if someone is an expert or a salesperson is to ask them questions to which you already know the answer. When they give the answer, ask them if then can explain that in a simpler way. An expert will understand the fundamentals of the item and will be able to break it down to make it easier to understand or will be able to draw a comparison to something else. Salespeople generally only know the "features" and "benefits" and get stumped when asked anything beyond this. Also get them to confirm a wrong statement such as "I've heard that these big tread blocks on the tyre make them quieter". A sales person will agree with you, to get the sale, whereas the expert will inform you that this information is incorrect. You will need to ask them a number of questions before you can determine if they are an expert or a salesperson

Something else to keep in mind... most items have around a half-dozen key attributes. Do some research, such as the internet, on the product you are interested in and soon those key attributes will become apparent. Once you know what they are, you are then in a position to be able to focus in on these and discern the difference between items.

G1 · Post by G1 » Wed Mar 17, 2004 10:58 am

im more than happy with my apexi springs... euro what did you decide in the end? i hope the people giving flak on apexi springs are talking from first hand experience

i dont know how local springs are made, but i heard apexi springs a cold formed/wound so they are less likely to sag later in life

mine did sag a little bit at first, or maybe you can look at it as it has settled into its place for which it was designed... been stable ever since

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:09 am

What aspects of the apexi springs do you like, and what trade-offs did you make / allow for?

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:24 am

About "features" & benifits". 99% of sells person/professional can't tell you the different between "features" & "benifits". The last company I work for we did a test on this issue, & out of 5000 retail shops/chains (e.g Harvay Norman, Myer, Retrovision, Good Guys, Bing Lee & lots other different type of independant dealers/shops) only 10-15 store can tell us the differents between "features" & "benifits"

The reseach was conducted with expert like Glenn Dobson, whos trained company like ANZ, BHP, Coca Cola on sales & marketing. & also Ian Chapel, who trained ppl like the NZ Prime minister, 60mins, on human behavior.

So does that mean theres no professional out there? I don't think so, It just mean you can't believe everything you heard/read until you experience it.

Ok i think few ppl here are already getting upset cause its OFF THE TOPIC ONCE AGAIN.

G1 · Post by G1 » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:32 am

obviously i wouldnt know the spring until i tried it for myself... but in this case.. one of my friends (from the original "elusive" group we had in NSW), who's opinions i value highly, recommended them to me after having them on his FTO. I rode in his car, and knew how FTO would look with those springs before I bought them since I had seen a example first hand.

with local brands i knew that since i had not seen any first hand examples, and they dont really have off the shelf products, unless you provide them with the exact specs you want on the springs, knowing the exact ride comfort/height it will achieve, you are left open to just hoping it all matches up and they get it right... one example i saw was someone going to get custom king springs made up and they ended up sitting too low or the ride was too harsh...

and i actually liked the fact that apexi offered a -40 front and -15 back which IMO looks much better than say -40/-30 or -55/-45 which is what the only local off the shelf brand (Whiteline) offers

GDA might be able to testify on the kg/mm springs i sold him which were also -40/-15 and progressive springs, he reported that they improved the ride comfort over the stock ones, while of course making the car look much better too

Post by **smorison** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:34 am

FTO338 wrote: Ok i think few ppl here are already getting upset cause its OFF THE TOPIC ONCE AGAIN.

Being a subjective topic this was always going to happen.

Can we please bring this thread back on topic now guys

FTO AUSTRALIA

Trusted brands

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Trusted brands