Apexi japan bankrupt?

mikeh · Post by **mikeh** » 07 Feb 2006, 7:17 pm

It seems that people on this forum are saying that apexi is going bust..

Post by **Accord98** » 07 Feb 2006, 8:53 pm

.... damn

i was looking forward to buyin my Apexi VFAC in a year .....

Oh well....

YouTube · Post by **Alpha** » 07 Feb 2006, 11:11 pm

Well, those guys are just saying that every other well-known manufacturers seem to be having financial problems. What about VeilSide? Their Fortune models win Best Aerodynamic Awards every year, how can someone expect them having serious problems as the guy says? Plus, even in the FnF 3 spy shots, they're using two of VeilSide's Fortune RX-7 models.

APEXi is SPONSORING one of the D1 drift cars (along with the D1 driver). How can I ever expect them to have already been closed down when the D1 Imamura RX-7 is doing so great at the events?

mikeh · Post by **mikeh** » 08 Feb 2006, 12:00 am

Yeah they can say a lot. true..

But it made me thinking, would a tuning "brand" make a lot of money? If you make body kits, wheels, ... then they make cheap knock-offs, and sell them in sharjah.. : )

Electronics and such.. true, but only a certain percentage of all car fanatics are willing and able to pay a huge amount of money to tune a car.

I'm not even talking about a 200 USD intake, rather a 900 USD turbo charger, whereby you need a 400 USD intake manifold and a 1500 engine management system.. : )

Just wondering, if you'd be owner of, let's say Veilside, would you really be making big bucks?

Oh and they're talking about Apexi japan .. - not the US side..

For the V-AFC.. it'll be pretty cheap then I guess

YouTube · Post by **Alpha** » 08 Feb 2006, 12:37 am

Regarding engine tuning, I'd say yes, they may not be making enough from normal customer's side but what about the big names (like those in D1GP and other major race events) who extensively use aftermarket parts? Not to forget, APEXi's own Drag Integra doin' good too, in the sense, attracting the NHRA's and a couple of major features in tuning mags.

I can't say how much exactly APEXi is benefiting from its performance parts but when compared to others like HKS, Trust and Blitz, APEXi isn't doing bad at all. These five names are the most famous among amatuer street racers as well as hardcore drag tuners!!

Post by **Accord98** » 08 Feb 2006, 5:31 am

....so true.... these names are synonymous with Tuners....

I mean i dont even know what *blitz* sells -- but i know they do *special* things to cars (like BIG Stickers!)

ops:

-- j/k

MrLeone · Post by **MrLeone** » 08 Feb 2006, 12:12 pm

That is correct!

Apexi is going down... They have also taken off the track their D1 car...
Rumours also say that Blitz have big problems..

YouTube · Post by **Alpha** » 08 Feb 2006, 1:27 pm

If thats really true, Does it really mean we're not gonna see many of their products on sale anymore? APEXi and Blitz are equally producing very high performance aftermarket products (and are also able to attract a lot of demand from the private sector.) Why would they have such problems in the first place? And give me one reason why HKS isn't involved in all this.

MrLeone · Post by **MrLeone** » 08 Feb 2006, 1:59 pm

That is what the rumours say yes.

Look at Blitz.. They havent come up with any new great exhaust in years (almost) and the electronics they make is great but not enough to make an fortune out of.. So what I heard is that they have started making light bulbs and accessories...
Look at their styling.. Its so 80`s! And they arent doing anything to upgrade it.. So they will in the end just go one way.. Down..

So I think we are looking into an new world of tuning parts from Japan!

About Greddy and HKS ...
I think they are that much bigger and they continue to develop new items all the time.. I think they put allot of their proffit into new developing..
And in my eyes that is the correct line to go!

mikeh · Post by **mikeh** » 08 Feb 2006, 8:25 pm

One of the problems is that people will always copy things that you make.. For instance, for the Hyundai lovers amongst us (yeah, we are the minority).. There's a stage 4 intake manifold for the GK engine.. Made by a company called NGM (NextGenMotorsports)

A while later, a ripping-of company called SSA (SSAutochrome) makes a Stage 5 manifold, totally based on the original design that NGM did:

Oh yeah, these SSA people also stole the header design from NGM before. NGM headers, that went for 400USD, they sold them for 250USD.. exact same design.

Copycats will kill you in the end I think.. Same for bigger brands.. let's say that Blitz comes out with some Engine management system, top notch, runs on Windows, has *everything* you want and need... Some company will copy the exact same thing, make it cheaper (they dont have to pay for R&D) and kill you..

And in the end, if you could choose for a Blitz fuel tuner for 200 USD, or a <insert japanese sounding name here> fuel tuner for 69USD.. which one would you take, it's only a fuel tuner.. Even if this one fails, you can still buy another one and be cheaper.

Now where's that fake rolex of mine? Oh yeah, still in one my girlfriends Louis Vuitton's handbags

--

For those interested souls.. These are NGM headers:

These are the SSA headers:

Spot the differences.. none :0

YouTube · Post by **Alpha** » 09 Feb 2006, 9:55 am

I agree with Leone regarding the development part. It's true Blitz and APEXi haven't been producing many new products and now that I'm aware of that, I don't think they're in competition with HKS or especially GReddy (the former King of extremely high performance Turbines.)

Now that there's not much comparison between HKS/GReddy and Blitz/APEXi turbo's (specifically), I wouldn't want to talk no more.

Seems like I wasn't thinking about the *development* part at all. Regarding the fake products, in terms of Blitz turbo timers and boost controllers, yes, I've seen loads of fake ones that look exactly the same as the Blitz SBCs. The only difference is in the programming and since what many of us need is: something to increase the boost, not many people actually think about how thats done as long as it works.

Same for Turbos.. People getting <some turbo> as big and as powerful as a T51R at a cheap price won't even bother about its quality, i.e. how durable the turbo is, the rusting of the fans etc. But as far as I know, I don't think there are any fake turbos being produced?? <- bad example may be..

mikeh · Post by **mikeh** » 10 Feb 2006, 11:48 am

Plus, unfortunately.. many import lovers are students or don't have a lot of money to blow on cars.. Hence, i think the majority would 'rather' spend less money on a similar product. Such as Shalashaska said, "i just wanna control boost, why do i need to spend an extra 300 aed for the same thing".. Or intercoolers or exhausts.. Many of these copycats take a look at the real deal, and weld their own copy. Quality is a bit less maybe, but the price as well..

YouTube · Post by **Alpha** » 12 Feb 2006, 11:57 am

..Or may be I'd still go for the original ones. It would only mean one upgrade in around 2 months but its still worth!

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Apexi japan bankrupt?