TheTunersGroup

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We have also just announced a brand new product from Works Bell - a universal paddleshifter that can be installed to virtually any car. See http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Wo...er-t246719.html - Adam

Hi All, The Tuners Group is very proud to announce a brand new product from Works Bell, the Works Bell Paddleshifter NEO Universal. The new Works Bell Paddleshifter NEO Universal is a universal paddleshifter kit, which can be installed to virtually any vehicle. WHAT DOES IT DO ? The Paddle Shifter NEO Universal places specially designed ergonomic carbon fibre paddles behind your steering wheel. You can shift gears just like an F1 car with a 7mm stroke of the precision engineered paddles or use it to free your hands from "push to use" style steering wheel mounted buttons in racing applications. The Paddle Shifter NEO Universal can be used to change gears on vehicles which were not equipped with a paddle shifter ex-factory, but which have an electrically controlled transmission. For vehicles which have shift buttons in the steering wheel, the Paddle Shifter NEO allows you to replace your factory steering wheel with an aftermarket steering wheel, but retain control of the semi-automatic sequential transmission. You can also use the Paddle Shifter NEO Universal as an extremely versatile switching device in custom and racing applications. As you may know, Works Bell has previously only made it's paddleshifter systems available in vehicle specific kits for vehicles like the Legacy, Impreza, Fit, GS400, IS300, MR-S, G35, 350Z and RX-8. The new Paddle Shifter NEO Universal changes the game completely, and allows owners of vehicles which previously a Works Bell paddleshifter kit was not available for, to enjoy the lightning fast gearchanges, convenience and cutting edge engineering of Works Bell paddleshifters. CONSTRUCTION The Paddleshifter NEO Universal is 100% made in Japan and contains the same cutting edge Japanese machining and technology as all Works Bell's other products. The carefully made, beautifully detailed Paddle Shifter is composed of machined aluminium alloy and finished with a very hard wearing Alumite treatment. The carbon fibre paddles (shown above) are adjustable to match the size of your hand or steering wheel by up to 15 mm on each side. The microswitch wiring is beautifully concealed within the shift mechanism for a perfect finish. BOSS & STEERING WHEEL COMPATIBILITY The Paddle Shifter NEO Universal ships with wiring installed, ready to be adapted to your application, so you don't need to mess around soldering wiring to the microswitches - it's already done. It is compatible with both 6 bolt Momo bolt pattern and 6 bolt Nardi bolt pattern steering wheels. It can also be used with competition style 3 bolt steering wheel setups by using a machined adapter / spacer. It is also compatible of course with all Works Bell Steering Wheels including the Works Bell Original Steering Wheel, the Works Bell Team Orange Steering Wheel, and the Works Bell Yoshioka Steering Wheel. The wiring can also be attached to Works Bell's detachable Rapfix II Quick Release systems and Works Bell make a 4 contact version of the Rapfix II which is ideal for use with the Paddle Shifter NEO Universal. The Paddle Shifter NEO Universal is 100% engineered and manufactured in Japan, with the kind of quality and precision only found in genuine Japanese made products. CAN IT BE USED IN CUSTOM APPLICATIONS IN RACECARS ? Yes it can. For racing vehicles, you can use the Paddle Shifter NEO to activate electrical systems like your car to pit radio, your pit lane speed limiter, nitrous oxide systems, dash display and data logger scrolling controls and so on - if the system uses an electrical switch, the Paddle Shifter NEO can control it ! If you use a relay system, you can set such racing systems so that for example one pull on the paddle shifter as you enter pit lane activates the pit lane speed limiter, and a second pull on the paddle shifter as you exit pit lane turns the pit lane speed limiter off. Similarly, instead of having to keep your thumb on a "push to talk" button for your car to pit radio system, a simple pull on the paddle shifter can start your radio transmitting back to the pits, and a second pull puts your radio back into receiving mode. This frees your hands for steering, and eliminates the need to hold down the radio button while you are trying to steer. You can install it with simple indicator light on the dash showing you when your radio is transmitting. Click on the link below to view an online video of the Works Bell Paddle Shifter Neo Kit being demonstrated by top Japanese drifter Toshiki Yoshioka. As you can see in the video, Yoshioka-san's car has a manual transmission, but he uses the paddle shifter kit to trigger the nitrous in his mind blowing AE86 drift car ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/Videos/Toshiki_..._Interview.html PRICING & HOW TO ORDER The very first examples of the Works Bell Paddleshifter NEO Universal are now in stock and ready to ship, but if you want one, we advise you to place your order rightaway, as stock is very limited and the initial production run is likely to sell out very quickly. Pricing and ordering info is available on our website at ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/Online_Store/Wo..._Universal.html - Adam

The new noise cameras being trialled in Australia will likely affect many bikes ... http://www.themotorreport.com.au/10703/aus...-noise-cameras/ - Adam

Sure - but it'd probably cost an enormous amount of money - you'd have to hire them to do aero testing on your R33 - Adam

Which kinds of benchmarks are you referring to there ? Noise standards ? (see my post above about the changes to the JASMA standards and the dB question). Anyway, we're probably getting way OT here - interesting discussion though Anyone got any other crash test videos ? - Adam

What, like Australia where there are no safety regulations enforced on many aftermarket products at all ? Are you sure that "98db is roughly 8 times louder than 95db" ? http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/2004-About-dB/ reads... If you're talking about perception of loudness, then 115dB would be 4 times as loud as 95dB, so going on the "an increase of 10dB SPL is perceived to be approximately twice as loud" guide, to get to a sound that is 8 times as loud as 95dB, you'd need a sound of 125dB, not 98dB. If you're talking about dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level 20dB = 10x) then a sound ten times louder than 95dB would be 115dB right ? Also, the JASMA standards you mentioned are being changed ... http://www.belgarage.com.au/index.php?opti...62&Itemid=1 reads ... The Japanese have a large range of safety tests performed on aftermarket products including Material Hardness Tests, Material Tensile Tests, Static load bending tests, Static load torsion tests, Static load fatigue bending tests, Static load fatigue torsion tests and so on. Safety standards in Japan are also set by ASEA (Auto Sports & Special Equipment Association) which is the Japanese equivalent of SEMA. Additional test methods for aftermarket products in Japan are are defined by the public JASO standards and JIS Standards. It's very clear that the Japanese take safety very seriously. - Adam

Huh ? It's an interesting story which clearly hardly anyone in Australia has heard about, and which up until Racecar Engineering confirmed the story in their very latest issue was mostly rumour. So now that a respected magazine like Racecar Engineering has confirmed it in the very latest issue of StockCar Engineering, and provided more technical info on it, we shared it with the forum - simple. As I said above, a year ago it was mostly just rumour and innuendo, and we don't post anything until it is confirmed as fact. It's now confirmed as fact, so we posted it. If unlike the vast majority of forum members you're not interested in our posts, feel free to ignore our future posts - I for one found it a very interesting story, and clearly many other forum members did too - Adam

We don't "help break safety regulations". As it says on our terms and conditions of sale page ... --------------------- "WARNING All parts sold ... except for street legal/DOT approved parts, are racing parts for off road use only. Federal and many State laws prohibit the removal, modification, or rendering inoperable of any device or element of design affecting the vehicle emission or safety in a vehicle used on public highways." --------------------- That said, one of our manufacturers was a founding member of the industry group that developed the safety standards for aftermarket products in Japan, and their products are put through extremely rigourous safety testing in Japan, so they definitely take safety very seriously. - Adam

It has - a year ago it was mostly just rumour and innuendo, and we don't post anything until it is confirmed as fact. Racecar Engineering only published their detailed article about the tunnel in the current issue of StockCar Engineering, and that article is only available in the print version of the magazine, and not on their website yet - as soon as the new article is available on their website, we'll provide a link to it. The new article goes into huge detail about how the inside of the tunnel is set up, how tests are carried out in the tunnel, and the exact advantages of using a full sized tunnel over a wind tunnel. The new article also says that a steam catapult like what they use to launch fighter jets off carriers has also been considered to increase the maximum speed possible inside the tunnel. It also includes full details on the equipment used during testing, which includes datalogging by Pi Research, a pair of AQS Air Quest 1000 dehumidifiers, and a Vantage Pro weather controller - so essentially they can set the environment in the tunnel however they want it, for testing cars at different humidities, air temps etc. The tunnel even has a turntable in it at the end of the tunnel so the cars can be turned around quickly for the next run, and Racecar Engineering's new article also reads ... As soon as the new article is available online, we provide an update and links to the new article - it has some very interesting diagrams and illustrations, and completely new info about the inside of the tunnel and how it is used. - Adam

Hi Iron Chef - amazing huh And unlike most conspiracy theories, this one is actually there You can view the satellite imagery of it here ... http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&m...mp;t=h&z=19 - Adam

Hi all ... We've just posted a really interesting story with photos on our blog about this. You can read our story about it and view the rest of the photos of it at ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/TunerWire_Live/ - Adam

Hi 2rismo, an update on the draw date can be found on the lower half of this post ... http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/showthread.php?t=13139 - Adam

http://www.autosavant.com/2007/08/08/chery...l-a-crash-test/ reads ... Video is here ... http://www.autosavant.com/2007/08/08/chery...l-a-crash-test/ And guess what ? ... http://www.themotorreport.com.au/4080/atec...mobile-company/ Reads ... - Adam

In many cases, you find that it's not that they "are all based of each other" ... if you look for it you will often find that before copies and counterfeits of a particular product hit the market, there was one original product which was manufactured by the company that developed and invented it ... and that's the one I always buy. That's how you make sure your money goes back to producing new products and ensures that innovation continues and that new products keep being developed. I have even heard stories of counterfeits of knock offs or counterfeits of counterfeits, where a counterfeit manufacturer doesn't even buy an original product to steal it's design, instead they buy a knock off or counterfeit and copy the knock off or counterfeit. I've heard stories of cases where a counterfeit manufacturer has made a measuring mistake while copying the original, and then you see more counterfeits from other counterfeit manufacturers with the same mistake repeated - ridiculous. The chinese are taking knock offs and counterfeits to a whole new level ... On the left is a CMEC City Smart, on the right is a Daimler Chrysler Smart Car ... The car on the left is a Chinese made Shuanghuan Auto CEO. On the right is a BMW X5 On the the left is SMA Shanghai Maple, on the right is an Audi S4 On the left is a Geely Merie, on the right is a Mercedes-Benz C-Class On the left is a Hongqi HQD, on the right is a Rolls-Royce Phantom. And if you want a BMW, which badge do you want on your car ? All photos are from this article ... http://www.automotoportal.com/article/chin...tern-automakers And if you think that all Chinese cars are manufactured to meet western safety standards, you might want to take a look at this video of a Chinese built Chery failing a crash test ... http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Vi...er-t246057.html - Adam

At the end of the day, what really matters is if a product is manufactured by the original manufacturer who originally invented and developed it or not. IMHO trying to classify unauthorised products into categories like "counterfeit", "knock off", "replica" etc is a waste of time. The question should simply be "Is this product manufactured by the company who originally invented and designed it ?" There's a huge difference between a Japanese company like Nissan building licensed Austins, compared to counterfeiters and manufacturers of fakes, counterfeits and knock offs. In the case of Nissan, they were hired by Austin, with Austin's approval to manufacture those Japanese made Austins. ie, it was done with Austin's full knowledge and permission. HOW MANY OF THE JDM MANUFACTURERS GOT STARTED Many of the Japanese based aftermarket manufacturers got their start by doing authorised & licensed manufacturing work for European and American companies after World War II as they tried to rebuild Japan, but the key point there is that the parts that the big JDM aftermarket manufacturers that we know today were making for those European and American companies were authorised, legal and done under proper licenses. There is a great video here about HKS's history ... http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=x2zQychf1Go Trust was founded by an HKS employee who decided to go out on his own in 1977. A company which I know quite a bit about the history of is Works Bell, who we are the Australian distributors for. Part of how Works Bell got their start was doing licensed and authorised fabrication and machining work for Momo and Nardi. As it says on our Works Bell page at ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/Products/Works_Bell.html ... ---------------- "Works Bell was founded in 1950 in Tokyo as "Miyashita Manufacturing Co. Ltd", and has a 58 year history with a reputation for the finest engineering and innovation of any aftermarket manufacturer in the world. In 2001 Works Bell invented the ball lock quick release. Works Bell holds numerous patents including the patent for ball lock quick release systems. Works Bell quick releases are the original, genuine, real deal products. As far back as 1969, Miyashita Manufacturing were doing authorised and licensed fabrication work for both Momo and Nardi. In 1983 Works Bell Co. Ltd. was founded. Since 1983 Works Bell has made an incredible number of innovations - such as wheel spacer manufacturing in 1993, winning the RV Grand Prix in Tokyo in 1996. Works Bell invented and holds a huge portfolio of patents for automotive innovations, including the patents for ... - harness bosses for car use, - the convertible long handle boss, - the 24 hole boss spacer, - the crushable boss, - air passage through headlight housing, - jumper parts to silence airbags warnings, - the full harness seat belt, - the steering wheel boss anti-theft cap, - the seat position sensor, - auxillary parts for removing the steering wheel, - the shift switch, and - the steering wheel contact coupler. Works Bell are members of SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association), ASEA (Japanese Autosports & Special Equipment Association), NAPAC (Nippon Auto Parts Aftermarket Committee) and AAAL (Automotive Aftermarket Action League)." ---------------- Original JDM manufacturers like Works Bell, HKS and co are not "improving upon a copy" - they invent new products from scratch, and then develop and refine those original products which they have invented. The original JDM manufacturers literally sit down with a blank piece of paper, and come up with new ideas and design brand new products that have never been seen before. That is what I mean by innovation - inventing new products from scratch, and then refining, testing and improving those products. That process is literally starting with a blank piece of paper, and coming up with completely new ideas. Take a look at the list of products above that Works Bell invented and patented - that's true innovation. It's possible that almost everyone has at least one part on their car that was invented by Works Bell. Even companies like Mazda did work for companies overseas ... Have you heard of the Mazda Roadpacer (shown above) ? As it says at ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Roadpacer ... AN EXAMPLE OF THE RIGHT WAY TO DEVELOP NEW PRODUCTS We are currently working on a new product. We did a patent search to see if it had already been invented by someone else. Our patent research found a Japanese company that had patented a mechanism which does exactly what we need. Here is where the difference between what counterfeiters and knock off manufacturers do compared to what honourable and legitimate businesses do, comes into play ... A counterfeiter or knock off manufacturer might simply buy one of the original ones, pull it to pieces and copy it then sell it as their own product. The way that honourable and legitimate businesses like ours operate is very different ... We contacted the Japanese company who invented and hold the patent on part of the product we want to develop, and are negotiating with them to legally license their patent, which will then be developed for use in a slightly different application. But the key point is that our new product will be completely authorised by the Japanese company that invented and owns the patent on that technology, and we can leverage their expertise and experience in adapting their technology to a new use. And most importantly of all, the license fees which we will pay to that Japanese company for permission to use their patented technology will provide them with revenue which they can use for research and development of new products - so that's a perfect example of how properly licensing patented technology helps promote innovation, and helps the innovative manufacturers survive and prosper, instead of counterfeiting stealing the original manufacturer's designs and leading to the death of innovation. - Adam

You may have seen a counterfeit product in Australia, but not realised that it was a counterfeit. Some of the counterfeits these days are very convincing. Some companies which manufacture knock offs and counterfeits have no qualms at all about also copying the logos of the original manufacturers and simply putting a sticker of a genuine manufacturers logo on a counterfeit or knock off product. Here is a post from another forum I am on ... this post is from an Australian forum, and the person who posted this has advised that he was sold this item by an Australian company ... - Adam

Good to hear It truly is a massive issue which is threatening the entire future of innovation in the automotive parts industry - it's the biggest issue there is in the entire modifying industry. With the greatest respect, people who are bringing attention to this issue and trying to do their bit to help ensure the future of innovation are not "holier than thou twats" as you put it ... they are simply people who care about and are passionate about innovation and don't want to see the most innovative companies in the industry go out of business because of the actions of counterfeiters and intellectual property thieves. And let's face it, without the innovation of companies like Trust, HKS, and all the other companies whose products are counterfeited, can you imagine how boring the modifying scene would be ? Those guys helped create the entire JDM modifying community. Competition ? People who manufacturer counterfeit products are not "competition". As I said above ... Counterfeiting is not "competing" - it is theft, pure and simple theft. As I also said above ... "If someone breaks into your house and steals your stuff, you're not "whingeing" by reporting the theft to the police are you ? When the intellectual property and product designs of genuine manufacturers are stolen by counterfeiters, it's exactly the same thing - the manufacturer who has been stolen from has every right to report the fact that their design has been stolen." The fact is that it costs money and time to track down and shut down counterfeiters, so the only way that can be done is for genuine manufacturers to use some of the revenue from the sales of genuine products to invest in legal fees and investigators to track down the counterfeiters. I know of a particular Australian distributor of genuine products who has a full time staff member who spends all day every day tracking down counterfeits being sold in Australia and working with the team of lawyers who then take legal action against the companies selling the counterfeits. And of course, money which is spent on the salaries of staff who spend all day tracking down counterfeits and tracking down the people who sell them, and money spent on lawyers fees etc, is money which cannot be spent on innovating new products, so there's yet another example of how counterfeiting destroys innovation. It's not a matter of "a vested financial interest" as you put it ... the fact is that the genuine manufacturers and genuine distributors are simply looking after their legal rights - counterfeiting is illegal. Genuine manufacturers and genuine distributors have every right to expose and eradicate counterfeits, and there is no need for genuine manufacturers and genuine distributors to make any apologies whatsoever for exposing and eradicating counterfeits. The datruthcometh blog is one of the few places who are actually having the guts to expose the truth about the scale of the counterfeits problem. And it's not just "the idiot ricer Americans who mostly perpetrate the entire issue" as you put it - in particular a number of magazines overseas have a huge case to answer for publicising counterfeit and knock off products in their editorial, and happily accepting advertising money from companies manufacturing or selling counterfeits and knock offs. The magazines that do that should know better than that ... either they know that the products are counterfeit or knock offs and accept the advertising money anyway, or they don't realise that the products are knock offs or counterfeits (which is not much better - if you run a magazine you should know what is genuine and what isn't). What makes you think that it's only Americans who buy the counterfeits ? It's a global problem. It'd be nice if innovative companies with sound strategies who innovate, manufacture their products with high quality and sell their genuine products at a fair price could simply survive by doing sound business, but the fact is that the counterfeits problem is becoming so serious that genuine manufacturers with years of experience and sound strategies are being driven out of business, and counterfeits have played a huge role in that. It's not simply a matter of having true innovation, competitive structures and sound strategies. Look at what happened recently to Trust ... http://www.bespokeventures.com/blog/2008/0...reddy-bankrupt/ ... and Buddy Club Japan ... http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1181891 http://www.honda-tech.com/showpost.php?p=1...mp;postcount=17 ... and Apexi ... we found this quote online about Apexi ... "APEXi has been on the tuning scene in Japan for a long time. Apexi was originally started by a high ranking HKS employee who broke off from HKS to do their own company. Most recent innovations include the Power FC. They have officially filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007 and are currently trying to restructure the company. To get an idea of what the company is going through Apexi went from a 304 page master catalog before bankruptcy to a 120 page catalog after filing for bankruptcy." There's a perfect example of a Japanese company whose products have been counterfeited. Almost two thirds of their catalog became no longer available. With the greatest respect, a shrug of the shoulders and a "whatever" is a bit like ignoring the problem. If you care about innovation, and want to be able to buy new innovative products for your car in the future, "whatever" isn't going to cut it. As I said above ... - Adam

With the greatest respect, are you really going to try to argue that counterfeiters somehow have some kind of more efficient business model ? If you applied that kind of logic, you could argue that working to make money is inefficient because bank robbers make more money in less time. Counterfeiting is illegal. Period. The difference in price of genuine products will NEVER be negligible compared to counterfeits, for the simple reason that manufacturing a particular genuine product takes a fixed cost on materials, and a fixed cost on machining to the appropriate tolerances. And let's not try to legitimize counterfeiting by calling it "reverse engineering". Counterfeiting is stealing a design - not real innovative engineering. I'm glad to hear that Except for the fact that a counterfeit Trust gear knob is made by stealing Trust's design ? And the fact that by buying a genuine Trust gearknob you know that the revenue goes straight back into R&D on new Trust products ? With the greatest respect, I don't think you want to be advertising that you'd buy a knock off instead of genuine Trust - you've seen this right ? ... http://www.bespokeventures.com/blog/2008/0...reddy-bankrupt/ Again with the greatest respect, having brand loyalty and only buying genuine is not and never will be "dumb". Your suggestion that "Retailers and manufacturers need to embrace this truth" is missing the entire point of this thread. Counterfeiting is theft - always has been. The "old oh no they steal our ideas and sell our product at 1/10th the price whinge" is not a whinge - it's reporting theft of intellectual property and product design. If someone breaks into your house and steals your stuff, you're not "whingeing" by reporting the theft to the police are you ? When the intellectual property and product designs of genuine manufacturers are stolen by counterfeiters, it's exactly the same thing - the manufacturer who has been stolen from has every right to report the fact that their design has been stolen. Counterfeiters will always try to find a way to make a counterfeit product for 1/10th the price of the original, and as I said above - "any product can be made cheaper by making it worse". At the end of the day, if people keep supporting counterfeiters and buying counterfeit products, it won't be customers with brand loyalty who are long gone ... the real deal innovative manufacturers will be long gone - they'll simply move to aerospace engineering and defence work where genuine products are more highly valued, and where skills like high quality machining, metallurgy knowledge and composites knowledge are respected. Or they'll stop making parts for the kind of cars which are driven by people who buy counterfeits and instead focus on vehicles which are typically not owned by demographics where counterfeits are accepted. And if that happens, there will be no new automotive products. Period. Like I've said many times, when it comes to counterfeit car parts, there are no grey areas - you are either part of the problem, or part of the solution. By only buying genuine parts from the original innovative manufacturers, and refusing to buy fakes, counterfeits or knock off parts, you become part of the solution. And if people choose to fit counterfeit or knock off parts, they'll understand why some people will be justifiably pissed at them, right ? - Adam

You've hit the nail on the head MR-Fanny - it is exactly people who think they can't afford the real thing who get the wrong end of the stick. Worse still is when people who buy a counterfeit think that they are getting a product that is in any way comparable to the real thing. Or when counterfeits break and people think that because a counterfeit broke that that is some kind of reflection on the design of the geunine product, which of course it definitely is not. And you're right that it has rubbed me up the wrong way - at the end of the day I have no respect whatsoever for counterfeiters or thieves (and counterfeiting is theft of course). THE DAMAGE BEING DONE People simply don't understand the damage that is being done to the entire tuning industry by the counterfeits. I also have no respect whatsoever for anyone who sells counterfeit products. Nor for some overseas magazines who happily accept advertising revenue from companies who sell copy, knock off or counterfeit products and help those companies market those products to young guys who trust those magazines for advice. As it says in Ben's post at The Real JDM ... The simple fact is that we are one of the very few companies sounding the alarm bell about this problem. Are we going to have some overseas magazines angry at us for saying that ? Probably. But while saying this may annoy some magazines, if it comes down to a choice between the survival of some overseas magazines that happily accept advertising money from companies selling knock offs, or the survival of the genuine companies who actualy innovate and engineer new products, then I'll pick the innovators any day of the week. The tuning industry can survive without yet another magazine, but it simply cannot survive and prosper long term without the original innovators, and without those innovators being able to develop new products. Quite simply, if we have a situation in 5 years where most of the original innovators are gone, and all we are left with are companies in China producing counterfeits, I don't want to look back and say "wow - I wish we had've made more noise about this problem when we first spotted it". That's why we are ringing the alarm bell now, and ringing it loudly. WHAT IF I CAN'T AFFORD THE REAL THING ? I remember exactly what it's like to want certain products and not having the earning power to be able to afford to buy products I wanted. When I first started modifying cars, I was 17, earning sweet FA dollar wise, and there was simply stuff I wanted but couldn't afford. But instead of buying fakes and counterfeits, I either saved up the old fashioned way for the real thing, or bought genuine used parts and learnt how to restore and rebuild parts. These days many people seem to think that if you can't afford the real deal original part today, that instead of waiting a few weeks and saving up for the real thing, instead that it is somehow acceptable to go and buy a fake or counterfeit product that has been manufactured by a company who has simply stolen someone else's design. I think that's a really sad reflection on certain elements of the modifying community - quite apart from ending up with counterfeit parts, they also never learn the skills of refinishing and rebuilding genuine parts that IMHO every modifier should learn. But quite simply, back when I first started modifying cars, if I couldn't afford the real deal parts new, I saved up for the real deal. And if I then couldn't afford the real deal parts new, I found used genuine parts and rebuilt them. And if I couldn't afford used genuine, then I simply accepted that I couldn't afford them at all. As an example, when you can find genuine used genuine BBS wheels and used genuine Rays Volks so cheaply these days, I cannot understand why anyone would instead choose to fit knock offs. I just had a look on eBay and found these ... "BBS 4 x 17" INCH WHEELS ... In the centre rim it has the following stamped:- BBS GERMANY GESCHMIEDET RG133 4530 99 800500" $600 opening bid - zero bids. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BBS-4-x-17-INCH-WHE...%3A1|240%3A1318 ... and these ... "BBS 18x8 Wheels - Pair Only" $200 buy it now price. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BBS-18x8-Wheels-Pai...p3286.m20.l1116 As you can probably guess, I've never fitted counterfeit parts to any of my cars, and I never will. - Adam

Go to this page, and you can see them being made 22 minutes into the video. You can click on the slider to jump to that part of the video ... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5947862651880646162 - Adam

Counterfeiting is not "competing" - it is theft, pure and simple theft. To suggest that genuine manufacturers (who actually spend money on research and development and actually engineer their products) should "compete or die" with the counterfeiters, is like saying that stores like HMV, JB Hi-Fi etc should have no problem with people who make pirate DVD's which are illegally produced and sold in markets and that HMV, JB Hi-Fi etc should compete with the DVD pirates. Counterfeits are illegal. Period. THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY COUNTERFEITS If you don't understand the link between counterfeiting and how it damages the entire parts industry as a whole, read this post by Ben @ The Real JDM titled "An Inconvenient Truth…about JDM - AKA The Death of Innovation" ... http://www.bespokeventures.com/blog/2008/0...-of-innovation/ Part of Ben's post reads ... We will always reserve the right to tell people the truth about counterfeits. Sharing info like the Fake Trade video is not "propaganda crap" as you so eloquently put it - it is simply showing people what is really going on. It is simply the truth laid bare. It is very clear who would not like us simply exposing the undeniable truth. IN CONCLUSION There is a saying in the engineering business ... "any product can be made cheaper by making it worse". Genuine manufacturers rightfully refuse to make their products worse. They make their products carefully and with true innovation and craftsmanship. And they price their genuine products at a fair price, often with a much lower percentage profit margin than what the counterfeits make. Fortunately a growing number of people in Australia understand why genuine products from the original innovative manufacturer are superior to counterfeits and knock offs. And for those who don't yet understand this, we'll go on repeating the same message until everyone finally gets it And if you still don't get it, have a read of some of the posts on this blog ... http://datruthcometh.blogspot.com - Adam

Hi All, In case you missed it, last night ABC TV broadcast part one of a documentary about fakes and counterfeits called "Fakes". It is available to view online, so we have posted links to the online video so anyone who missed it can watch it. The "Fakes" documentary is an in depth look at the counterfeits trade, the people behind it, how they operate, and particularly shows that buying counterfeit products is definitely not the victimless crime that many manufacturers, importers and sellers of counterfeit, copied and knocked off products would like customers to think that it is. The "Fakes" documentary showed some shocking examples of counterfeits of everything from Callaway golf clubs, to counterfeit breast cancer medication, to counterfeit condoms which are sold to people in Africa where AIDS is rife, and even counterfeit eggs - yes you read that right - fake eggs that are made from chemicals and cast in a mold. The claims made in the video that some people in China think that counterfeiting goods in China is somehow justifiable as a form of "economic revenge" against legitimate businesses in Western countries who actually spend money innovating are an absolute disgrace. If you counterfeit products, there is no justification for it - counterfeiting is simple theft. Period. We missed the first few minutes of the Fakes documentary on the TV, so we were very pleased to see that it has been made available to view online by veoh.com And most importantly, remember this documentary next time you are offerred parts for your car that are copies, knock offs or counterfeits. When it comes to counterfeit car parts, there are no grey areas - you are either part of the problem, or part of the solution. By only buying genuine parts from the original innovative manufacturers, and refusing to buy fakes, counterfeits or knock off parts, you become part of the solution. You can find the links to watch the video online at ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/TunerWire_Live/...iters_doco.html - Adam

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Following strong demand from The Tuners Group's racing customers for a system of products to set up cars for multiple drivers in endurance events, we are pleased to announce The Enduro System. In an endurance event with multiple drivers and driver changes, different drivers want to use their favourite steering wheel for their stints behind the wheel in enduros, and different drivers have different driving positions, due to factors that cannot be changed such as different driver heights and arm reach lengths etc. In the past, your only option was to come up with a compromise - a compromise on which steering wheel to use, and a compromise on driving position. But you end up with a driver position that is not correct for any of the drivers, and a frequently a steering wheel that only one driver likes. Put any driver in a compromised, uncomfortable driving position, and the end result is always increased fatigue, and less driver endurance. And anyone who has ever competed in an endurance race knows that as soon as you get fatigued, your concentration drops, lap times get slower, you lose ground against your opposition, and safety is compromised. So we sat down and thought "there simply must be a better way", and set about solving the problem ... Like most engineering problems, if you work hard enough, you eventually find an elegant solution. The result is a package of products which we've nicknamed "The Enduro System". Learn more about "The Enduro System" at ... http://www.tunersgroup.com/The_Enduro_System.html - Adam