i think the trend i am seeing here with most products that vendors are putting out are very similar reactions from us as a group.
I think largely in part its due to the "target market" most people purchased this car for very little money. Maybe in some cases its the coolest looking car they could get for what they could afford. And for the price I have to say we got allot. Sure there could be improvements.
That being said... I think knowing that as A vendor I would have to ask myself do these guys have pockets deep enough to really support the things they are asking us to develop and pay the price we need them to pay to keep developing them. I think based on the negative replies to the products being put out there as a vendor I would have to say no. I know i have seen scores of people screaming turbo turbo turbo (myself included) and Turbokits spent countless hours on a car that most other vendors think is a joke of a car. That development costs money... and how many of us have actually coughed up the 3500 for the kit? If you look at the prices on thier site is close to what they charge for Civic and Scion.
In my opinion if we keep beating these guys up about prices why would they keep trying to help us.
If you compare the prices of everything that has been offered to us to the equal products of equal quality for Honda's or Mitsubishi the prices are fair. Yes they are high. but you saved 5-6k buy purchasing this car over an Civic SI so you should have a little money to spare.
It is a new car and like anything new to the market... making it better costs more.
I would just hope we could consider these facts the next time we want to bash a vendor for charging us 200-400 bucks for a 5hp gain.
If you want cheap extra horse power then get a nitrous kit.(just dont go crazy like Crock). But you are not going to see 100 hp gains with out putting up some cash.
On the opposite side of the coin as a vendor in a new and fresh market I would also try to position myself as the leading provider of parts for this car by giving up a little profit upfront for quantity of sales.
my 2 cents... let the flaming begin.
Last edited by PharaohKoup; 03-04-2011 at 12:20 PM.
I agree. A lot of us want a huge after market but can't afford it yet. Not only is the car in the "cheap" price range but it's so new most of us are still making payments on our cars. In 5 years there will be a lot of Fortes that people can get for really cheap and they will have the disposable cash to spend on parts.
Another unfortunate thing about the vendors and the small after market is that they offer a lot of the same parts. When there are 4 vendors that all sell parts that are comparable then inevitably we will all want to see who will give us the best deal.
I think people are tried of hearing "Look a new exhaust! No, the gains aren't any more than the last system than came out but look it's $200 more so it must be 'better' than the other one"
I think people would be willing to pay a good amount for an after market part that is not currently available to us.
Very well done. I would have liked to done something like this myself, but it wouldn't have been taken very serious as I am not a true Forte owner. But PharaohKoup, you have my respect and I will take some of the heat from the flames off you.
I think a lot of the attitude comes from the fact that it is peoples first "new" car or their first car in general. The lack of experience and only witnessing modifications on other's cars, they expect the same kind of thing.
Having a tuning device available in the first year of a car's production is a fantastic bonus. Tuning devices aren't cheap, and aren't made to give large amounts of HP on a stock car. For things like that you have to look down the road. I have seen people wanting an intake manifold, good luck seeing true potential from that without a tuning device.
I am not the biggest fan of Crock89, but he has proved that it takes money to get the kind of performance that everyone wants. For that I give him my respect.
Turbokits has done a fantastic job supporting the Forte from day 1, and have dynos to prove their product. This is a trait that is very rare nowadays, as dyno time is stupid expensive.
So before someone opens their mouth to complain about a product, shouldn't someone have at least tried it?
OK so heres my take on this. Since ive joined the kia world and got my forte in december i have seen greed take the place of quality and oversight the place of what "WE" as a community really want. This car was bought as a cheap mode of transpo because my truck i had sucked up gas like a giant mosquitoe. Now, what the vendors need to understand the target market is 18-24yr old males and females, and yes for most this is a first car but with our dwindling economy and rising oil prices no matter what we do everything is going to become stupid expensive. Now in regards to a tuner, hmph, why in the world would you buy a 500 dollar capacitor for 4 hp. that product may be useful when applied with other items but those items too are overpriced. if overhead is more important than giving us a quality quantified product than i am done with the aftermarket. As greed is becoming more, and more apparent ive lost all faith in the human race. Especially hard to swallow is when a company works really hard for a so called quality product but charges 4x what the products costs to make you should realize profit margins are more important than we are.
This all has to do with the saying....money = horsepower. If ya don't have the money, don't expect to have a fast car. You paid 20k for 173hp, you want to go faster spend 30k. It comes down to it as people want everything for free!! Just because you're car was cheap doesn't mean aftermarket parts will be too. the manufacture keeps the cost of the car down by giving you average parts. That's what aftermarket companies are for. Make better parts at higher prices. If, and when Kia puts a turbo in the forte, you think the price is going to stay low? Hell no!! They're gonna charge another 5k. So before people start bitching that TK is charging alot for their kit, just imagine how much it would cost if it was a factory one. For crying out loud, they charge $40 for a $5 cargo net. If anything the aftermarket companies are with us, not against us....so stop complaining about prices. If you can't afford it, don't get it!!!
My 2 cents...If a vendor is going to tell us about something they are producing and then just dnagle it in front of us with no updates...then we do have a right to give what ever reaction we want.
I mean several of us wanted something and we were told it was coming....months later still nothing....I have asked about other products from the same company yet no response. So I express my displeasure. Remember the Vendors need to realize that if people are willing get it in there hands....Word of mouth is best and cheapest advertising.
Once again just my 2 cents....
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Koup SX 5-AT Burnt Orange
Current MOD: Car Stereo Installed, refer to Garage for details
Previous MODS: Listed in my garage.
At the end of the day everyone is just looking for the best bang for our buck. As more parts surface with a wider variety of upgrades it will be easier to pick and choose not only what parts are right for you but also what budget dictates. Lets celebrate the vendors we have with the parts they have to offer in looking to the future of what will come down the road. Right now with limited parts it is easy to get discouraged by high prices...but the more support we afford them, the more r&d into a wider range of products we will see. Especially with the increase in competition as we get more vendors vying for our money and commitment we may start to see prices drop or at least become very comptitive.
__________________
mods to date:
30% tint
diode dynamics stage 3 leds
diode dynamics switchbacks
led strips (headlights)
nokya arctic white fogs
wow dash kit (silver)
6000k hid
Turbokits black label cai
At the end of the day everyone is just looking for the best bang for our buck. As more parts surface with a wider variety of upgrades it will be easier to pick and choose not only what parts are right for you but also what budget dictates. Lets celebrate the vendors we have with the parts they have to offer in looking to the future of what will come down the road. Right now with limited parts it is easy to get discouraged by high prices...but the more support we afford them, the more r&d into a wider range of products we will see. Especially with the increase in competition as we get more vendors vying for our money and commitment we may start to see prices drop or at least become very comptitive.
Concerning RRM PiggyBack:
429$ for a 4HP gain on a stock Forte........ HELL yes it's too expensive!
429$ for a tuning device is a pretty good bargain if you ask me!!
RRM and TK are doing a greath job helping us modding our ride (RRM could improve his customer service though) but keep in mind that they are business NOT your best freinds. I won't give them more money just because they help me mod my ride the way I want.......I allready paid for their parts!
My 2 pennys!
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Copperhead Koup SX-6 speed
MAGNAFLOW, tint, gloss black roof wrap, copperhead wheel insert, debaged all-around, Turbo Kit CAI, Eibach spring, Delrin bushing, sedan headlight, HID and no more LS2. KING on http://www.klubfortequebec.com/
Concerning RRM PiggyBack:
429$ for a 4HP gain on a stock Forte........ HELL yes it's too expensive!
429$ for a tuning device is a pretty good bargain if you ask me!!
RRM and TK are doing a greath job helping us modding our ride (RRM could improve his custome service though) but keep in mind that they are business NOT your best freinds. I won't give them more money just because they help me mod my ride the way I want.......I allready paid for their parts!
Ok I'm happy as hell anybody is making parts for us in the first place.
wish they'd start doing more then just the typical, I understand there testing the market on us since we are most likely not a deep pocket group
there is a company making a great exgaust kit.. I'd love to buy it and honestly its not even that much but I'd be able to start buying it now if they sold me one or two parts of it at a time... since they all bolt together I don't see why they don't do that.
I would think that would benefit us and them both.
Just a example of what I see.
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Black on black SX
H/p = cubic dollars
how much your willing too spend will dictate how fast you can go
Last edited by Rainyraven; 03-04-2011 at 05:12 PM.
Ok I'm happy as hell anybody is making parts for us in the first place.
wish they'd start doing more then just the typical, I understand there testing the market on us since we are most likely not a deep pocket group
there is a company making a great exgaust kit.. I'd love to buy it and honestly its not even that much but I'd be able to start buying it now if they sold me one or two parts of it at a time... since they all bolt together I don't see why they don't do that.
I would think that would benefit us and them both.
Just a example of what I see.
I think I know the very company you speak of and i too see benifit in them letting us buy "parts" of it at a time. Has anyone even asked them if they would though?
I totally agree with all of you, but it does make me feel;
Am i the only one that doesn't care about HP gains/performance?
I feel like i am the only one that would rather spend $500 for a set of headlights, rather than a 10HP exhaust
I am gonna be happy when we start getting vendors that care more about appearance of the forte rather than its power. Looks>power anyday.
560 HP Ferrari > 1000 HP evo
Great looking stock SX > 500 HP FWD Koup
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Will our attitude kill the vendor support???
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