JDM vs US: RD2 - US Designed Body Kits

[Corbic]

So I was watching some ancient DVDs last night. Grip Video, anyone remember them?

One segment caught my eye in particular. The crew was in Nippon-land and met with the infamous Sexy Knights team. Checked out their shop, body kits and did some midnight street drifting.

That's when it dawned on me. All these Japanese groups, race teams, street crews, tuning shops and big-part slingers all designed and ran their own body work.

Sure, not all of them are good (cough: veilside) but they all brought something to make their group stand out.

In the U.S. we don't have that. Sure, we have lots of body shops popping out reps, lots of cool teams/crews running said rep body kits but there really is nothing unique.

There is no Falken V3 Kit, no Dorki-Style, Heavy Throttle GT or whatever.









Am I wrong? What do you guys think.

[onehundredoctane]

I think you're putting too much thought into looks.



Going fast is looking good.

[TheRealSy90]

If people don't think they can make money off of it, they probably aren't going to spend time on it.

Actually 2F Performance recently came out with their Super Doof kits, which are designed and made in the U.S.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

If people don't think they can make money off of it, they probably aren't going to spend time on it.

But that's just it. I don't think most of those guys (Japan) ever expected to make huge money off it. They got an idea for their own cars and went out and did it. Selling copies of the kits really seemed more like a way to fund their own car/project. It wasn't a "get rich" scheme.

[!Zar!]

America isn't original. Never was, never will be.

This isn't new.

[rawgarage]

Very good point, trend setters

[ehhhregartless]

You hit the nail on the head, the US manufactures don't see profit. And then when they do, it goes wrong

http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=497154

[spooled240]

Similar to Japan, America makes an ungodly amount of aftermarket stuff for their own domestic cars. I don't see Japan making much for their imports, so they're in the same boat as us.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by spooled240

Similar to Japan, America makes an ungodly amount of aftermarket stuff for their own domestic cars. I don't see Japan making much for their imports, so they're in the same boat as us.

Not sure I follow.

Generally the domestic (Camaro/Mustang/Corvette) crowd is not into body kits. They all run the same black/chrome wheels and then just dump money into the engine (either dress up or power).


We're not talking about huge corporations. Sexy Knights, Boarder, Veilside, these are not million dollar outfits.

Believe it or not FRP kits are not that complicated or capital intense.

This is why some guy in Cali can make copy's of Type-X lips out of his garage for $120 a pop. This why is Dori can sell rep side skirts while not personally owning a factory.

You make a master, you make a mold, you pop copies.

This gets back to my point. Sexy Style is basically the work of 25 guys just running street drift cars. Hell the equivalent would easily if some bro's made a Zilvia kit for members to run.


I can list dozens of Tuner shops and parts sellers in Chicago. Not a single one has their own aero kit, wing design or anything like that.

[TheRealSy90]

http://www.2fperformance.com/store#!...=0&sort=normal

There's one shop making their own aero.

[bmaddock]

This is a cool idea, definitely got me interested. I might take a shot at this at one point. Will probably look terrible the first go around but would be a fun sideproject once I have some downtime again.

[CrimsonRockett]

As always, not enough people willing to pay for legit stuff (at least in the US).

Market is flooded with reps for a reason.

I'm definitely a fan of originality (326power/Rocket Bunny comes to mind), but with the costs involved of designing new aero, creating molds, full production, etc...it's quite a large investment before you'll see any return (if any).

[Bushido]

people with business sense think:

why design, build, and sell parts to broke s chassis owners, when one could cater to more affluent evo/sti/gtr/bmw/etc owners.



I do agree, would be cool to see more unique styles though original works from state side shops... but as the record shows, North America has seldom produced S-cars with cool style.

[Trinidrift3]

deadass. i completely understand your point of view. i feel like America just isn't very original. What did America really bring to the scene? Stance and hellaflush? pretty lame in my opinion. but i highly respect what dorki is doing. I know he has original aero designs that he is planning to produce. It has deff proved tough for him to produce quality reps, let alone his own original aero.

[DenkiMan!]

correct me if im wrong, but the aero styling we're seeing in the US was mainly originated in Japan, and the US soon followed - albeit a bit late considering Option, Grip Video, Drift Tengoku etc. had been out for a while.

so following that logic how original can USDM aero styling get? all these "US" designed styled kits have components and themes that originated somewhere else

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by DenkiMan!

correct me if im wrong, but the aero styling we're seeing in the US was mainly originated in Japan, and the US soon followed - albeit a bit late considering Option, Grip Video, Drift Tengoku etc. had been out for a while.



so following that logic how original can USDM aero styling get? all these "US" designed styled kits have components and themes that originated somewhere else

For the S13/14 sure. No excuse for the Z34 and GT86 however.

I just found it interesting. Don't get me wrong, the US does some mad fabrications and I feel we dominate the actual tuning (Cobb, AEM and MS) and turbo (BW, Precision) world right now. But it was ingesting to see how such small groups made such wide selections of parts.

If fall out of my chair of P&L, AMS, Hennessy, Sonic, TF etc dropped their own body kit line, wheels and custom turbos. I think we all would.

[TheRealSy90]

Turbo market is way too saturated imo.

[dorkidori_s13]

there really isnt anything going on design wise in the s-chassis scene anymore because its all pretty much been done, the 240 scene is old news and its now the same consistency of broke owners as the honda civic scene is/was. im not saying that people cant come up with new ideas and produce something great, but asking 240 kids to shell out good money for quality parts anymore isnt something that really happens all too often. yes, there are still people in the 240 scene who do things right and go the extra mile, but the bulk of what our scene consists of is kids who think paying $2000 for a body kit or a set of wheels is insane. i do miss the good ol days of what Corbic was talking about in his original post, when all these brands and shops in Japan had their own aero parts that were unique to just the shop. but take into consideration that there were A LOT of kits from JDM land that were just HORRIBLE looking. sure SexyStyle is one of the exceptions (and i do agree that Veilside was just horrible looking as well) but in my ventures over the last 6 months in looking for certain parts, ive found that there is a reason so many kits were obscure, unpopular and should stay in the past.

also, there is one thing you guys are neglecting to mention (or even acknowledge). the replica parts that so many people frown on... well there are quite a few brands in Japan reproducing OEM aero parts as well as old school aero parts that have been discontinued for some time now. its very common to see replicated OE sideskirts and rear valances on various Japanese sites due to the same reasons as here in the US, OE parts are a dying breed because so many people have destroyed them drifting. then there are smaller brands like TBO who reproduce parts that have been long since discontinued because they resemble OEM bits and are a design or style that never gets old. parts like instant gentleman and rocket bunny are nothing more than a fad and will die off since the market is so over populated with reproductions simply because everyone wants it. unfortunately, rocket bunny in the 240sx scene has become so synonymous with rolling shit boxes that the original idea the designer from rocket bunny wanted to get thru never really happened in this country.

[Corbic]

^ FYI Dorki,

I got nothing but love for you on going out and making your side skirt kit. I'm only mentioning you here because your a great example of "just a guy with a passion" doing something as apposed to the idea that only a "mega million dollar corporation" is able to make anything.

[dorkidori_s13]

Originally Posted by Corbic

^ FYI Dorki,

I got nothing but love for you on going out and making your side skirt kit. I'm only mentioning you here because your a great example of "just a guy with a passion" doing something as apposed to the idea that only a "mega million dollar corporation" is able to make anything.

i wasnt offended or anything, i just wanted to jump into the conversation because its actually going somewhere good for once (its a nice change of pace). a lot of the younger guys have no clue about these older kits that you and i came into the scene with. all they know is people making replicas of either OE parts or Rocket Bunny and its nice to talk about the stuff us old folks like

im personally stoked to be working on the project i am now, it is a replica kit, however... the kit hasnt been produced since 2003 and its a kit us old guys used to absolutely love! (im making a slight update to the front bumper that will really make it look better though) personally, i am looking forward to working up a brand new set of s13 hatch and coupe rear valances later this year with Peter Brock here in town (from BRE fame) to give the 240 scene something original, affordable and very OE inspired.

but please, bring on the the old school kit talk and pictures its just awesome!

[TheRealSy90]

Also, I get really damn annoyed with the dude that keeps posting his Chinese knockoff rocket bunny kits all over every single facebook group. You know who you are.

[dorkidori_s13]

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

Also, I get really damn annoyed with the dude that keeps posting his Chinese knockoff rocket bunny kits all over every single facebook group. You know who you are.

he was banned from zilvia... posting as a vendor after multiple warnings to stop

[ehhhregartless]

Oh yeah, Stillen

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by ehhhregartless

Oh yeah, Stillen

Roush



Saleen



Stillen

[simmode1]

I wish someone would make a Z32 kit that integrated the front bumper and the nose panel as one flush/smooth piece. Can't for the life of my understand the purpose of the stupid ass nose panel...

[Corbic]

I imagine it was there for items under it that mechanics would want access to without pulling the whole front.

Would be cool to see.

[spooled240]

that's where the airbox is. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to pull off the whole front bumper to change an air filter lol

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by spooled240

that's where the airbox is. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to pull off the whole front bumper to change an air filter lol

Makes sense. But if you're living that drift life, you just cut the zip ties to drop the bumper....

[Bushido]

xenon is an USA company, no?

[Bushido]

PDM is outta the states too, i think.