ronmcdon

Same here.
I'm not going to buy an exhaust that costs 1/6th the price of my evo!
I don't see any reasonable justification for that.
Maybe they should have developed & marketed their products for luxo cars if they demanded such prices.

What does ARC offer that competitors don't besides shiny parts & higher prices?
I see no reason to care.

Now if it was a quality parts company, with reasonable rates, & sold something I actually wanted, (i.e Tomei, Koni, AMS, etc) I would feel bad.

sidewaysil80

as it's been said numerous times already:
i don't think knockoffs are killing these "industry giants"...it's their prices.

lets check out some of ARC's pricing shall we...
$150 dollars for an oil cap, $270 for a cooling panel, $260 for a coil pack cover? c'mon seriously. the mark up has to be RIDICULOUS...and don't even try to blame that on shipping costs or R&D lol.

EDIT:
damn those dasterdly knock offs from china...they forced ARC to charge $8,400 for a 350z exhaust
http://www.nissanraceshop.com/produc...k-350z-exhaust

TheWolf

you got to admit. That exhaust looks complex as hell. a pair of flanges and a straight pipe. Oh and a muffler..


ARC going out of business would be like saying cheap casio digital watches put rolex out of business.

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stockbee

Didn't have time to read the article, but define "belly up" I assume bankruptcy is being referred to, but while people have one definition of bankruptcy in their mind, there are in reality a few types of bankruptcy that can be experienced, some that aren't so bad at all really.

Having said that, ARC might be back at it sooner than some of us think.

FRpilot

that's equivalent to obtaining a US government contract if you are a weapons and defense company or building contractor. i think more high end aftermarket car parts manufacturer need to follow this route and obtain contracts from race car teams or just stay small like some of the small japanese auto shops or clearcorners.com who build quality parts for a small market.

that's exactly the one item i wanted from ARC, but it was discontinued years ago and you would likely have to get it used. i've seen some importers get used ones in, but they are based in australia. only other thing i wanted from ARC is one of their intercoolers since ARC is known for it's advanced cooling technology, but i bought a blitz LM since it took forever until ARC started to be distributed by Mackin.

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FRpilot

i always thought the term "belly up" has its origins and referred to dead fish such when goldfish die they float to the top usually with their "belly up"?

you are right. usually companies can go into chapter 11 and chapter 13 bankruptcy to reorganize and get rid of some of their debt (allowed to walk away without paying it or only paying pennies on the dollar) until chapter 7 bankruptcy, where they are forced to liquidate to pay off remaining debt and shut its doors.

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mrmephistopheles

Yeah, who needs quality parts, anyway? Lets force all the companies who give a damn about making a quality product out of business and only buy from the cheapest, poorest quality manufacturers out there! I have no doubt that you're leading the way on this front.

I think it's less about the design and more about the material and manufacture process. Consider that stainless steel is between $0.85 and $2.25USD/lb, depending upon the form you get and the quantity you order (shipping not included). Taking an exhaust with an example cost of $500, that makes the ratio between material cost and final product cost 1:333 (assuming an avg cost of $1.50/lb. For the full Ti exhaust (catback, no Y-pipe back and not just Ti muffler or tip), it is 1:466, assuming the lowest cost I could find for Titanium ingots of $18/lb. I'm sure the production stuff they use for making the exhausts is more expensive as it has to be formed and pressed. I'd be willing to bet that cost would bring it to ~$25/lb, given that the higher ingot pricing was $22/lb. At $25/lb, the ratio is then 1:333. Now I'll grant you that a SS exhaust weighs less than a Ti exhaust, and so that pound goes further with Ti, but from a material standpoint, the price makes sense. I don't know if Ti is any more difficult to weld than SS, but I'm sure it takes specialized training and/or equipment.
Yes, ARC stuff is expensive. VERY expensive. Have I looked at the prices of some of their products and thought they were exorbitant? Of course. Do I think that their high pricing is a good reason for them to go out of business? No.

They could have lowered their prices to generate more sales at ANY time. That they chose not to in an effort to keep their quality standards high says more to me than anything else.

Obviously the sentiment I have isn't shared among you, and we're all entitled to have and maintain our own opinions - I just hope that everyone's opinions are based more heavily on fact than feeling.

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VROOOM

im sorry, but $4800 for an exhaust is a joke. i could get 4 titanium Tomei exhausts for the price of the ARC exhaust.

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ronmcdon

^^^
And what purpose would even a $1k Tomei exhaust serve, over say a $600 Greddy exhaust?
I understand the idea of buying genuine well designed products for a reasonable premium.
I don't understand, in terms of practical function, buying some super-high class product for an exorbitant premium.

DreamN

Companies like that simply cater to a different group of people. You and I can't justify it nor understand because we are not that group.

When a company limits its consumer base to such a small percentage it realizes the risks it is taking.

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jamg

did they even create and innovate car parts?

more like polish it and jack up the price 10x that what's it worth.

no wonder they went bankrupt

killerGSR

arc intercooler...pretty cheap
JDM ARC International front mount intercooler - eBay (item 260711061592 end time Mar-22-11 00:38:33 PDT)


i love arc products...It's a shame.

FaLKoN240

There are clothing companies that make suits that cost as much as our cars. I can't name any of those brands because I don't shop for that stuff, nor have I ever considered it.

But if you were into collecting suits, you would probably damn well know the brands and why they're so expensive.

Same goes for ARC, just because we're all poor and driving 15+ year old cars and pinching pennies to toss into our money pit, doesn't mean everyone else is.

Stop thinking so small people.

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BlackZenkiS14

exactly. Very well put.

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VROOOM

thats just it. the people buying 5k plus exhausts arent driving 30k evos and 350z's

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Davidna2fi

Just to chime in here with what I have seen in my area...

There is a hospital and a bunch of medical research offices that have high dollar cars, and yet I see them staying in my $1K a month apartment complex only durring the week, like monday through thursday night. They leave their Aplina B7 or AMG Mercedes under covered parking and then take their econo Lexus hybrid on the weekends to wherever they actually live... Basically saying it's more efficent to just have a place to sleep and relax durring the week instead of actually going home with a 2 hr comute back to who knows where in TX. And believe me, there are some insane housing in TX in the middle of no where...watch MTV cribs [PLUG]

So ARC catering to those people, ya I can see that.

BustedS13

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mrmephistopheles

Well played!

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godrifttoday

the problem is that 240sx are not ferrari's, where 5k exhaust are common, most 240sx owners can justifiy paying these high prices

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mau5trap

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Red Square

auto select Yellow Shark is beast.



ARC is stuff is nice. hand made and pretty..... performance-wise nothing too spectacular. but they produced some cool stuff.

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mau5trap

HKS on top homie!!

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chiboy002

All i'm saying is "why the hell would i pay $800 for a new Bride when i can get two for $600? A seat is a seat, fiberglass is fiberglass, and as long as it holds me fine then i'm happy..."

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raz0rbladez909

Because one may actually prevent you from dying in an accident while the other one allows you to look fashionably dead in your pictures after you're in an accident. Its safety equipment dude, not something I'd really be interested in cheaping out on. There are somethings I could justify going with a lesser brand on, but if you are looking for bucket seats Sparco and Momo make great entry level seats that actually are tested unlike that taiwan/canada/china bride crap.

Just because I can't justify paying the price for ARC products doesn't mean I support knockoffs, it just means i'll be taking my money to a legit company that produces a quality product that doesn't rape my wallet.

Honestly they may be a niche company, but if there isn't enough customer base in your niche willing to pay the price for your product, obviously you should be rethinking something about your company if you want to continue to exist.

And last but not least a few of you keep talking about their grill oil cooler, how hard do you guys really think it would be to fab up? Get a thin oil cooler and run some lines and a thermostat, really shouldn't cost you in the $1k range to create, and you can mount it however you'd like.

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2004 Corvette Z06 / 1971 240z

BustedS13

there are companies that make suits that cost ten times what an s13 is worth. that's all i really wanted to say.

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FaLKoN240

This as well.

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an_orange_s2k

wow sucks that theyre going out of business. my buddy had an ARC exhaust on his NSX and it sounded amazing...pretty hefty price tag though but it sure was purrrty

FRpilot

why spend $600 on a greddy exhaust when you can get megan exhaust for $275... then why that when you can get ebay exhaust for $200... and why that when you can just get a 3'' steel pipe welded by an exhaust shop for less than $100?

ask a girl who is into purses why she buys a 3k gucci purse instead of one from target for $30 or why some guys spend $300 on a LV belt buckle and another $500 on an LV wallet. there are other people out there with more money than us or into certain high status items that they spend most of their money on them.

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ronmcdon

But yet, ARC makes ritzy parts, like a 1,300 radiator for old 'pos' cars like our 240sx's.

ARC-Auto Rod Controls Nissan 240SX Auto Rod Controls SMC Radiator ASMC36S14

No doubt not everyone isn't cheaping out on buying ARC parts.
There's just not enough of a market to support that type of business, apparently otherwise they would be doing just fine.
To be fair, it is impressive they stayed in business as long as they have.

drift freaq

Credit where credit is due. LOL very well put

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