just out of curiosity. I seldom find anyone here asking questions or mods regarding japanese aftermarket parts, like HKS, Tanabe, etc... while all the while i know that those companies have representative in USA. Any reason why? are they expensive? or not suited to USDM cars? Or not street legal in US?

I'm asking this out of curiosity since here, in my part of the world, japanese brands like HKS, Tanabe, Spoon, Mugen, Js Racing, Kakimoto, Fujitsubo, Tein, Apexi, and so on... are highly sought for (even the knock-offs) and they are available only through individual importers (almost none of them have a representative office, the best they have is only a distributor).

 

Honda Fit owners in the US are cheap. They cheap out on everything, they rationalize it with 'why spend 1k on a 15k car,' etc.

Whereas, the people who are willing to spend the money, don't need to ask questions.

 

The reason those distributors have a us based company is due to the overwhelming sales coming from the us. Not just fits use these parts. They are well known in all the japanese import cars. These companies sell more product to americans then any other country in the world. This is the real reason for us based branches. Has nothing to do with cheap.

However knock offs are the reason these companies are taking such a big hit in sales. Greddy is now doing away with their us version die to this. Even I rock knock offs with my rotas. However these are the only part on my car that are fake. Right now im saving for japanese wheels, however I wil rock my rotas mostly. "real" wheels wil be used for shows and photo shoots only.

Hope this answered your question.

 

HKS has closed in the US. The US regulations killed the GE8 as no JDM aero kits would fit except Mugen. We also spoke to Tanabe sponsorship on my Fit and the only best thing they could do is a small discount... too small to even bother and being me on the midwest made matters worse. I have most of my parts ordered from Japan (mostly J's Racing) via local distributor (Fizz). It will be a long time but I will get the fit done... legit.

 

^^ i agree 1000%. not just Fit owners, typical car guys here are cheap. no money, put everything on credit card, can't pay off, sell car, sell parts, blame it on 'financial reasons' while it's really just their stupidity and poor planning skills.

anyway, there are guys like me that do buy only authentic JDM bits for my cars though. but it is not cheap at all to me either especially with this f-ed up exchange rate.

 

Jdm for a 30 year old like myself= japan domestic market. Jdm to the younger crowd = poke,tuck,roll and any thing made in japan. Example domo kun is not an original honda part he's not jdm. With that I spend all my money on honda bits or spoon products many do just if you know what's up you don't have to ask

 

^^ also i dont even think the domo dolls are even made in japan? lol

 

Geez you're like a freaking oracle.

I never thought about it that way, but what you said seems pretty damn accurate.

 

And if you notice, the three people I've quoted and 'd at all have SUPER clean cars...I see a correlation.

Pm'ing.

 

^ mike speaks the truth. Most just dont like the truth

 

well, that does explains alot. oo, btw, i was referring to our fit community, not the whole tuner or import mass community... i understand that for the import or at a minimum honda crowd, those brands are still flying off shelves.... i just wondered for the fits... but your logic sounds good...

 

To be honest, the US as a whole seems to support the replica/low quality movement than I'd like as of late.

I've seen MANY 350z/370z/S2000/EVO/STi's adorned with low buck parts.

So I think the logic outlined in my first post fits quite well for this car community specifically (and for many others) I think a big problem is the American way of thought. We are a group of people who on the whole have a need for instant gratification and for many Americans saving up for something you want is not even an option, its what has caused our economic meltdowns.

The thinking is:

Well, I really want these Volk TE37's BUT I can get Varrstoens that look very similar and I won't have to save up for 3 months. (Not a dig at those of you who have replica wheels because you have priorities in life, life > cars, just feel this is a good example)

On a semi-related note, but just something that bothers me:

Some people make the argument that buying used real deal parts is just as bad as buying replicas. I like to think of it as: They bought real parts once, they'll buy them again. In a sense, I'm giving the seller the ability to become a customer once again for the originating companies. /rant

 

well mike, totally agree with you.... for me, i run knock off, if i still can't find the original. when i can get it, i swapped it with originals even if it's second hand (provided in good condition and nicely priced)... Happens with my muffler... I run knock offs for about 3months, until i can get my hands on an original hks... Hey, in my defense, the knock off still gives me more torque compared to OEM mufflers...

 

Only knockoff part I will ever run:

Replica aero on the FC that I'm going to pick up in a year or two.

Only reason for that being it will get destroyed.

I will have the real deal aero for hard parking purposes though.

 

mike brings up great points again.

i also like to add that replicas regardless of where the originals are made (japan, US, italy, germany, etc) they dont pay a dime to the original designers who actually spent the time and money to design and manufacture the original. it's an unethical business practice. varrostoen for example even copy/pastes ads by Enkei and uses it as if it was their own word for word from what i saw in the past on other forums. wtf is with that?!

but then again as mike mentioned, there is a market here for fakes and no legal action taken by the originators cause they dont have the money or the time so this problem doesn't go away. it's quite sad cause in the long run these original tuner shops will eventually phase out and we will be left with even less selection of real goods and only left with a vast selection of garbage.

bottomline: poor/cheezy folks only think about getting around a day, a week, maybe a month, no future plans, no concrete direction or vision. they spend money on silly little things just as soon as they have some cash. they only live for the moment and blame everything on everyone else. that mentality is plagueing the US and destroying us while china is laughing all day long without ever needing to sniff on NOS. <= china

 

Be wise where you buy your legit wheels. I've heard companies like WORK WHEELS and RAYS have been stripping "authorized dealer" status to online and local shops that carry VARRSTOEN. Some of these shops stripped of dealership status are still selling Work and or Rays wheels which don't carry warranty.

 

To the OP, go on Honda-Tech, you'll see plenty of US based people asking about the JDM parts you're talking about.

I think the user base here on FF is a little different and a little older which is why you don't see it as much.

As far as real vs. fake parts, I can't stand companies that do direct knockoffs including names and logos (mostly china) and I refuse to buy that garbage.

Companies like Rota... meh, whatever, they serve a different market segment. When they start putting "made in Russia" stamps on the inside of their Slipstreams i'll get mad. Until then, i'm glad they're around to make decent quality, affordable wheels. I'm definitely not spending 2k on wheels that i'm putting on my DD.

 

For me, that's where used real wheels and companies like Enkei and Kosei come in to play. Prices are right around reps/Rotas/Drags/etc and the quality is worlds better.

I completely support them in doing so. I would do the same thing, why support someone who doesn't fully support you?

Cliffs: I 100% agree with Ken.

 

I will never be able to wrap my thoughts around I only spent so much for whatever car so why spend this much for whatever part. My suspension cost me damn near 27% the price of my Fit, I know I'm in the vast minority when it comes to this, but I'll be damned if I ever buy lesser quality for my vehicles, I would rather not buy anything and wait till I can buy good stuff.

OP with the $uck being what it is, prices on Japanese pieces are ridiculously expensive right now. I always like to point out, back in 2003 I bought my RIP DC5R Integra for $24500, fast forward (but still rewind) to November 2009, I bought my Fit for $23500($25.5 today). If the exchange was 100/1 at both times, Fit would have been $20k and the DC5R $31k.

 

Sheesh it's a 15K car when new @ 109 hp! It's not or will ever be a performance car, sub compact B class. Sorry to say it is a disposable car. Why would ya spend large coin on it? IDU.

O'ya that reminds me haha my SS muffler came in today I'll have it on like OEM for way under a C note. For me it's a look and a feel to the car not something as hard to attain as a performance car w/ the fit. I work way to hard to do anything more than pocket change on MzFiT. But on the other hand the Charger is a whole different story

So I guess as long as we enjoy our Fits and have the money to spend on them...
"It's All Good"!
Enjoy,
Big Mike