GoTuningUnlimited

Don't wanna get too much into this subject and it has nothing to do with authentic vs replica but rather expanding the scope of your mind and putting things into perspective. Just keep in mind that a lot of the prices are about 35% higher than they "should" be because of the ridiculous JPY-USD exchange rate these days. However, even after that, the items are expensive because ASM utilizes the highest quality manufacturers for their products. They make NOTHING in house and everything is outsourced to the best manufacturers available because that's the only way to produce the highest quality products. Their prices are based on the cost of manufacturing, not because they pulled the prices out of thin air. Sometimes it's hard to explain or break down why things are expensive but there is always a reason.

Most people wonder why a piece of titaniun that is CNC cut would be so expensive because even though the material is expensive and the machining is expensive, it can't be THAT expensive, but it's in the details where the costs lie. It's actually the surface cut and the laser etching that makes the product expensive. In order to produce such a smooth surface, the CNC machine has to take a few more passes with a finer bit so the production time is much longer per item. Also, the speed and type of laser used to make such a precise, smooth, and fine etching that is consistent every time, it is actually very expensive. If you compare Mugen bolts, the lettering is 3x thicker, not perfectly consistent every time, has small blotches, and has a slight texture to the letters compared to ASM. The Mugen bolts also have more coarse machining lines on the surface of the metal. These small details may be good enough for Mugen standards but not good enough for ASM and even though you almost need a microscope to see them, their philosophy is to utilize the the extent of current manufacturing capabilities. Combine the cost of labor in Japan, exchange rate, and expensive machinery, you have a recipe for ridiculous prices. Is this overkill for a damn bolt? Hell yes. Do they sell out quickly and have a huge demand to produce more? Yes.

Their body parts are produced at the Challenge technology center which is a multi-million dollar composites manufacturer. The machinery that produces ASM body parts are in the millions of dollars so when you compare the cost of the facilities to the cost of the product, it's actually a bargain. A $6000 Mugen hardtop produced in a $5 million autoclave vs. a $1000 hardtop coming out of some random warehouse in who knows where. I feel like consumers are getting ripped off buying parts that cost less than half the price of ASM and Mugen but it only costs less than 1/10th to produce them.

And $18,000 for dampers are not expensive at all, keep in mind that no one else would be crazy enough to source SRE damper for use on an S2000. This is SRE, Sachs Race Engineering, a top level motorsports grade company, not SACHS which are commonly used on street cars. SRE is responsible for the dampers on Ferrari F1 cars and I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari F1 dampers cost $18,000 just for one spring. Is this completely overkill for a HONDA? Yes. Is it the almost best product money can buy? Yes. ASM's philosophy has always been the latter.

If you don't like it, there are plenty of other things to complain about. What about Sony's OLED 11-inch TV they sold for $2500? Who in their right mind would buy a $2500 11-inch TV? Simple fact is that these are luxury goods, and there are tons of other consumer products that are ridiculously priced for their value. I can guarantee you that Louis Vuiton makes at least 5x more profit on any of their handbags than ASM does on any of their product but there are still hoards of people lining up to buy them.

I'm actually happy that there is someone making these ridiculous products for S2000. It just allows people to see what the pinnacle of S2000 development can achieve. These products aren't designed for everyone. They're not designed nor capable to be mass produced. They're the ideas of one extremely unique individual who no one quite understands and either comes up with ingenious products or products that make you scratch your head. But it's people like that who keep the world interesting and makes things for us to talk about.

K LO QUE

Damm I've been SEARCHING for this!!! I need to replace my broken plastic one... who else sells this???