thanks for the great pics and all your efforts

 

enough with bad mouthing either of these companies.

you cant fault comptech for charging a premium when they were the sole provider of a product and when their product is all but acura endorsed...


obx is awesome as well for giving these new toyz that i can afford to us.

 

well said

 

That's a great analogy. The first to enter the market basically
collects the most. Competitors who enter later only get the cleanup, or scrap generic market.

Aside: I think someone's been sniffing too much exhaust fumes in the tirade on CT.

 

What better mod can you get for under $500? But , can they pass smog?

 

And do you think an Acura dealership would install them if they are not CARB cert?

What would you estimate the cost of installation to be?

Thanks,

-Ash

 

Thanks man - its been a good amount of work but I'd say its worth it!

Awww, thank you guys for all the help since I've been here -- I think I am getting all misty
Alright, nothing wrong with capitalism but what OBX is doing is also part of capitalism ... DEAL

I dont know about CARB certification so I am going to talk to the man over at OBX. Ill let you guys know what he says as soon as I hear it!

That would really depend on the dealership. I dont think that they would install it if you are in CA and this product does not have certification as its against the law I think BUT, I bet you there are a zillion and one performance shops there that will do it for ya . No idea what the cost would be. You could probably ask some of the members here what they have paid to have the CT's put on. I bet that price would be similar. But, I am going to ask about the CARB certification and let you guys know!

AdamR

 

UPDATE ON CARB CERTIFICATION
Although they do not have CARB certification yet, they are in the process of getting it. That means hold on all you CA peeps or you could just get it anyways .... up to you.....

Peace....

AdamR

 

SHIT, they copied everything else, why don’t they just pry the CARB certification tag off the Comptech’s and weld it on theirs.

Shawn S

 

These won't fit the 6spd though. Any plans on that?

 

All you fellas with comptech's installedm, how much did it cost to install them? just trying to get a rough estimate on install costs of theses things.

 

Well, if I remember correctly the only diff between the 6speed and the 5auto is a small bend in one of the pipes right? Well, when this is all said and done I could talk to bucky @ OBX and tell him that there is a big interest in these headers for the 6er also....

AdamR

 

I paid like $200 to have them installed by my dealer.

 

Here's a little education for those of you who don't understand why seemingly similar products have different prices.

First, Comptech products are made here in California by Americans. Our welders are THE BEST that there are and they come with a premium price tag. Our products are not made in Mexico or Tiawan where workers earn just a few dollars a day.

We use US made stainless steel because it is a superior raw material to the junk made in Taiwan.

Our products are sold primarily thru a network of dealers and distributors. Each of those companies needs to make a profit in order to stay in business.

It costs us more to build our header than the dirtbags at OBX sell theirs for. Yes, companies that do nothing but copy other companies products are DIRTBAGS! OBX couldn't design and develop a quality performance part if their life depended on it!

Keep these things in mind the next time you or a friend gets downsized out of a job because the company you worked for lost market share to cheap imitations from Taiwan. You do get what you pay for.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

 

Whew, thank goodness those dirtbags that make PCs "stole" the design from IBM.

 

i understand comptechmikes comments, however, i still dont see any justification for the price tag.....the fact that OBX can manufacture the same headers and ship them to your door for $495 bucks AND turn a profit shows that the actual COST of the headers to OBX cant be more than 300 bucks per set.....now, im not sure what Comptech charges for their wholesale price to people like dean, but considering deans prices, the Comptech Wholesale price is probably somewhere around 800....now, obviously comptech went through the work of actually designing these things, as well as getting the carb certification, BUT those costs are surely long since re-couped and there should be no need for the continued over inflated price....at this point comptech should have easily sold enough sets of these headers to make back all of their initial costs for R and D as well as the cost of CARB certification...

SO, at this point, we still know that Comptech uses the best materials and probably has better welders, etc..so there is still a higher cost of production for the comptech headers over the OBX headers....SO..REALISTICALLY, the OBX headers are a wholesale cost of approx. 300 dollars...and all things being said, at THIS point, it seems logical that the ACTUAL cost to comptech (wholesale cost) for manufacturing a set of these headers, should be no more than about $500 bucks...

this is allowing an additional $200 dollars due to Comptechs superior materials and labor...so realistically, Comptechs headers should be going for 650-700 bucks from someone like dean. obviously he cant sell them to us for that now because comptech still charges its over-inflated wholesale price to him, but at this point comptech will have to make some serious desicions because they are about to lose alot of business for the V6 headers to OBX due to the SIGNIFICANT price difference for a nearly identical product.....if comptechs headers were 650-700 bucks, id still want them as opposed to the OBX, but considering that $1000+ price tag, there is no way most people can justify going with comptech anymore....

 

Good to hear from Mike @ Comptech. I agree with him 100%....I'm interested to know how long OBX has tested their headers...and also want to see some dyno's as well.....also, after people start to order them....let's see if this really is a quality product after a few months use. Before we jump on the bandwagon, these questions need to be answered.

 

1)haha. "dirtbags"? I'm sure they didn't STEAL their exact designs from CT b/c that stuff is probably patented.

2)It is true that American made steel is better but for considerably low temperatures of an engine compared to other heavy duty uses for steel I'm sure Taiwan's "junk" us plenty good.

3)Best welders in the world? PLEASE! you can teach any monkey to do labor work. It's like saying you have better crop pickers here in the U.S. then the immigrants who come over from other countries. Labor is labor.

4)EVERY company nowadays does labor outside the US. It's just smart business. Damn those bastards like Intel, AMD, Nike and Coca Cola stealing American jobs so that they can make more money if they create their products in Asia or Mexico.

5) That's too bad that companes in America are being downsized b/c the rest of the world has a lower living standard. I guess that's why you have to be THE BEST at what you do to stay alive.

I'll tell you why comptech sells it for so much. It's b/c they've "earned" the respect through racing and what not so they tihnk they can charge rediculous prices like Dinan. I can give them that. But you DON'T ALWAYS get what you pay for. Why buy a piece of metal that any monkey can make for almost 3 times the cost when you can get a similar item for less? Maybe at a 80% over the competition they could sell those headers, but if these work then there's not a chance. Intel dropped prices when AMD and Cyrix kicked in the market hard. The same will happen to Comptech.

 

Maybe you could train a monkey to strike an arc and manage to stick a couple pieces of metal together. But that isn't the same as what our welders do. I've worked for several manufacturers in the automotive industry, including another exhaust manufacturer, and our welders are the best I've ever seen BAR NONE! There are welders with many years of experience in the aerospace industry who've applied to work here but couldn't pass our welding test. Over the years we've put our cars and our products in the winners circle in IMSA and Indy Car racing and we build our street products to the same level. That's the standard we set for ourselves and we won't change.

Remember, there is a difference between "Made in Taiwan" and "Made in America".

 

Mike, I appreciate your comment....

But in is single word, or 2 welcome to the Globlization, the American way... welcome to the competition, Viva-la Open Free Market...... and deal with it

You were commending premiun price because of the monopoly...

And your design is not patended, it's well know design to anyone skilled in the art of making Headers. Weren't you copying the Acura Design but yours is just Free-flow SS welded version vs Acura's iron-cast version?

At least Prototype Racing can claim that their design is equal-length racing headers, yours as it is the case with OBX and Acura's is just manifold exhaust.

Thank you and have a good day
BTW, I like your Comptech Anti-Sway bars....

 

Geez, i didnt see the "made in the usa" discussion coming..... and i do have to agree with myself and all the others who supported a little thing we like to call CAPITALISM .... please dont even make this argument. Does this mean that we should not ever buy american made semiconductors and such because it is PROVEN that what asia has to offer is better.... please, i support that you work at comptech but i think we all know it takes you maybe $200 max to make the headers that you make and you are charging basically for a name. .... any further retorts to this i will not even dignify with an answer. granted i am not bashing your process or business model, i am just saying that if someone can make the same product, even if it does not look the same or is consrtucted the same, and perform the same then it is viable to the market..... you cant feasibly charge twice the price just on the 'better materials' justification ....

 

Damn i cant wait for the DYNO>>>

 

arent STOCK headers welded in asia?? if not for the CL-S than for the RL? or NSX? or whatever?

I dont mind getting quality that comes standard on every honda..

500 dollars? im gonna wait a month, i'l either get the OBX headers, or maybe comptech will lower its price by 55% because of OBX and i'l get the comptechs...thats also if they tweek the hp a few to be equal with or better than the OBX..

All i can say is wow, i would have never thought i would own headers, anything over 1k is crazy for me to spend on headers...but now, even me, the average joe, can have headers

i wonder if digitalgm is gonna respond to me too i like how he responds to everyone that posts.

 

btw, mike@comptech,

while i feel for what you are saying...what is happening to u guys with respect to OBX is normal...every product goes through that...
kinda funny how you tried to put guilt trips on OBX buyers

btw, i have comptech FRONT lowering springs, and their great!

 

Any company that calls another company names like this below, can kiss my business goodbye. You have no respect and saying they copied. Damn, there are so many other header companys out for other cars, but they all have similar design. You know why? Because only certain designs flow good, and some do not. So happens this design is the one that flows the best.

So personally you can go stick it Comptech, and I can almost promise it does not cost NEAR that much even with all the stuff you said to build a HEADER in good condition. I have known people who produce stuff like this, and it costs actually half.

 

what the fuck is your problem..im from taiwan..and this few dollars a day is totally bullshit..there are workers made more moeny then you does..get your fact straight before you insult my country and my people

why dont you compare your might american products to Japanese products

GO FUCK YOUSELF

 

digitalgm,

There isn't a chance in the world that it costs us anywhere near $200 to build this header. As I stated before, it cost us more to built this header than OBX sells their's for. How much more plain and to the point can that comment be?? Taiwanese welders probably earn $10 a day. Welders here in the US make $20-$30 an hour. Some maybe even more than that. Do the friggen math!! Maybe if you owned a business, you could better understand the economics of trying to running a business in America.

I'm not telling you to not buy their header. By all means, cost is more important to you, so buy theirs. But to go badmouthing us without understanding what is right shows nothing but ignorance and rudeness on your part.

I wasn't trying to lay a guilt trip on anyone. I was just trying to educate some people on the differences between the products. But apparently they know more about our company than we do.

And here's another thought for you...If they made an EXACT COPY of our header, how can it make more power?? The best they could do is match our power output. They would have to change the design in order for it to make more power.

To you Comptech customers, I thank you for your support and I appologize for having gotten a little hot under the collar. It's these rude people whom I have no patience for. I am signing off now and will not post any more comments to this board.

Thank you.

 

Is that you Mike B?
well anyway, I still plan to buy the Comptech headers! The welds are just beatiful! Anyone ever chrome plate the headers?

 

I agree.

I think you owe OBX an apology for calling them Dirtbags.

Your own advice just slapped you in the face.

did it hurt? did u like it?

:ghey:

 

You’re welcome Mike. (I hope you're still reading this)
I’m running with your Springs, Sway Bars & Headers and love them all.

I understand EXACTLY what you’re saying about labor & material costs.
I’m a Mechanical Engineer and I go through this give and take every day at work with fabricators.
We had one project recently that required a 60FT long Hydraulic arm in 3 separate sections.
We got one estimate from a shop in Pittsburgh, PA for 90,000-dollars.
The same item was proposed by a fabricator in ROMANIA for 35,000-dollars and that included shipping to the customer in Seattle, Washington.

The project manager says buy from Romania so our overall margin is better, but I’m worried about the quality of the product when it gets on site.

Shawn S

 

Of course the stock shit is from asia ... but remember, DONT BUY AN ACURA - you are just downsizing america.... And, I refuse to respond to your :ghey: post.... hahah :p .... digitalgm loves all.....

While I do agree that the comment was uncalled for, I also have to say they have some spectacular products that do a good job competing with the market and not creating their own market.... You are totally right about the header design though, there is going to be ONE design that flows the best... and if its CT's so be it....


Alright buddy, cool down - I agree that the post was a little out of hand but lets not get out of hand. Seriously, lets not start this argument of USA vs All .... sheez people

Mike, i do have my own business and I do manage costs just like CT does and I totally understand what you have done. I do think its a little general to say that all tiwaniese [sic] welders make $10 a day ... not everything outside of america is sweat shop labor. And, if you are stating that your products are so high above the rest, I believe you but I still think it would not hurt to be more competitive in the market. I mean its okay to own the market for a while but at some point you may have to bow out of this spot. Dont get me wrong - I love your products and I think that there is a considerable amount of r&d that goes into them but I also think its silly to just ignore the competition in the market. Oh well ..... and one last thing - please remember that you are talking to your possible consumers here not a bunch of peers so some of the things you are saying might be putting your business in jeoprady. Now mike, I dont know what your position in the company is but I would assume that once prototype and OBX really step into the market its going to be slim pickins for you unless you lower your price. just a tip from one businessman to another....

Yep, they are an outstanding product. And, for some people having the best looking and best constructed product is a priority - it is for me but just not with this car. My other car is my '65 stang... for others, it is only performance that is necessary....

you are so :ghey: ... you like whips dont you .... heheh

Shawn, again I totally agree with you about the quality of the sways, springs and such. Again though, if a $500 product performs the same as a $1000 product, a normal consumer is going to go for the $500 product and suffer the possible consequences.... ce la vi..... :ghey: .... gotta love that whip


AdamR

 

I propose that those who are ranting come up with a project to manufacture something and do it. Just kidding, we all don't have the time.

My point is that until you are in this environment and produce a product, which it sounds like most here are in a service industry and have no clue about this but feel the need to spout ignorant statements, you should keep your opinions to your self.

There are many fickle people here who like to make blind statements with nothing but un-objective ideas to back it.

Now, to make statements on previous posts; Mike should have been more political in his posts, that was bad business manners.

But outside of that there are validities to his statements. Yes, it does cost less to copy a design and don't comment on the stock system (that is hardly a copy and we can get into details if you choose too). By copying you don't go through the time to measure, cut and re-fit pipes, etc. You never take one measurement and it works the first time, this is done over and over until it works. If you have never made anything your self you won't understand and if you haven’t I ask you to shut up. I have made several small scale parts through the years and the time invested for just small test parts can be huge not to mention the extra time to make it a sellable product which I have rarely done.

No one can debate labor rates; they can be as much as 5% in comparison to other countries. Just do the math, if it takes two hours to make the headers in the states at $25/hour and overseas it costs $2/hour there is a hug differences. This does not include the mark ups to cover benefits, insurance, taxes, etc (I see many here know nothing about running a business). That roughly $50 for labor turns into $100 in the end after all things included. Would you give up your benefits to have the company you work for lower their prices?? Compared to the roughly $5 in the end to cover overseas manufacturing.

The CARB certification is another factor but one I do not know the costs but would assume it could make a $10 impact on the price.

The material cost is a major issue regardless of quality. Due to many of the afore mentioned aspects, we pay more for the similar material in this country. However, and this is not a knock at Asian countries, but the quality yield tends to be much better from domestic suppliers. This again lends to higher costs.

So, when you analyze it in the end, if you account for R&D, CARB certification, double the material costs, have a labor rate twenty times the cost and not to mention the overhead, the additional costs are justified and the price is right.

With that said, this is simple business and sh@t occurs. I assume Comptech also knows this and prices their products knowing they will be copied by less costly manufacturers so they need to cash in while they can. Again, this is simple business. Had the OBX headers been out when I decided to buy headers, it would have chosen them; I also normally buy generic drugs versus brand, which is a previous mentioned and sound analogy.

Do I have remorse in buying the Comptech headers, hell no? I have enjoyed them on multiple vehicles for years and that enjoyment factor alone justifies the additional cost Hrmm, spend $500 more and enjoy the benefits for 1.5 years longer or wait for lower prices, I take the enjoyment factor… That extra $28 per month spent was enjoyed all of the time… Plus, I know they were built buy a company who has a great reputation and builds products for some of the most demanding racing experiences out there. Can OBX say the same??

BTW, Just my honest opinion…

 

Just out of curiosity, what type of business would this be. This is just an assumption, but would it be in the service industry??

I'm just chiming in because that does make a difference when justifying primarily service labor costs versus the manufacturing issues. These would be things such as purchasing, inventory, production control, shipping and again labor to name the least...

 

Great post Scalbert

My favorite line……

 

uhm...so u don't want a fish sandwich?

 

last i heard from steve from OBX, OBX won't warranty an installation on a non-listed application (i.e. the acura cl). is this still the case? just curious. is bucky at OBX or SSAutochrome?

 

Headers! Do any of you remember the Header comparisons in SCC! They compared at least a dozen different headers. I've read threads where cheaper headers cracked,leaked, rusted etc. But for Mike comptech to start calling OBX and companies like them dirtbuckets is incredibly Arrogant!!! Wow dude, what possesses you to come on this forum and start shouting crap like that. If you can't control yourself better with that hot collar stay off this forum! That said, Comptech makes the industries highest quality products and thats why I run them. But would have bought OBX header in a heart beat if dynos were comprable to Comptech! Ok, I've had my say and will now chill. Bye!

 

well guys you have been fooled....

ComptechMike is not MikeB from Comptech. Just from the wording of the post you can tell.

Let say someone from here is just trying to start some shit.

B/c half you guys here are either really poor and can barely afford the CL that a 500 buck header is worth it to you.

One statement you get what you pay for.

If you want quality you get expensive durable stuff. You want quanitity you get cheap stuff.

It like the difference between a Rolls Royce and Hyundai.

If you want a marginal quality OBX header get it...
If you want a fairly-priced high quality Comptech get it...

To each there own... If you want to be a typically riceboy and get cheap crappy stuff go ahead...

 

Haha riceboy shit? That is great ! Not all of us are making RACE CARS here .... DUH! Yes its NICE to have the best that is offered but to the average joe, that is not always important! Now, my other car IS a race car and it is important to have the BEST quality stuff but this is my daily driver as I am sure it is for many of you guys. .... So, lay off the rice boy comment.....

AdamR