AMEN
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Babcock" <BillB@bnj.com>
To: "'Larry Young'" <cartravel@pobox.com>; <fot@autox.team.net>
Cc: "Fred Houston" <ModelTGrg@aol.com>; "Tulsaab" <tulsaab@hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 8:34 AM
Subject: RE: Triumph Performance Parts, buying a Pig in a Poke?
> If only that problem were confined to triumph parts. In defense of the
> vendors, technical information generally doesn't belong in marketing
> materials since the overwhelming majority of people are not capable of
> interpreting their meaning and don't care much. But the overwhelming
> majority of performance parts are made by guesswork or formulaic
> approaches. Test data and specs aren't just "guarded", they often don't
> exist. When they do, manufacturers have found again and again that buyers
> are unsophisticated and always think more is more. More duration is
> "racier", bigger carbs mean more power, bigger is better. All anyone needs
> to do is to publish a bigger number to outperform your numbers. So they
> don't play.
>
> It's stupid and painful, but the mass market trains these folks.
>
> That's why in small, technical markets (like the REAL racing world--F1,
> ALMS and Le Mans, Factory work, WRC, anywhere where people race cars for
> their one and only job) the technical details abound. In larger markets,
> it's all bullshit.
>
> I make my living from that bullshit. Good thing I found something I have a
> natural talent for.
>
> Bill
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Larry Young [mailto:cartravel@pobox.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 7:07 AM
> To: fot@autox.team.net
> Cc: Fred Houston; Tulsaab; Sam Clark
> Subject: Triumph Performance Parts, buying a Pig in a Poke?
>
>
> Since I'm new to Triumph racing and performance modifications, I've been
> spending a lot of time trying to find out what is out there, what is
> good and what is not. I've been amazed at how difficult it is to get
> technical details. I've paraphrased a typical conversation below.
>
> Larry: Gee, you have a beautiful glossy catalog, but it lacks many
> technical details, so I have a few questions.
> Vendor: Yes
> Larry: Regarding your high performance heads, what flow bench numbers
> do you get?
> Vendor: I don't have any flow bench figures for our full race head, but
> they work extremely well. Trust me.
> Larry: Ok then, you offer a distributor which is modified for racing.
> What is the advance curve?
> Vendor: I don't have advance curve figures, but I know they work real
> good. Trust me.
> Larry: Ok then, I'd like more information on your performance
> camshafts. Your catalog gives no data for timing events or lift. As a
> minimum, I would like to know the timing seat-to-seat and at 0.050 or
> better yet the complete lift curve.
> Vendor: I can supply the seat-to-seat numbers and lift only, but I know
> they work real good. We tend not to publish too much data on our
> products, because we don't want them to be copied.
> Larry: But if I wanted to copy your products I would only have to buy
> one. Your secretive policy hurts only those that want to comparison shop
> for speed parts. This could be a smoke screen to conceal the inferiority
> of your parts. How do I know I'm not buying a pig in a poke?
|