Between the east and west coast, the car scenes are two total different levels of tuning. What it looks like to me is the west coast take's the import scene seriously and everyone pays big bucks for big parts. As for the east, we are slowly progressing but i still see posers left and right. So im wondering, would people on the east coast be willing to pay top dollar for top parts? I hope this gives no offense to anybody, from the big ballers to the bang for the buck tuners. We are all tuners and cars are cars. The reason for this thread is a friend of mine from the west is contemplating on opening a shop on the east coast. He already owns a shop in the west, called High End Performance. They carry high brand japanese parts that are usually hard for the average tuner to get a hold of. They carry the parts in shop 24/7, and they have the cars to show it. Heres some of their machines.... I want to get some feedback as tuners, from both sides. Whether you buy parts for the name, and r& d and craftsmanship or if your just a bang for your buck as long as it gets the job done type of tuner.
Is this something the East Coast market would support, especially if they gave back to the community by throwing events and supporting the industry; i.e. helping setup and organize drift events, be involved with redline and gtlive with thier time attack events, hold shows etc....








Here is the shop facility on the west coast:







So my question is, would you guys like a shop like this? Capable of building cars like that on the east coast?

I would gladly appreciate opinions on this, were still in the works of going in with this...Thnx


-Mark

 

where in the east coast ?
u talking abt the north or the south

 

95%+ of the people who actually own Japanese sports cars can't afford those kinds of setups...

You'd be out of business in a year.

 

Probably would depend on the location, personally from what i have seen, id say no. There isnt a following for it around here.

 

I'd say no also. My state is full of ricers and people who don't know what they're doing. Around here just having something aftermarket is more important than the quality of the product. Plus I never see any built cars, just hondas with catbacks and cut springs.

 

The east coast is dominated by big American cars. You'd be better off starting a Camaro/Vette/Mustang/GT/Viper store than a JDM supercars store.

For those of us on the east coast who go all out on our cars, 99% of us have our connections already laid out and are friends with the owners of said shops. I agree you'd end up out of business withen a year, you can't compete with the familiarity that we already have set up.

 

Why would a straight line drag car like the Supra that can't handle need a wing like that?

 

because downforce makes a car happy regardless of whether its going straight or sideways.

 

 

Sweet, I'll throw one on my Civic.

 

+1. I know of a shop here in NYC (Sky Performance) which their address and contact printed on a few tuner magazines. Pretty much a half assed "JDM auto store" with a few 240s, FCs, Z's, and Hondas around. Like SLOASFK said, most of us alrady have our own hook ups that we would rather go to since we're familiar with them. People that don't usually don't have the money to ditch out for things that top notch shops would sell. So it's basically posers and/or people with connections already. If you do decide to open a business like that, you best luck would be somewhere around the PA/NJ/NY tristate area and Florida.

 

I can just imagine some huge JDM parts superstore opening in like...North Carolina or Vermont...


But yeah, I guess for someone who isn't from the East Coast, they probably wouldn't realize that the highest demand would be around NYC or Miami..

 

funny....i know i would live in a shop like that......i already got well over 20k in my car.....we need a little west coast here on the east

 

I'd love to go in and look, if I had money I'd buy from a place like that too.

 

Sure those kits are amazing to see and such. I have mostly knock off stuff on my car, still looks great. But I think alot of people east coast wise just want to race. If they can get sponsors to pay for those such spiffy kits, then sure they will have them. But I see alot of car just beat up by racing. Also those cars are each specific companys "product based" car. Most street driven race cars in japan arent as pretty.

 

I think that a shop like this could survive in the Baltimore/DC area and do okay. I know a bunch of people around baltimore that spend a good deal of money on their cars. Plus the fact that this area if growing rediculously fast. It is just a matter of whether or not people would want to try a new shop or sitck with the people they already know.

-Austin

 

Va beach area is into that kinda thing

 

where on the west coast is this shop and are you sure they really built all those cars??? One or two of them I know they did not build, so I am confused as to what shop you are really referring to?

 

right by nyc if we had a super autobacs type shop im sure tons of cars would go......as it is we have huge weekly meets in northern jersey....some of which broke 600 cars....from ricer to baller we got them all over here

 

Even though I would love to visit a shop like this in the Tri-sate area, I would think Miami would be a better bet for you.

 

I would love to have a shop like that over here near DC. The population is growing everyday here and ppl r paying top dollar just to live in an okay house. I know my friends and i would spend money but honestly after that im not sure how many ppl u would get.

 

Are you talking about a shop just for parts, wheels, brakes etc.. or are you talking about a shop that actually does installs, motor jobs, and tuning?

 

The only shops on the east coast that make money are the shops that have a reputation for tuning and building fast cars, not selling rare wings and steering wheels....in my opinion ofcourse

 

A shop like this would be a novelty at best.

 

Agreed. Especially dealing with RX7 clients. We are almost a cult and are VERY picky who touches our cars. Being a new shop almost NO RX7 owner in their right mind would have you do an engine rebuilt or tuning without being affiliated with another RX7 shop, ie...Steve Kan and Rotary Performance.