Brad

Nope, I wired the money to Tim.

Brad

No, they can't. I did a little research, and you are right in that it isn't necessarily ILLEGAL, but Visa and MC DO PROHIBIT IT.

"Visa and MasterCard prohibit surcharges, and American Express discourages them. Amex does prohibit "discrimination" against the Amex card, however, so if a merchant accepts Visa and MasterCard (and cannot impose a surcharge under those companies' rules), the merchant may not discriminate against Amex by imposing a surcharge."

So if A-spec is charging Visa or Mastercard paying customers for using their credit cards, they are breaking the rules imposed by these companies.

mmonaco

so just use visa and be done with it. The other thing is that you may not get the best exchange rates from your credit card company, becasue remeber that you have to change the curency. They can give you below what the actual rate is as a charge. from what i understand. Did they do this to you boostd7? Marc

Brad

No, like I said...I didn't use a credit card. I wired the money to Tim using my credit union, and got a good exchange rate.

AJatx

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I caught a decent exhange rate.
A website claimed a bit better ($1.82AUSD to $1USD), but I got about $1.74AUSD to $1USD.

I used C2I to wire the money.

J

Poweraxel

Mmonaco:
Im not saying A-spec charges 3.5% on top of the purchase..im saying that they EAT the 3.5% credit card charge..i was just trying to figure out profit margin..thats all

as for the block off plates, couplers, etc...i didnt even add that cost in so their profit is even lower than $400

Poweraxel

dude...who said that? please lets not start dumb accustations...i clearly said that they EAT the credit card charges..

AJatx

iTrader: (1)

I believe A-spec doesn't charge any credit card transaction charges as part of their turbo kit price. They are just making it more convenient to buy a nice kit.

It's definitely a sound deal.
It's a better deal than some of the more expensive JDM turbo kits.

J

Poweraxel

i agree ive had 4 different kits from major manufactuers and the price is extremely high for what you get...they're not even 100% total bolt-ons

Brad

I apologize. I wasn't trying to accuse anyone of anything. I CLEARLY STATED ***IF*** ASPEC IS CHARGING THEIR CUSTOMERS for using credit cards, then they are breaking the rules.

As I re-read your post a couple times I see that you never said that they were. Although you we're pretty far from CLEARLY SAYING THEY EAT THE CC CHARGES. In fact I didn't see any of the before-mentioned uppercase words in any of your posts. I saw $3665 - $110 = $3555. That's all. Not 'ASPEC TUNING EATS THE CREDIT CARD CHARGES'.

Even at that, I wouldn't necessarily call it EATING the charges. They are required to pay the charges by the credit card companies, and it's a price they must pay to give their customers the convenience of paying by credit card. Eating it would mean they pay the charges as a favor or whatever to their customers.

Poweraxel

i put the math there to state what would there estimated profit thats why you see $3665 -$110 CC fee=$3555 then take that # minus the $3114 costs of getting it here...

it hink we both understand now what was meant

mmonaco

thanks for clearing that up i didnt really understand what you where trying to do at first. But anyways the reason this guy charges so much less is because this isnt his full time job. This is just a hobby hes got. SO thats why the profit margin is minimal. Just to let you guys know not really sure when the kits wil be ready but when they are i am sure he will post it. Marc

racedriver

i have the t78 kit and i think its too laggy for the street. For everyday use and a tight track i would love more bottom end power .maybe when i wear out my T78 turbo i will buy just the GT turbo and modify the greddy manifold to fit the gt35/40. But I want to see a dyno graph first!

Bitchn7

Ok I will clear this up a little for you.


I am making the kits here in NZ.
I run my own RETAIL buisness from home as a hobby. I don't need to make a living out of this, yet, but hopefully one day. This is why I can afford to charge less.
My brother works for RX-7 Heavan here in NZ. They do more work on 3rd Gen RX-7's than anyone in NZ from what I have seen. They have done many single turbo upgrades. I have also just become their turbo supplier also. They are going to be doing the technical work. I am marketing the kit and will be the main seller with them being an agent for me.
My brother will be making all the manifolds at his work and from steam pipe or thick walled steel. For SS manifolds I have a guy in one of the clubs over here I support who is a SS fabricator and makes manifolds etc after hours, once again, cheap rates, this may be where the price difference is?? but i doubt $500US.

The kit will consist of.
What ever GT30-35-30/40-40 turbo you want.
Tial 46mm Wastegate (unless you specify different or want to supply your own).
Oil and water lines, all fittings etc, New Exhaust gaskets.
Down pipe has yet to be included in price as I was unsure if this would be wanted in the kit, as it can add to shipping costs as it will be long and awkward to pack compared with the other parts.
HPC Coatings etc will be made an option, as will a suitable intake pipe. As I am on holiday for the next 6 weeks I hope to get to my brothers work while the main design is sorted and I will make a cold air box etc to suit also. Also if time is available, we are going to make a FMIC kit to suit these kits, pipework, and brakets to move factory radiator etc included (about $1500-1700NZ with L500(or 600)xH300xD110 Bar and Plate core).
I want to make this kit as complete as possible without containing things that will add a lot to freight costs when you can get the parts made or pick up yourself cheaply.
But if you want it, the kit will be bolt in with no need for you to go buying suitable intake etc.
Not sure of availability time as the car we were going to use came into his work early and has been finished already, so we have to wait for the next 3rd gen to have the turbos removed to make the manifold. Hopefully a kit should be ready b4 I go back to work in 6 weeks, fingers crossed.
Any suggestions?

Cheuk in Seoul

This kit sounds very similar in price and power as the APEXi RX6 kit. A little cheaper, and a little more power. The GT 3540 would be at the top of my list, if I had to do it again.

mmonaco

dose anyone have a dyno numbers for a gt35/40. I wanna see proof. Marc

rx7tt95

Has anyone parused the latest SCC? Has the shootout between Project WRX and the EVO VII. Anyhoo...they have a decent writeup, believe it or not, on turbo selection and another on turbine efficiency. They mention the GT series turbos from Garrett, GT's from HKS and something similar from Innovative. They also mention a new lineup of state of the art turbos from Garrett this summer. After reading this, I'm so confused it's not funny. Are the HKS GT series better than the Garrett's? Are the new Garrett's they're referring to (coming out this summer) the Ballistic series? Apparently the Ballistic has a smaller shaft than a normal GT, correct? Someone has stated it's possible to build a GT turbo without the smaller shaft and it's cheaper that way. Also, Innovative has custom inconnel and Mar-M material wheels, but not sure if it's their own compressor/turbine design or the Garrett GT's. Hell I should just start a new thread on this one....Does anyone have a clear indication of the various "GT" turbos out there? The HKS stuff clearly states GT on the snail housing, and the Garrett's do in the center section. What's new, what's old, which brand is best? Are the turbos in the A-spec kit genuine Garrett GT Ballistic series or Garret GT parts assembled to their own specs? Are they all full cartridge, dual ball bearing centers? The GT cartridge ball bearings are OEM quality btw, much more durable than the Turbonetics single, angle contact and plain bearing combo.
Michel

Bitchn7

The Garret GT turbos as in the above kits, are Ballistic Concept series duel BB turbos.

The HKS GT turbos use HKS's own cast compressor housings (hence some of them have HKS cast in them). I believe they have much finer tolerances and slightly different specs of HKS's design. Somehting like this, there was a big thread on this on the Skylines Down Under web site (NZ).

AJatx

iTrader: (1)

Here is a dyno sample of the GT35/40.
http://www.horsepowerinabox.com/imag.../tc06_04lg.jpg

I believe HKS uses the Garrett GT ballistic center housing (CHRA), but use their own housings.
The A-spec tuning kit will use the Garrett GT turbos.
That's why you'll see the Garrett stamp on the CHRA, like the one I just received. You'll also see the Garrett stamping on the housings as well.
If you do a search on the web, you can find more information on the two vendors.

As long as the CHRA is the Garrett GT dual BB, the reliability will be the same across Garrett and HKS.

Yes, the Turbonetics CHRA are not very reliable in comparison to Garrett. I have already had a few fail on me from personal experience. They fall out rate for the Garrett ballistic (or dual BB) turbos are pretty low (I recall around ~0.004%). Correct me if I'm wrong on the failure rate (assuming true turbo failure, not environmental like failed motor pieces tearing up the turbine).

J

mmonaco

what is your mods ajaxt? those are some nice numbers.cant wait to get mine. marc

ZoomZoom

iTrader: (2)

I will be buying the GT35/40 kit within a couple months and its for all the reasons already stated. Quicker spool and excellent power for the street or track.

IgoSlow

yeah the gt's are nice but i only paid 3200 for my t-78 kit... leaves me about 700 in which i bought a e6k kit for 900... But by the time my t-78 kit goes out i'm sure the gt kits will be cheaper.. or at least the turbo.. Won't it.. ??

Or maybe a new breed of turbos will introduce itself.. like magnetic field core turbos.. no bearings.. keeps the shaft frictionless and suspended in mid air while the shaft is spun by the magnetic field in one direction and with the exhaust air helping it turn even more.. quicker spooling... full boost at 3k.. hahahahah (just dreaming)

but i'm hoping to tune my t-78 for about 20 lbs of boost after the the car is complete and engine broken in... i dunno maybe 22 if i can spare the fuel... gas is hella expensive down here and this is my daily beater by the way...

Kurgan

Where does the GT3540 live on the compressor map? Obviously, from the number of people spouting off that it has low end power, I can assume it has low end power. And I can deduce, thanks to the dyno chart on horsepowerinabox (and it was done on a dyno dynamics dyno which = less hp displayed than a dynojet) that it will roughly make 415 rwhp at 15psi.

Does it just die from there? What if one wanted to run 20 psi? Is that out of the effeciency range? Approaching the end of effeciency? or is this some magical (as it seems) turbo that will just incredibly increase power output as boost pressure rises. Is 25 psi out of the question?

Just some serious thoughts on a serious topic. I'm trying to decide on either a 3540 or a GT40 for street/strip 20B FC.

Thanks guys.

ZoomZoom

iTrader: (2)

Well for the street you gotta love a fast spooling ball bearing turbo. Low resistance = faster spool. So you can take advantage of that when increasing A/R ratios without increasing lag. Also for the track you can add race fuel and turn the boost way up. From what I understand you can run up to 29 psi with the GT35/40. I have no practical experience yet with this turbo but this is all the information I have gathered about it as of now.

Silver93T

I paid less than that for the gt 35/40. This was because I ordered direct from RPM last month. As of now you have to buy from the several US distributors. You may still be able to purchase the turbo itself direct from RPM and get the manifold and hardware in the states.