May 17, 2000

Kuro-kuro Ko Lamang

By: Rtn. Chuck Montecillo

I just got off the phone with my friend, Warwick. We spoke in great length about the business of aftermarket high-performance accessories for cars. It’s a very competitive business. There is a lot of marketing savvy that goes on and, unfortunately, plenty of customer ignorance. This is most prevalent in the newest and fast growing market of import car owners.

Import car owners are not new to modifying their vehicles. I remember many years back, several Toyotas and Mazdas at the drag strip. These were all full fledged race cars, running as fast as or faster than other cars with much larger engines. Rallying has been around for many, many years as well as autocrossing. This used to be the exclusive "playing grounds" of these import cars. This is most likely due to the lack of horsepower that is required in drag racing, and the inherent finesse in handling capabilities that they possess. Muscle cars just don’t handle as easily on an autocross course as, say, a Honda Civic.

Nowadays, a large portion of entrants at drag racing tracks are the "imports". There has been a movement of Japanese aftermarket manufacturers that have found their way on to US shores. Naturally, since there is a large segment of the auto buying public that has been quite ignored in the past, the stage was set. The birth of the Import Car was here ( in aftermarket parts, that is. ). It is not unlikely to see Honda Civics going down the 1/4 mile in less than 13 seconds. Slicks mounted on these front wheel drive cars were once unthinkable, are now commonplace. The pits are now flooded with Acuras, Nissans, Hondas and Toyotas. Granted, a majority of these cars are still far from optimized for 1320 feet of competition, running anywhere from 17 second to high 14 second elapse times, but the fact is they are coming to the races and participating, in growing numbers.

Unfortunately, the main reason for the cars not being faster than they should is the manufacturers and dealers of the "performance" accessories carelessly and knowingly misled this new breed of "hot rodders". I say this with a lot of contempt because I know how hard it is to earn the mighty dollar. These dealers and their slick advertising and salesmanship have sold more "snake oil" than I can imagine. $200 spark plug wires!!! How can anyone believe that spark plug wires should ever cost that much? It’s not that it actually makes a Honda Civic or Acura Integra go any faster, it’s just because some dealer and manufacturer said it would. Sure there may be an improvement, but unless it takes a second of your 1/4 mile time, I don’t think its worth it. And I know many seasoned veterans that would agree.

I know that there really isn’t anything wrong with a business taking advantage of a naive market. The thing that bothers me is that it’s just not right. Instead of educating the market so more complex systems and products can be introduced, products that actually help the performance of the car and not just the sales figures of a company.

I really feel sad for this generation of Performance Enthusiasts. They will have to learn very expensive lessons. And in a time where money isn’t quite so easy to come by, only makes matters worse. All dealers and manufacturers have a responsibility to their customers. Sure, go ahead and make money, just be honest about it. There’s nothing wrong with exaggerating the truth, but when deception is involved in the marketing and advertising of a product, I think that’s just contemptible. The truth has a way of always finding its way out. There is no lie that can be kept forever. When this new market "wakes up", only the honorable shall prevail. And no one will pay for $200 spark plug wires again.