***** Thanks guys*****
I'd have to agree that the real tale will come down to the specific "numbers" or direct performance feedback from finished cars. Trouble for us at this point is that we are a very young company, and due to the nature of our product(s), we generally support pretty serious customer builds that take a while to complete. Also because we're young, and generally not known, we have to pay for all of our own parts when we build our own cars, and that generally takes a lot of money. I don't mind, frankly, we're not a charity but it does hurt us relative to established outfits that have mountains of cash, or people knocking down their doors to give them free parts. It's all part of the start up phase, part of the game. Specific to DSE, they make great parts, we use and recommend many of their products, but we chose to have a slightly different focus on the products we develop (or will be releasing soon).
I will state, with supreme confidence, that our setup from a pure performance and value standpoint is very, very difficult to come close to, bar absolutely none in terms of competitive products. We use the phrase "Road Race Inspired," whihch is the truth behind our engineering requirements. Why? Do we expect everyone to build road race cars? No, rather it is because the specific requirements of a true road course capable car demand that all important aspects of handling be covered, or the driver will be in for an interesting ride. Acceleration, slow corners, fast corners, braking, transitional changes, you name it. Cool thing is, if a car can handle all of the above, it's very likely to be able to do just fine in all other arenas (auto-cross, drag strip, roads, etc). At this point of our existance, and frankly this will remain true throughout as long as I am in charge (an I don't intend to go anywhere), we put performance well before marketing and advertising. No question the latter will become more important, but if given a choice to put $10k into an ad in Super Chevy, or to put it into product development, well, you don't see ads in Super Chevy yet.
We would liked to have had a car ready for the shin-dig out in Pigeon Forge that our buddy Bill Howell is putting on, but we are just not going to be ready. I am very confident that we would show very well relative to the cars they expect to show there.
We tried to put a good amount of detail and design approach/philosophy in our website, but we can certainly answer specific questions if something isn't clear or is missing, so fire away if you'd like.
One thing that I am especially pleased with is the customer base that we have pulled together so far. We are still very small, so it's difficult for us to do all things good, and that's just reality. But, the customers we have so far, just like our friend from up North, are so supportive, give us tremendous feedback, and have just as much (or more) of the stoke factor as we ourselves do. In that regard, I could not be happier, we just need to round out the rest of the business such that we can manage a larger number of folks just like them. Maybe you'll be one of them!?!
Whatever you decide, have a great time with your project, it's a terrific hobby and we love it.
Mark
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Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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