| Re: Driving impressions with the AFR heads |
Subject: Re: Driving impressions with the AFR heads by TonyMamo on 2009/8/19 0:35:29 I posted this in another thread just a week or so ago that not coincidentally Joe (anesthes) was questioning the value inherent in spending more on AFR. PLEASE take the time to read it and I think you will see the value a bit clearer if your open to spending more and getting more. If your not open to spending more and getting more my guess is it will never make sense and AFR perhaps is not a good fit for you. There is a product to fit everyone's budget thankfully and having options is always a good thing. After reading the hypothetical but very real world cylinder head installs below, tell me where my logic is flawed if you believe that to be the case.... Thanks, Tony --------------------------------------------------------- Guys... This is a long post so crack a beer and sit back. Its my last attempt to drive home the value inherent in our product. We build/manufacture a premium part with premium lightweight components....based on tons of independent data we (arguably) clearly provide the best performance in our market segment. So I ask you....when is that not worthy of a premium in ANY manufacturing business?? We invest absurd amounts of time on the R&D side (which costs more than any of you can fathom) to stay on the cutting edge and give you ports 20+ cc's smaller than our competitors that outflow them in spite of it (and deliver a much more ferocious power curve because of it). We fully CNC these parts on million dollar equipment and cut VJ's into them with a machine that costs 200K versus 50K or less that most of our competitors use (you get perfect seat concentricity with the really expensive machine). Our valve guide tolerance is held to .0001 when we have seen new budget heads that I would consider the guides used up right out of the box. Walk a few miles in our shoes and I assure you a better appreciation of the product we are building for you. Also, the way some of you guys want to casually dismiss the HP difference that the few hundred extra we charge is worth is absolutely penny wise and dollar foolish. Go find those types of gains elsewhere with the money you saved....good luck with that. I sell power for a living and once you already have a heads cam car with a few of the basic goodies you just don't fall into 30 and 40 horses anymore...in fact it costs a bunch of money to find those types of gains once your not dealing with an anemic stocker any longer....ask the hardcore more engine savvy amongst you and believe me they will back me on this. All our street ported heads when the smoke clears may cost on average about $300-$400 more than our competitors budget (mainly as cast) products....with you benefiting from everything highlighted a few paragraphs above in the event you spring for the AFR's). I know this post is long but follow along if you would.... Take a stock longblock with a cam and headers and install budget head "B" that cost $1100.....you pick up 30-35 HP Now thru one of our dealers you pick up an AFR street head for $1400 and you pick up 70 HP or even 60 to be conservative but my first number is more in line with the reality of the swap, especially in a hyd. roller combo. Take the same engine and now purchase a comp ported AFR head for $2000 and now you found 75-80 HP gains. What most of you never consider with the swap (and always should) is what did the entire swap actually cost with gaskets included, labor, tuning time, and other incidentals. It makes my argument even more lopsided and applicable. Lets just add $500 to the head cost (those paying someone to install this stuff would fair far worse than this) Budget head....$1600 total.....$53 per pony AFR Street.....$1900 total.....$32 per pony (and alot more of them) AFR Comp.......$2500 total.....$33 per pony (surprise there I bet) Note I used the more conservative 60 and 75 figures for both AFR comparos in this exercise. Soooo.....does it make more sense to "save up" and get all the quality benefits of the AFR's, the extra power, and the added value in HP per dollar when purchasing our product?? For the guy that "doesn't want to wait" or cant justify the added expense I say Im sorry....thats really not a wise move when you consider the main reason your buying cylinder heads in the first place (and likely other parts in the future to try and find more power). It is foolish for lack of a better word to leave all that added value and extra power under the table now....even the Comp AFR product provides a ton more VALUE (and a BUNCH of power over the typical budget piece). And btw....also coming from my seat where I live and breathe this stuff everyday and talk to easily 100 enthusiasts a month.....you guys have no clue how many guys looking to save those few bucks the first time come back to see us six months, a year, two years later when they are tired of getting beat or tired of AFR headed cars on the dyno smashing the numbers their combo managed to eek out. Then they sell their used budget head for 40 cents on the dollar.....ultimately buy the AFR's they should have bought in the first place....and spend twice on gaskets and install labor. THATS the biggest irony I see with guys that look for the shortcut to save a few bucks....in the long run it ends up costing twice as much to do it right. And if you think Im making that scenario up think again....I speak to a half dozen people a month in this situation and some are more butt hurt about it than others ultimately knowing they have themselves to blame for making the wrong moves. We have all been there, perhaps not in auto related purchase, but something we purchased in an effort to save a few bucks and it ultimately cost us more....I know I have and try to learn from the experience. And name a cylinder head company that offers better customer service than AFR....there must be a dozen reasons to buy our heads besides that it simply makes perfect sense from a value and economics standpoint but I can only lead the horse to water as they say....the rest is up to the horse. Im all typed out....I hope I have reached a few of this with this retarded long post....catch you guys later -Tony EDIT: After posting this I just read Beach Bum's post above mine and I think he got the same point across as I in two paragraphs....LOL |
