Quote:
Originally Posted by gaveup
Of course there is R&D, but don’t get it twisted like there’s a bunch of scientists and sound engineers sitting in a board room trying to get the best possible sound and flow from X exhaust.
A jig is created and prototypes are usually sent out to their manufacturer. Another prototype is sent back, test fitted and if it meets expeditions an order is placed. Many, many exhaust companies do this and can charge whatever they want for it, if people believe they are getting a quality product they will pay more for it.
It’s almost like auto detailing products, most of them are just rebottled from a manufacturer and sold at higher costs based on their packaging.
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I’ve personally been involved with AWE in developing an exhaust for a Porsche, using my car as first article, and I’ve watched them do exactly what you describe above: team meetings to evaluate and refine the sound, and multiple prototypes made by their R&D team to test on the road and their dyno. They had my car for about 6 weeks to do the initial work, and I had to come back for the final product after they did fixture finalization.
They also make all their own fixtures and do all the manufacturing in house. They have multiple mandrel benders, laser scan tool for CAD, robotic cutting cells, they also make their own mufflers. They don’t outsource or skimp on the design, I’m sure their overhead is quite high, but they seem to use it efficiently as possible. Check out their online headquarters tour, these guys are the real deal, imo.