dozracing
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 12:48 PM |
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Current sales for the GTS Cougar shocks stand at 45 kits so far this year, 100 in total.
Thats a total of 400 shocks, without a single one returned under complaint. And the poll really should add the Nitron figure to the GTS figures as
they are the same thing.
Kind regards,
Darren
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ned
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 01:26 PM |
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Dozracing or 'Darren' as he's also known 'is' as I understand GTS (formlerly Nitron) shocks.
He's local to Guildford (about 20mins) I only know this coz he's contacted me direct as I'm local to him too!!
Touting for business - is this allowed? i know someone had words about engine builders offering engine work at discounts and taking advantage of the
forum!!
beware, I've got yellow skin
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ned
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 01:29 PM |
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Out of that 100 kits in total sold any idea how many of the cars are actually on the road??
Sorry, not being rude, just curious - and how does this compare proportionally to the total no of 7's o the road? anyone got any info on this (I
doubt it, but stand to be corrected and hide under my desk!)
beware, I've got yellow skin
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Alan B
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 02:19 PM |
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To be fair to Darren people are constantly asking about shocks....I think him mentioning now and then that he sells them is totally
appropriate..IMO
Anyone think differently?
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 02:35 PM |
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there is a for sale section, but i have no probs about someone making a personal mention of something they can provide in a thread thats directly
relevent.
If was summat for a bigger manhood (which of course we dont need) or an obvious sales script, then that would be annoying.
however darren has made his response personal and relevent so I think it fits in the tread.
atb
steve
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dozracing
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 02:49 PM |
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Aplogies for the blantant ads if they offend anyone.
I'm the little independent guy trying to support the Locost community by offering a cheaap and reliable quality product specifically designed
for the Locost vs the big guys like AVO and GAZ who don't care about the end customer they just want to suuply lots of the same part and make
lots of money. They can afford the glossy ads and the stands at shows i have to rely on taking a few liberties on Locost mailing lists to get my
message across. Basically i have to go find the end user directly and see what there needs are and make sure i satisfy those needs.
As for pedigree, then i think i have the upperhand on GAZ and AVO. I have designed shocks for the following F1 teams:-
Ferrari, Arrows, Benetton, Minardi, Prost, Toyota and BAR
The following World Rally Car teams:-
Citroen, Ford, Peugeot
Every Dodge Viper road car has shocks on that i designed, every Chrysler Neon SE road car also. Every Lotus Exige race car, every Lola F3000 since
1998.
A lot of Caterhams and Elises run Nitron kits that i helped design.
Every bike engined Westfield again has Nitrons on that i had a hand in.
While i might be small and unheard of for making shocks outside of Locost, i know a thing or two including a lot of 7's and 7 type cars. Plus we
did a lot of testing with Locosts when we made the original prototype shocks.
Kind regards,
Darren
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ned
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:07 PM |
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fair, enough!
I was just asking as a general point - no hard feelings darren?!
But can you answer my questions on the other post about adjustment and different spring rate availability?
beware, I've got yellow skin
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James
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:09 PM |
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Hi Darren,
Where in Guildford are you? You're web site says Liphook!
Cheers,
James
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bob
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:16 PM |
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Darren
I've no problem with the advertising as its good for everyone,your shocks are well priced and keep the retailers in check so best of luck
mate.
The only question i have is can we have more info,can we adjust the damping for track use as well as the spring platform?.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:20 PM |
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I have no problem either - the post was relevant and may be useful to someone.
Posts from "the good guys" such as darren, luego and MK (indirectly via PTM & Jon I.) are not a problem!
David
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ned
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:28 PM |
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James,
He u2u'd me and said liphook then too!
Andrew.
beware, I've got yellow skin
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dozracing
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:37 PM |
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During the day i work in Guildford, for John Barnards company as a designer on F1 projects. Currently doing a gearbox for one of the teams at the
front. Live in Liphook.
The shocks are not adjustable for damping. They were designed to be a road shock, ie high reliability. In general adjustable dampers have reliability
problems due to the adjustment mechanism, so i wanted to steer clear of this. For race dampers i would tend to buy the best you can afford, if you
have to buy adjustables and can't afford more than say £500 per set you should buy the cleapest of the AVO, Gaz Spax lot. They are all the same
internally as they all grew out of Spax. They aren't very good from race performance point of view but they are adjustable and they are
cheap.
I can supply different springs rates if need be for any shock kits not just mine.
Coming soon is a website that i'm building called www.racecarhardware.com here you will be able to buy all the Demon Tweeks type products, but
also specialist parts that every home builder and race car constructor needs. Like my gts website you will be able to download an installation drawing
for each product so you can design it in before you commit to buying it.
Kind regards,
Darren
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bob
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:41 PM |
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Thanks very much Darren 
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ned
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 03:43 PM |
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Thanks for the info darren, does this mean they won't come as an alternative with spherical bearings instead of bushes (I guess not a lot of
point in a roadcar!?
Andrew.
beware, I've got yellow skin
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dozracing
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 08:14 PM |
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I've been thinking for a long time about how to do a reliable, cheap adjustable damper for Locosts. Its possible but you have to invest in
making lots to bring the costs down to a sensible figure. AVO etc, make thousands of parts and each part is dead cheap, they are made on old auto
machines from cheap materials, so all in all they are made very cheap.
When i did the road car shocks i invested in having 200 shocks made per batch to try and get the costs to an acceptable level. Seriously breaks the
bank investing to this level though. With adjustable dampers i would have to invest more money, the cost would be higher so i would compete with AVO
etc and they have far more resources to fend me off they i can muster and the number and speed at which they sell will be lower, also returns would be
a nightmare for me if they were unreliable.
The current road shock is everyones perfect product, it sells very well, everyone is very happy with them and they so far are 100% reliable. In fact
it is unlikely that they will ever be anything less than totally reliable, because they are built by the same comapny that makes shocks for the likes
of Mercedes as OEM. So they should have a life in the region of 100,000 miles like any OEM shock.
If you can stretch your budget i would seriously consider looking at Nitrons damper kits. They have a fantastic reputation in the Caterham/Westfield
community. I have had a lot of design input, and they are as similar to an F1 car damper as is practical given the applications they are used in, and
as such they give tremendous damping performance. They are performance wise equal too an Ohlins, Penske or Dynamic, yet much less expensive. Still
they are considerably more expensive than the AVO, GAX Spax product.
Kind regards,
Darren
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