UPR

[Sharad]

have any of those years been in innovation, or have they all been spent in replication?

We don't always invent new parts, we often improve on what's out there.

there is a reason your company is known to [some] Mustang enthusiasts as Unauthorized Product Reproduction.

Fixed.

And to other enthusiasts like 4x Champion Brian Mitchell, 3x Champion Chris Little, 3x Champion Jeremy Martorella, X275's Chris Evans, 11-time Champion Chris Escobar, Lethal Performance, and many others we are known as the Choice of Champions.

 

[stkjock]

Sorry fellows...didn't mean to stir the pot. Just trying to figure things out. The search function is great. I wish I hadn't found the god darn oil pump failure threads...cost me $500 (thanks JDM) I don't really need to replace the oil pump with my build, but it would drive me nuts if I didn't!

No reason to apologize you did the right thing!!!!!!

 

[Xorak]

We don't ever invent new parts, we don't improve on what's out there, we just make a small change to avoid patent litigation.



Fixed.

And to other enthusiasts like 4x Champion Brian Mitchell, 3x Champion Chris Little, 3x Champion Jeremy Martorella, X275's Chris Evans, 11-time Champion Chris Escobar, Lethal Performance, and many others we are known as the Choice of Champions.

since you want to play the fixed game..

what racer wouldn't take sponsorship money or free parts? LOL

 

[SRTthis]

since you want to play the fixed game..

what racer wouldn't take sponsorship money or free parts? LOL

one thing matters to a racer... its winning... if the parts dont work they wont run them.

 

[rford426]

one thing matters to a racer... its winning... if the parts dont work they wont run them.

Never said BMR's redesigned parts don't work

 

[SRTthis]

Never said BMR's redesigned parts don't work

neather did i... not sure what your point is...

 

[CPRsm]

We don't always invent new parts, we often improve on what's out there.

I'd love to see some fatigue testing or torsional rigidity tests to see where your K-members are superior to BMR's. Or is that one you just copied?

 

[Powered by Ford]

I'd love to see some fatigue testing or torsional rigidity tests to see where your K-members are superior to BMR's. Or is that one you just copied?

Hell I'd love to see any of the aftermarket k-members run the same durability test as the stock Mustang's.

 

[JeremyH]

I have the upr k member, its a nice piece. Its chrome moly steel so its lighter and stronger than the only other option out there. And I got it for unbeatable price from a forum vendor during black friday.

 

[CPRsm]

Chrome moly is not lighter. That's a marketing misnomer. You bought a knock off and it sucks that most only look at price or buy into BS. If you guys produce your own turbo kit and see how expensive it is, maybe you'll understand the frustration when somebody copies your stuff and circumvents all the hard work and money up front. Not knocking you guys btw. I just hate how lackadaisical everyone is about knock offs.

Hell I'd love to see any of the aftermarket k-members run the same durability test as the stock Mustang's.

I wouldn't mind either. But I don't see any of them claiming they are stronger.

 

[Blackbird1084]

Off shoring is usually due to greedy CEO's. The company I worked for saw fit to cut my deptment this year forcing me to go job hunting. They sent the jobs to china where they didn't have to pay me $18 an hour but pay someone else $8 an hour. Upr may copy products but what they do is nothing like off shoring. I had 9 years with that company and it didn't mean a damn thing since the CEO didn't get a full $1 million dollar bonus last year (he got $750,000). Most of you have no idea just how off shoring impacts us here. I can't afford the higher quality parts from bigger name companies because of the real off shoring and I have to shop on the cheaper side. Hell it's hard for me to even get some of the better companies to even shoot me a small discount. My point is copy cating will always happen, but that doesn't make it right or wrong. I have to rely on companies like upr in order to upgrade my car due to getting the boot from my greedy ass previous job. I love stand up companies that bring out great new products like Jlt(I have a series 2 now) , bmr(I run one of their torque arms on my TA) , steeda(I had one of they're shifters and udp's on my 04) , fore, and jpc (I run they're tune and they've helped me out several times). I want a new series 3 Jlt for my car or a bmr k-member/a-arms but can no longer afford them new so I'll have to wait to buy them used or buy them as a knock off. Upr is good for those of us who need other less expensive options. Having said that, supporting the innovator of a part is key to its success and I would prefer to do that.

 

[Seer]

Chrome moly is not lighter. That's a marketing misnomer. You bought a knock off and it sucks that most only look at price or buy into BS. If you guys produce your own turbo kit and see how expensive it is, maybe you'll understand the frustration when somebody copies your stuff and circumvents all the hard work and money up front. Not knocking you guys btw. I just hate how lackadaisical everyone is about knock offs.


I wouldn't mind either. But I don't see any of them claiming they are stronger.

You are correct and we had this conversation before. Chromoly is stronger than standard aluminum vs. material used. Hence to get the same strength more aluminum material is used making the final product heavier.

Now we know there are aluminum variants that have similar strength to Chromoly but let's not forget the basic material costs

 

[CPRsm]

Blackbird, you are justifying buying copy cats parts made by a company who is doing the same to another company you had done to you. And your upset you lost your job? Your CEO and company did the exact same thing you do to other companies by buying knock off products.

You are correct and we had this conversation before.

Yes we did but I think he missed that one.

 

[Blackbird1084]

Chrome moly is not lighter. That's a marketing misnomer. You bought a knock off and it sucks that most only look at price or buy into BS. If you guys produce your own turbo kit and see how expensive it is, maybe you'll understand the frustration when somebody copies your stuff and circumvents all the hard work and money up front. Not knocking you guys btw. I just hate how lackadaisical everyone is about knock offs.


I wouldn't mind either. But I don't see any of them claiming they are stronger.

The reason most advertise that chromoly parts are lighter is because in most cases the chromoly is stronger so the tubing used is thinner making the part lighter.

My job was completely out sourced. I didn't lose it to a local competitor that was using a similar design. They took the exact same machines I ran shipped them over seas for someone else to run them. No where near the same. And if you were paying attention I stated that I would prefer to buy all my parts new and from the innovators them selves.

 

[Seer]

Outsourcing... find a skill that cannot be out sourced

 

[stkjock]

So BB - if the prior company you worked for had to lay you off because a competitor had reversed engineered the products you made, sold them at 50% of the cost (% made up) because they had no R&D to recoup - then you wouldn't have minded losing the job?

 

[JeremyH]

Chrome moly is not lighter. That's a marketing misnomer. You bought a knock off and it sucks that most only look at price or buy into BS. If you guys produce your own turbo kit and see how expensive it is, maybe you'll understand the frustration when somebody copies your stuff and circumvents all the hard work and money up front. Not knocking you guys btw. I just hate how lackadaisical everyone is about knock offs.


I wouldn't mind either. But I don't see any of them claiming they are stronger.

Its ultimately up to the consumer to make the decision. Based on any number of reasons to go with one product over another. And in todays market price is a very big factor for alot of people, theres just no way around that.

True I dont think anyone is going to spend a ton of money pushing them to their breaking points its not cost effective if it drives up the price of the product and hurts sales. My decision was based on past experience. I had mild steel bmr a-arms that broke while driving and cost me alot of money. Not to knock bmr's customer service which is top notch as they sent me a new set with a revised design free of charge but naturaly I was nervous about running them again and decided not to. So when i finally decided to get a k member I chose chrome moly over mild steel, getting it cheaper was a bonus. Not to say I dont mind paying a little more for what I feel is a better engineered part or a more reputable company from time to time as there are many pieces to the pie. Some companies spend alot of money on r&d and that reflects in their prices as it should while other do not to bring a product out for less cost. This will walways exsist. Not to argue which one is better as it not for me to say its ultimately the comsumer.

 

[CPRsm]

The reason most advertise that chromoly parts are lighter is because in most cases the chromoly is stronger so the tubing used is thinner making the part lighter.

Correct. But saying it's lighter is only one side of the two edged sword you're being told. I don't ever see it mentioned they thin their k-member out. Must have been if it's lighter.

Its ultimately up to the consumer to make the decision. Based on any number of reasons to go with one product over another. And in todays market price is a very big factor for alot of people, theres just no way around that.

Very true. But to me not an excuse to knock off any product. You may feel differently as well as your company develops and you put money and pride into a design.

 

[BMR Tech]

I have the upr k member, its a nice piece. Its chrome moly steel so its lighter and stronger than the only other option out there. And I got it for unbeatable price from a forum vendor during black friday.

BMR is not the only option out there. There are a few actually, we just have a larger presence, and that is for a reason.

The one thing I appreciate is, it took UPR almost 7 years to release their S197 K-Member. That gave us (BMR), the innovators, to get a big head start.

One (the only) good thing about having a company copy our part, is that it only makes us better.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

I do not look down upon anyone who purchases the UPR piece. As a matter of fact, I have helped customers on the phone recently who claimed that they called me because "I figured you would know more about this, since the design was taken from you"

Or, it could've just been because he had our A-Arms, due to UPR not making them yet. (UPR K-Member / BMR A-Arms)

 

[JeremyH]

All very good points, and i can understand all points of view.