Luanda, All:

There has been a "Pizzing" contest between our site ( Named www.my350z.com ) and the company known as APS. ( They are located in Australia - for those of you that have recently joined the site... )

To give a recap of what has occured previously:

In the begining there was one 350Z TT kit (PE excluded) which was Greedy TT
The Greedy TT was a pair of Mitsu Turbo's and an E-Manage ( No fuel pump upgrade - no Oil pan increase. Limited information )

Then APS ( a higher cost - but complete Kit was intoduced.) This TT kit works well as per Alpine.

The representive from APS was using this board for promotion of the APS kit.

What was his name?

Oh yes Peter.

Anyway the web site. www.my350z.com thought with all the posts and feedback of the APS system. ( Which appears to be better than the other kits. )
Suggested to Peter from APS to become a Sponsor.. ( A small fee just to wet their beak ) Heck even a company like Sharif's Forged Internals can afford
the cost of being a sponsor on this site.

Now here is the point where the personalities clash.

As you know Austrailian's have a rather "Mildly abrasive - But Manly" attitude.

It is their nature, and a nature that we verteran's admire. As they are our comrades in arms. Our Brothers in the worlds nations that we have an affinty with. Talking to an Aussie is like talking to your brother.

To clasify APS rep's as being Authoritarian or Arogant in thier corespondence..
I just think they were proud of thier product.

As the Book said "Pride cometh before a fall"

Two Hard Headed groups butted heads.

One was of the opinion, for the amount of "Promotion of a Product" a small fee
should be compensated to the owners of this site.

The other party ( The fore mentioned Austrailian Company ) Said F* Off

Then the APS company was banned.. And thier "Pride" and "Integrety" was F* You and the Horse - Ect. Ect. An then went to the other site..

Many www.my350z.com were happy not to have the Competition of a "Non American Company" doing "Free" Promotion on the site.

Many www.my350z.com members were apalled to have APS Banned from the site.

Many www.my350z.com members thought.. For a $150 a month fee. Those
Aussies are just cheap asses not to "wet the beak of the site that they were making the most mony from.. Named www.my350Z.com

I don't think that Peter is that cheap.
I don't think taht $150 a month is not out of line for a company to pay
to get thier product out to the masses.
www.my350z.com is the best "Bang for your Buck $US or $AU"

Now it is down to two issues.

Peter's Pride ( APS )
and Peter's Pride ( APS )

But then maybe he is "Offended" or "Cheap"

The saga continues..

But when Peter was on this site.. We got the straight scoop..

Disclaimer: Just my 2 Cents..

A Greddy TT person
But a APS ST install coming. For a friend.
Cheers Amy -

Godzilla - GYST

 

i agree with you, puz z (but then again i am always agreeable to puz z). if you are a vendor on this site, you need to pay to play. jezus, its the cost of doing business. why should they be exempt from paying any fees? i cannot think of any good reason.
the miaplaya thing? i believe he's sponsored by tnetx, but that's as far as it goes.
jmo.

 

APS is a manufacturer, not a vendor. Big difference.

 

ohhhh. are there any other manufacturers here that don't pay to play?

 

Amy,

I just couldn't stand by and see replies getting negative about the site. I found my350z.com to be a great resource and I commend the efforts of those who keep it going. Once again, thank you my350z.com !!!

Not sure what you mean by "the main view"; You presume to know the opinion of the majority of members? the majority of members who actually post?? the site moderators???

Everyone should be entitled to and be free to voice their opinion.

Just wanted to chime in and say I wasn't missing the APS posts from APS about shipping dates, prices, and dealers on APS products. I mean there is a vendor classified section....IMHO that's where that stuff should be, and I trust that vendors pay to advertise there. The moderators have been pretty laid back in allowing as much unofficial advertising as they do in the Mods Section.

My 2 cents...

 

>>ohhhh. are there any other manufacturers here that don't pay to play?

Uhh, yeah. Try turbonetics for one. Go to the search page, and look for all posts by users "turbonetics". Notice that his homepage on the user profile is turbonetics inc, and Brad doesn't conceal the fact he represents turbonetics. Wanna try to be a smart *** again?

 

sorry, i was asking a serious question. i'm new to fi threads.

 

oh, I thought you were being sarcastic, my apologies. Some times its hard to tell the difference .

I think that APS got kicked based on their behavior more than their actions. Having manufacturers like turbonetics on this site without paying adds a great deal of value. I'm sure that it adds up to more sales for vendors (who are sponsors) which means they are more likely to continue sponsoring.

 

What part of "APS is not a vendor, it is a manufacturer" that you don't understand? It is the only manufacturer who has taken the time to answer questions about its product and for doing so they are criticized and banned. Very dumb move.

 

ok, my next question is "was aps treated differently from other 'manufacturers' on this site?"

 

I think the big turbonetics banner at the top of the FI forum means that they DO pay a sponsorship fee...

<begin drunken rambling>

$150 a month might not be the best bang for the buck, BUT if a company gets to put up very prominent banners and *blantantly* advertise all they want for that $150/month, then it's probably worth it. After all, this site IS one of the biggest 350z sites on the net. The "other" site is probably 2nd biggest, and Aussies have a long history of being 2nd best in a lot of things *ducks*

Seriously though, the APS product is clearly a terrific product, and if Peter had a more "diplomatic" attitude, there might be no problem. Some people prefer to say F*** You rather than to "play ball" and that's just how it goes.

Brad from TN hardly ever posts and when he does it's just to answer questions from users of the product. They let satisfied users do their advertising for them. Maybe that's "gaming" the system, but maybe that's just how they like to do things. (But look at banner at the top of the FI forum... they had to pay to get that...)

Yes, MIA got a free turbo kit and install, BUT he also let his car be the first turbo install test car and it received a lot of flogging to test things out, and his car was off the road for a while. There's nothing wrong with the deal that he got, and there are people similarly sponsored all over this forum.

</end drunken rambling>

 

I don't give a **** if they pay as a sponsor or not, what got me was that every single time Peter answered anything he had to insult someone on this board calling them unexperienced and such. As to getting a straight answer...let me give you an example:
CARB exemption, I have at least 3 emails from Peter and there are many posts on here where he gives completely different answers to when or if they will achieve this which let me and others to believe that they are not even trying to do so which would be cool but at least admit it.

I bought an APS kit and am getting it installed next week, I have no doubt that it will kick *** and is the best product of it's kind out there but I seriously do not like the way that company treats their customers or potentials for that matter.
The APS products get promoted here like crazy APS did not have to come on here for it. For that I appreciated Peters efforts so I don't necesarily agree with the banning but I'd appreciate less insults...

 

good thread.

 

It's hard to say whether Peter intended to be insulting or if it really is his Aussie nature (other countries believe that American bluntness is rude) or if that's just how people read it (just look above how someone thought a response was sarcastic when it wasn't). In anycase, Peter did provide lots of good technical info even if he was promoting his product. The other extreme is Jim Wolf who has provided virtually no information and has been withholding releasing their product til CARB approval. So which one do you prefer? Can't have it both ways.

 

First of all.... it's funny how we americans classify others as arognat, rude, crude, blunt, or any other synonyms. Come on guys, let's be a little objective and gain some perspective, ok. We are not very far off.

Second, Puz z, I am not sure what this means: Not sure if oyu are discounting PE jsut for the sake of this argument or for any other reason. So PE is not even considered a kit, or what? But, that's water under the bridge...

Third, where are you getting this piece of information from? Do you know this for a fact? I mean, have you seen a PM or an email from Peter saying this? If so, then I will take your word for it for the purposes of this discussion and offer my apologies.

Just trying to stay objective. Was APS sincerely considered for an opportunity to be a sponsor? I heard different from a few sources.

 

We have manufacturers that are sponsors if that changes your view at all. Other than the obvious fact that some of the vendor sponsors make products that compete with APS products.

 

What part of...we have had these rules since before APS even considered doing a turbo kit for the 350Z do you not understand? We should not exempt APS from the rules that everyone else has to comply, that, would be discrimination (though, we can do that on this site, I believe) (favoring a person who knows more than another). Advertising and answering people's questions are two different things.

The only dumb move was made by APS, when they decided that they would not pay sponsorship fees but would still post new product information under their name.

 

Well, technically, nothing is free. He now has a big turbonetics vinyl on his car.

 

FTR, APS did emission testing at Ford Australia (testing facility I believe) and they met and surpassed the CARB requirements. They are coming out with a CARB-legal version of their TT kit, any current APS TT kit owners will have to buy the upgrade.

 

JWT doesn't invest a whole lot into anything other than product development, can't you tell from the website, limited advertising and no reps on this board?

Also FTR, you can find the specs of every part made if you PM me for the link.