[StefVan]

Hi everybody,

Some will know me already as I have been posting quite some detailed DIY guides on Fchat especially for the F430. On this forum I tried to share a maximum experience and knowledge so that other members could take advantage of it and try to apply my tips and ideas on their own cars.

As Fchat banned me because I revealed the truth about the origin of Fabspeed’s exhaust parts (especially the F355/F360/F430 headers which are 100% made in Taiwan by Jim Technologies Ltd), I decided to give ma contribution now here and hope I’ll have a long chat life on this forum. I will post more details about this subject as I do care about the fact that potential buyers should be aware what they are really buying…I just hope that FerrariLife will be less dictatorial and let people express freely in a democratic way.

I will repost many of my DIY guides soon here

Stef

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Welcome to FL, Stef. I believe you would find FL very open minded, if you will. We would all appreciate your knowledge and input to be shared.
w/ smiles Jimmy

[cribbj]

Welcome Stef, and not to pick on FabSpeed, but sadly, many places have taken to sourcing cheap Chinese or Thai headers and representing them as being "made" in their own shops. It started in the Japanese turbo tuning sector, and when that sector became saturated or wise to what was going on, it apparently moved to the exotics where the profit margins are still outrageous.

One tuner confided in me back in 2005 that a set of Thai headers for a Supra cost him $100, landed in TX (in a bulk shipment), and their resell potential at that time was over $1000. And these were in 304SS, and the welds actually looked pretty good. (of course after they'd been rose budded a bit)

So you can figure a set of Chinese/Thai Ferrari headers that are selling for $3000 to $5000, are probably costing the seller less than $500. Not bad, and they may actually last a few years (the 304SS turbo headers lasted maybe 1-2 years before the welds started cracking).

Here in the US it's become very patriotic (not to mention being a survival strategy) to "buy American" again, and people who are simply reselling Chinese goods and representing them as being "Made in America" aren't doing our economy any favors.

Hope you'll have a long and productive stay here.

[champagne612]

Stef

Welcome to FLife

I express the same feelings about F-chat - yesterday I posted that in the "not this shit again" thread by authored by Barchetta on here.

Cheers to an infinite enjoyable experience for all of us here on FLife.

[355dreamer]

I need new headers, and would be interested in learning more.

[StefVan]

Thanks Jimmy, John and Doug.

Your point John is very right.
It's trully a shame that companies like Fabspeed keep on pretending that their products are "Made in USA" and that they do all the R&D etc. For the companies who really manufacture "Made in USA" and spend a fortune in R&D, companies like Fabspeed are not doing any favors to them and the US economy indeed. They are just box movers, buy the F430 headers at 800$ at Jim Technologies Taiwan and reselling it labelled "Made in USA" at several thousands $.

Anyone should know that the best stainless steel in Taiwan is worse than the worst stainless steel in Europe and, as a consequence, is cheaper.

When one is an owner of an expensive car as Ferraris, they should be aware of this. But then anyone buys what they want, just fine, at least they know what they are gonna get for the price. Fair business

Of course, telling the truth with evidence and proof of what I'm saying, got banned...there is more interest in sponsors than in the members while it's the members who are making the content of a forum.

Anyway, I've a lot of "constructive" info and experience to share without any interest, just by passion and love for such cars. And I want the best for any Ferrari owner and I still have a lot to learn too

[champagne612]

Originally Posted by StefVan

Thanks Jimmy, John and Doug.

Of course, telling the truth with evidence and proof of what I'm saying, got banned...there is more interest in sponsors than in the members while it's the members who are making the content of a forum.

Anyway, I've a lot of "constructive" info and experience to share without any interest, just by passion and love for such cars. And I want the best for any Ferrari owner and I still have a lot to learn too

I feel comfortable stating that you will find no remorse here in speaking the truth.

I ranted for a good 6 months and still going - a lot of great people here and your addition is overdue and welcomed.

[a1exander]

Welcome Stef.

Good to have you here.

I am sorry to hear that you got banned but I certainly am not surprised.

[a1exander]

Response from Fabspeed
Hello Everyone,

I am sorry for the delay in my response. I will do my best to clear up some of the questions that have been asked. I have been with Fabspeed for the last 8 months, so I am still new to the business, but I am very familiar with the daily operations of the manufacturing department. I am excited to be working for a company with both a long history and a bright future. Although my background is mostly with Porsche, I have become very familiar with Ferrari and their owners (thanks to Fchat). Although I do not have the most experience here, I have gladly become the liaison to Ferrari Chat and therefore I should address the issue.

Fabspeed Motorsport is an engineering and manufacturing company based in the USA. We have been manufacturing exhaust systems since 1992. As a manufacturing company, we do import certain components such as catalytic converters, cast merge collectors, and flanges that are necessary to create the finished product. All finished products are welded and tested at Fabspeed before they are ready to be installed or shipped. Due to the increased demand for our products, it would be nearly impossible to make all of the components in house. It is an unfortunate truth that in this day in age, we cannot source all of the items needed to complete all of our systems in the United States. Fabspeed has made every effort to make all products in house with certain limitations due to the size of our facility and the number of employees we have. We are in the process of moving to a new facility that will allow us to expand our product lines as well as reduce the amount of outsourced products. It would be in our best interests to keep our suppliers and distributors confidential, as this information makes us vulnerable to other companies who have copied our products throughout the years. We have entertained patenting certain products, but we have been advised that it would be a costly and time consuming process for our extremely large product line.

Regarding these headers, we are not simply “pushing boxes” as someone had earlier stated. We have the capability to make them from start to finish in house. However, if we did that, we wouldn’t be able to meet demand nor would we be able to sell them at a price that keeps our customers happy. The most important thing (to me, at least) is that the headers work as designed and do not fail. Our lifetime warrantee is a testament to our ability to stand behind our product.

We have been recently showcased in “Tube and Pipe Journal”, in which we were featured as the cover story. The article written by Eric Lundin, which is a well written, third party critique is available on our website. We welcome visitors to our facility to see what we do in person. When we move to our new, 30,000 sq ft. facility in a few months, we will have much more to show; and seeing that there is a lot of interest in our manufacturing processes, we intend to that. Since my arrival, I have seen Fabspeed purchase close to $1M worth of machinery that will help improve our ability to produce quality products.

Finally, I will not comment on any other questions posed by people who clearly have a motive against Fabspeed. It is destructive to all of us. If you have questions over the weekend, you can email me, as I am not on Fchat too much while not at work. Thank you for reading this!

Jeff
jeff@fabspeed.com


A more evasive statement could only have been made by Bill when asked about Monica.....ermmm at least Bill restricted his indiscretions to 1 person ,these guys appear to have a wholesale approach.

[tazandjan]

Stef- Welcome to Ferrari Life. Nice to have a real F430 expert on board.

[StefVan]

Originally Posted by a1exander

A more evasive statement could only have been made by Bill when asked about Monica.....ermmm at least Bill restricted his indiscretions to 1 person ,these guys appear to have a wholesale approach.

Just excellent! Got my smile again, thanks Peter!

[StefVan]

Originally Posted by tazandjan

Stef- Welcome to Ferrari Life. Nice to have a real F430 expert on board.

Thanks Taz, great to find you back here too. Let's post some real good stuff here and enrich the KB.

[Andrew]

Stef,

Welcome to FerrariLife
Let me know if you have questions on posting in the KB vs a regular thread.

Be on the lookout for FLED7 (Ferrari Life Epic Drive), a few fellow Swiss are generally part of the group.

[StefVan]

Andrew, thanks. Please don't hesitate to PM me your guidelines regarding the KB. I have a lot of stuff to post and would like not to get in the same frustrating situation where I was before (FC) as all my DIY guides there were getting lost amongst tons of threads and blablabla.

I'll keep an eye on FLED7

[champagne612]

Finally, I will not comment on any other questions posed by people who clearly have a motive against Fabspeed. It is destructive to all of us. If you have questions over the weekend, you can email me, as I am not on Fchat too much while not at work. Thank you for reading this!

Jeff
jeff@fabspeed.com


A more evasive statement could only have been made by Bill when asked about Monica.....ermmm at least Bill restricted his indiscretions to 1 person ,these guys appear to have a wholesale approach.[/QUOTE]

*****

Jeff ... I think it's fair to say that Fabspeed caused Stef to lose his membership.

In the event that Fabspeed had nothing to do with it - I suggest the following.

As you guys and F-chat truly have nothing to hide ... why would Stef have been banned?

Write a letter to f-chat - demanding his membership be reinstated and if not pull your sponsorship and place it here.

Indiscretions of Bill were made public at a high cost to the American people - hopefully your insight follows my drift