Survey : Is This A Good Idea ??

[CA Automotive UK]

hi to all members

I am condsidering starting up a new and independant company manufacturing only quality( and mainly custom ) carbon and Titanium products .

We know from our current succeses the carbon will sell, but we would be very grateful for your opinions on the ( real ) titanium stuff .

yes it will be expensive and somewhat niche sector , but is it worth it ?

Titanium items we are considering are for example :

- oil caps
- door pins
- dash trims
-oil filter housings
- engine / valve covers
- door handles
-gearknobs
-e brake
- wheel bolts
- strut braces
- camber arms
- topmounts
- tax disc holders
- grille frames
- badges
- roundels

please let us know your thoughts , suggestions , ideas

many thansk in advance

[benny boy]

some of items are very similar to richbrook int. i use to work in a car shop and it sold very well i would buy some of it but depends on price hope that helps roy :D

[lee330sport]

Titanium items we are considering are for example :

- oil caps
- door pins
- dash trims
-oil filter housings
- engine / valve covers
- door handles
-gearknobs
-e brake
- wheel bolts
- strut braces
- camber arms
- topmounts
- tax disc holders
- grille frames
- badges
- roundels

please let us know your thoughts , suggestions , ideas

many thansk in advance
Personally i wouldnt buy hardly any of the items in Ti, maybe apart from struct brace/camber arms/ topmounts and maybe the interior trim.

The reason being. If i were paying top money for something thats going to save me weight, (which would be my main reason for buying titanium), i wouldnt buy the small parts you mentioned above. When i could buy them in stainless for relatively little £££.

Exhausts/body panel/roll cages in titanium then yes.....put me down for some.

How about titanium exhaust for the non 'M' peopel, we usually dont get treated to those luxuries, there saved for the M range usually.

[CA Automotive UK]

good points all ,thanks

[BigFas]

I think Lee's generated a lot of good points coming at it from a performance angle, I'll try to put forward some thoughts from the poseur perspective :)

- door pins
- dash trims
- door handles
-gearknobs
-e brake
- tax disc holders
- grille frames
- badges
- roundels

Out of your list, these would be the items I would be interested in, however, IMHO, these items are very price sensitive. Titanium is an expensive material, and if something like a roundel is £50-£75 and purely for show, it get's a little expensive and will only appeal to a very niche market

If we can get some idea of price points for smaller items such as these, then we can get a better idea of if we would buy them or not

[adood84]

could somebody tell me what are camber arms and topmounts? and what are the made from standard?

[CA Automotive UK]

thanks Fas

yes , until the price of Ti comes down , then i believe these parts will only be bought by a certain select few .

Lee has some good points on more performance parts for non M cars , so will look into that soon as well.

Camber arms and top mounts are rear and front components that locate the suspension and allow adjustment for supension geometry ; normally ally or steel .

i am hoping that , much like carbon etc , Ti prices will get lower over next couple years

[alpina527]

Not only is Titanium very expensive, it's also very difficult and slow to machine.

Good stuff though. How about the 3" ring that goes around the M3 SMG gearstick Roy. Now that would look good.

[peppernick]

IMHO, titanium is used and bought by enthusiasts who want to save weight on their cars. So you're targetting a selected group. You can argue it's the same as CF and CF sells so well. However, CF has the weave to go with the product and hence, asthetically is 10X more pleasant and enticing to a plain looking alloy object.

Personally, if I were to buy titanium parts, I would go for those that weigh significantly more in original form such as exhaust, crankshaft, springs etc. Titanium is boring to look at, and doesn't look anymore better than aluminium or steel. I wouldn't pay more for say a tax disc holder, handbrake handle etc. Alloy version look just the same if not better, you also get more choices because they are easier to manufacture and better still, can be anodized cheaply.

Performance junkies tend to go for titanium, and these people are hard to find. However, these are also the people who are more willing to pay for what they want, because what they are getting serves a specific purpose. Asthetic buyers will think twice because they can get similar LOOKING product for a lot less, and they usually aren't too fuss about how specific the function of the part is.

So my 2 cents.......Small market, especially in the UK and parts have to be more performance orientated because it's only then their function can be very specific and the same part made from lesser materials is inferior for the purpose it serves.

Nobody will yearn for titanium roundels, tax disc holders, door handles......but some people will sell his/her kidney for a titanium crankshaft.

[AlpinaAl]

Good point nick, how much you give me for a kidney at the current exchange rates of cash/bodyparts. ;)

A Ti crank would be nice :cool:

[CA Automotive UK]

Thanks again all .

Ian , do you know of any good UK companies that deal in titanium ?

[Sport Coupe]

If Ti was strong enough then manufacturing things such as wishbones, trailing arms, anti roll bars, strut braces front and rear and prehaps prop shafts would all be useful to the performance/track enthusiast.