Votex rear spoiler - potential source for non-original

Hi all,

I have a rear window with a bigger spoiler from 1.6FSI on my 1.4TDI. I would not recommend to replace only the spoiler as it is attached to the rear window with screws and industrial glue. Well, I'm not saying it's not possible but it might end up in a broken glass...

I am also interested in "replica"-Votex parts although it won't be easy to get a road operation approval for them in Germany. Besides, it would be nice to try to attach a rear "replica"-Votex spoiler to the one from 1.6FSI/1.2TDI.
 
Just a quick update.

The guy was suddenly hit with a lot of urgent work and so has not yet been able to look at the costing etc.

I have asked for a simple yes or no to the feasibility of doing the reproduction and we should get his initial thoughts soon.

He now has the full Votex kit (Tom kindly delivered the rest of the kit when he came down recently)

So we should hear something soon.

I suppose that the best people are often busy and this guy is definitely busy.

But I am so looking forward to a positive response to this task that I am becoming impatient.

My concerns are as follows

The rear spoiler has such a complex shape that a simple mould would not work (you would not be able to extract it from the mould due to the shape, so it MIGHT have to be moulded in three parts, the two end pieces and the spoiler itself, then assembled. But this is a layman's view, the specialists may know of an alternative option.

The rest of the kit is so floppy (and it would need to have a degree of flexibility to ensure a tight fit against the body) so that may present issues witn moulding the reproduction. But again, I don't know what these guys are capable of.

Bt I am hopeful, because these days it is even easier to produce these than it was in the early "noughties"

The second I get any news I will post it on here.

Steve B
 
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Looking forward to see if he can do the side skirt covers :) do you know if he is 3D scanning the parts?

Wondering if for small items 3D scanning then 3D printing is the way to go?

Sorry if this is already covered in another topic.

Steve
 
The really good news is that today he has confirmed that he can do the full kit.

He has been involved is a special last minute (and very lucrative) build for a manufacturer, so it delayed our job a little.

I don't believe that he is using a 3d printer for any parts.

Yes, the jacking point covers should be capable of being 3d printed, but unless you have access to a huge industrial 3d printer the rest of the kit is too large.

I haven't asked about what he is proposing regarding the material he will use or the method, but he is fully aware of how the parts fit on top of the existing panels and so there needs to be some flexibility in the materal used.

But up until now I wasn't sure if it was feasible, and now it looks like it is, that is great news indeed.
He is now looking at the costings etc. so we can see how much each kit will cost.
I am just hoping that he can keep the costs down to a sensible amount.

When they become available (later this year) the aim is to offer them to members that have already registered as forum members, at as close to cost price as we can get it (i.e. cost price plus any storage and shipping costs). If the member has not registered on the A2OC (or A2Freun) forum before the date we specify, they will be able to buy them still, but not at cost (and there are no plans to make any significant profits from anyone, member or otherwise). I just want to provide a source for these, not a source of income for me!!!

Steve B
 
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At this early stage do you think it will be just full kits would be available steve?

James
 
jp.oog said:
At this early stage do you think it will be just full kits would be available steve?

James
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Hi James,

do you mean would people be able to buy individual parts of the kit, should anything get lost or damaged on theirs, or do you mean a kit with / without the spoiler, for example?

I am hoping that we can make enough of these to have some components that are available for spares (i.e. individual parts) just in case of accident damage etc.

My aim would be to do
Full kits with rear spoiler,
Kits without rear spoiler
Rear spoilers by themselves
and then individual parts of the kit too (Including the jacking point covers)

The idea would be to calculate the cost pice of each part,
selling a kit would be priced at the cost of all of the component parts (plus handling charge) for members (with a small mark up for non-members)
That would mean that selling individual parts would be possible (again based on the cost of producing each part.)


As you say though, it is early days, and until we know the cost price (which would depend on how many we would be ordering) we can't be sure.


A small run of these would probably mean a very high price. The more produced, the lower the price.

If the quality of these kits is going to be as good as I am planning (above average) then demand may well be high enough to have a large initial run. That would be great because the production costs (Especially the cost of making the moulds) can be spread thinner across each part produced. The other variable is down to the complexity of the production process. Producing fibreglass moulds would be much less that any plastic injection moulds,

So to be honest I really don't yet know what kind of price these will come out at and until I get a good idea of that cost I can't be sure of the final outcome.

But I will do my best to make sure that it all works out well.

Steve B
 
Votex style rear spoilers, pricing available.

I have received some costing for the rear spoiler. (Holds his breath!)

I need to gauge interest, so please can I have honest feedback to gauge if this is going to be of sufficient interest to people.

Due to designing the mould, which is a complex shape and then making the mould we need to be able to sell a minimum of 10 spoilers at £200 each. (this is the cost price for this batch)

It was never going to be cheap, and to me that price is just about feasible. I know that I would definitely pay that for one of the rear spoilers, but I need honest feedback.

We are not yet taking orders and there would be no need to panic and get your name down early because we will make as many as we need for the members on here and on A2Freun.

After we have satisfield the members orders we would then have to look at a price closer to £250 to £300 because of the numbers we would need to store and sell.

I would imagine that the first batch would be ready in about 4 weeks and I will open the order book soon (when I am more confident of the numbers we would sell and when I am able to confirm the exact details and confirm the quality of the first test run)

PS they wold not have the "Stamp" indentation that carries the detail, this would be smoothed out.

Fingers crossed, over to you.

Steve B
 
Would the cost be on a sliding scale if for example we manage to get 20 interested would it drop to £100 per unit?
 
A2Steve said:
Would the cost be on a sliding scale if for example we manage to get 20 interested would it drop to £100 per unit?
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If we get 20 orders we can reduce the cost, because the tooling costs would be spread more thinly, but not as far as £100, perhaps £150 minimum. But that would have to be 20 deposits taken (small deposit to prove commitment to buy) rather than just 20 people saying they might buy.

If we can get members from A2Freun interested as well it would help get the numbers up.

But those prices would be members only.

After we have supplied all of the members we would need to add a small markup for non members because we are cutting the costs to the bone with no flexibility for problems etc.

The idea would be for the non-members to take the lions share of the costs of the moulds and tooling, but we can't afford to make a loss.

Steve B
 
If we could get the cost down around £150 id leave a deposit definatly I am Sure we can get at least 20 people
 
I'm really looking forward to a costing on the rest of the kit. I'm not that fussed about the spoiler as it's not to my tast but can see why some might want the full votex look.

Max
 
MAXAudi said:
I'm really looking forward to a costing on the rest of the kit. I'm not that fussed about the spoiler as it's not to my tast but can see why some might want the full votex look.

Max
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We are hoping to get some prices on that soon.

Steve B
 
Hi Steve,

It's a good price.
We've seen the idiots around taking the pee and pricing the rear spoiler at £900 and more.
If the quality is as good as the original spoiler (a perfect fit onto the tailgate spoiler and no noticable flex), then this should be seen as a great way of obtaining something that was almost unobtainable.

I'm sure at £150 many would invest, but £200 isn't silly money.

You can count on my support for 1 unit if the quality hits the spot, and thank you.

Cheers
Jeff
 
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