Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance Dtec Tuning Duratec Heat Shield...it's ready!

Thanks for the replies guys - both nice and not so nice.

We're not in the business of ripping people off. Both Chad and I have spend alot of time with this project trying to make something that we felt was worth selling. We knew there were going to be people out there complaining about the cost regardless of how we priced the unit - that's the way these internet forums work. But we had to be realistic when it came to the amount of time it takes to make the shields, the cost of materials (which is more than just sheet aluminum), cost of packaging, time to create an instruction sheet, test them, etc.. The final price you pay for an item has to reflect more than just the raw materials or you will quickly find yourself saying "why am I doing this?"

A computer cost less than $100 I bet in raw materials - it's the assembly labor, packaging, sales force, marketing, warehousing, shipping, etc. that add additional cost.

We thought long and hard about pricing. We solicited opinions from local CEG and NECO members who saw the unit and asked them "how much would you pay for this?". Then we looked to see what other similar products for other cars cost.
We came up with a price that we belive is fair to both us and the buyer. In fact, our price is around 1/2 of what the VW and BMW communities pay for similar products. No one is getting rich making stuff for the Contour community.

If someone feels that they can make a comprable product at a better price and sell it to as many CEG'ers as will line up for them by all means be my guest.

I don't know about the people complaining about the price, but I know I don't have the time to make something like this. I would much rather spend $70, install it and get on with my life.

Chad, your price is right on the mark in my opinion, but that�??s because I am a typical adult making good money for whom time is the most valuable thing. I like working on cars but will gladly pay for someone else expertise for various types of custom work. It is smart for me to spend the $72.99 now.

When I was a young man I would never have paid $72.99 for such a thing! In those days my time was not so valuable to me and I would have gladly spent it experimenting with cardboard forms and shapes until I had just what I needed to cut out the sheet metal. At that time in my life I would have been right not to spend the money on a custom built part.

I think that it�??s the same for everyone when it comes to hobbies and leisure time activities. People who believe this product is too expensive are making a subjective assessment based on their own situation �?? and they are probably right!

Each person is the expert when it comes to the value of their own time �?? just remember that what�??s right for me is not necessarily going to be right for others.

The primary value of your product is not in the materials but in the development and fabrication time. I develop software for a living �?? what a fool I would make if I valued my �??product�?� based on the cost of the CDs it ships on!

In any event the market is the final arbitrator of cost �?? the question is: are you selling enough of these at your current price?

ANY product u hardly ever pay for the materials (though they usually get included). your paying for a benefit. what is that benefit worth to u. if they charged 500 dollars, it still wouldn't be a ripoff. if u feel the benefit is greatly worth it, then 500 is fair.

why do u think custom work and one-off's cost so much more than mass marketed stuff.

if you guys can guarantee them you'll take 1000 shields, i can guarantee they'll lower the price. until then i'll be ordering one when i'm ready for my intake.

also i thought about it. everyone was complaining that the heat shield defeats the purpose of an open intake. i disagree. i think most dont think about it in the right terms. what the heat shield is doing is replicating the stock air box BUT on a bigger scale. it allows u to run a bigger filter in a bigger air box, if you will. the fender inlet is pushing air into a larger stock box with a larger filter(if u understand what that means). i bet if they made the heat shield air tight like the stock box, you get even better results. but they cant cuz everyone is running different size filters, intake pipes, mafs. so they made it as good as possible with enough compromise to allow maximize the numbers of possible users.

I haven't spent a summer with the KKM on yet, but if I notice a loss in power due to heat, I will buy one. I think $75 bucks isn't that much for the benefit. I live near Boston and rarely get on the highway so underhood temps around the city could kill my performance. If I mostly drove highway and didn't have $75 bucks to part with, I'd probably skip it. But either way I think it is well made and conceived and I hope they make a profit as a reward for their hard work and dedication to expanding our options.

nice heat shield, i don't know anything bout the duratec intake. but with my zetec i have made pretty effective heat shields for my ghetto intake and my CTA intake. i just use foam board (very low heat conduction) and it takes less than 5mins. to make it and it can be as complicated,custom,etc. as you like. but that's just me.

There was a gentleman on this site some time ago that made heatshields (read:mik's heat shield) but it never came with ceramic coating!! DEFINITELY a nice (and practical) touch!! Will be ordering one soon, before summer gets here!!

darren g, with experience with open air elements, you're gonna have heat soak and anything to block the heat would be worth it. or even better relocate the filter to behind the bumper (why hasn't any duratec'er done this?).

Actually, my "old" 92 "Notchback" 5.0L had it's intake in the fenderwell....in fact, many Mustang sites sell a kit exactly like that all the time, so I suppose it would be feasable. Your points are all very valid concerns! The Mustang at least had a partition of sorts to keep most of the water, dirt, etc. away from the filter.

Also, if the tube for a CAI is actually "tuned" (tapers from smaller to larger or larger to smaller) to the engine's needs (displacement, fuel, air, etc.) it will make more power with a longer "tube". I thought that the longer a CAI, the worse, but the PRM on my Probe GT and the CAI on my Sentra SE-R were both "tuned" lengths that made very good amounts of power! Just my .02 $