msportsman (aka Ianb on other forums) is a very loyal APR customer and obviously will not have anyone diss their products (bit like the peeps on vortex really)
fair enough he was one of the few to bolt the APR S3+ GT28RS kit on a Mk4 Golf. Did he pay full price for it? Doubt it....hence a bit like the 'tex forum across the big pond.
Fair play to JKM...if they like their products and think it will sell then why not. At least it gives their customers even wider choice of products to choose from and mix and match. Chris aka WhiteGTI for instance uses APR TBE with Revo map! And DomT uses Revo map with APR HPFP!
At the end of the day....choice is good for the consumer. Be bloody boring if it there was just one offering in the marketplace for a product!
So well done to JKM
Don't you just love forums....all that I will say as previously was that there's nothing wrong in either products....they're both similar and have proven track records and both are used in Motorsport here, US and no doubt Europe.
The reality is that most of us go to people we know and trust and have faith in and most importantly know their business and want the best for their car's. We also want different things out of car's hence different choices on mods.
Years ago back in the eighties when I started building Golf's there were only a few places to go to buy properly engineered fast Golf or Jetta and that was GTI Engineering, Brian Rickett's when he brke away and formed BR Motorsport, Autocavan and later Tim Stiles. I have worked with all their experince on Golf's over the years sadly many have now gone.
Yep I've had some amazing car's in my time some of which you may have known my old white MK2 Golf GTI 16V for many years it was one of the quickest valver's on track regularly seen spitting flames at various circuit's and featured in VW/Audi car by Peter Noad and later Neil Birkett...it was a genuine 200bhp 16v built almost to slick 50 spec but still used everday and the beauty was that it looked stock. The car was carefully built by 'engineers' from the old Tim Stiles racing the people that built 4 championschip winning cars in the 90's.
Onto my MKIV yep it was APR Stage 3+ and it was built for track and road. It was the first one doneby Awesome and if it please some people I did get a reasonably good deal but there again I still spent alot in other areas to cope with the power and what I wanted out of the car. Suffice to say I bought the kit on it's engineered reputation. Good though the car was when finished in my oppinion it isn't a patch on the MK5 as we all now the chassis has moved on. The car was rebuilt heavily using massively uprated internals again done by friends of mine who have a vast experience of building race winning cars. Last year it was head to head at Combe with the Miltek R8 piloted by our friend Mr Hollamby who was quite surprised as we entered Avon Rise at 145 side by side!!
Jim whom some of you know at Awesome was helpful throughout and yes we did come across a few issues along the way but in all the APR kit did the biz and I was pleased with it.....expensive it is but when I looked at the Sportec and MTM options it was a good deal. APR at the time wanted to break into the UK market with their stage 3 kits hence I was the guinea pig.
I'm glad JKM are APR dealer's as said it offers choice. I for one am starting out but I'm sure when finished it will be a 'proper' car.
I'm at Combe competing with the RS boys this Saturday so hopefully my stand in mods will suffice....this is a really good well driven day with proper track manners and is one of the best trackdays of the year with many different marques out on track.
I hope this forum won't get like Club GTI as most people seem to doing the right thing and debating the best way forward which is what it's all about.
Sorry about the spelling mistake.....I hate typing at the best of times!