| cans love their cars. The fascination with the | | | | doesn’t mean that only Hondas or Nissans |
| automobile started with the very first models and | | | | can be tuner cars. Other popular models include |
| continued to grow as people learned to modify | | | | Chevrolet’s Cavalier, Mitsubishi’s |
| their cars to increase performance. Style and | | | | Lancer, Mazda’s RX-7, and |
| performance is the main category on which cars | | | | Toyota’s Supra. Actually, the list practically |
| are judged today, originating from the days of | | | | never ends. People will modify and race any car, |
| prohibition, where moonshiners would modify their | | | | and in the tuner world, any compact car can |
| cars to outrun the cops, to competing against | | | | become a show-stopper. |
| each other later. Racing is part of | | | | When most people see a Honda, they think it is |
| America’s culture. | | | | just your average, everyday car. An enthusiast |
| Today’s hot trend is the “import | | | | sees that same car and understands the potential |
| tuner.” The “tuner” is the | | | | it has with aftermarket upgrades to style and |
| modern-day version of the muscle car, except | | | | performance. The aftermarket tuner industry is a |
| the muscle car was based on pure power. The | | | | multi-billion- dollar-a-year business. There are |
| import tuner car is a beautiful, fast car that is built | | | | companies that make performance flywheels, |
| to perform in a variety of ways. They handle | | | | turbo-chargers, exhaust systems, and cams, just |
| great. They look great. They have awesome | | | | to get an idea. Tuners know what performance |
| sound systems, fast, and expensive. Experts | | | | they want from the components in their cars, and |
| estimate that the average tuner car has about | | | | they aren’t scared to spend the money |
| $15,000 worth of modifications invested into it. | | | | to obtain it. |
| Not all of that money is sunk into the engine, like | | | | This niche has exploded in recent years, and it |
| in the days of old, though. It is usually divided | | | | shows no sign of stopping. These tuner vehicles |
| evenly between looks, sound, and performance. | | | | need top performance from their lubricants. It is |
| There is a lot of money invested in | | | | understandable to assume that these guys are |
| today’s performance vehicles, and | | | | probably do-it-yourselfers and change their oil on |
| lubrication is important to the life of those vehicles. | | | | the weekend in the driveway, but that |
| People normally assume that when they see a | | | | isn’t always the case. A lot of these guys |
| tuner, it is a regular car with a fancy paint job and | | | | actually don’t want to bother with the |
| loud stereo. That isn’t normally the case, | | | | trouble of changing and then disposing of the oil. |
| actually. A study done by SEMA shows that the | | | | Making an effort to market to this crowd gives |
| tuner crowd usually focuses on the performance | | | | you an enormous opportunity to sell synthetic oils |
| of the vehicle before concentrating on the looks | | | | to them. These guys know what performance |
| and sound. That means there are a lot of cars | | | | means to their car, and if you can teach them |
| that look “normal” that are actually | | | | about the superior performance given by |
| works in progress. This is just a hint of how | | | | synthetic blends, it is a for-sure sale. If they bring |
| important performance is to these people. | | | | up cost, show them that the cost is actually less |
| Like the Camaro and Mustang of the '60s, Honda | | | | when you factor in other variables, such as engine |
| and Nissan dominate the market today. That | | | | performance, longevity, and economy. |