Agreed. Ridding ourselves of the opti with a stronger and better performing setup such as the LTCC and equivalents without a messload of wires is what most want, at least that is what I want. I want a smoother running engine and one I can power wash or steam clean if I feel like it. Not an engine with an opti that I'm afraid of driving through large puddles! A quality ignition that is simple to install and eliminates the opti. As an LT1 and an F-body owner in general I am very impressed with your company getting opinions from whom it matters most, the potential customers themselves. Stop producing the dynaspark in all honesty. Dont make a "better" opti, eliminate it.

 

Like most others, cost is about my only complaint. (That and I haven't heard any long term testing data). I understand it has to be finacially viable, but isn't this where investment comes in. It seems you are trying to get your money back as you go rather than getting a long term return. I am no business expert, but if you lowered the price and sold more, wouldn't you end up at the same $ point? (Ex. 10unitsx$600=$6000 or 15unitsx$400=$6000) I appreciate you guys stepping up and trying to provide a product that is in demand for us and I hope you keep making them. Just try to get the price down and I am sure they will be a hit.

 

I bought a DynaSpark unit and have had it installed for about three months. Sure it was was expensive, but I liked its features. So I bought.

Before installing it I placed it next to a spare opti I had laying around and compared the two. I was impressed with the quality of parts and workmanship on the DynaSpark. The instruction sheet and accompanying data was exceptionally informative and complete. I'm pleased and am glad I was able to buy one of those gems.

Is it cost effective? I'm not sure, but then again my Camaro wasn't exactly a practical, cost effective vehicle purchase either. I tend to buy mods and other things for my car that come at a premium price that aren't "necessary" or a "good deal" from many peoples opinion. Like many in this hobby I make purchasing decisions that aren't always very rational. Heck, according to my wife there isn't anything in a Summit Racing catalog that is a bargain or a reasonable investment.

 

I have had my original opti for 110,000 miles. I think the idea of an after market opti is a great idea, however, what are the true benefits to owning a dynotech opti? I would say your big disadvantage is the price of it(like many have said). I'm not cheap, but I would think the whole "package" idea would be the way to go. I had no idea that a MSD actually wears on your opti. I have a 6AL and I hope it doesn't kill it(knock on wood). I would either can the production and market it to a different segment(corvette owners) or try to find some way to cut costs(not in quality) to get the product out there. Unless it cost you $500 to make. I would pay $350 for a premium opti that would handle a great deal of hp and give me the reliabilty that I need. But, I would see no reason to buy it at $600. Just my .02.
JOHN

 

As price goes down, quantity demanded goes up. If you lower the price, you will sell more of them, all other things the same. You mentioned that the reason the price is not yet lower is because you have to pay for R&D. IMO, you are not using basic economic principles in your thinking. Youre research and development is a sunk cost. It is already over with and there is nothing you can do about it. You need to look ahead, and do what is best for the company ignoring all past, sunk costs. You want to produce and sell as many of these suckers as possible while still keeping marginal revenue greater than or equal to marginal cost. Simply put, you want to produce and sell the amount right up to where the extra revenue from selling the extra unit equals the extra cost of producing that unit. That, my friend is where the most economic profit lies, and R&D never enters into that equation. This is called marginal analysis, and can be found in any economics book.

 

Agreed. 600 smackers is way too much for an optispark. Period. Like was suggested before, if you managed to lower the price to say, $400, I'd bet that you'd sell at least 4x more of them. I'd definitely buy one when mine goes.

 

i almost like the Gen III A/B idea... id take one if it could be manufactured for $150. but then considering you're likely gonna have to rip appart a new opti just to make the Gen III.. they will probably be around $300 and now its not so appealing.

now about the Gen I/II... too much money like every said already. since one of your dynasparks is as much as 3 OE optis and 1 OE unit lasts about 60k+ then that dynaspark will have to last atleast 180k+ miles for it to be worth the money... doesnt seem realistic to me.

 

I think what the Dynaspark suffers from is it's sameness to the opti. Whether your product is a much better and more reliable unit is not the point when it costs so much to purchase. Face it-car people are always looking for a bargain! A product that will sell in high volume must be affordable to the bulk of the target audience.

However, if you make a system that is different enough and eliminates some of the opti's sore points (like your ideas of making a driving unit for the LTCC or a complete distributorless design of your own), you may be able to convince people of the added value for the price. You could then boast fewer moving parts and even more potential reliability. You might even find that your R&D and manufacturing costs could be lower, too.

 

WERD!!!

 

If I knew that my opti was the source of all my troubles right now and that piece was $400 I would say over night it to me! If it works as good as you say it does I would be all over the net talking good about your product. Hell Im a saleman by trade so hell I would probably have mustang owners asking you for one! bottom line is, lowering the price = more sales

 

Like everyone else said, the only thing holding you back is cost. But I think your BIGGEST problem is that there is no long term test. Weather or not you stop making the price is up to you, but I for one would be interested in the Gen III A version. Even if you couldnt afford the LTCC unit and all the rest of the hardware, you could always put in a conventional distrubutor and have the motor run like that. Sure you wouldnt be able to control spark adv and you would lose your EGR, but it is a lot cheaper option to the LTCC. I for one would buy the dynaspark if my opti went bad.

 

Page 6 of my CarDomain site. http://www.cardomain.com/id/jamesz28
Let me just say that you have made a wonderful product. When my opti goes out eventually I will buy one if it is still available. But if the only thing I knew about your product was off of your website the I too would think you crazy for wanting $600 for a pretty opti. I think you could do alot better job selling these if people actually knew why some opti's go to 100,000 miles or more and some not even a quarter of that. I think you wouldn't see so many "pretty opti" comments if you actually explained on your site what is better about your product and why you manafacture the way you do. I would think it safe to say that atleast %99 of the people that would spend $600 on your product could understand and want the kind of specifics that I've got posted on my site. Just my 2 cents. If you feel my opinion is of value, I would be more than happy to take one of your Dyna's for free and do long term testing!

 

The only way I would spend 600 bucks for a opti is if had 10 warrantee.

 

my two pieces of mispelled copper-


you strengthened a lot of stuff- but the weak point is still there. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

why do I need a billet cover? Plastic was working just fine. I have yet to see an optispark break down due to a cover breaking under load or due to "ugly"

Optical sensor is key.

Personally- I think the opti is the red headed step child of this car. Anything that goes wrong its the opti. Misfire, gas milage, emission, flat tire- you name it.

I'd take it over the TPI traditional distributor. Guys with MSD ignitions go through them like its nothing. They become increasingly inaccurate and dont provide the damn near instantanious spark retard the optispark does.

most of the time the opti has had 90k miles of trouble free, cost free, maintinace free miles on it. the traditional distributor wasn't that great.

From what i understand/heard from guys back in the day-
Chevy guys big problem was that the cam could torque a bit by the end of the cam and that would cause timing issues. Mopar had a distributor off the front of the cam correct? not as big an issue.

When the opti works, its great. once ever 5 years you need to spend 4-5 hrs and replace it. Deal with it IMHO. I think the vented design is more than fine for me. Every car has its weak points. I dont see LS1 guys traditing their cars in due to sqeeky belts, piston slap and weak rod bolts...

edit:
also a lot of morons just dont install it correctly and that causes problems. Make it flush BEFORE tightening the bolts!

 

If it is priced as it is due to the cost of the parts and the time necessary to pay the people to make/put this together then that is just what the price is going to have to be (aside from producing it in higher numbers). However, if it is priced as it is because you have 2000 hours of R&D in it and are trying to recoupe that, then, as has been mentioned, I think it would be beneficial to lower the price of the unit and rely on the quantity sold.

Your R&D costs have already been spent. If you were to quit making them now, the R&D costs can't be recouped. However, if you continue to make them, you can slowly recoupe them which would be better than nothing IMO

This is something that I was most likely going to purchase here in the near future so if you do decide to quit making them (I hope you don't!) then give me a heads up first