Quote Originally Posted by Rawtek View Post
Hi all, my name is Ricardo and I'm the owner of Rawtek Performance. I also happen to be the guy who developed the Micra exhaust system for the Micra cup cars. Rob has brought this thread to my attention because for whatever reason, every time he gets on here, there are a couple members who jump down his throat with baseless accusations and inaccurate information. Now, I've read through the couple threads and I think Rob has been remarkably polite and forthcoming with information in the face of often sarcastic or accusatory remarks. The bottom line here is that high performance automobile modifications are a bit of a grey area, legally speaking. Regulations for various types of modifications vary from one jurisdiction to another and we don't keep track of these, as much as a couple particularly vocal member here think we should. These regulations change and we are not lawyers. Could we have the exhaust certified for sale across Canada?... I have no doubt that we could but that is too expensive and time consuming to be warranted for such a small market. If you take those costs and distribute them over a limited number of sales, the price of the exhaust would be much too high. Also, the Japanese JQR certification that Nobuseri referenced means absolutely nothing outside of Japan. Admitting that "It isn't valid here but whatever" seems in direct contrast with the reason for paying extra for it or demanding certification from us.
Where we are located, in Quebec, the Fujitsubo exhaust is completely illegal simply because it is an aftermarket part that was designed to alter the sound of the vehicle. I suspect that the situation is similar in many other provinces. Why not try to discredit their product? I am positive, IMPUL, that there would not be a Fujitsubo representative at your court appearance. Nor would there be a Magnaflow, Borla, Greddy, Apexi, Flowmaster or Vibrant representative if you had purchased one of their respective exhaust systems. Your demands are unreasonable.
In fact, if you're looking for certification and/or immunity from regulations that are largely left to the discretion of the police officer that pulls you over, you're going to be stuck buying a replacement exhaust directly from Nissan. What's the point? What you already have is certified so stick with that and save your money. For those of us who are willing to venture into the grey areas, the name of the game is to do it tastefully to avoid being pulled over in the first place. Our exhaust system is so obviously not offensive in either tone or total volume that I saw no need to run a battery of tests on it. We took our Micra Cup design and altered the muffler internals to provide better attenuation and a deeper tone that is more pleasant in a daily driver. We use top quality materials and fabrication processes throughout and we take pride in what we build. That's a lot more than can be said of some of the large faceless corporations who build many aftermarket parts. In fact, everything that comes out of here has been built by 3 guys...Hemant (our master welder), Loris (cutting, mandrel bending, washing) and Rob (quality control, packaging and shipping). We are the little guy, we still have something to prove and I am not willing to jeopardize our stellar reputation for quality and customer service by trying to push a crap product on this forum. Some people will only buy from companies who have been in business for 50 years and that's fine but don't take every opportunity to crap all over a small, well intentioned company who has been making quality products for only 12 years. If everybody thought that way, there would be no new companies bringing new ideas and products to market.

The bottom line here, the way I see it, is that if you're not interested in our exhaust system, that's ok. I'm not trying to force anything on anyone. BUT there are not dozens or readily accessible and reasonably priced exhaust options for the Micra in Canada so I asked Rob to make this forum aware that we have something to offer...that's it. I am very surprised by the accusatory posts by people who have never been to our facility or seen or heard our products in person. Nobuseri, I know you contacted our shop, which I appreciate but you still have never been here or held our products in your hands so I don't know where your opinion that we're a bunch of rednecks pushing garbage came from. I remember your emails and messages, and no we are still not ISO certified but if you can point me toward another 5 employee company that is I will gladly look into it. For now, we have our hands full designing and building the best quality parts we can, for people who are willing to give us a chance. Still, I'll gladly take the time to bring anyone on a tour of our facility or discuss our methods if you care to call us up and schedule such a visit.
That's it for my rant. Hopefully I've succeeded in getting my point across without ruffling too many feathers.

Have a good one.

Ricardo
Ahh, Ricardo, let's just say I appreciate you flexing your intellect on this matter, this is not my business, I simply commented and had all the right to do so. As for the emails? I do not remember emailing your company, however I did get in touch last year, and I wasn't very happy how your sale's guy reacted, very unprofessional. I will leave it here. Not my cup of tea.