Miata Turbo Forum - Boost cars, acquire cats.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacob300zx (Post 730320)

AST just purchased Moton. I'd get AST's with their new valving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnorexicRoadster (Post 730367)

Mind you who knows how long it will be untill moton parts make it into AST shocks, and even then AST stuff is hard to beat especially when they are valved and tested by AST with input from Emilio which knows a thing or two about miatas.

Both AST and Moton bring different tech to the table from what I've heard/read. I think the Moton Club Sport line will go away because word of mouth says the CS stuff and Moton Motorsport stuff are worlds apart in terms of quality. You should talk to the AST boys or watch their facebook page to see what is going to change if anything at all. It's my interpretation that Xida's and AST 5000 in general are a no-compromise shock with the best technology available and no "tiered quality" in regards to valving; I think their tier lied in adjustability.

Free thoughts, talking out of my ass:
judging from the garbage on the market in terms of off-the-shelf cartridge shocks, I don't think AST was making a ton of cash on consumer-line shocks like what we buy because their quality level is so high and hand assembly (if competitors could, they would). I have a vision of Tein, Bilstein, Tokico, and other mass-produced shocks at a factory where machines handle the assembly and those fancy height/pre-load perches sold as a feature are actually a crutch for universal cartridge fitment. I know the guys at AST-USA build and assemble shocks by hand and all that labor has to cut into profit margin.

My guess, if I were running this company which I'm not, is that AST quality and hand craftsmanship will remain the same, but take a larger market share of the low-budget consumer line pockets and hire more employees to churn out more shocks while the shocks will remain unchanged (hire me, please). I would then combine any superior technology in the $$$blangblang$$$ racecar shocks including that fancy digressive high-speed rebound valve for the motorsports shocks, keep the prices the same while increasing quality, and take a huge chunk out of the market share in racing and call it "Moton, by AST".

The coolest part of this whole deal is watching a small business that provides awesome quality shocks, substantially cheaper than Motor/JRZ/Penske/Aragosta for club racers like ourselves, grow up into a big company.