Following a previous thread regarding sump guards I emailed Stuart at Tuftrayz to see if they were planning to make any, this is his reply;

'Hi there,

I have been looking into the undertray situation unfortunately it does not make financial sense at the present moment for us to develop a undertray for the skoda model as at present it costs approx £100 for the kad designs plus the other development costs including increasing material costs for this particular model i am in the process of developing other vehicle undertrays at the moment however i would like to know what you think would be approx figure of sales that are for this particular model as i am aware that other companies had offered these items unsuccessfully if I do produce one for this particular vehicle it will be in the region of £180 per item. I appreciate the need for these undertrays however due to costing involved it would be financially insecure for me to develop a limited run at this present time.

As a group buy on the sumps i would like to offer all your members them at a price of £150+p&p(RRP £170.50+p&p)each as a special briskoda members offer no need for group buy just a discount for you guys.

Thank You,

Stuart'

What do people reckon with the price of the guards, and how many people would be genuinely interested. As quite a bit of the cost is in the development side of things does anyone have any drawings or a sump guard from the original group buy that Tuftrayz could use to keep the cost down. What is the interest in the re-inforced sumps.

Graeme

you may want to bring up the fact that some peopls are running FMIC and any brackets made to suport the front of the sump guard amy get in the way of the intercooler pipe

you may want to bring up the fact that some peopls are running FMIC and any brackets made to suport the front of the sump guard amy get in the way of the intercooler pipe

This is one of the problems i am having with the sump gaurds.

I have currently got the alloy plate part correct just need to perfect the bracket. But this all takes time, money and materials. And there is not alot of room with the fmic on there :(

Is there any advantage to having a reinforced sump rather than sump guard?

are they really that much more strong?

If i had my VRS still i would get one, i put off lowering on coilovers due to that lack of availability of a sump guard so spot on!

Is there any advantage to having a reinforced sump rather than sump guard?

are they really that much more strong?

Right heres how i see it, please correct me if i am wrong.

With a re-inforced sump where does the force of hitting something actually go? Instead of being absorbed buy the smashing of the sump they are transmitted up the engine to even more expensive things. Wouldnt do the engine mounts alot of good either.

with a sump guard the forces should be trasmitted around the engine and into the stronger chassis legs.

thats how i see it, if you want ultimate protection you need a re-inforced sump and a sump guard.

My guards will be around the £150 mark (i am making no profit on them) and will be bloody strong and might need some mods to the subframe in order to fit.

Why would anyone want to start modding there subframe? Im sorry but these things should be a bolt on and forget item. This is where the development costs come from! If i bought one from yourself and shagged my subframe would you take on the costs to repair it? Again this is why going to a company who puts the time and effort to insure no problems will happen for that fact they dont want to have to pay out for damages/problems

I have already got the reinforced sump and put my hand right up for one of those undertrays. Stuart can use my car for development if needed. I have been wanting one right from day one, and been on Stuarts case about it! He just needs more interest!

Why would anyone want to start modding there subframe? Im sorry but these things should be a bolt on and forget item. This is where the development costs come from! If i bought one from yourself and shagged my subframe would you take on the costs to repair it? Again this is why going to a company who puts the time and effort to insure no problems will happen for that fact they dont want to have to pay out for damages/problems

I have already got the reinforced sump and put my hand right up for one of those undertrays. Stuart can use my car for development if needed. I have been wanting one right from day one, and been on Stuarts case about it! He just needs more interest!

If you look at the original design, the actual alloy plate is held on with the same t20 screws that hold the plastic ones in place. I am sorry but i just dont see them being strong enough. Why wouldnt you want to modify your subframe??? If it makes the install stronger and less likley fly off and kill someone! You dont even know what the modification is yet your flaming it down straight away.

Go ahead with your one from tuff trys ill just make myself one, knowing that it will be better than any company can produce. I have invested near on 50 hours of my own time in it and its still not right!

Ill leave this thread now and never mention the sump guards again.

Im not flaming you down in anyway, and i wouldnt have thought tuftrayz will throw a design together to be held on by the original screws. What i am saying is that Stuart has said if there is enough interest he will begin to develop one. This is what we need a company to take on the design time, features and make it work. The more input and help we can pass on will surely save us money in the long run. We want a part thats bolt on, when you start to modify standard parts to make things fit surely this is wrong? It should incorporate it within the design, im not wanting to hack things apart to make anything fit. I want it 'designed to fit' and make sure it works!

You make it all sound so easy

Looking at your join date to the site, I think you might want to search through old posts on this issue, to familiarise yourself with the issues and problems that other members have already encountered. After all, avoiding past mistakes will help these 'Tufftrayz' people keep costs down too.

Getting to marriage between a reinforced tray and FMIC equipped vehicle is quite a big challenge. Especially if people are insistent on using standard fixings.

Steve

Im not flaming you down in anyway, and i wouldnt have thought tuftrayz will throw a design together to be held on by the original screws. What i am saying is that Stuart has said if there is enough interest he will begin to develop one. This is what we need a company to take on the design time, features and make it work. The more input and help we can pass on will surely save us money in the long run. We want a part thats bolt on, when you start to modify standard parts to make things fit surely this is wrong? It should incorporate it within the design, im not wanting to hack things apart to make anything fit. I want it 'designed to fit' and make sure it works!

What do you think i am doing with the sump guard????? Making it in my shed.

I have my engineering works working on the design, its not as simple as just throwing some materials togther too, you need to get TUV approval which means you will be able to run these sump guards on your cars and still be able to get insurance :P

So if tuttrayz are not going to use the orginal screws how are they going to attach it to the subrame without making a modification :confused:

If you want more info read this on type approval.

TUV International UK - Product Testing - Automotive

Maybe then people will appreaciate how long these things take.

CALM DOWN, all im saying if we can pass on the information, research people have done, problems they have come across to Tuftrayz then maybe it will help them out, thus speading up the process.

Come on everyone, there is generally plenty of people saying they want sump guards, does anyone else have any thoughts on what tuftrayz have said.

Well i think we should club together and pass on the information the tufftrayz, im sure Stuart will help us if we help him so to speak. Issue people have come across and ideas that may make it work better etc