Issue link: http://undercardigest.epubxp.com/i/532830
July 2015 15 Over the years Jeff and his team, through personal experience and Internet-forum participation, han- dled by Steve Mariano, have learned which muffler works best on which engines. "The closest we have to any- body else is our Mach, which is free flow in design," Boychuk said. "Even it is about 25% quieter than some very popular brands, but with a deeper sound." "On some vehicles we say use the Mach; on others we say use the said. "The engine harmonics that are coming through today's cars are very different. One muffler just doesn't solve the problem. "Storm offers a deep exhaust note at takeoff but becomes quiet maximum flow with a softer ex- haust note and is installed primari- ly on luxury cars and high-end pickups. Solo offers three lines of res- onators and are popular with the shops since some systems still need to be "tweaked" for the per- fect sound the customer wants, Boychuk said. Mach resonators (MR) are free flowing and can soften an exhaust note by 15% to 20% while deepen- resonators) are designed to be two resonators in one, have 93% of the flow of an MR and typically re- duce the exhaust note by 25% to 40%. Solorez is for what Boychuk calls "exhaust-note junkies." It "calms" or changes the existing ex- haust note. In addition Solo offers a wide variety of stainless exhaust tips and stainless hardware kits. And that hardware is very important because it is also made of stainless. Ray Blanchard, who heads Solo's manufacturing and design, said anyone who is serious about in- stalling stainless systems will also use stainless clamps and hangers. Cold-rolled steel clamps attaching stainless systems can result in early corrosion at connection points. "Pricewise, we put all of our time and energy and money into creating a very good product that is built extremely well," Boychuk said. "We also eliminate a lot of the middlemen and go directly to the end user – the shop. So in most cases our prices are actually cheap- er than our competitor's and shops make a good margin." The one warehouse exception for Solo is Canusa Automotive Warehousing, with locations in Toronto and London, Ontario. "Canusa is the main supplier to the IMDA members and they have supplied and supported our pro- gram for years and they carry Solo for shops in southern Ontario." Solo ships to other parts of Canada from its Mississauga warehouse, and to the U.S. and Mexico from its distribution center in Kenmore, N.Y. Purchasing also is available over the Internet and Solo will pro- vide consumers with the names of competent shops to install the sys- tems for them, but encourage them to buy from the shop. Solo continues to expand its cov- erage and the number of shops its serves. Boychuk attributes the com- pany's success to its team members. Each shop location manufactures different components and performs specific duties. He said the compa- ny's success is all part of the team's willingness to communicate and work together. "Between manufacturing, ideas, R&D; and shipping, we all work to- gether really well. It's hard these days to get a group of people togeth- er in one facility to work all togeth- er. We have four separate facilities that work like clockwork." ■ Solo Performance 2580 Stanfield Road Mississauga, ON L4Y 1S2 USA & Mexico: 716-875-7656 Canada: 905-897-6833 www.solo-performance.com Circle No. 50 on Reader Card Ron Urquhart displays a replacement muffler for a Ford Focus. Hamid Mostafavi works on a Pontiac G8 performance system.