The Nissans and Infinitis racing around a makeshift course at the former El Toro Marine base during a recent weekend looked normal on the outside.
Inside, they were anything but.
The cars were fitted with superchargers,a device that makes them go faster by drawing more air into the engine.
HKS USA Inc., part of Japan’s HKS Co., is getting ready to start selling its newly engineered supercharger this fall. It held the two-day event in Irvine to give auto journalists a feel for the device.
The kit for Nissan and Infiniti models is set to cost about $6,500 and be sold through auto shops and stores.
HKS USA, which has its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles and marketing operations in Orange County,where President Rick Lafferty lives,makes a variety of parts for tricking out Japanese cars.
The company has about $90 million in yearly sales, including $10 million to $20 million in the U.S. HKS employs 25 people in Southern California and 350 worldwide.
Locally, it sells exhaust systems, suspensions, powertrains, fuel parts and other products through Dynamic Autosports Inc. in Lake Forest; Stanton’s Autobacs, part of Japan’s Autobacs Seven Co.; and Costa Mesa-based Stillen.
The most popular HKS product Stillen sells are turbocharger “blow off valves” for Nissan 300Zs, said Steve Millen, co-owner of Stillen and a former New Zealand racecar driver.
Stillen also competes with HKS with its own supercharger.
Some HKS products, such as clothing, hats and meters are sold directly by the company at ByHKS.com, a site originally set up for product information.
“Our product is so complex, we needed a search engine nobody else had,” HKS USA President Lafferty said.
HKS is looking to ride a trend of auto customizing, according to Lafferty. Auto enthusiasts have become more adept at engine performance, which has helped boost sales for HKS, he said.
It’s all about bragging rights, according to Lafferty.
“I have this car that can do these incredible things,” he said. “You can never have a car that goes fast enough.”
HKS’s biggest selling product: exhaust systems.
“Every car has one,” Lafferty said. “But on most cars they compromise efficiency and cost. Enthusiasts like efficient exhausts,” which add horsepower.
There’s also the sound factor of an exhaust system.
“We spend a great deal of time tuning for an exhaust note,” Lafferty said. “They also look very nice.”
HKS in Japan handles research and development and manufacturing. Lafferty said he’d like to do some local manufacturing to cut shipping costs and get products to customers more quickly.
The company has Japanese executives who are based here on a rotating basis, Lafferty said.
“That way they understand the U.S. market,” he said.
Lafferty goes to Japan a few times a year as well, he said.
For the first 30 years of the company’s history, the Japanese market drove the business, according to Lafferty.
But in the past five years, it has become a melding of the Japanese and U.S. markets, he said.
“It’s becoming more and more a blend of the two cultures,” Lafferty said.
