To fully understand the reason that the Commercial Availability clause was added to the rule book, you must look at the big picture...

1. Competitors want to use products that win. Competitors also want equal access to components that are being used in dB Drag Racing competition.

2. Retailers host dB Drag Racing events as a marketing tool. In other words, they host events in an effort to sell product. It doesn't do a retailer any good to provide a marketing platform for a product that he or she can't sell.

3. Manufacturer's support the sport of dB Drag Racing by sponsoring vehicles, becoming members of the dBDRA, exhibiting at shows, and manufacturing products for use in dB Drag Racing competition. Once again, it doesn't do a manufacturer any good to fund an organization that promotes a product that is manufacturered by someone who isn't pulling their own weight.

4. The dBDRA wants all of the objectives above to be fufilled. We want competitors to have fair access to the best products. We want retailers to sell lots of products so that they will have more events and the competitors will have more opportunities to compete. Increased sales benefits the manufacturers and they are then more inclined to participate in dB Drag Racing by sponsoring vehicles, developing new products, purchasing booths at events, and supporting the dBDRA.

The dBDRA will determine the legitimacy of any given product based on criteria that is currently being developed.

The final responsibility with regards to the use of commercially available components will rest with the competitor. The questions you should be asking yourself is; "Can I walk into an auto sound retailer and purchase this product or is it only available from one or two places? Is it in widespread use or have only a few been made? Is the product off-the-shelf or is it a custom made component?" These are just a few of the issues we will be using in the final determination as to wheter a product is commercially available or not.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wayne Harris:
The dBDRA does not intend on compiling a list of acceptable components. This would be an impossible task. My advice would be to use common sense and purchase products manufactured by legitimate companies and sold through normal auto sound retailers.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wayne Harris:
My advice would be to use common sense and purchase products manufactured by legitimate companies and sold through normal auto sound retailers.

---

IE, I had DDs, here in the UK before anyone was importing them, "were" these illegal in the UK?
And "if" I wanted Treo next year, could I not personally import them, and use them because they are not commercially avalible in the UK?

A lot of importers of US gear are one man bands, and dont sell so much here, like there are only 2 DD9917s here, so could some one set up here, sell 2 here (a good average) and now the product is classed a commercially avalible....

And if you have to have the product commerciallly availible in "your" country, this would bee a real unfair advantage when it came to the European finals, as each country will have its own mix of brands.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wayne Harris:
The final responsibility with regards to the use of commercially available components will rest with the competitor. The questions you should be asking yourself is; "Can I walk into an auto sound retailer and purchase this product or is it only available from one or two places? Is it in widespread use or have only a few been made? Is the product off-the-shelf or is it a custom made component?" These are just a few of the issues we will be using in the final determination as to wheter a product is commercially available or not.

---

The burden and obligation will truly fall upon a manufacturer to make sure his special made subwoofer satisfies your description above.

I can think of an amplifier and a particular model subwoofer that would not have made it at the 2001 Finals applying the above description.

Will modifications be allowed ? And when what mod´s?

Üüüühh!!!
Michael

i think that if most competitors see a product during the season that is performing well and they have the means, they will switch to that product or try to make there's better.

so i would suggest that any competitor invited to finals must submit a list of the products they will be running and they must use them, if they need to switch to a different product for ANY reason, the change must be approved by the head judge.PERIOD

this would then give the dbdrag association time to investigate a product and see for themselves if it is truly available.

of course this competitor product list MUST be held in strict convidence.

quote:

---

Originally posted by strokerD:

so i would suggest that any competitor invited to finals must submit a list of the products they will be running and they must use them, if they need to switch to a different product for ANY reason, the change must be approved by the head judge.PERIOD

this would then give the dbdrag association time to investigate a product and see for themselves if it is truly available.

---

None of this posting it 2 weeks before the date comes about stuff this year.

Is the commericial availability rule in effect because we want all competitors to have an equal opportunity to buy equipment, or is it more to incourage competitors to buy products that are made by manufacturers that have the means to sponser events?

If you tell me that it is soley to level the playing field for all competitors I would have NO problems with it, because i feel that all products should be available to anyone who would want them, and who can afford them.

But if it is to encourage competitors to buy companies from the larger more supportive companies (which i suspect is the case) then i am in total disagreeance with.

Anyone that has owned their own business knows what you have to go through to get started, and dishing out tremondous ammounts of money to support another business is not the way you get known, however supporting the competitors that support the db drag is the way to get recognized.

quote:

---

Originally posted by ianrulz123:

...But if it is to encourage competitors to buy companies from the larger more supportive companies (which i suspect is the case)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by JustboB:

I hope this is the reason. Support those who support the organization!!!

---

im sayin if a manufacturer doesnt have the ability to sponser db drag directly, but rather is more able to help competitors (ie competitor pricing plans, design reccomendations, ect...) why should that manufacturer be looked down opon by the organization. weather the money goes to DBDRA or to Joe Schmoe the money is still going into the sport.

I think you are missing the point. There isn't one manufacture out there that can't afford to be a member of the DBDRA. That $1000 membership fee is only the begining to what should be a mutually benificial relationship between competitor, retailer, manufacture and DB Drag Association.

To apply your logic to other parts of the DBDRA, does that mean that you, as a competitor, should be allowed all the perks of being a member without paying your $30. You support the association by helping others build boxes etc., so that means you should be able to compete and go to finals without a membership because you "help out in other ways"?

quote:

---

Originally posted by strokerD:
the question of comercially available equipment seems to only have an issue at finals, since during the competion year if a product is questioned, the dbdrag association will investigate and post a decision about that product.

i think that if most competitors see a product during the season that is performing well and they have the means, they will switch to that product or try to make there's better.

so i would suggest that any competitor invited to finals must submit a list of the products they will be running and they must use them, if they need to switch to a different product for ANY reason, the change must be approved by the head judge.PERIOD

this would then give the dbdrag association time to investigate a product and see for themselves if it is truly available.

of course this competitor product list MUST be held in strict convidence.

you could go one further and suggest that a competitor must go to finals with the products that got them there, but this may not be in the spirit of updating and innovation.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by JustboB:
Ian,

I think you are missing the point. There isn't one manufacture out there that can't afford to be a member of the DBDRA. That $1000 membership fee is only the begining to what should be a mutually benificial relationship between competitor, retailer, manufacture and DB Drag Association.

To apply your logic to other parts of the DBDRA, does that mean that you, as a competitor, should be allowed all the perks of being a member without paying your $30. You support the association by helping others build boxes etc., so that means you should be able to compete and go to finals without a membership because you "help out in other ways"?

Think about what you are saying.

---

I think it makes enough sense.

But at the same time it sounds like they are forcing manufacturers to pay the membership.