I started LudeSPEED Performance while working as a PC/LAN Analyst at Disney in Orlando, FL. I had driven a Honda Prelude for five years and that was the first car that I turbocharged in April of 1999. Hence the name LudeSPEED. I developed my first turbo system and I must say it has some major flaws! I attempted to make an equla length header and what resulted was a mess. It worked well but it took up ALOT of room and only lasted a month before it cracked.
My 2nd attempt was a 100% improvement. This was in September of 1999. At that time I became excited about the prospect of producing and selling aftermarket, bolt on turbokits. From the beginning, my goal was to make a kit that was as simple as possible to install and tune. This helps the average enthusiast succeed through the whole process. So I started to make kits on the side, while continuing to work in the IT field. Then the orders were coming faster than I could fill them while only working on them 2 days a week, so I quit my job.
I had been selling Prelude turbo kits for several months when a friend bought a new 1999 Subaru Impreza RS 2.5 He brought it by to see what would have to be done to turbocharge it. Well, it was obvious that it was going to be pretty simple compared to a Honda. Anyway, over Labor Day weekend in we made the kit. The owner wanted to use a factory Legacy turbo, so I made the piping to fit that turbo on the car. It was a success. We had a small oil drain problem at first, but corrected it and I have been using that corrected method ever since.
I took pics of the kit, made flyers and we headed to an import race in West Palm Beach. He was on the I-club at the time and knew of a Subaru meet for the event. So I got to hand out some flyers and talk to some RS owners. Unfortunately, there was no serious interest. So I turned to the Impreza Owners Club. I posted that I was interested in making a turbo kit for the RS, and asked for feedback from interested buyers. There was a particular member who offered MUCH advise on getting a group buy together, and what to say in the posts. So with his help, a group buy materialized. There were 14 participants. A local RS owner contacted me and wanted to be the R&D car. He dropped the car off and the first kit was made. I used those parts to make jigs so that other kits could be made. I will admit that it took longer than expected to get all the kits out, but that was the first time I had done any production with a volume of that size.
I did get a lot of feedback from the customers about certain issues. I used that feedback to make the needed adjustments for parts that did not fit or perform as expected. That is where we are today. 20 RS turbo kits have been sold. The first 14 were all made the same. #15 addressed some issues and was an improvement. Each kit has imporved i some way over previous kits, therefore #20 was the best so far. I made several large changes that had a big impact on fitment and quality. I actually saw the kit installed on the car at the NOPI Nationals car show. Even I was surprised at how well ALL the parts fit. I was happy and more importantly, so was the owner. I hope to continue to develop the turbo kit as well as new products for the Impreza RS and possibly the new WRX.