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Time to read 6 min
We enjoy watching our customers get excited when specific products are the topic of the conversation. A product category that always lights up the most stoic enthusiast is the exhaust system. As we all know there are many companies in the marketplace that offer performance exhaust systems. We have featured a few through video segments and installation demonstrations on our website. The Subimods team decided to take a closer look at a company based in Pennsylvania who has been doing great work for over three decades while building incredible brand recognition and respect within the automotive community. A humble start in a small garage in Germantown Philadelphia has led the innovators at Air and Water Enterprises (AWE) on a challenging but fruitful and productive journey.
The most recent Subimods product profile allowed one of our team experts, Steve, to get his hands on the AWE Track and Touring Edition Exhausts (seen in the video installation above) to fully appreciate the design and engineering behind the product, and then walk through the installation process which will ultimately help us educate and advise our community of enthusiasts to better understand the mechanics of this specific upgrade. Making constant improvements while paving a smoother, smarter path to guarantee quality and logical engineering remain an illuminating characteristic of both the AWE Track and Touring Edition Exhausts which the Subimods team saw clearly during our latest evaluation and installation.
A conversation within a group of car enthusiasts might undoubtedly confirm that an aftermarket exhaust system can provide several benefits to the vehicle and its driver. Measurable benefits like increased power, improved fuel economy, and the most coveted sweet spot– the signature sound - are three important boxes that all modifiers want to tick as they begin to investigate a wanted exhaust system replacement. We have mentioned in the past that the exhaust system serves as the true voice of any car. The car’s voice or audible introduction can be the most important introduction the vehicle’s owner will ever make without saying a human word.
Standing aside the performance and economical numbers, the overall sound profile hits the real trifecta for most enthusiasts. Honestly, that first impression growl, rumble, and tone contribute to how the world views the overall personality and audio footprint of your vehicle. Our experience with AWE Tuning tells us a great story about commitment, enthusiasm, quality, and growth built around ideas that keep all these benefits at the front of mind consistently. The AWE team has grown quickly since 1991 – magically transforming from their birthplace, a single-bay, 500 square foot garage, into a fully staffed design and production organization now powered by a multifaceted manufacturing facility and business campus. AWE has employed some of the most talented engineers, technicians, welders, fabricators, marketers, and managers in our industry to continue the constant innovative push with all their products.
In an open letter published on the company website, AWE’s President and CEO Todd Sager confirms his gratitude and humility during their relatively quick but steady success over the past 30 years. “I’m honored and humbled that the AWE name has become synonymous with quality and customer service within the multi-billion-dollar automotive aftermarket industry”, writes Sager. “. I’m one car-guy-turned-businessman, and without the unfailing commitment and enthusiasm of the AWE team, we would be nowhere (well, I’d be back in a one-bay garage in Philadelphia).” AWE now designs solutions for almost every brand as they study the needs of those in the automotive community by listening to the real pain points, challenges, and hopes of drivers in all arenas, which are equally important to Sager and his team.
As 2014 closed, AWE realized that they must push the throttle further and with a confident force to serve better and win faster. “We needed to move into a more state-of-the-art headquarters that could properly serve our international dealer base as well as provide the canvas for our engineering and fabrication teams to produce at the rate and quality level that we demand of ourselves”, Sager continued in his letter. In 2015, AWE’s updated 33,000 square foot headquarters brought technology to the forefront with the implementation of robotics, laser scanning CMMs, CNC bending machinery, inventory staging, and five lifts for the Research and Development department which allowed them to expand and serve many other brands – including the fast growing and popular Subaru market.
As always, we take pride in working with manufacturers to highlight specific products and accessories in a clear and concise manner while enlightening the Subaru community with the best and most innovative performance products the market has to offer. We recently had the opportunity to speak with AWE’s Vice President of Marketing, Jesse Kramer to gain more of a personal understanding of what brought the spotlight over this talented team and upon this brand within a very competitive market. From co-founding an advertising agency in the mid-nineties, spending a few years with a consulting firm who worked with iconic brands like Everlast, Herman Miller, and the WWE, Kramer crossed paths with AWE’s founder - which forever changed the course of his journey.
“I approached Todd Sager…and asked him if he’d consider taking on a partner”, Kramer explained, “and off we went to build a category-dominating brand in the performance aftermarket.” Once Sager and Kramer’s collaboration and alchemy proved to move the needle further towards a future of superior quality and innovation, the AWE mixture began to solidify and allow these visionaries to clearly illuminate the masterplan. “AWE’s vision is ‘To build the best performing people who build the best performing products on the planet’”, Kramer says with confidence. “So, what do we do? We work with the best team in the business. And together we make radical exhausts, intakes, intercoolers, and performance accessories that make you want to drive more.” The Subimods team has the amazing ability to recognize true uniqueness within the enthusiasts community and with the relationships they cultivate with manufacturers who are embracing uniqueness and exhibiting bravery towards change - based on what the customer needs more than the market trend or what seems to be the new standard course of business practices.
Subimods continues to examine the spirit behind AWE and how they have consistently pushed forward with their productivity and innovation while navigating smartly and with extreme understanding. “Our attention to perfection in sound, quality, and seeing things through the customer’s eyes is why we feel pretty great about our exhaust tagline, AWE makes ‘the best sounding exhausts on the planet’...”, Kramer confirmed. “Our new product development timelines have no time limit on the sound-sign-off stage of development, that tells you something about AWE! Got to get it right!” Gaining a high business IQ and learning business based on effort, course correction, and real-time customer experience are two different tasks to master for long-term success in this ever-changing market. AWE does not hide behind a false set of credentials and claims of success, they grind it out each day as enthusiasts and designers to sustain the creative uniqueness coveted by the modification community. “We strike a delicate balance between corporate structure (as we continue to grow) and the agility that allowed AWE to get where it is today”, says Kramer.
“AWE is a special company. Its people are the core, and what they create is special - unlike anything else out there.” Acknowledging his exciting journey that has swiftly carried his efforts over the decades, Kramer was not shy about his gratitude and where the road has taken him. “I’m thankful for the opportunity that Todd Sager gave me to join the company in 2010”, Kramer said. “I’m thankful for the relationships I’ve formed with company leaders including Josh Davis, our Creative Manager, Darron Shubin, our Director of Sales, Dane Pellicone, our Director of Operations, and so many more.” Our experience working with their products during this install and learning about their valued history, AWE is a company staffed with enthusiasts who live to serve enthusiasts. The type of organization that lives close to the belief system on which the Subimods foundation was built.
Learn more details regarding the AWE Track and Touring Edition Exhausts by watching the “The Ultimate Exhaust For Your 22+ BRZ - AWE Track And Touring Edition Sound Comparison + Install” video (above), where you can see step by step product install details, several helpful drive demonstrations, and a informative overview commentary provided by Subimods Director of Operations and Product Expert Steve.
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