ICA Show - Sonny's Extreme Express Mini Tunnel

[Bubbles Galore]

All,

Sadly I will not be able to make the show again this year, but am extremely interested in their new 35 ft. tunnel. Could one of my fellow car washers maybe take a look at it and get some additional info for me? If you could add my name to an e-mail list or something, that would be great.

john(at)bubblesgalorecarwash.com

Feel free to toss any pictures my way as well!

 

[Waxman]

You just put in an Inbay Auto and you already are thinking mini tunnel?

Just who do you think you are???

 

[Bubbles Galore]

If you ask my wife...crazy would be the answer.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

If the mini tunnel is about 200K, a local operator bought one. They were going to not use any employess, and and it is doing alot of damage i hear from distr. and customers. Also not cleaning very well, from what i see you need more equip. than it has to wash. They are having to towel all the cars to get them clean. Another place in town has a belanger tummel about 250K. cleans well, and they just have a guy to get drips and mirrors with a towel. I have a daughter that loves the belanger one. She lives close to that wash.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Sonny's has a video on their site.

http://www.sonnysdirect.com/pc-414-72-sonnys-xtreme-xpress-mini-tunnel.aspx

 

[robert roman]

Again, a slick move by Sonny’s to spin off a “new” product based on an approach that has been around for decades (mini-tunnels) and create an opportunity for distributors to sell equipment in the same territories that are backfilled with in-bays.

I have a friend with a MacNeil mini-tunnel installed in 40’ long bay in Kansas. This system has automatic pay station with entrance gate, foaming CTA and wheels, undercarriage, triple foam, top brush, fully-articulating wrap-around, rocker brushes, high pressure wheels with turbo nozzles, Rain-X, spot-free, mirror attachments, tire shiner, remote controlled dryer nozzles, anti-collision system, variable frequency drive controls and all support equipment.

This wash has been open about two years. The system can do 35 cars an hour. It works almost flawlessly without an attendant and puts out a very high quality clean and dry. The average revenue would make you drool. If I owned a self-service wash, I’d replace my in-bay with one these in a heartbeat.

However, this system is not described in the company’s sales literature to my best knowledge.

If you want to learn more, call Vince MacNeil. I’m sure he would be glad to provide you with some information about this little powerhouse.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW I think there were innovations in the Sonny' mini Tunnel that stand. out.

I expect we will see more of the same in full size tunnels. These were a conveyor configured for a shallower trench. How this configuration will afect over all / long time performance remains to be seen.

A top brush that moves straight up and down that saves space. I can see how this would be an issue at faster line speeds.

The pendulum configuration for the tire / wheel brush saving 4 feet of space on each seemed new. I think the design seems overly large and complex and some sort of telescoping system not unlike what they do with the top brush, but mounted horizontaly, some sort of telescoping system is long overdue.

PS. I have no relation with Sonny's and no Sonny's equipment in my tunnels.

 

[Washmee]

I have to give Sonnys credit for pushing the envelope regarding equipment design. The only complaint I have is that they are too quick to introduce these new items without enough testing. I have several pieces of their equipment that required major upgrades after I purchased them to correct design problems. The original Grill brushes that I bought had undersized bearings and retract cylinders that required a major upgrade to the pivot arm. The same goes for the tire shiner.

 

[robert roman]

As with many companies in the carwash industry, the pressure to sell new equipment has probably never been greater.

The building rate of washes is down considerably, many operators are not reloading bays or upgrading and it is still hard to obtain loans.

So when a company invests time and money in R & D to develop a new product, it wants to get to market ASAP to get a return on investment.

We see this all the time when companies release the latest and greatest electronics gizmo. The 'I have to have it now" crowd will pay luxury prices for a product that usually comes with a number of software clitches.

I remember when PDQ came out with the G5. The company put so much money into R & D to transform the Laser 4000 into the next generation touch-less it had to release the product well before the bugs were worked out.

I don't have anything against Sonny's but it is not the only company that knows how to make a mini-tunnel.

I also do not own or sell MacNeil equipment. I just happen to believe the mini-tunnel in Kansas is pretty slick.

 

[my2cents]

Sonny's does a great job of "Marketing" ideas that have come before them. In addition, they copy alot of existing equipment and "Re-market" it to thier advantage. Got to give them credit but I really have not seen a new piece that they have introduced that is their original design. Thier best engineer is a digital camera. The "Mini Tunnel" has been around for years and sold by companies like Hanna, PECO, and Belanger - often at petroleum sites but also for attended exterior locations. The "Express" phenomenom is getting the look of Self Serv operators who are losing business to these $3 and $5 express tunnels so they think they can convert a bay into a big money maker. Sometimes yes, but the whole operation changes when you introduce a conveyor as by no means can or should you operate one without attendants as you can with an in-bay. IMO if you try and pack 10lbs of doodoo in a 5lb sack, something is gonna ooze out and stink-more than likely a piece of equipment not designed for a small tunnel that tries to do too much.

 

[Washmee]

Sonny's does a great job of "Marketing" ideas that have come before them. In addition, they copy alot of existing equipment and "Re-market" it to thier advantage. Got to give them credit but I really have not seen a new piece that they have introduced that is their original design. Thier best engineer is a digital camera. The "Mini Tunnel" has been around for years and sold by companies like Hanna, PECO, and Belanger - often at petroleum sites but also for attended exterior locations. The "Express" phenomenom is getting the look of Self Serv operators who are losing business to these $3 and $5 express tunnels so they think they can convert a bay into a big money maker. Sometimes yes, but the whole operation changes when you introduce a conveyor as by no means can or should you operate one without attendants as you can with an in-bay. IMO if you try and pack 10lbs of doodoo in a 5lb sack, something is gonna ooze out and stink-more than likely a piece of equipment not designed for a small tunnel that tries to do too much.

I don't think anyone is claiming that Sonnys invented the mini-tunnel.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

One way or another, I have to convince my township that I am the one stop shop for car washing. I am in a quickly developing area and I don't need an express wash popping up with the argument that their "industry segment" isn't in the market. Conversely, I believe that my site has the demographics and layout to make one of these mini tunnels feasible.

I like the idea of the mini tunnel and what really perked my ears about their setup was the length required. The 35' length and 15' width won't force me to have to do any extensive modifications to my structure.

To answer someones comment about an attendant, I am going to end up with an attendant there regardless.

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[soapy]

200k for a complete setup with tire shine etc complete. About 15 k for concrete for conveyor. 40 cars per hour.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

200k for a complete setup with tire shine etc complete. About 15 k for concrete for conveyor. 40 cars per hour.

What are your personal thoughts about the unit?

 

[soapy]

Looks like a good concept. Equipment includes tire scrubbers and shiner, triple foam soap or regular soap, trifoam wax, rainX, top brush side brush conveyor, dryer, correlator Hamilton pay station and gate etc. I think if you had a stand alone dryer and ACW already you might be able to shave the price. You can also look at putting other company components together and acheive similar results. Looks like minimum power requirements are about 180 amps depending on dryers and extra equipment. Longer bays will let you install more equipment with faster speeds and more CPH. The best thing about it is that you could do the same wash as a 2.5 million dollar tunnel for a lot less money. How many days per year do you really need to do 100 cars per hour in most markets? THe draw back I see is that to properly man a minitunnel you would need 2 to 3 employees evey day it is open.

 

[Earl Weiss]

THe draw back I see is that to properly man a minitunnel you would need 2 to 3 employees evey day it is open.

Color me clueless. Please explain your thoughts.

 

[soapy]

That is what the presentor at the show said and people at sonnys said. One to open,one to close and one for busy times n fill ins.

 

[Greg Pack]

That is what the presentor at the show said and people at sonnys said. One to open,one to close and one for busy times n fill ins.

Yes, if it stays busy I would say that is a good system. I know one owner who overlaps his employees for an hour on busy days in the afternoon to allow one to clean up while the other loads.

I will also say in my limited experience the conveyor customer tends to be pickier about the quality of the wheels/tires than IBA customers.

 

[Earl Weiss]

That is what the presentor at the show said and people at sonnys said. One to open,one to close and one for busy times n fill ins.

OK. I get it. Thought by the post it indicated 3 at all times.

FWIW our EEs often have one person on duty at a time. I didn't see why a mini tunnel should be any different. They overlap for clean up etc. With a third for busy times. However the mini tunnel production is limited by the equipment to 40 CPH so another person for busy times is not going to do much to aid production.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

If there is an autocashier, is the attendant only there to aid in loading onto the conveyor?