About Us

Unorthodox Racing® (UR) was founded by an enthusiast who had spent a decade wrenching on many performance cars. He worked with many products from the simple spark plug to super/turbocharger systems. In the early 90’s the era of small-displacement performance was upon us. He developed the products that became the UR MAXX Power Pulley line. The first one was for his 1988 T-Bird Turbo Coupe (2.3L SOHC 8V Turbo). His father-in-law, a German-trained machinist, made this first crankshaft pulley and it performed flawlessly, the seat of the pants improvement meant he was onto something big.

The next few years saw more pulleys made and tested. One was made for the 1992 Civic VX Hatch (EH2) the founder bought for commuting to graduate school. It made the 1.5L SOHC 16V feel like a whole new engine, especially when VTEC kicked in. He knew some underdrive pulleys for V8s he worked on could cause charging, cooling, or other accessory output issues. The percentage of underdrive (speed reduction) would have to be tailored to each engine. Every new pulley was rigorously tested to guarantee the accessories maintained factory-specified output. Over many years it then became clear that weight reduction alone freed up more power on small-displacement engines. Today Unorthodox Racing® MAXX Power pulleys are stock diameter and engineered to maximize weight reduction.

Market research showed demand for small-displacement performance parts was growing fast. A final business plan was created and Unorthodox Racing® was registered as a Sole Proprietorship in early 1996. UR's Mission Statement was based on the strict policy of making products that “DID WHAT WE SAID THEY WOULD” / “FIT LIKE WE SAID THEY WOULD” / “LOOKED LIKE ART” and “WOULD LAST A VEHICLES LIFETIME.” There would be NO compromises meaning just high-end products with no trade-offs. What’s the point of saving $50 or $100 dollars on a cheap part if it causes thousands of dollars in damage It was about quality and customer satisfaction which drove word of mouth. This philosophy is still the cornerstone of Unorthodox Racing® 25 years later.

In 1997 UR was incorporated and launched our first website. We introduced our pulleys to the market in May of 1997 with our first ad in Turbo magazine. Unorthodox Racing® pulleys were officially the first pulleys for the small-displacement engines. Enthusiasts, racers & tuners quickly accepted UR as a manufacturer they could trust. Enthusiasts worldwide use our products in vehicles from everyday street to full-out race cars. 25 years later UR is still the pulley leader with hundreds of billions of user-driven miles.

Unorthodox Racing® products are designed, engineered, and manufactured exclusively in the U.S. using the latest 3D development tools. Only the strictest quality controls are followed from material selection (only the finest U.S.-produced raw materials), machinery, and tooling.