Shops... What a ride its been., Kauth and Mayer Rocks!!!! Options

[spyonu2007]

As some of you are aware I have been in a never ending battle trying to find the right shop, at the right price, able to provide me with the end results that I expect.

This is no easy task, because over time I have grown more demanding, expecting better end products, so on and so forth.

I have sampled them all. From R&T's To Slopny, To Racer's edge Midwest, to Pioneer Park Mitsubishi, to Miller automotive, mid-town imports, so on and so forth... Every single one of those shops had their strengths and weaknesses... Some of those shops don't even exist anymore.. Others are thriving...

About the time I get my evo on the road, I planned on having the headgasket re-done... I dropped the car off at Pioneer Park mitsubishi to have an o ringed titan isc unit installed and when the car got back in my hands, it had more issues than when it went in... First and foremost... My boost was gone... nothing, no-control, nota... Hrmm... inspect the misc lines too and from the turbo and controller and found one cut in half.. hrmm... thats nice.. the other portion was wadded up in my accessories belt... Way to go! Holy missing Zipties spyman!.. Easy fix... cut the hose out, unwind it, replace it with a new piece... cool... But why is my engine wet, and where is this antifreeze coming from???

Fast forward many conversations, several months and some real heartache over Pioneer Parks deal... First and foremost, you don't flatten a head with a piece of scotch bright and a die grinder... never... no way..


So... I made the call the Kauth and Mayer.. I spoke to Doug... My first impressions of Doug... man.. This guy emulates love for his job. Prompt, curtious and his greeting does nothing short of rise a smile across my weathered face every time he answers... That may sound gay has hell, but have you ever called a shop and when the other person answers, its as if they were being put out to pick up the phone? I have... Plenty of times... this is a refreshing change... Off to a good start.

Now I could re-live the entire account of start to finish, but Ill save it.. you read a fair amount already.

I have my EVO back... The transmission is golden. It runs 100%. It leaks nothing.
This is exactly what I asked for, and this is exactly what I got. I had on-going communication throughout the endevor, and when unsuspecting things popped up? They were on the phone to me... I couldnt ask for more.

There were some time frames that got squewed, mostly do to me sourcing and providing parts as the need arrose, but aside from that... It was a smooth display of technical prowess, and perfect PERFECT customer service.

So... To the mechanic that worked on my car... Jeff... Hats off to you, thanks for fixing what was asked, finding the problems I was unaware of, and making it right. The car performs very well... I am happy.

To the owner, Mike Benet'.... Thankyou for your honesty, thoroughness, and attention to detail. Evolutions are a confusing lot, and your team provided me an invaluable service that I would happily utilize again... hopefully later than sooner, all pending my boost craving....and there is that whole brucelee shifting thing that I have to tone down...


The car...

This car is as close to perfection as one would get. I don't meen that its clean, and you could eat off the engine bay, but perfect in the way that a liter bike is perfect... With a 1000cc crotch rocket, you can go as fast as you want at the flick of the wrist... It stops almost as well....

My evo is like that. It goes like the wind, and stops just as well. But where my evo shines is in the corners.. Oh, how glorious this car can turn... I havent driven it a whole lot since that fateful DSMcentral/ams day up at cordova... 2 years has past... oh how things change... the road conditions worsen over time, but my evo just hugs the ground.

So you take the neck snapping accelleration of a liter bike, add in the ability to pull corners over a 1g.... that translates into some serious fun... But its me embelishing right?

Since I have had my car back I have taken a half dozen people for rides in the car.... Not to the store, or to the mall, but in the twisties of forlorned roadways.. out in tinbuck too...

Do you know how I know this evo and me piloting it is something a bit more entertaining than say a stock evo? Its when folks who drive 8 second cars, are stone cold white as a sheet and say, and I quote.." I had no idea thats what a awd import car could do.." Or... "And you freak out when anyone else drives??? HOW???!!!!".... Or the ever present... "Holy shit" when hitting the brakes scrubbing speed from 95mph down to 40mph in less time it takes your racing heart to beat... Peoples reactions are priceless... and I'm loving every minute of it.

Thats what puts it in perspective.. when folks who are around fast cars, go... this isnt jsut fast... its a fricking roller coaster....

That gentleman is my new deffinition of fun.

[mitsu90]

good to hear the old evo is running like a top

[ncgalant]

It is good to hear that your car story finally found a happy ending. We'll have to get together sometime. I could use a good rollercoaster ride

[Kazz5]

Roll on!

[93dsmowner]

I get the same reactions in my 03 Cavalier LS Sport. However, mine is not much of a rollercoaster.

Kinda like comparing from the kiddie ride at the carnival to Six Flags...


Good to see another DSM person come out on top!

[spyonu2007]

[SCCA Stang]

glad to hear about a good shop in the area... we hear all too often, just the complaints of bad shops.

[JBone]

Or... "And you freak out when anyone else drives??? HOW???!!!!"...

Who doesn't say that about you?!!

I need to get my butt over there to see you and go for a ride.

[treydawgs4g63T]

good to hear shes up and running again.

[akamiami]

Awesome! I'm happy that you got your car back and it sounds like overall, the experience with K&M was very positive.

[Booztd 3]

Awesome that its back up and running!

I'd say go get that damn thing tuned by professionals......before something else happens....

[spyonu2007]

I consider Darryl Hudson to be very much an expert on the field of tuning a 4g63... I few logger runs should tell whether or not the current boost level will hold through the test of time.

[Booztd 3]

Dyno Tuning > Street Tuning

[natedogg]

176 > 91

Or in other words, thank you Mr. Obvious. Just jerkin your chain, bud!

[ncgalant]

Dyno Tuning > Street Tuning

I would like to disagree with that in the context of your previous post where you said to get it tuned before he breaks something else. While street tuning nets you less power, it is a better real world tune that is for the most part safer than the tune you will get on a dyno. I will also second that Darryl has more knowldge of tuning a 4g63 than anyone else in the area.

[spyonu2007]

The last tuning session yieled a comfortable amount of saftey margin and nearly 28psi, on nothing but 93 octane.

A few more logger sessions now that its up and going, I may feel comfortable going as high at 25 or so, but Im fearful that I'll destroy more drive train parts, if I push it to the upper limits on pump gas, with the daily abuse this car sees...

For now, its an abosolute beast at 14.5... Plenty for me, Im just glad to be driving it again.

[natedogg]

I think you can still tune conservatively on a dyno and have a safe tune. What I like about dyno tuning is that you can see real power numbers at the wheels and the shape of the curves. Then change what you can on your tune or cam advancement to shape those curves into the performance that you want.

Not saying street tuning isn't good, cuz that's all I've ever really done. It works and you can do it safely especially with a wideband and knock monitoring. Just have to rely a bit more on the ole butt dyno for the power side. I've always been too damn cheap to spend money for dyno time.

[awd4kicks]

I agree... and I've been too cheap for dyno tuning as well. I think Dan's in the same boat. It seems to be the DSM way...to be cheap.

[black92_tsi_awd]

It seems to be the DSM way...to be cheap.

I prefer "frugal"