Vishnu Performance Systems was officially incorporated in the Summer of 2000 in the city of Martinez, California. Prior to that, company founder and CEO, Shiv Pathak, established himself as an industry leader in the design and tuning of high performance engine management systems. Having contracted his engine tuning skills to OEMs such as General Motors and Toyota, several professional road race/rally teams, numerous aftermarket tuning houses and hundreds of private individuals, Pathak carries with him a wealth of real world engine management know-how. This unique knowledge lead him to his next vocational area where he continues to freelance as a technical writer (product reviews, technical analysis, long-term project car testing, etc,.) for numerous automotive trade journals. With one foot firmly planted at the leading edge of industry technology and the other standing at the center of aftermarket street and race performance, Pathak has developed a reputation for bringing high-end engine control systems to the masses. Along with that, he has earned a reputation for unwavering customer support and an unblemished track record in the engine management industry.
Registered: December 2002 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 834
Review Date: Mon July 19, 2004
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
Pros:
Great products, great tuning
Cons:
Expensive, customer service
I believe Vishnu to be one to the top Subaru tuners worldwide. Shiv has tons of knowledge and experience tuning Subaru\'s boxer motors. The products the offer are second to none in quality and workmanship. And of course, you pay for what you get... their products are often a bit more expensive than their competitions.
Unfortunately, it seems their success has come at the expense of their customer service. I ordered my stage 1 WRX setup about 2 years ago, and they were on top of things. About a year later, when I was dealing with up-pipe leak issues, it was much harder to keep in touch with them regarding replacement up-pipes (although to their credit, they did take care of me by swapping my 321 up-pipe for a 304 flex at no cost!). Back in January of this year, I emailed them for a quote on a set of JIC coilovers and never got a response, so I took my money elsewhere. I\'ve always been of the opinion that if you offer an email address for sales/customer service, *every* email should be answered... esp. the ones where people are trying to spend $1900 on your product!
However, I still believe their products are some of the absolute best in the Subaru world, and I wouldn\'t hesitate to recommend their tuning/staged kits. Just know what you\'re getting into as far as being able to contact them. Perhaps if you\'re local to the SF Bay Area, you\'ll have better luck by dropping by the shop. I know every time I went to the shop, they were very helpful! Hopefully they\'ve upped their support staff to handle the load of customers their products draw.
Bottom line: Vishnu does impeccable work and offers terrific products, but they can be difficult to contact.
swanng Registered User
Registered: May 2005 Posts: 7
Review Date: Mon July 18, 2005
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
Pros:
Products
Cons:
Poor customer service
Products are extremely good. I\'ve ordered the stage 1 Vishnu kit, and the parts I have received have been of excellent workmanship. However, considering the money I paid and the value of the items purchased, I would have expected Vishnu to provide me with tracking numbers for the merchandise they shipped, which they did not. I have yet to receive my full order, (ordered 25 May 05) but I\'m sure I eventually will. I will consider revising this post if and when I receive my merchandise and after the car has been dyno tested.
de pilipino guy VIP Member
Registered: October 2003 Location: HI Posts: 3832
Review Date: Sun January 1, 2006
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
Pros:
great tuning
Cons:
cost
im in Hawai\'i, so i had the reflashed done..im pretty satisfied, but would have love to have the XEDE instead, it has been good to me, no problems at all with their set up...
TheScoobyMedic Registered User
Registered: July 2005 Location: livermore CA Posts: 561
Review Date: Wed June 14, 2006
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 6
Pros:
tuning, knowledge
Cons:
WAIT TIME, customer service
i just noticed there was a vendor review section
customer service is weak and it took me 4 extra weeks to get my xede from when i originally ordered it, in person, and said it would be here withing 5 business days
when i got my xede it wouldnt turn on and wouldnt flash and i had to pretty much HAGGLE with them to give me a free tune for all the crap i went through...BAH!!
tune was good though and made my car uber fasss
slvrsubywgn VIP Member
Registered: January 2005 Location: EBAIC- Wondering if I should have taken the blue pill... Posts: 2184
Review Date: Mon September 4, 2006
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
Pros:
quality, expertise
Cons:
price
The first mod I had done to my 03 WRX was Vishnu's 321 uppipe. Long story short, I blew the cat in the stock uppipe, so I took it to my mechanic and he thought the turbo went bad (after 25000 miles), so he replaced the turbo with a stock one (close to 1K parts and labor...ouch!). After driving it around and it still not boosting, I took it to Vishnu. Within minutes they knew what it was so I left the car with them and they had it fixed and running perfect the next day. Their knowledge and quality of work is what I was impressed with. But they sure charged me alot (525 for uppy+labor). I didn't know any better back then, I was new to the WRX world.
I hear their customer service has gone downhill since, and they may not even be in the Subaru game anymore.
All in all, if you've got cash and patience, Vishnu is a good vendor. But for me, I think I'll try different shops from now on.
swanng Registered User
Registered: May 2005 Posts: 7
Review Date: Mon February 11, 2008
Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 5
Pros:
Quality of merchandise
Cons:
Always has, always will be customer service
I must say, the products Vishnu offers are top quality. However, they don't manufacture them. They are sourced from other manufacturers; as an example, my up pipe and TBE were manufactured by Helix and carry the Helix brand name. Customer service has always been a problem. Objectively, I rate their customer service at the bottom of the scale. Email responses are not timely if you ever get a response, requests for a dyno tuning went virtually ignored for months, once the dyno tune was confirmed, Shiv showed up 3 hours late. No explanation followed the dyno tuning, just a 'enjoy your car'. Knowing what I know now, I would have gone with Cobb or Perrin for my performance mods. I would not recommend Vishnu for a dyno tune unless you own a BMW or a Porsche, because that's where the money is, and that's what Shiv's interest is in. Money. Not customer service. Ultimately, greed will be the downfall of Vishnu, I suspect. In a nutshell, the products are great-the customer service sucks.
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