New at AutoHQ--new manager.
06-20-2008, 04:35 PM
#16
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Palo Alto
Posts: 3,150
Car Info: GT35R, Meth
The other thing to note is Kevin keeps around tons of random mods and spare parts. If you blow an engine or a tranny, kevin most likely has something laying around he can hook you up with.
This guy KNOWS what he's doing. There's a short list you can count on one hand of Subaru techs in California who are both aftermarket and OEM experienced. OEM means you don't just know how to install a turbo or a downpipe, but can fix A/C, electronics, every single aspect of a car as a certified master technician.
This guy KNOWS what he's doing. There's a short list you can count on one hand of Subaru techs in California who are both aftermarket and OEM experienced. OEM means you don't just know how to install a turbo or a downpipe, but can fix A/C, electronics, every single aspect of a car as a certified master technician.
06-20-2008, 07:03 PM
#17
06-20-2008, 08:52 PM
#18
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iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: If you can't fix it with a hammer,
Posts: 943
Car Info: you've got an electrical problem.
+1 for AutoHQ
They are the only place to go for quality work. They will even turn you away and chose not to take your money if your car is not up to spec for what you want done. They chose to do it right or not at all.
They are the only place to go for quality work. They will even turn you away and chose not to take your money if your car is not up to spec for what you want done. They chose to do it right or not at all.
Last edited by 06STi; 06-20-2008 at 08:58 PM.
06-20-2008, 09:48 PM
#19
06-21-2008, 09:25 AM
#20
At AutoHQ we are no longer turning potential customers away. What happens occasionally is that a potential customer has a request that may have an initially unrecognized risk. We have not blown any motors because we don't want our customers to make modifications that do not work well with their current set-up and that may damage their engine, and during tuning we do not push engines to the limit. The way we do tuning is the Japanese way, the way that Subaru's have been reliably-tuned in Japan for a long time, and it is very different than American tuning. Two cars with the exact same set-up (even two stock cars owned be two different people) will need two different maps, because honestly every car is different. For example, consider the break-in process being done differently by different drivers (this makes a big difference when boost is increased). That every car is measurably different to the tuner is why we do not sell off the shelf reflash maps. We only do custom tuning. A Shiggy-tune is more reliable, smoother, and takes longer--this is why a Shiggy-tune costs more, not to mention flying him here from Japan and hosting him. We give our customers recommendations based primarily on Kevin and Shiggy's expertise and experience. Then we talk with our customers about their ideas. Often when our customers are looking to design custom components or systems for their cars they have really cool ideas and we follow their direction. Kevin brings the expertise to make your ideas work safely for each individual car. Ultimately, the customer owns their car and controls what happens to it. We hope to help our customers build their dream car, and drive better than ever.
A good example is one customer who came recently with two 10 lb NOS bottles in his trunk and a bunch of nitrous system components. He had a plan for a custom nitrous system, and though we generally do not install or use nitrous, we listened to his ideas, talked to him about one small change to his plans to keep from damaging anything, and then Kevin installed the system as he desired. This is a good example of the kind of job that in the past we might have turned away. Now we find safe ways to make what the customer wants work effectively for their car and to the customer's satisfaction. We are only able to consistently and reliably do this kind of customization and optimization for our customers because of Kevin's intimate knowledge of Subaru and of each customer's car that he has built. I personally bring my car to AutoHQ because Kevin and Shiggy are amazing. And if I were not 100% confident in them both, I would not have come to work here.
Long story short: we welcome all potential customers at AutoHQ. We do everything possible to work with customers to reach their goals and maintain reliable and exhilarating performance.
Thanks,
Brandon
A good example is one customer who came recently with two 10 lb NOS bottles in his trunk and a bunch of nitrous system components. He had a plan for a custom nitrous system, and though we generally do not install or use nitrous, we listened to his ideas, talked to him about one small change to his plans to keep from damaging anything, and then Kevin installed the system as he desired. This is a good example of the kind of job that in the past we might have turned away. Now we find safe ways to make what the customer wants work effectively for their car and to the customer's satisfaction. We are only able to consistently and reliably do this kind of customization and optimization for our customers because of Kevin's intimate knowledge of Subaru and of each customer's car that he has built. I personally bring my car to AutoHQ because Kevin and Shiggy are amazing. And if I were not 100% confident in them both, I would not have come to work here.
Long story short: we welcome all potential customers at AutoHQ. We do everything possible to work with customers to reach their goals and maintain reliable and exhilarating performance.
Thanks,
Brandon
Last edited by AutoHQ; 06-21-2008 at 09:39 AM.
06-21-2008, 11:03 AM
#21
Congrats on the new position Brandon!
Kevin does great work and is a nice guy all around. I've sent a couple customers his way for some random wiring and mechanical issues that needed to be taken care of and the cars always come back fixed allowing me to lay down a quality tune.
Thanks
Kevin does great work and is a nice guy all around. I've sent a couple customers his way for some random wiring and mechanical issues that needed to be taken care of and the cars always come back fixed allowing me to lay down a quality tune.
Thanks
06-21-2008, 11:15 AM
#22
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 51
Car Info: 2002 Subaru WRX
I have been to AHQ a couple times and I like the fact that Kevin
really took the time to troubleshoot what's wrong before making a suggestion.
Good to know that the shop is extending its service!
really took the time to troubleshoot what's wrong before making a suggestion.
Good to know that the shop is extending its service!
06-21-2008, 04:36 PM
#23
Hi Ed,
I want people out there to know that we have some customers who choose to use Cobb AP rather than Ecutek. Cobb does a good job marketing its products, and though Cobb AP costs more than an Ecutek license, Shiggy-tuning costs more than Cobb tuning. Shiggy is also an Ecutek director in Japan and he will not tune using Cobb. Ecutek is better tuning software than Cobb, but Cobb is growing in popularity. I must say that I am myself using Cobb currently (because I have not had a chance to get Shiggy-tuned yet), and that I was so happy the first time I used the AP to clear my own engine code.
Cobb is easier to use software and less sophisticated than Ecutek. Previously (before I met Ed or AutoHQ), I was using an Ecutek tune on my car for years. After a couple years, the tuner I was using at that time finally convinced me to switch to Cobb, his stated reason being that it is much easier and faster for him to tune using Cobb. Later on I met Ed, and it is actually Ed who first referred me to AutoHQ.
Though I lived for 2 years only 7 miles from AutoHQ, I never heard of the shop until the day I met Ed for road tuning. My car was over-boosting to 1.7 bar and Ed referred me to AutoHQ to get my boost under control before proceeding with the tune. I am sad to say that we never touched base to finish up on the tune, primarily because I have yet to fix my over-boosting problem (I'm waiting for my new HKS GT2835 turbo from Japan).
Ed is available year-round locally and does great road tuning using Cobb. When we have a customer who would like to use Cobb, who would like to be tuned sooner rather than waiting for Shiggy's next trip from Japan, and/or who opts to not pay the higher cost to be tuned by Shiggy, at AutoHQ we only recommend Ed from EQ tuning for Subaru.
Ed is the best Cobb tuner we know. Ed is also a great pleasure to work with. You will be out on the road doing road tuning together, and it was a very fun experience for me. The map I am currently using in my car was made by Ed.
Though I do plan to switch back to Ecutek and get Shiggy-tuned in the future, I had a great experience getting tuned by Ed.
I just wanted to write to give Ed our support.
Thanks,
Brandon
I want people out there to know that we have some customers who choose to use Cobb AP rather than Ecutek. Cobb does a good job marketing its products, and though Cobb AP costs more than an Ecutek license, Shiggy-tuning costs more than Cobb tuning. Shiggy is also an Ecutek director in Japan and he will not tune using Cobb. Ecutek is better tuning software than Cobb, but Cobb is growing in popularity. I must say that I am myself using Cobb currently (because I have not had a chance to get Shiggy-tuned yet), and that I was so happy the first time I used the AP to clear my own engine code.
Cobb is easier to use software and less sophisticated than Ecutek. Previously (before I met Ed or AutoHQ), I was using an Ecutek tune on my car for years. After a couple years, the tuner I was using at that time finally convinced me to switch to Cobb, his stated reason being that it is much easier and faster for him to tune using Cobb. Later on I met Ed, and it is actually Ed who first referred me to AutoHQ.
Though I lived for 2 years only 7 miles from AutoHQ, I never heard of the shop until the day I met Ed for road tuning. My car was over-boosting to 1.7 bar and Ed referred me to AutoHQ to get my boost under control before proceeding with the tune. I am sad to say that we never touched base to finish up on the tune, primarily because I have yet to fix my over-boosting problem (I'm waiting for my new HKS GT2835 turbo from Japan).
Ed is available year-round locally and does great road tuning using Cobb. When we have a customer who would like to use Cobb, who would like to be tuned sooner rather than waiting for Shiggy's next trip from Japan, and/or who opts to not pay the higher cost to be tuned by Shiggy, at AutoHQ we only recommend Ed from EQ tuning for Subaru.
Ed is the best Cobb tuner we know. Ed is also a great pleasure to work with. You will be out on the road doing road tuning together, and it was a very fun experience for me. The map I am currently using in my car was made by Ed.
Though I do plan to switch back to Ecutek and get Shiggy-tuned in the future, I had a great experience getting tuned by Ed.
I just wanted to write to give Ed our support.
Thanks,
Brandon
06-21-2008, 08:00 PM
#24
Registered User
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: If you can't fix it with a hammer,
Posts: 943
Car Info: you've got an electrical problem.
The " tuner" did replace the motor, But the next day I found some problems showed it to them. They did offer to fix the problems. But it really angers me they damaged more parts during the engine install. It should have been perfect after being there for almost three months. Everytime my car has been there for a comeback problem its come back with another problem. I took it to the dealer. The dealer has made a list for the person taking over the car problem for me. I guess someone was playing a game or thinking I was playing around dealing with my car.
Really really pisses me off listening to all the PR hype about that shop.
When shiggy comes back I hope to get the car retuned. Till then I had to trailer the car to Phoenix for a break in tune so I could drive it.
AutoHQ is great shop. I was really surprised about the quality of work and the level of parts. My friend calls it one of those sleeper shops from f&f. From the outside you'd never know you have world class work and tuning going on.
I feel the quiet shops you dont hear about all the time are the best in the business, They survive using word of mouth, Word of mouth is the best form of advertising you can have it free and you let your work prove your skills.
When you have that... You dont need a giant PR machine to over shadow your problems.
Really really pisses me off listening to all the PR hype about that shop.
When shiggy comes back I hope to get the car retuned. Till then I had to trailer the car to Phoenix for a break in tune so I could drive it.
AutoHQ is great shop. I was really surprised about the quality of work and the level of parts. My friend calls it one of those sleeper shops from f&f. From the outside you'd never know you have world class work and tuning going on.
I feel the quiet shops you dont hear about all the time are the best in the business, They survive using word of mouth, Word of mouth is the best form of advertising you can have it free and you let your work prove your skills.
When you have that... You dont need a giant PR machine to over shadow your problems.
06-21-2008, 08:23 PM
#25
The " tuner" did replace the motor, But the next day I found some problems showed it to them. They did offer to fix the problems. But it really angers me they damaged more parts during the engine install. It should have been perfect after being there for almost three months. Everytime my car has been there for a comeback problem its come back with another problem. I took it to the dealer. The dealer has made a list for the person taking over the car problem for me. I guess someone was playing a game or thinking I was playing around dealing with my car.
Really really pisses me off listening to all the PR hype about that shop.
When shiggy comes back I hope to get the car retuned. Till then I had to trailer the car to Phoenix for a break in tune so I could drive it.
AutoHQ is great shop. I was really surprised about the quality of work and the level of parts. My friend calls it one of those sleeper shops from f&f. From the outside you'd never know you have world class work and tuning going on.
I feel the quiet shops you dont hear about all the time are the best in the business, They survive using word of mouth, Word of mouth is the best form of advertising you can have it free and you let your work prove your skills.
When you have that... You dont need a giant PR machine to over shadow your problems.
Really really pisses me off listening to all the PR hype about that shop.
When shiggy comes back I hope to get the car retuned. Till then I had to trailer the car to Phoenix for a break in tune so I could drive it.
AutoHQ is great shop. I was really surprised about the quality of work and the level of parts. My friend calls it one of those sleeper shops from f&f. From the outside you'd never know you have world class work and tuning going on.
I feel the quiet shops you dont hear about all the time are the best in the business, They survive using word of mouth, Word of mouth is the best form of advertising you can have it free and you let your work prove your skills.
When you have that... You dont need a giant PR machine to over shadow your problems.
06-21-2008, 09:20 PM
#26
Hi Ed,
I want people out there to know that we have some customers who choose to use Cobb AP rather than Ecutek. Cobb does a good job marketing its products, and though Cobb AP costs more than an Ecutek license, Shiggy-tuning costs more than Cobb tuning. Shiggy is also an Ecutek director in Japan and he will not tune using Cobb. Ecutek is better tuning software than Cobb, but Cobb is growing in popularity. I must say that I am myself using Cobb currently (because I have not had a chance to get Shiggy-tuned yet), and that I was so happy the first time I used the AP to clear my own engine code.
Cobb is easier to use software and less sophisticated than Ecutek. Previously (before I met Ed or AutoHQ), I was using an Ecutek tune on my car for years. After a couple years, the tuner I was using at that time finally convinced me to switch to Cobb, his stated reason being that it is much easier and faster for him to tune using Cobb. Later on I met Ed, and it is actually Ed who first referred me to AutoHQ.
Though I lived for 2 years only 7 miles from AutoHQ, I never heard of the shop until the day I met Ed for road tuning. My car was over-boosting to 1.7 bar and Ed referred me to AutoHQ to get my boost under control before proceeding with the tune. I am sad to say that we never touched base to finish up on the tune, primarily because I have yet to fix my over-boosting problem (I'm waiting for my new HKS GT2835 turbo from Japan).
Ed is available year-round locally and does great road tuning using Cobb. When we have a customer who would like to use Cobb, who would like to be tuned sooner rather than waiting for Shiggy's next trip from Japan, and/or who opts to not pay the higher cost to be tuned by Shiggy, at AutoHQ we only recommend Ed from EQ tuning for Subaru.
Ed is the best Cobb tuner we know. Ed is also a great pleasure to work with. You will be out on the road doing road tuning together, and it was a very fun experience for me. The map I am currently using in my car was made by Ed.
Though I do plan to switch back to Ecutek and get Shiggy-tuned in the future, I had a great experience getting tuned by Ed.
I just wanted to write to give Ed our support.
Thanks,
Brandon
I want people out there to know that we have some customers who choose to use Cobb AP rather than Ecutek. Cobb does a good job marketing its products, and though Cobb AP costs more than an Ecutek license, Shiggy-tuning costs more than Cobb tuning. Shiggy is also an Ecutek director in Japan and he will not tune using Cobb. Ecutek is better tuning software than Cobb, but Cobb is growing in popularity. I must say that I am myself using Cobb currently (because I have not had a chance to get Shiggy-tuned yet), and that I was so happy the first time I used the AP to clear my own engine code.
Cobb is easier to use software and less sophisticated than Ecutek. Previously (before I met Ed or AutoHQ), I was using an Ecutek tune on my car for years. After a couple years, the tuner I was using at that time finally convinced me to switch to Cobb, his stated reason being that it is much easier and faster for him to tune using Cobb. Later on I met Ed, and it is actually Ed who first referred me to AutoHQ.
Though I lived for 2 years only 7 miles from AutoHQ, I never heard of the shop until the day I met Ed for road tuning. My car was over-boosting to 1.7 bar and Ed referred me to AutoHQ to get my boost under control before proceeding with the tune. I am sad to say that we never touched base to finish up on the tune, primarily because I have yet to fix my over-boosting problem (I'm waiting for my new HKS GT2835 turbo from Japan).
Ed is available year-round locally and does great road tuning using Cobb. When we have a customer who would like to use Cobb, who would like to be tuned sooner rather than waiting for Shiggy's next trip from Japan, and/or who opts to not pay the higher cost to be tuned by Shiggy, at AutoHQ we only recommend Ed from EQ tuning for Subaru.
Ed is the best Cobb tuner we know. Ed is also a great pleasure to work with. You will be out on the road doing road tuning together, and it was a very fun experience for me. The map I am currently using in my car was made by Ed.
Though I do plan to switch back to Ecutek and get Shiggy-tuned in the future, I had a great experience getting tuned by Ed.
I just wanted to write to give Ed our support.
Thanks,
Brandon
Thanks for the kind words and I appreciate the support.
Having worked and tuned with Ecutek extensively prior to the release of ProTuner, I fully understand the benefits and drawbacks of each software. The reality at this point in time is that both systems give the tuner access to most of the same maps. Ecutek has access to a couple that Cobb doesn't and vice versa. The other reflashing options also have gained quite a bit of sophistication and control recently. While Cobb may have lacked map access in the past, they have really been receptive to the tuner's requests and have done the necessary research to provide us access to many more maps than most tuners will ever use. As an example, we can now control individual cylinder fuel and ignition timing. We also have access to countless correction maps and internal logic parameters that really help dial in the wilder setups. Cobb is also great at getting updates out when a tuner requests access to newly discovered map. I've personally worked with them extensively on a few features and new maps and I know their support and response time is unmatched. Combine this with great overall support for its tuners and customers, as well as the innovative features such as live tuning and launch control and I definitely see a benefit to using Cobb's platform.
One thing I will say, however, is that most people who purchase an AP don't end up using it to its full potential. The Cobb AP is really only going to fulfill its potential for customers requiring multiple maps for race gas, meth injection, etc. In such cases the AP is a great tool to quickly and easily switch between maps without needing a laptop. For most people who have one map, however, the AP becomes an expensive dongle that they only use while getting tuned and put in the closet otherwise. This is really the only potential argument I see for Ecutek, but when you factor in the cost of the Ecutek license and the fact that it is not easily transferable like the AP, Cobb tends to win that argument as well.
All of that being said, I don't believe that Ecutek is an inferior tuning system... you can arrive at the same result using just about any reflashing platform currently available including Cobb, Ecutek, OpenEcu, etc. Some are just more efficient and quicker to use than others and Cobb specifically has awesome support for its tuner network. So finally, when you say that Ecutek is more advanced in some way, I believe this may be a somewhat biased opinion without enough information to back it up. I'll be happy to show you the level of control and the large set of maps and parameters ProTuner gives access to next time we meet up
.Thanks
06-21-2008, 11:22 PM
#28
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iTrader: (14)
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Woodside, CA
Posts: 733
Car Info: 1994 impreza L
I remember when I bought my swap donor out of their lot, needed to borrow some wrenches... "you're going to do an oil change in the parking lot?" "we brought a pan!"
+1 for these guys, top quality men, top quality tools. What more could anyone want?
PS, would you hire an entry level tech? You guys are like my heroes
+1 for these guys, top quality men, top quality tools. What more could anyone want?
PS, would you hire an entry level tech? You guys are like my heroes
06-21-2008, 11:47 PM
#29
Registered User
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: If you can't fix it with a hammer,
Posts: 943
Car Info: you've got an electrical problem.
After sitting on it I had been documenting the problems I handed the car back over to the tuner. 2 months later I get it back not holding a idle, Damaged throw out bearing on new clutch, A/C compressor clutch bad from overtighten belt, A/C not fully charged and torn cv axle boots. Seems like everytime I went there I'd just pick up another problem.
I picked my car up at 10pm as the deadline was ending 12am. Next morning I found the stuff and quickly showed them. The shop didnt really have a good reason why this had all happen.
Shiggy had just went back to japan and didnt have time to tune it. I was really pissed at the time. But its getting sorted out and next time Shiggys here it will be ready.
