Clarifying, taking these parts to a shop was not us. We sorted out all the issues from that shop. I agree with my man Mark, I also believe you need to work with a qualified shop. At the end of the day, parts are parts.

 

I love the bashing of Steve here... Someone (wonder who...) had him banned when he did no advertising, etc... I think it was over how to setup some suspension (hmmm...) So he couldn't defend himself if he wanted to... I will tell you this... I trust him with Lil Powell's 997TT and my car as well... Hell he caught a little problem from tire wear from my drag radials that I wouldn't have even noticed when I was doing my routine tire/exhaust swaps. I say bash, but it's very subtle and childish if you want the honest truth. Steve is a good mechanic he's one of the few that I let touch my car and trust to do so. Trust me I am VERY particular on who touches my car, esp considering the power it makes and the fact that it is a stock motor; so that says a lot!

 

Like anything else nowadays its easy to go from hero to zero. In an industry full of egos whether it be driver, mechanics, or shops themselves someone has to take the blame for short comings and very rarely does anyone come forward and take responsibility themselves. Dan certainly stepped up to the plate and went the extra mile to make Ben happy and that is far more than commendable. It is a shame that Steve hasn't been able to make any post regarding the 100 plus hours he put into Ben's car however.

There are two sides to the story as there always is. Steve's side will probably not be heard by most however. Usually posting as Driver Source, Steve was banned somewhat unexplainably as I don't recall him ever once soliciting his services in any of his posts. He had made multiple requests to become a sponsor to no avail over a period of 18 months. I feel like the situation is pretty similar to the Markski saga. David vs. Goliath. I've been on this forum for the better part of 6 years and seen a few very good technical resources muscled out of the forum unbeknowst to most who would truly benefit from a good informational asset.

Markski did make reference to a point that many shops use as Operating code. You either buy products they endorse or they won't work on your car. Steve has been pretty flexible with all of his customers and will work with whatever they bring him in attempt to work with their budget and desires. Its a shame that his work is cast in a negative light when he tends to do things most wouldn't to make a customer happy.

 

Nobody has brought up his name or bashed him. Just you two. I could share further pictures, videos, and emails, but as the 1st post says, this is us supporting the quality of our products.

 

I would guess that well over 70% of the people who have been reading bad107's threads are well aware who has been working on the car. It's been mentioned numerous times.

 

Again...

 

so what was the actual diagnosis of Ben's car? Was it the turbo installation that caused the boost leak (if not the parts?)

 

You are missing the point.

Vivid Racing has spent $3000 to bring a car here to fix it for a customer based on back and forth emails and alleged issues. It was not about money, it was principle. Having met in person and visited said facility, nobody is calling them murderers or rapest, but in this case, we are showing what Vivid Racing did. We have no ego, nor are we the best at what we do, but in this case, we did what was right. Bmoores, you have met me, talked to me and you know that is TRUE. I find it truely amazing the stuff being said. I could have told Bad107, "the parts are fine, good luck". But then what would have happen. Like in a previous case, on the forums bashing Vivid Racing. So what do we do, we step to ensure that our products are top quality, what happens, bashing. This is not IT, real estate, etc. We deal with the online community. Amazing though, there is never a good job or glad you fixed it. This is not the first issue we have dealt with.

At the end of the day, we did this to support our Agency Power product and what we found were major issues unrelated to our product that were causing the issues at hand. Bad107 has not driven his car in 2 months or so and spent a ton of money. The end of the day speech is that we corrected all those issues, custom tuned the car with Softronic, and now have a quality functioning vehicle. We were very impressed with the dyno performance and curve as well as the help Scott gave in getting a perfect Softronic file.

drjoe - this is the work we did to the car. It had alot of seperate issues that are now all corrected. You can view those here - www.youtube.com/agencypower.

Inspected YPipe and found very small leaks at top nipples. Rewelded and Pressure Tested.
Found major leak at driver side reducer coupler on YPipe to intercooler.
Inspected TB Plenum. Found that the silicone coupler and clamp were pushed all the way over the fitting block causing a leak. Adjusted and replaced with a new Plenum.
Several small leaks found with vacuum hoses to DV's.
F-Hose had boost leak from over tigtening the clamps on DV tearing into FHose.
Diverter Valves were not sealed at the side port. Added Teflon grease to secure and tigtened.
Found major cause leak at Driver Side forward most Fuel Injector. Small puddle of fuel was also there. This caused the fuel rail to not allow the injector to seat. Removed all 3 injectors.
Boost tested entire system to 25PSI, no leaks.
Intake piping kit was up against the rear driver CV boot rubbing. Used bailing wire to pull it back and off. Should still be redone.
Placed car on the dyno to test.
Datalogged the car.
Car had several boost spike and boost drop.
Inspected Wastegates. Driver side wastegate rod/nut was hung up on a coolant line. Adjusted rod for clearance. Pass side was hitting the header. Adjusted for clearance.
Retuned the car with different files.

 

Congratulations Ben. I'm happy your car seems to be sorted out. Vivid makes good parts and the shop you were working with IS a quality shop. Don't forget, together they built the fastest 996 tip to date BLACKHORSETURBO!!! So go out and get some great times bro, and give me back my Durametric.

 

Dan, I did commend you in my earlier post because you absolutely went the extra mile. I would expect nothing less from you having met you. You are a good guy. I just chuckle when Steve was a hero 18 months ago when he had Todd's car constantly setting the benchmark for tips. If I have misinterpreted any dialogue from your posts or my communications with Bad107 I apologize.

 

^^^^ Agreed

 

Being detailed and picked up shortly. Hope you enjoy!

 

Car runs very well. Thanks Dan!

Almost 50 gallons of VP109 gone. Tranny is holding up so far!

Had some fun runs over the break.

High boost runs:
- Had some fun with bmoores and his 20g monster....both on race gas...had one really good race from 40-140 and he had me by 2-3 cars (TIPTRONIC SUCKS)

-Raced my friends GTR with stage 1 (y-pipe, full exhaust with downpipe, midpipe and Cobb accessport @ 19PSI) and I beat him every time (about one or two car lengths on a 40-140 run).

-Tried to run a mazda 3 with a stroker engine with meth and a 200 shot of NOS but his i/c hose flew off, lol...anyway, raced his friend that was driving behind him in a fully built STI engine with a 6262 turbo (beat him by several car lengths)

-Ran a modded Z06 (not sure of mods, but it was not stock) and took him by about 1 car length on a 60-120 run

Low boost:

-Ran a supercharged C6 who said he had 600 hsp at the wheels w just a blower and exhaust, no way a blower alone gets you 600 at the wheels, but anyway, he killed me....(which is why i no longer drive on low boost lol)

 

Ben, You sure don't waste any time. Sounds fun!

 

Please share some video clips of it ripping!