Tuners in the region.
 

I live in Raleigh, NC and need a tuning shop in the area or region (NC, SC, VA, GA). Someone who has tuned many cars (the FR-S and BRZ particularly) and stands by their work. Dyno and EcuTek tuning are a must.

Locally I get a lot of shop bickering about "don't go see them they suck" or "we fix cars they screwed up" etc... I'm not about all that. Your work should stand for what it is.

I am willing to travel if it is necessary. Currently I'm tempted to drive to Pure Automotive and have those guys tune my car. BUT, if there is a quality shop in the area that I can drive 2-3hrs to see rather than 5-6hrs. I'd be willing to look in to them.

Thank you to anyone posting up some info to help me out.

Have you checked the EcuTek dealer search:

http://www.ecutek.com/Dealers.aspx

You have CRD Engine Development and Carolina Performance in NC. Otherwise you have ptuning and Pure Automtive in the DC area. In Georgia you have Forged Performance. I talked to them, and they have tuned a couple BRZ/FR-S, and they have a shop car they are adding an AVO turbo kit to and will be tuning it.

Thank you. I didn't know EcuTek had a dealer list. Esp since its based in the UK.

I use to live in P'cola. I miss the beaches. :(

Topspeed in Alpharetta just posted their new BRZ shop car today on facebook. Forged has worked on a few, but the black one that is the "shop" car is just a customer's car from what I understand. A customer that has a GTR that picked up the BRZ for another track toy. It's sitting on JRZ coilovers and 18" TE37's.

Anyways, I'm glad Doug and the guys at Topspeed actually own a BRZ shop car now. Will be watching what they do to it closely as they did excellent work and tuning on both my Evo's

I drove 10 hrs to get my car tuned at FA20club in FL.. they were awesome, but probably a little too far for you. I definitely understand about willing to drive some distance to get the "right" work done though. Let us know how it goes with whichever shop you decide to go with.

Would you happen to be Steve? Just looking at the post here and the one on Facebook. Thanks for the info.

I've decided to drive up to Pure Automotive. After talking on the phone and explaining the little gremlins that are in the car post turbo, they said that they have encountered the same issues with the cars they've tuned including the the silver one (owned by Typerrspec789) that was tuned along with LJ at Full Blown. Since I'm coming from such a long way they are being very accommodating. FA20club was a close second to shops I considered since these two have tuned multiple turbo'd FRS/BRZs and do it with such great success.

I will report back with details and video of how it all goes once I've made the trip up. My schedule is booked solid for the next month unless I press my luck and try to make it up there next week. I'll set up a date with them soon.

if things fall through at Pure, we are about 8hrs away in Lousiville KY and would be happy to help, we are currently booked until May 20th for tuning appointments so give us a call soon to get on the schedule.

Agreed, I've only heard great things about both of those shops.

I would have suggested Lethal Injections, I'm friends with a few of the guys there, but they are currently moving to Florida.

I don't know how they are for import tuning, but CRD in Concord builds all of our Chevy race motors.

Things have been busy lately and while that isn't an excuse it is the reason it's taken me nearly a week to post this.

I looked at the shops in NC and the region (like the ones mentioned here). I decided to take my car to Pure Automotive to have Brady look it over and give me feedback on the install, tips for improvement, items I might have overlooked and to tune the car better than the flash I had on the car. I was getting various different CELs from the mass air sensor and the exhaust. I had issues at various times with cranking the car cold or hot and it only starting if I held the gas pedal on the floor or that I'd have to blip the throttle to keep it from dying shortly after cranking it up. Honestly, these things are not something you invite friends/family or the GF to ride along in and then sit there like a dumb ass going "yeah, the turbo makes the car better!" :iono:

So Brady looked over my car. He and I had spoke about my issues before so he had an idea what needed to be done. He has installed the FBM kit on many cars, had the same/similar issues in other cars and resolved them. He has tuned and pushed the Stage 1 kit to it's limit here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31687 So to me, he seemed to be the obvious choice to take my car.

He looked the car over, showed me an item or two that was minor that I needed done. Found and tweaked some other things and also told me that my 6 puck wasn't installed correctly because it felt a lot different than the others he had put in and it was way noisier than it sould be. I also bought the Whiteline subframe bushings and had those installed too. Really nice guy to talk to. But most importantly the car is running on a new tune with what feels like better and smoother power. No CELs. Starts and idles like factory. It's back to being a great reliable Toyota/Subaru just a boosted, more powerful great and reliable Toyota/Subaru. I don't drive the car often but to make sure the car was running as perfectly as I had dreamed it would, I've driven it for three days straight and it's just as good as the day I got it from him and all was fixed.

I am very happy with Pure Automotive and will happily recommend them and see them again when I need more power and other goodies.

Thanks for coming back to the thread and posting your final experience!

Nice to see another Full Blown car properly tuned and running as it should be. :thumbsup:

Absolutely. Advice and information should be freely exchanged here and a great experience (my personal best) from a performance shop should be shared.

Amen! BTW, found out you know Bama Dave from S2Ki. He texted me a few days ago telling me about you and your screen name. You planning to come to the fall Dragon event? I've already paid for registration but could use a roommate at Fontana. Let me know if you're down.

That must be one of the guys I met at the Malbis meet a couple Saturdays ago. There were a couple seriously modified S2000s there. What are the details on the event? I have already turned down a couple Dragon opportunitys earlier this year. I have stayed at Fontana before, and it is a nice location.