Re: Test Drive S4

[David Weiss <dzweiss@worldnet.att.net>]

Turbo2s@aol.com wrote:

> I have an 89 200T.  Had a nice long convo with Ned's wife last year.
> Liked what I heard, but before I drop the 8 bills, could you tell me 
> how you liked the work?  Did you have any driveability problems, or 
> reliability prob?  I'm still a little cloudy on exactly what they do
> to my computer, but word of mouth is the ultimate.

Sean,

I have only good things to say about Ned and his work.  (Well, that's
not exactly true; his car is truly _ugly_.  But it's fast.)  No problems
whatsoever w/ the mods in my single knock sensor '89.  Ned seemed very
concerned about putting the engine too near the edge (but there is
always some increased risk, albeit small).  Certainly make sure the
timing belt has been changed w/in 60k mi.  Drivability improved; turbo
seemed to kick in at slightly lower RPM.  Missouri emissions passed w/
flying colors, as I don't think he changed anything at idle.

Like you, I spoke w/ Ned's wife first.  Turns out her dad has the same
name as mine!  Ned himself can be hard to get hold of and travels some,
so make sure you know when he's available to do the work.  Pulling the
computer is about 15 min.  The connector is EASILY BROKEN, so be gentle
and careful.  You Fedex it to him, he does his thing and Fedex's it back
the same day he gets it, so you're only down two or three days.

The results are phenominal.  I was grinning for a couple of days after
the install(s).  The Stage 2 spring takes muscle to get in, BTW, so
unless you're a burly-man, have an extra hand for the wrench.  I would
recommend against levering off the firewall, because it's a little close
to the steering rack.

Ned is also a straight-up guy, IMO.  He somehow got confused as to what
we had agreed over the phone.  He sent Stage 1 (1.6 bar, I think) when
we had discussed Stage 2 (1.8 bar).  He said drive it a while, and then
replaced it w/ the higher boost mod at no charge.  I did pay the extra
shipping.

I would do business w/ Ned again, and will probably do so for the V8
this year (though all he does for that car is give it more aggressive
ignition timing).

All that said, you're probably aware there are others who seem to do
good work, and may charge less; several are on the list.  I would
strongly suggest eliciting testimonials from their customers, as well,
to make an informed decision.  I can only comment on Ned's work, because
it's the only one I've lived with.  It was a Wonderful Life, until a
Mazda pickup had a flat tire next to me on the highway.

--Dave Weiss
  '91 V8 5-spd
  '93 90CS UnQ