R/T Tuning Vendor Review

[BradC]

I recently had some work done at R/T Tuning, and now that I have driven a few hundred miles on their work I thought I would chime in. I have never written a vendor review before, so if I ramble bear with me.

My stock clutch was about at its TQ limit, and slipped while being run on their dyno. I had Vince put together some prices for me, and I was suprised to see his quote.

His quote for my Fidanza flywheel was the same as the lowest price I could find online. His quote for my Spec Stage 3 clutch was lower, yes LOWER, than anywhere online, including MSP-specific websites. Not just lower either, but around $75-$100 lower. How many times have you bought something at a local shop for cheaper than online? I can't say I have ever had that happen before.

I thought their labor prices were very fair as well.

R/T Tuning definately gets an A+ on cost.

As for the work actually performed, I give them an A+ too.

Spec sent the wrong pilot bearing with my clutch kit, they sourced the proper one immediately as to not delay the job.

Also, a plastic "oil passage" as Mazda calls it was damaged when the tranny was apart. I was informed of this, told a new one was on order, and it was replaced at their expense. I was pleased to be informed of this. It isn't a particularly vital piece, and I would never have known had they bolted it back together with it missing. Still, they replaced it because it was the right thing to do. That says a lot to me about a shops level of work and the pride they take in their work to me.

When my clutch was being put in, they also ripped the tranny apart to have their neighbor NDC weld up my LSD (a notorious MSP weak spot).

My new clutch is almost broken in now and drives very well. I haven't had a chance to really beat on it yet, but so far, so good. I was worried about the streetability of this clutch, but Vince said it should be fine. After driving it the first day, I was worried I made a mistake. Now that I have some miles on it though, I am happy with it and glad I listened to his advice. It grabs firmly yet can be modulated well.

I cannot say anything bad about the products they sold me, nor can I say anything bad about the labor they, or NDC did.

All-in-all I would say R/T Tuning is a class-act and would recommend them to anyone.

[S.Milone]

Thank You, glad you are happy with everything.

[Laxinwarrior]

Definite A+ on service. Just got dynoed there today and Vince and the guys were great to work with. :thumbup:

[TalonTsi97]

Very good review, glad to hear they did good work on your MSP. If you wouldnt mind could you pm me a price on what all that cost? I will eventually need the same stuff done in the future and would like to have an idea now. Do you plan to get dynoed once the clutch is broken it?
Thanks

[Vince@R/TTuning]

Glad we could take care of everything for ya...let us know when ya wanna get that thing back on the dyno:mrgreen:

[frosti108]

well if theres one sure fire way to get new customers and keep the old ones this is it. ive never heard of a shop giving cheap prices on parts LOL

awesome. keep up the good work!

[Keeper1343]

i thought those guys were pretty good guys when i went there... Made me feel alot better about the condition of my motor when they did several tests to make sure. Its ashame i couldn't give them anymore work at that point.

[BradC]

Glad we could take care of everything for ya...let us know when ya wanna get that thing back on the dyno:mrgreen:

Will do, should have a new core sample this/next week.

[assault187]

I have Mixed feelings..... Seems as if they need another tech to help meet there deadlines. I am not attacking, Its just contructive critsism, please respect it. Its also very hard to get any answers when calling (Or in person) such as pricing, parts, availability and so on without speaking directly to Vince. When I was there last inquiring about some head work, I asked to use the bathroom and on my way I was admiring the work of a car in the shop, These fella's were watching me as if I were going to steal somthing. Im am confident that these guys do great work from what I have personally seen and heard, But from my 1st and 2nd experience there makes me want to spend my money elsewhere.

[Vince@R/TTuning]

Ill have to agree with you on some points, we do need more help, its hard finding someone that is knowledgable in this field, is dedicated and responsible. And to be fair you were inquiring about a fully built head with port work and lots of machine work, that i had to call my machine shop to price out some aspects and other technical issues that i just couldn't pass off to someone else cause they wouldn't know the answers. also we get dozens of phone calls a day that we try and deal with, some turn out to be great jobs and some turn out to be...just a phone call, but i can honestly say we try and get back to everyone that calls(but i know it doesn't always happen) but when you did show up in person i sat down with you and went over the majority of the pricing and the job and realized your were serious when you were here in person. As far as the fellas staring you down im not sure how to answer that...we do lots of work here that is admired and often copied, you wouldn't beleive how people just come in the shop sometimes and just lift hoods and open doors like the car is their own. So when someone who is isn't with me or some of the guys don't reconize them they might look at ya twice wondering what your doing in the shop. So i wouldn't take that to personal, Im not sure where you work but its like someone walking in an employee only section at your work with no one occpanying them and you thinking "who is this guy"? so i hope we can take care of you on that headwork and if we cant then i hope it works out well for you. Thanks again Vince

[assault187]

Your points are totally understandable as I work in a busy shop as well...Me and 1 other guy juggling 10 peoples previous tasks all day long while trying to complete our own work. I also know how it is when people just roll back in the shop, but I simply say "HEY! when you go a resturant, Do you walk in threw the kitchen!?!?!?!?!?" Im just kidding but I would like to say that! 1st impression is everything to a customer and mine wasnt really great but, I plan to get the top replaced 1st because it is my 1st priority and we'll see how things play out from there in maybe 2 weeks or so

[03.5MSP]

Glad to hear RT took good care of you. Vince and the guys there helped me out alot when they tuned my MSP. I know ill deff be going back to them in the spring to get my car re-tuned cause Impo **cked up my tune,(long story).

[BradC]

Glad to hear RT took good care of you. Vince and the guys there helped me out alot when they tuned my MSP. I know ill deff be going back to them in the spring to get my car re-tuned cause Impo **cked up my tune,(long story).

Let me know when you go back, I wouldn't mind checking out your car.

IIRC from Mazdas24/7, you had an issue with some cams, no? Ever get that straightened out?

[TalonTsi97]

Glad to hear RT took good care of you. Vince and the guys there helped me out alot when they tuned my MSP. I know ill deff be going back to them in the spring to get my car re-tuned cause Impo **cked up my tune,(long story).

lol should of searched, impo is one of the worst shops in the area. Never heard one good thing about the place, always bad/funny stories out of there.


I pm'd RT on doing some similar work, i wouldn't mind going there cause i know they took car of 03.5msp and now BradC was happy.
When you two head back over, id meet up with the two of you as well.

[pharnhyte]

I have Mixed feelings..... Seems as if they need another tech to help meet there deadlines. I am not attacking, Its just contructive critsism, please respect it. Its also very hard to get any answers when calling (Or in person) such as pricing, parts, availability and so on without speaking directly to Vince. When I was there last inquiring about some head work, I asked to use the bathroom and on my way I was admiring the work of a car in the shop, These fella's were watching me as if I were going to steal somthing. Im am confident that these guys do great work from what I have personally seen and heard, But from my 1st and 2nd experience there makes me want to spend my money elsewhere.

Nick calll meeee

I think I will use RT tuning to do work on this supra that I will probably wind up getting mainly because I figure they deal with a good amount of supra, so they would be less likely to take my car for a spin and crash it. I don't want Toyota to do it for some reason, and I dont trust other shops, because some ricer is going to want to test it out, and loose control. Plus some of the other guys here use this shop. I do however need to find someone to tune it thoug, I am a greddy emange ultimate fan, and he thinks it sucks, and thats fine lol, I dont like AEM, mainly because some of there stand-alones are hit or miss in quality, meaning that out of the box they all don't work. I don't want to get stuck on the side of the road with a stand-along, so I am gonna piggyback.

But back to the topic about RT, I have heard some funny things, but I keep it to myself, it did not happen to me first hand. I had wanted to get a JDM swap into a mr2, and talked to Vince about it, but nothing ever came of it.


Map vs Emanage ultimate
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/SupVader/Vader%20Build%20Up/Eman_VS_MAP.jpg

Supra that I am prolly gonna get, it has 60k on it, so I would get RT to do the waterpump, and timing belt.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/abuC24/Picture014.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/abuC24/Picture017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/abuC24/Picture016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/abuC24/Picture013-1.jpg

[assault187]

Nice steve! AWSOME to see you stepping up your game, I'll most def call you friday or saturday. If you get the car you know I'll hook you up with whatever you need as always!

Depending on how everything goes....I still plan on doing tuning with RT regardless and also alignment when I replace the tie rods...It sooo hard to find a trustworthy shop and I know these guys are Trustworthy!

[Vince@R/TTuning]

Thanks for the complimants everybody....

pharnhyte as far as the greddy emanage ultimate..It does suck..i can show you several cars that i have tuned(or tried to tune) and i would make back to back runs with no adjustments within 5-10 mins of each other and air fuels would vary up to 1.5:1 air fuels and the air fuel curve would be different every time...how do u tune that? I have tuned dozens of map ecu set ups and what you get for the money is pretty good, throttle and boost tip in is a lil tricky but it is very consistant. doesnt matter how many options the unit has it matter on how fast it processes the adjustments. i have had better results with VPC-GCC then the emagage, and that technologly is over ten years old..but if ya wanna go over specifics PM me...thanx

[03.5MSP]

Let me know when you go back, I wouldn't mind checking out your car.

IIRC from Mazdas24/7, you had an issue with some cams, no? Ever get that straightened out?

Nah, the casting on my head is a little different than the head Integral used to make the cams, so the cams didn't have enough clearance, and parts of the head needed to be grinded. But the head cant be grinded without taking it off. And if im going that far then im just going to build the whole block. Now its just a matter of saving up, which it getting harder and harder everyday. LOL

[zerioustt]

let me start by saying ive turned wrenches since i can remember. i always do all my own work, one its cheaper and two its really hard to trust a shop nowadays. ive had my trans and motor out of my car more times that i can count. well enough babbling and on to the review.


so i take my car to rt tuning for a clutch pedal adjustment, in my car its a rod thats connected to the pedal and its a PITA(ask vince)! so vince gets her all adjusted and we take her for a test drive. feels great and im super excited, so i go to get on her i her a snap and some nuts/bolts bouncing off my exhaust. well we fix something and something else breaks! the striking rod that connects the transmission to the linkage broke.....doh! so i have no shift at this point but i manage to get her in 3rd and get her back to the shop.

back at the shop im thinking out my options, i ask vince can i leave the car for a few days while i think what i want to do, he says no problem, mind you he has a TON of customers/shop cars there already. so i weight my options and decide to go with a brand new 97+ transmission from japan. i let vince know what my plans and that the tranny is ordered and on its way.


ok ive had a few experiences with shops in the past both mine and friends, i must say NEVER have i seen a shop stick to their word on when a car will be finished. vince told me she would be done thursday friday at the latest and the man stood to his word and i picked my car up yesterday. i must say im getting tired of climbing under this car and its nice to find a shop with integrity that vince has with his shop. i must say if youre a person like me who is afraid of crappy service you will get none of that with rt tuning.


once again thanks vince and you will receive all my business from here on out on things i dont want to tackle!

[cmr076]

vince and the guys at R/T are great! he always comes through for me in a pinch and his prices are very fair to say the least. I was somewhat affiliated with vince through a mutual former employer, when a coworker (James) told me about him (right when R/T was starting) vince answered A LOT of questions for me and knocked out a clutch in my dsm FAST.

since then i have sent a lot of work there way and the results have always been A++ (even if the kids i send are total pains in the asses). Hopefully they will be doing my T-belt and WP in my audi very soon.

while sometimes it takes them a while to get back to you (still havent heard back about the velocity stacks and map sensors Shawn :mad: ) it says something that they are always busy even during the "slow seasons"... and vince it probably wouldnt kill ya to hire an additional salesman, someones gotta help people out while Shawn is :cyberguy: his heart out

(kidding Shawn) :mrgreen: