Hey Guys,
Just wanted to jump in as some people have mentioned that we aren't around anymore or we aren't posting. It is true that we have not spent much time in this thread (or on any forum lately) but it's not because we are trying to ignore what is going on or what is being said. I have been busy with many projects and in preparation for the 2010 Targa New Zealand rally which I will be leaving for on Wednesday. Josh has also been working extremely hard on some new projects including a completely re-designed 80+ page catalog. Also, as we have said before, the most important thing for us to do is work directly with our customer's and for that we have a team of people that are working and speaking directly with our customer's. Josh and I are here to offer information and help to the forums. We have Customer Service and Technical support teams dedicated to helping our customer's in these situations. There are many times when Josh and I know every detail of what is happening, and there are times when we are out of the loop for a few days. However, our support team is always here and working directly with the customer, which at the end of the day is more important than anything else.
Fortunately we have a great partner in UPrev and they are working hard with us to get any issue resolved. There have undoubtedly been some new finds in the ECU during this time and UPrev has even developed some new tools to help them find out more. One thing we have found during this is that there are substantial differences from car to car. Even the factory "canned tunes" are different and beyond that, they respond to the same situations differently. For example, if two cars are seeing the exact same airflow situation, one car might go into limp mode and the other car won't even think twice about it. Also, this airflow situation causing a limp mode could directly be affected by the installation and as soon as the installation is refined, the car is happy again.
As far as who should get a canned tune or who should get a custom tune. If someone is looking to achieve CARB legality or our warranty, the only way to do this is with the STILLEN canned tune. However, if someone wants to run headers or high flow cats, well, you should really be getting a custom tune. For many reaons but primarily because you're not concerned about CARB (not in California) or will be running off road or at a track -- so why not? If someone in California wants to run high flow cats AND get CARB legality...Sorry, but that is not possible. The tune with high flow cats will be different and the only way to be CARB legal is with factory cats. Yes, it is cheap/easy to swap out cats, however, us supplying you with a kit that is tuned for off highway parts and still supplying you with a CARB sticker is a big NO – that just won't happen.
In regards to horsepower levels. There are many variables that need to be taken into consideration. Everything from boost levels, dyno used, elevation, weather, wheel weight, transmission type, etc. The only way to get an accurate idea of a vehicle's true gains is with a before and after dyno. We have some customer's making more power than we advertised and some making less. However, the majority of our customer's say the same thing..."This thing is fast and almost to the point of scary."
Contrary to what some will have you believe, we are currently shipping our kits still and the only kits that have not been shipped are kits that would be going on vehicle's with high flow cats and headers. Most of the owner's who have installed their kits have given us great feedback regarding the quality of the kit and the overall performance. Obviously there were a few early adopters who had some issues but as you have seen, once those issues were resolved they have all been happy with the performance of the kit.
Also, keep in mind we are only a phone call away. If you come to the forum and are surprised to see we aren't here, keep in mind, we can be reached immediately by email,
kmillen@stillen.com, or by phone, 866-250-5542. We spend as much time on the forums as we can but we still need to get the other aspects of our jobs done. Just because Josh and I might not be posting on the forums doesn't mean the rest of the company isn't working directly with the customer's involved.