A guy I listen to all the time made a fantastic statement one time and it's relevant. "Bently's are never on sale!!" When I first heard it it stuck with me. Because I'm a watch guy it dawned on me. You can't get a discount on a Rolex from a dealer. You've never saw a Ferrari or Lamborghini sales commercial. They don't need it because the product speaks for itself. F.I. does'nt hawk customers down , Soho does'nt chase people for sales, MA does'nt call people and beg to do their builds. They put together good product and persuade people to part with their money based on what they produce. You can fake it a couple times and nab a few people not on point. but as soon as the product is on the market , nothing you put on the internet can protect you from your product $hitting it's pants at a car meet. And because of the internet nothing can stop it from making it from the east coast to the west coast in 10 minutes. You either fix it or make as much money as you can before the party is over. And I think right now there's some dollar stacking going on.

They just don’t call nobody out

Could of sworn I told somebody to get there motor installed by a company or shop that was really familiar with the VHR platform.

That is nothing new. It has been going on for years. That is why you have to be extremely careful. I got out of the letting other people work on my car years ago because of it. I would be doing this build myself but my body is in pieces.

I saw that too. Poor folks don't even know they are dumb.

*nervously paces*:ugh:

Info like this will never get out right. It's sad that Facebook has taken over so much. A lot of guys I speak to don't have an account here. The information on FB is scattered about in slews of misinformed and joker's statements and it's impossible to get guys informed on what's really going on.

Stupid is as Stupid does. They should join the forum and start reading doing research via the search function. They won't do that though, it's just too hard for them.

Don’t you know Facebook tells them everything

If that company was Altered Atmosphere Motorsports - they are one in the same.
Altered Atmosphere was run out of Dodge as a result of shady dealings and re-started as AAM Competition.
This sums it up ... as I would find out too late.
***Note*** I didn't have any issues with the actual hands on employees at all ... but I should have suspected that some shady things were going on behind the scenes much sooner than I did.
My car was not running when it was transported down from NJ to them.
The new build motor was in on the motor mounts but only finger tight.
The exhaust was just hung on the holders and the Stillen SC'r was completely off with the exception of the Intake Manifold which was held in with finger tight bolts to protect the motor - the hard one to get to was not in.
It would have been a 15 minute job to remove everything and should have been inlcuded in the installation price for the turbo kit...
But then again we are talking AAM here.
A week later they charged me over $800 to remove the Stillen kit - and $300 to take the exhaust off the hangars.
Further more I was present early in the morning having driven 3+ hours from NJ to visit and check on my car - it wasat the end of the month crunch and I witnessed the entire management staff going over the open invoices of all the cars in the shop and adding new charges (legitimate? and/or bogus?) to them and calling the customers for money.
This would be a fairly common occurrence with them. I started looking at my invoice(s) more closely and discovered at least a dozen double billings and other 'errors' - All NOT IN MY FAVOR.
When I would bring up these errors it was always a fight. They don't give credits easily - they will however, reword the existing charge (real or trumped up) and change the dollar amount in hopes that it gets overlooked.
This specific scenario played itself out on quite a few occasions over the 2 years my car was there.
There was also one occasion where I paid over $5000 by check to close out one invoice and start another as the build progressed. It was easier for me at that time to stop trying to figure out the madness and their purposely? complex invoicing system and start from scratch - this time not being so trusting.
3 months later and there was still no work being done on my car ... seems they put a work stoppage on me because they said I was that $5000 dollars in arrears. Funny ? NO They did cash the check (it was a bank check) but failed to enter it in to their system...so instead of contacting me they held up the project once again.
Don't let me tell you about the time they took the dashboard out and left it scattered on the floor for 6 months.

Here is one of about a dozen warnings I found doing a google search on AAM Competition, Altered Atmosphere, and Mike and Randall Mahafee


Default on loans, sued by customers, etc.........just change the name and move from the property being garnished........

Apr 28, 2015
"Please Read This Before Deciding To Work For Mike Mahaffee and AAM Competition!"
StarStarStarStarStar
Former Employee - Upper Management in Annapolis Junction, MD
Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
I worked at AAM Competition full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Zero! Other than a paycheck, this company has ZERO going for it. Trust ALL OF US. Almost (100 Employees) who have left, not been fired or laid off!
Cons
Very poor working conditions. Constant Up-Charging of customers. The owner literally STEALS from customers. Deadlines are never met! I repeat. NEVER! If it were not for the amazing talent the company has hired, AAM Competition would have already buried itself. This company used to be called "Altered Atmosphere". The company is under the same management and doing the same things to the now Nissan GT-R and Z Community.… Show More
Advice to Management
My advice to management would be to sell the business as quick as possible. Let someone who cares about the industry wants to run an honest business, make this company what it could be. If it were not for the blood, sweat and tears of the good people that work for AAM, the company would have faltered long ago. Its truly only a matter of time. And when it does happen, there will be many of us there to laugh in your face!

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________

If you are thinking of going to AAM or Altered Atmosphere Motorsports in Gaithersburg Maryland, think again. I used to work for Mr. mike and randall mahaffey. I saw what goes on behind the scenes. This company is EXTREMELY untrustworthy. They take on customers cars and Mike, the "master tuner" doesn't even touch them. In fact, he doesn't even know how to tune half these cars. He merely buys the base maps from overseas, and then changes settings here or there in a hope to make it run better. He has blown up many cars, and ripped off EVERY customer that he has ever dealt with. Mike Mahaffey has taken money from customers like Jarrod Norman of NC, the owner of a Stealth VR4, he has paid over $50k and the car hasn't been touched. The car has been sitting for over a year, and mike jokes casually about never intending to touch it. He was discussing filing a mechanics lien on the car so he doesn't have to do the work. There are HUNDREDS of customers just like this gentleman that have been taken advantage of, and have paid through the nose, but have gotten no results. Mr. Mahaffey is not a capable tuner, nor is he a trustworthy person. Please re-think your equation and seek a more capable alternative such as GT Motorsports.

Gaithersburg, Maryland

WoW! :shakes head: That sounds like the other company not to be talked about. (GTM)

I know there are many of you not happy with your AAM kit - but there are also many owners coming to this forum looking for information about the actual topic "smoking turbo's".

It would be great if we can stay on topic and provide as much detailed information as we can to help owners that spent 10k usd+ on the TT kit resolving their turbo smoke issues.

About that, my friend runs a AAM TT without scavenger pump, not smoking at all. Ill try to take detailed pictures of the clocking of his turbos + route and angles of his return lines.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G950F met Tapatalk

Not all AAM kits exhibit excessive smoke ... I did PM you about the scavenge pump ... Good to hear that your friend's kit was one of the good ones ...hope your kit doesn't require the added time and expense of having to incorporate it.
There may be a little more to the smoking phenomena than meets the eye - and that is crank case pressure opposing the gravity only turbo draining. Boosted motors can and do generate more pressure than NA motors do.
The turbo clocking may or may not help ... the AAM turbos overall positioning and resultant drain line location in relation to the oil pan (I do have the AAM oil pan as well - which should have worked flawlessly as they told me) isn't conducive to a gravity only drain system.

I'm sorry that you felt you've had to politely reprimand me for going off topic somewhat but - sometimes you've gotta say what's on your mind.
And it this case AAM didn't respond to me questions and requests for help (I did contact them about the smoke problem some time back) Never heard from them - seems they had dropped me like a hot potato.

My intent here is to educate and forewarn rather than hear another unnecessary sad story that could have been addressed beforehand and perhaps prevented.
Go Fast Intentions in the first place ...

Respectfully submitted.

Probation plus ankle bracelet.

Wow I just read all of your recent posts about your AAM Adventure.. :shakes head:

It really sucks that you went through all that. I sure hope you're able to find solace in being able to enjoy your vehicle now that it is done proper.

Sounds like you haven't learned your lesson yet via other thread.

He sure hasn’t

AAM Twin Turbo Kit
 

I had ordered the AAM kit. Was told it would ship in 2 weeks. Took them 3 months to actually ship due to 1 part they were waiting on which I highly doubt. Luckily I have my engine with Ryan over at RMB Motorworks who has been extremely picky with what goes in my engine. He has already had to replace many things the kit had on it because of the crap they mix in with the good stuff. New oil lines, had to blast the inside of the manifold because of slag, you know, things that should have been flawless with the amount of money you pay for it. I should have gone with Fast Intentions but hey, at least I didn't send them my engine.

My car is at AAM right now,getting turbos installed. I’m hoping that the fact they make the kit that there the people to install it. I’ll let the Forum knows how it goes. They assured me things have changed.

That was my reasoning ... I'm with you ... hoping that things have changed, that is.
Sometimes 'squawking' brings about reform.

Good luck, keep us posted!

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on the dyno right now, hope not to have any issues .

Good luck, but I wouldn't hold your breath :eekdance:

were see. I haven't had any issues with them so far. little slow but performance shops that I've dealt with in past always work at there own pace. Im new to 370s,so im learning . I can say there parts look first class but i've heard they don't make deadlines often . i can promise ill give my honest opinion when its done. i should have dyno #s this week and ill post asap

Shouldn't you have dyno numbers today, or are they as bad at email as they are with car parts?

were see. I haven't had any issues with them so far. little slow but performance shops that I've dealt with in past always work at there own pace. Im new to 370s,so im learning . I can say there parts look first class but i've heard they don't make deadlines often . i can promise ill give my honest opinion when its done. i should have dyno #s this week and ill post asap

:confused:

they ran in to some issues,as long as its this week ill be happy,they told me from the start it would be slow going . i wish it was moving faster but I've been dealing with shops for years I've never had a project done on time . I have talked to other shops that sell there products and the only complaint is there slow delivering the products . Were see how it goes.

:facepalm:

Sorry to hear! Its quite normal to have some issues after the FI build i think. Maybe some leaks etc. Did they tell you what the problem is?

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just a coolant leak, they said it difficult to get to . If thats my only problem ill be happy . i going e85 and fuel system and turbos bigger intercooler and 3 inch exhaust all the way back ,lots of things to go wrong ,so i am worried . car being in maryland and me being in west texas doesn't help. lol

At least you're getting specific updates and not just "we ran into an issue"

Amy news on your progress? :-)

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Alright just an update from my side - my smoke is solved too.

I contacted MA Motorsports and purchased their kit. Thanks @urban hermit for posting about it here. And also thanks to MA, they are the type of company we all want to deal with. Perfect in communication, quality products and just very helpful.

I didnt use the RB racing pump. They are an oldschool kind of company, and probably more geared towards the walk-in crowd. I live over 5.000 miles away and their communication just wasnt great. So i went to Turbowerx and ordered their TWX300 pump. Its very quiet (even quiter than the smaller RB pump i had). Just like MA motorsports their communication was also spot on.

Wired everything up. I used a relay and the fuel pump ON signal to also turn on the scavenger pump. 500 miles without smoke so far.

You have to fiddle a bit with the power steering lines if you use the factory ones like me. Also the wheel well cover thing doesnt fit perfectly anymore because of the pump. Its fine for now but next winter ill probably relocate it to a better location.

Hope this info helps other users with similar problemshttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6f94f0cd52.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b107db9795.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9d63734e21.jpg

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Thanks for your kudos ...
The TWX300 pump is quieter because it is a diaphragm type. Although they are quieter they don't have as much pumping power.
RB pumps are driven by helical gears and are 'industrial strength'
Glad to hear that it is working for you.
The MA-M kit recommended mounting place does interfere with the inner wheel well liner. They removed it on my build to better accommodate the oversize I/C and charge pipes. Looks pretty 'race car like' with the charge pipes showing out a little from the Stillen front fascia.
One last note - if you don't drive the car for a week or so you will get some initial smoke on start up because the oil does drip into the turbo.
I clears up and not to worry.

Experienced that little smoke tonight, it was gone soon after starting her up.

I think this can be solved by mounting a check valve in the system. So far i cant be bothered to do so though.

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Just curious but before you put the pump did you have a catch can or were you using the stock PCV setup while seeing smoke?

Vent to atmosphere

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clamp a 3/8 fuel rated hose to the pcv, drape it over the charge pipe (on each side) and down that little gap in the wheel well. zip tie to an anchor point and run it down to where you can lightly tie it off at the subframe. as for the CCV, its your choice. you can catch can it ( i havent caught anything from the CCV as of yet) or add a filter at the CCV and a filter at the intake PCV take off for extra intake capacity.

the pcv is not the problem at all..

im yet another with a pool of oil (mine being on the passenger side).

ive considered adding a drain plug to the charge pipe down near the IC...

others i know with the aam kit seem to sing the same song...

i might look into a scavenge pump. Its annoying that you spend a good amount of money for a lack-luster product