Originally Posted by kyle@stillen
(Post 3031725)
To start with, I left a voicemail for Weiboy specifically because we do not believe in "attacking" our customer's on a public forum. We do our best to work with our customer's directly and prefer to do it in private for many reasons. For the record, the reason we have stayed out of this conversation is because we do not like to go back and forth on forums. Typically on forums questions and factual information can be diluted by random postings, misinformation, or posts from those who have little to no information on the subject, and typically ends up with miscommunication we try to avoid by working directly with the customer, not to mention others pushing their own agenda even if it's for their own entertainment value of creating drama. We aren't hiding, we are right here and we have worked with Weiboy to resolve his issues. With that being said, Weiboy informed me he is not interested in discussing his situation any further and would prefer we just post here on the forum. So, this will be our explanation of the events that have unfolded from our point of view and why we have made the decisions we have. This post will be lengthy so I apologize in advance.
In regards to STILLEN standing behind their products, let me inform everyone what has gone on from our point of view:
The kit was originally installed by Beshoff Infiniti. When the kit was originally installed the technician who installed the kit took it for a test drive and reported severe issues. So, he performed some data logs and found that the factory VVEL system was malfunctioning. This had nothing to do with the installation of the supercharger and was actually caused by an internal seal in the VVEL system that had either come loose, come out, or failed altogether. Once this problem was identified the seal was repaired/replaced and the kit was re-installed.
After that there were some issues with the STILLEN supplied tune, we know this and it has obviously been a very public topic here and not something that we ever tried covering up. We tried sending Wieboy a couple of alternate tunes however they did not resolve all of the issues, they also did not resolve the issues for other customers experiencing the same things. So, we asked Weiboy to bring the car down to us so we could tune it here in house. After this the car ran fine however Weiboy informed us that the car had an inconsistent idle and occasionally died when coming to a stop sign.
We worked very closely with UpRev and found that there were some glitches in the factory ECU that were causing problems. After this was discovered we went back into the tuning process and developed R8. R8 has proven to be very reliable and is working great with customers. Including an active member on the370z who installed the kit on his Z and drove straight to SEMA, right after the installation, from Georgia and back again with no issues. Every customer that has received the R8 tune in the newly installed kit since R8 was completed has reported perfect results. Also, customers who were experiencing issues prior to R8 have reported that with R8 the car is running great and making good power (on average 400-420 RWHP.)
We sent Weiboy the new R8 tune and he was still experiencing some tip in detonation. So, I personally flew up to San Francisco to pick up his car and bring it back down to our shop. STILLEN covered the cost of the airfare, my trip up and his return trip back, as well as paid for a rental car for the week that we had Weiboys G37. While the car was here it was re-tuned and Weiboy came down the following weekend to pick it up and return home. For two weeks the car was fine. No detonation issues, no strange idles, nothing. Weiboy reported that the power was good, all was happy. The last time Weiboy and I spoke (a couple of weeks ago) he told me that his car stalled on the return trip to San Francisco however never again for two weeks. This was the first time that I had heard that. According to him he informed Josh of this however Josh has no recollection of this conversation. Is it possible Josh forgot? Of course. Is it possible Weiboy thought he told Josh but really didn't? sure, who knows. Josh and Weiboy exchanged daily text messages for MONTHS, I don't doubt that there could have been some lines crossed during that time. However, at the end of the day the car ran fine for two weeks with no issues aside from this one stall on the return trip to San Francisco.
This brings us to why we are asking to see the car back here at our facility. Bottom line is: Something must have changed. If the car ran fine for two weeks why did it all of a sudden start experiencing tip-in detonation? It did not have it when it left here, Weiboy said it didn't have it for two weeks, so what is causing it? The tune wouldn't have changed. So, it must be something mechanical. Well, this car did have a problem with a seal going sideways in the VVEL system that also caused detonation before the supercharger went in, could that be it? Perhaps, we just don't know. And we have no way of knowing without physically looking at the car.
As far as charging labor to fix something that isn't related to the supercharger, why is that unacceptable? We have covered the costs of rental cars, airfares, fuel charges, a weeks worth of working on the car while it was here with no hesitation, why would we suddenly have a problem with fixing something that is related to the supercharger? If it is something related to the kit then yes, we would fix it and move on. However, say for example it is this seal for the VVEL system, why should we be responsible for that? It has nothing to do with the kit.
With all of this being said, we understand that Weiboy has been very patient during this and it seems he is ready to move on. It's a shame as so many other customers are very happy with their kits however it his decision and we wish him the best of luck in the future and we look forward to seeing the results from the new owner of the STILLEN supercharger.
|
