I am local to ARE and they have built two of my motors. Both have done really well. I was also very involved in the design/spec of the build with them.

I am hoping for mid 10s@~128+ mph with my 385 in the spring with traction.

(Ran 11.0@126.62mph on a 1.65 sixty THROUGH CATS! at 3600 pounds)

They are changing locations, have changed management structure, brought in another partner (Pete) and also have a full time customer service guy now.

The new year should be interesting for those guys.

I hope everyone with outstanding issues gets them resolved.

They need to have ALL outstanding issues resolved and then demonstrate consistency in delivery and quality of product.

Both of my combo's have ran like champs. I burn ZERO oil, make great power and have raced the SNOT out of my car this year.

Please remember that ARE is no longer a sponsor here so in fairness to our paying sponsors please do not post contact information or current pricing.

 

I got a 422 from them in my car, it runs great, 10.7:1 compression 242/242-112 cam, car makes 515 rwhp SAE and 500 RWTQ through a very heavy drivetrain, I have no build sheet, I might call them to see if they have it...... as I want to put a bigger cam in there!

 

Any American sending a nickel to those guys is insane.You are in a impossible situation legally when they keep your money.Remember it's another country guys.We have plenty of American companies in good standing that will deliver what you pay for.And if they don't you can "handle" things the old fashioned way a lot easier without a papertrail border crossing.

From 2-02 to 8-03 sent ARE $38,000 for two different combo's

Lied to more times than I can count by Wade until 3-04 when Nick fires Wade

Buy $6,000 worth of parts because Nick say my money is gone.I have a balance on my bill so I say F it,lets get it done.

The lies continue during the Summer,Nick is just a smoother talker than Wade.

9-04 tell Nick screw it,please deliver my car and parts to Wheel To Wheel in Detroit.They do actually do this as scheduled.Really suprising the only thing they did on time the entire time I was ******* with them was get my car out of their shop.

Inventory parts and realize half of my new fogger kit and the bottle are missing.Motorplate was welded in backwards,they melted my car's interior and rear fascia while learning how to stick weld.Basically everything they did had to come back off the car.

I almost forgot,they also sold my running 600 hp 370 ci blower motor with D1-SC as part of our deal and I never saw a nickel.

The long and the short of it it is I spent 44 k on my car and was down for 2 years.What I got in return was most of the parts I had purchased this Spring,a set of C5R heads,a POS intake that required much work to get right a Lunati crank and a suspect TH400.Doesn't seem like a very good deal does it.And to think last Christmas Wade was telling me they we're going to sponsor my car in 04.Just another one of the bullshit lies to buy him some time.

W2W fixed all the shitty work,built a new engine in 7 weeks and we had the car at the Southern shootout where it went 9.12@149.5 on a shakedown pass.2 yrs of this with with ARE and in 7 weeks it's running bottom 9's after being dropped off in a pieces.Thanks again Kurt

Nick,Wade the three of us are lucky that my family and freedom mean more to me than the 20k I feel that is owed to me.Can't wait to see you guys in the States sometime though.


Dave

 

Damn, Roofer, I thought I had it bad. And to think they are a sponsor at ls2.com.

 

Has things changed over the past months? Like I said above, I just bought the ARE Stage 3 heads, and I going in the wrong direction!?!?

 

Well, they obviously still owe people a small fortune. I would have nothing to do with them. What they do is take your money and, instead of putting it toward your purchase, they use it for debts they owe. Then give you excuse after excuse as to why you do not yet have what you paid for. I have lived that nightmare. Get your money back.

 

Chris, you're they're #1 posterboy. Of course your stuff is going to be quality

 

and the fact that he lives right by them...

 

They still owe my buddy $1,000, small change compared to some but he never got anything at all for it.

I don't tthink you can compare my setup to others...I got a deal on most of my stuff, a real good deal. It ran and ran well. There were some problems, mostly oil related but that was before everyone had the PCV problems figuired out.

However, the workmanship SUCKED....The car ran, and again, ran pretty well, and I put a ton of miles on it but I'm amazed once I got into it drove down the road straight.

Everything from shimming the shocks in the rear to offset bolts that were too long to picking up the car, after they had it ALL winter and find it belching smoke and backfiring because they put in plugs gapped at .060 in a turbo motor.

Things just seem to have gone downhill from there.

I went there since the start....first it was all Randy's fault, and believe me, Randy was quite the jackass, then they brought in Wade, then Nick left, then Nick came back, and all along the tune remained the same, some cars ran well, most did not, and no one knew where the money went.

I added my what all paid, for my twin turbo kit, full built motor, fuel system, 12 bolt, exhaust, suspension, brakes, you name it, all of the little upgrades you need to make 600+ hp reliably and I'd take a guess it was around 18K, labor and all.

I know some people who paid that for a motor alone...so I kind of took the issues in stride, it was so-so workmanship and I probably spend another 2,500 to fix their mistakes but for what I got out of it I don't think I spent a ton of money.

There seem to be alot of other shops much more suited to get the job done now, stick with what other people know.

 

How long has all this taken place? Recently?

 

I think it does help that I am local and know these motors and f-bods very well. (I am a 1 hour drive away)

That being said they are really trying to turn things around. They do have some really skilled guys there and a lot of their cars ET/mph very well.

They need to get their project management and customer service in order and take care of outstanding problems with customers.

With Cam on board handling the CS/Internet sales side hopefully there is an immediate long term change for the better.

 

I don't see why anyone would even consider dealing with them now

As for you guy's that are out the $$,I would get together and make a visit up there and get your $$ worth out of torturing them.. As I work in a shop, screwing people like that is never an option.How hard is it to supply what your selling to customers and get it to them in a reasonable time?Pisses me off just thinking about it

 

Great, now what the hell am I going to do

 

I think theyre reputation has been in the dump far too long and screwed too many people for way too much to even think about recovering. Its best to just fold up.

 

Frosty u need to get real,there thiefs plain and simple.
They lied,cheated and stole hard earn money,parts,etc from many clients and should pay ythe price for this stuff.I hope all of u get your stuff,money back and God Bless.

Its sad,We now have JPR,ARE,AS as the BS Ex Sponsors of LS1Tech.

 

You dont need to tell me about people that have had problems there, I have seen and talked with folks with issues. Some of them are good friends of mine.

I had my own issues with delays etc.

If you read my post carefully I said I hope they take care of all the people owed money and can turn around their issues.

I hope the same for any shop that has problems.

It's going to take a major change there to make any difference at all.

Dave,
If Cam went into things aggressively for big changes then good for him. I think it's necessary.

Implementing change is brutal sometimes, especially if you are trying to change entrenched problems and long standing issues.

I was involved with a company that fired it's entire middle management level (13 guys) and hired all new folks. They did this to get rid of systemic problems with culture and sloppy habits. It's part of doing business. That company upped its revenue by ~3million dollars just by that one change.

My main concern is people getting what they are owed and issues resolved.

 

Exactly right. Sad state of affairs when at one time years ago they were the premier LS1 engine builder featured countless times in GMHTP and the book Chevy LS1/LS6 Performance. Now their reputation is firmly in the toilet.

Their failure along with other "reputable" tuners (now ex sponsors) make me look twice at the selection list to the right here. MTI, SDPC are some of the few I would trust here.

 

I really hope that they turn things around. I've have mixed results with my dealings with them.

 

They did my 5.3l heads with no spec sheet or flow numbers. Was supposed to be 11-1, but they milled the **** out of them and they turned out to be 56cc. More like 11.8-1 one and the constant fight with detontion killed a piston and cost me the whole motor. Funny thing is the heads are the only thing I salvaged for my new motor after richard from west coast fixed me up. Those idiots never even did a valve job on a set of 2600 dollar heads. I say screw them. That was back in 2001 when nick and barry were running things.

 

There a very good reason why ARE isn't a sponsor here at LS1tech anymore. That should speak for itself after what the other members have posted. In case you still in doubt, check out the ARE related thread in the sponsor section.