as a long time associate of maxrev, I gotta say first and foremost Big Congrats to your win.

as for vishnu, well I've known shiv a while and he's a knowledgeable tuner. constant reliabilty issues plague his reputation though. an intercooler pipe here and there is completely normal. I was @ AT2 and his car proved extremely fast once the pipe was reattatched.

 

Sorry? Mod-to-mod, flash-to-what...? It doesn't matter. An Evo can be made faster than an S2000 for the right amount of money but it can't be made faster for longer. I think that's the gist of what people are saying. The irony S2K owners snicker about is that of Evo owners talking about their mega-boost and 400HP 3 laps before they pull off the front straight trailing a white cloud. This we find amusing; 400HP, 10 minutes at a time; at least I do

 

Well I own both and have tracked both. Here's my .02:

The Evo is a great car. Vishnu reliability for the street is good. But for the track a Vishnu car is a grenade waiting to go. It's one thing to ask a car to be reliable at full boost/redline for maybe 10-15 seconds....another thing completely to ask for a car to be at full boost/redline for 20 minutes or more for, say, 5 times in a day. Anyone who wants to do a price comparison of an S2000 vs. an Evo should factor in either the price of a heavy duty truck and a trailer so you can haul your Evo to and from the track OR the price of towing a broken Evo for 300 miles on a flatbed. Then add the cost of replacing an engine a couple times a year.

I go to the track as often as I can and I've yet to talk to anyone who runs a Vishnu tune. 80% of the guys are running Works--and I spoke with them extensively regarding the philosophy behind their flashes. Safety and reliability are their number one priority--the fact that 2 dealers in the bay area warranty a Works reflashed Evo says it all really. (In addition to me tracking my Evo with zero issues aside from chronic brake fade and profuse understeer.)

I was fortunate enough to be part of the Works Driver search last month at Thunderhill. I ran a 2:04 in their car during the warmup session. I was taking it easy, as it was, after all a warmup session. The car was incredible. Boost had been turned down to 19psi (vs. 25) so turbo lag on the larger turbo they had installed was a little frustrating, but the suspension was brilliant. (as it should be for $7K Ohlins set to Tarzan's specifications). The best time of the day was a 2:02. (I'm running the same times there w/my unprofessionally setup S2000). Unfortunately none of us had the opportunity to do the time attack because the steering pump went at the same time 4th gear did. They limp'd the car home after less than 2 hours of track time.

So if you're an average driver pulling average times, the Evo is the car you'll be happier and faster with. And reliability will probably be right there with the S2000. But if you're a fast driver, the limits of the Evo quickly become extremely frustrating and you'll have to tune the Evo to the limit of reliability (or spend a lot of money on brakes and suspension) to beat an equally fast driver in an S2000.

 

well put.

I don't bag on Vishnu for no reason =)

If I start seeing them win races, I 'will' change my mind but so far the image of Vishnu has been great dyno numbers but the cars keep breaking down. Having a GREAT car that runs 10 mins at a time says something about the Tuner but I wish him luck in figuring something out soon. AFterall...we're all enthusiasts that want the best stuff for our cars.

 

never see them at the track...?



we are always at the track, even that Mazdaspeed Protoge is Vishnu tuned. none of these cars have had any problems and are always at track days. not only that, they are always among the fastest in their sessions.

 

us too..

 

yah all tuned by one company i bet..

 

This is pretty much what I have seen and heard.

Along with more than a few disgruntled customers that I know personally who will remain anonymous.

Besides, in the bay area Mike at Gruppe S is a much more preferable tuning option for the Evo and Sti crowd.

 

Tuned by Honda.

 

^ We don't need a reflash, boost or high octane fuel either.