Any "performance" shops in Northwest suburbs?

[gsxtreme1987]

Does anyone know any good shops around the chicago northwest suburbs area? (bloomingdale, carol stream, roselle, etc)

My car is making this noise.. and a lot of people have to told me its rod bearing but i wanna have a real shop look at it and maybe if its really bad i'll get a 6bolt swap done from em....

I was gonna take the car to AMS but was just wondering if there were any other shops around here..

lemme know thanx

 

[weith1111]

I know this post is from awhile ago, but there is Sound Performance at Gary and Army Trail, they know a decent amount about DSMs. I could give you a hand too if you'd like, although I'm no shop or anything.

 

[1993TalonTsiAWD]

Don't go to Sound Performance. My friend went there and had a very bad experience.They replaced the wrong parts, and took out all of his spark plugs and replaced them without asking at 15bucks a piece. He drives a 300zx..needless to say I talked him into going to AMS. Drive the extra time to go to a shop that knows them inside and out. They figured out my problem that 98% of the other shops would have gave up on. Even though it was a very pricey problem(new short block) I'm glad there doing the work. They also actually call and talk with you as there doing this or that too the car. The only thing I wished they did was give me a free dyno after spending 6,000plus and more in the future.

Derek

rules

 

[1993TalonTsiAWD]

Also if you give us more info we may be able to help you, but do it in the right part of dsm tuners.


Derek

 

[zerotta]

I'd recommend AMS. They rebuilt a transmisison and went above and beyond to find the trans to rebuild since mine couldn't be salvaged. They also did my injectors and S-AFCII.

I had work done at Sound Performance too and I just felt like I was bothering them with a DSM based on their attitudes. They didn't really seem too friendly and blew off a lot of questions I had. And, they didn't really fix the problem I brought it there for... The guy working on my car would take random days off and nobody else there had any idea what was going on with it. Now if I had a Supra or NA-T SC300/IS300/GS300, SP would be the first and only place I'd take it.

Hahn Racecraft sold me a Thermal cat-back with a 3" "hi-flow" cat and 3" Eliminator dp that was as quiet as stock and got me no performance gains. All they could do for me was tell me to upgrade to a Super 20G. I suspected it was their cat wasn't so "hi-flowing" but they would have none of that... Never figured it out.

 

[granny_slow2g]

DEVO TUNING out of Barrington does really good work. They did the swap in my 2g ----> devotuning.com

 

[weith1111]

1993TalonTsiAWD, I agree with you completely, but recall that you had said something similar about SP, who I have had nothing but positive experiences with. AMS employees work all over the place, you may be suprised to see them, even at SP....

The bottom line is, no shop would be in business if all they did was put bad motors together and rip people off. Mistakes are made, faulty parts installed, problems that someone just can't figure out as easy as someone else exist.

Don't bash shops. No one tells the whole story, about how they forgot to tell the mechanic about this, or half ass fixed something themselves, then brought it in and blamed all the pain in the ass, extra work and parts on the shop.

To rehash the thread results so far:

AMS-Arlington Hts-pretty expensive-price justified for knowledge/expertise with DSMs, Evos, and many others.

Sound Performance-Bloomingdale-primarily just do Supras-know a decent bit about DSMs, and still do wicked sound system installs I believe

DevoTuning-Barrington-just getting started (2003)-DSMs and Evos, positive experiences from folks going there

Hahn Racecraft-Yorkville-mainly known for turbo kits for NA cars, DSMs/Neons

Feel free to cut, paste and add shops or info to what I have written. I have involvement with everyone but Devo, and all 3 have pissed me off at one time or another, and made me happy and glad I didn't just drive the damn thing into a brick wall. That's the name of the game.

I know there are a couple more places around here...

 

[1993TalonTsiAWD]

I'll tell you what. I'm going to go and check out devo prices on downpipes, and a few other things. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna buy one from AMS. but it seems they raised the price on them. So I will check out DEVO tuning. I'll be sure and report how I liked there way of doing business.



Derek

 

[weith1111]

Good deal, I'm anxious to hear what you have to say. AMS has raised a lot of prices, plus I'm up in the Palatine area often enough, I wouldn't mind taking a trip to Barrington...convince them to get an AWD dyno and I'll gaurantee them $2500 of business a year!

 

[ISUJakey]

When it comes to actual engine work, you can't go wrong with Engintecs: http://www.engintecs.com/

Mitch Rusu is also a wiseman on here(Suprata).

 

[1993TalonTsiAWD]

When it comes to actual engine work, you can't go wrong with Engintecs: http://www.engintecs.com/

Mitch Rusu is also a wiseman on here(Suprata).

Thats who did my head. He is very good. I also was living in iowa at the time.

Thanks Derek

 

[kraka]

I personally have only taken my car to AMS once, and haven't really seen the other shops you mentioned, but if I ever have to check out a different car to buy and want a good mechanic to see it before I hand over cash, they would be the one's I'd choose... I brought my Talon there since it is leaking oil and has a ton of probs, and after only a few minutes on a lift they were able to tell me everything wrong...Unfortunately, it was a little too much information than I wanted to hear since now I know all of the problems, but I swear they are the real deal with DSM's they know everything about them inside and out....My only problem with them is that they are definitely too expensive to go there often...A 30 minute check w/ a boost leak test and just getting it on the lift cost me $95, but I gladly handed over the cash...I always have recommended AMS ever since, and probably will always take my cars there...Just not buy aftermarket parts from them, the prices are outrageous!!

 

[loweperf]

You may also want to check in at Area One Motorsports. They're in Franklin Park. They have built and tuned some high horsepower stuff and they have a dyno.

 

[adidas_coin]

AMS all the way, Usually if you don't have a Supra SP will treat you like shit.

 

[this_tsi_8urV8]

Ok, Does ANYONE have Devo Tunings telephone number???? I would take it to AMS, but they want $700 for labor and right now I have just spent $300-400 on just parts, and about a month ago I spent $800 and 2 months ago I spent $700 . So as you can see I dont have much money to work w/here. I wanted a shop that knows DSM's and dont charge as much as AMS.

 

[steve]

Ok, Does ANYONE have Devo Tunings telephone number?

http://www.devotuning.com/

Steve

 

[this_tsi_8urV8]

Alright, thanks. Took it to devo.

 

[Slow99x]

Devo Tuning is a great place to get your labor done. Adam is a great mechanic but his bussiness skills are still lacking. I think he will eventualy get it right though. My advice to anyone that wants to bring their car to Devo is have all your parts ready when you bring in your car. It will cut down on your turn around time or call Adam ahead of time to see if he has that part in stock, which in most cases he does not. DO NOT let him talk you into putting a Quarter Master twin disk clutch in your car if you still want to drive it on the street. Adam is notorious for this. This clutch has a major amount of chatter and you will hate it. I drove an Evo that that had this clutch and trust me you don't want it unless your car is track only and never sees the street. Anyway, just do all the parts prep work before you drop you car off and you will be very happy.

 

[this_tsi_8urV8]

Well, I took my car there car works pretty good. In my opinion Devo is not as good as AMS. They are faaar cheaper though. The work they did on my car was ok at best, just the little minor details (i.e. all the hoses were configured differently even though it took me a long time to buy hoses and make it like in the diagrams, ebc was disconnected, and the valve cover oil leak was not fixed, just put in longer bolts). It also came out like $200 dollars more than what he initially told me, but it may have been the way I asked the question. I need more work done, and most likely will take it to AMS, even though they are going to rip a new ass for me.