Has anyone dealt with Vision Motorsports recently? I have been planning a performance engine rebuilt for awhile, and based on older posts here and as well as a guy in my PCA region who had an engine built by them a few years ago, was planning on going with that shop. When I called and spoke with Dwain in person he was just as advertised--very helpful and informative, giving me advice based on what I planned on using the car for. As requested, I sent an email with the summary of what was discussed and asking for a price. However, now that we're at the "give me a quote and let's get the ball rolling" stage, it's all radio silence, followed by me following up every other week, followed by "yeah, we'll get that over soon", followed by more silence, and me following up again in 2 weeks, rinse and repeat. I think this has been going on for 3 or 4 months now. Not sure what to make of all this--swamped with work? just not organized? don't want more business but don't want to just say it? If I were to have them do the rebuild, the last thing I want is to send them a pile of cash and then not hear anything for months on end. All I've ever heard and read about them has been very positive, but that's been awhile. Can anyone who has worked with them recently share their impressions/experience?
1000% know what you are talking about. I bought a 4.0L w/ 30 hours on it built by Dwain from another member (cmargosi.) Dwain stood behind the motor, helped me understand the oil analysis, install, future options, etc. Then in turn he offered to buy my core 3.4. This was a bit of a test as I ran into the same thing - "will get back to you," "
next
week," etc. I sent in the motor and had nothing but his word to pay me. In the end it took a while to get paid for the core, but true to his word Dwain followed through and paid me. When my motor reaches the end of its life I'm either buying another (from him) or having this one rebuilt (by him.)
Hopefully that helps.
Best,
Mark
I deal with Vision all of the time. I've also dealt with several other vendors on both coasts. None of them are as responsive as I would like! But the quality of the work and the integrity at Vision is well worth it. There are a number of factors causing the longer than normal response times. First off they are a big race shop and their established customers are serviced first. They are trying to add staff but finding quality people is tough. They have hired some highly qualified techs and a new office manager. Try giving Steve a call and bring him up to speed on what you want. Dwain is an expert engineer and fabricator and he's been working in the shop with the techs to help clear the backlog of work
Following up with my experience with Vision. I sent my car to them this summer for a 4.0 liter build. They stay busy, but the addition of new staff has made them more responsive to customers than when I wrote the original post. The car was done sooner than I had anticipated, and IIRC came in within $200 of their original estimate. I flew to CA to pick up the car and got to see the shop and meet some of the guys. Great group.
Drove the car with its newly rebuilt engine back home, just over 4,000 miles across the country (took the scenic route). No problems whatsoever, oil consumption was elevated during this run-in period, but within the range Vision had anticipated. Called them once or twice during the trip to ask something about the setup or
ECU
tune; they were very helpful. As an aside, if you haven't driven your
Porsche
across the country, consider doing it. Very enjoyable.
Once I was back home, I took the car out to the mountains and then later to the track. I'm 100% satisfied with what I got back from Vision. The additional power is welcome, but does not overwhelm the
Cayman
platform. I would say Vision delivered exactly what they promised, and would definitely go with them again.
I'm a Vision customer as well as I bought a 3.8
M96 engine
off of Dwaine to do an engine swap. Great people there and can't recommend them highly enough.
Glad things worked out for you in the end.
With razor thin unemployment rates in CA all of us business owners have been in a scramble to get enough qualified techs to handle the work schedule. Last spring I too was down on techs and was not taking on any new business until I got that sorted. Things have improved in the last few months and I and many others are feeling more confident about new business and meeting work schedules. I am a friend of Dwain but have never done business at Vision. He is a straight shooter and was wise to delay biting off more than he could chew while shorthanded.
Would be interested in hearing precisely what you had done to the car, what it feels like after, approximate cost?
Your numbers are very similar to mine. I got 320 HP to the rear wheels with my 3.8. I found that in order to get more power, I had to upgrade my injectors to
Cayman
injectors. I had the original
Boxster
3.2 injectors and they were reaching max capacity prior to reaching peak HP. My engine is a standard 3.6
M96 engine
that was resleeved and with Vision's custom ground crank. I don't think I got much else like you got with the track package.
Did you upgrade your intake to the
GT3 throttle body
and
IPD Plenum
plus add a high-flow air intake? I am putting in an EVOMS and am looking at getting the 83mm
GT3
TB. They guys at Vision said this could get another 10-20 HP.
I went with the
Soul
Performance
exhaust
and race
headers
. I had some custom-made
exhaust
that had the worst drone. The
Soul exhaust
and
headers
have almost negligible drone in the 2500 - 3000 rpm range.
Yes, I forgot about the
GT3 throttle body
,
IPD plenum
, and EVOMS intake because I had them prior to the rebuild. Regarding the injectors, Vision didn't think higher capacity ones were needed in my case. They said for the tune I have, the injectors don't go over 80% of their max capacity, and looking over the air/fuel ratio graph at the bottom dyno chart, I didn't see anywhere in the RPM range where it starts to get lean.
