Tuner's Lounge- What's the best tuner shop around?

[dhel]

Hi guys! a newbie here! I just came back from a vacation from the states and has seen there the growing world that is called the tuner scene. Have met some Filipino tuner's din as well. Actually, I was never into tuning car's before I left here, but seeing the so called tuner scene there made me want to be a "pinoy" tuner as well.

Japanese car brands and JDM tuner kings Nissan and Honda are in lime light in the west and so I heard- in Japan it's mostly Nissan. Nissan, for there very good track sports cars that can drift, and also because they simply have arguably the greatest Japanese supercar of all time the legendary GTR . Honda, for there highly tunable sport compacts, which is known back in the states to be the "starter car" of tuner wanabees, for base price of the civic is cheap high school can afford it (rival sentra esp. Se-Rs are also tuner fav compacts also). Ofcourse cars from Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Subaru are all next to follow.. What's hot in the tuner scene there is track, street racing, drifting and starting to become popular the time attack. On the other side drag racing is slowly becoming unpopular, has been criticized for a "nothing but straight line and short shift" motorsport.

Haay, medyo napadami story. Anyways, since Im back home can u guys help me find a good tuner shop locally. That can handle all sorts of cars not just Nissan or Honda. Because I've heard and also noticed, the tuner scene here is way far behind as compared to the west or Japan. Hope you guys can help me. Peace!

[niky]

Where to start? There are tons of places you can go... and it all depends on how nice or how ghetto you want your ride (in other words, how deep are your pockets?).

Speedlab Quezon Avenue (before Banaue, coming from EDSA) is a spot I frequent.

They have decent support for Ford/Mazdas (Protege/Lynx, Mazda3 and Focus) in terms of suspension and exhaust, but since parts for Ford/Mazdas are limited, they're relatively expensive. They also have exhaust and suspension stuff for the more common Evo/STi and Civic crowd, as well as parts for the B-series engines. They have their own dyno, too, and can do dyno-tuning in-house. They're an official Unichip distributor, and I've seen some decent gains with that (about 20-30 hp on turbo cars, through tuning alone). They also do corner-balancing (good for track) as well as other, more mundane stuff.

They can cobble together a custom turbokit for you with new parts and engine management, or, alternatively, fix you up with Nitrous Express. It's something I'm aching to do (turbo, not nitrous), as they're selling a "disco-potato" turbine brand-new for not very much, but a full install is beyond my means at the moment.

Biggest draw? Free wi-fi and a good bathroom with industrial-grade soap... both pretty hard to find in the city. :lol:

Autoplus, EDSA-Greenhills

One of the oldest, most prestigious. Huge stockpile of parts, gauges, AFCs, clutches, brakes, engine parts, mags, etcetera. All brand name, so they come at a price. They work on Miata cup cars and high-end horsepower installs. They have the oldest dyno in the country, a dynojet. Since bragging rights on the internet usually comes down to dynojet numbers (a lot of people pooh-pooh numbers from other dynos), here's where you come to gauge your ride.

As long as you're not shy. Seeing your car hooked up beside 700-1000 hp monsters is kind of ego-deflating... :lol: ...but then, a lot of people walk in just to see those 1000 hp monsters in the metal.

Autotechnika, Fort Bonifacio

These guys are a "dealership-alternative" service center (or whatever you call it). They do tune ups, engine cleaning (via machine), maintenance, chassis alignment (not sure if their machine is in, yet), etcetera. They also do dyno-tuning (via ECU re-flashing) and installs, but they're targetted more towards the high-end crowd, BMW and EVO guys. Their dyno is state-of-the-art, though, a 4-wheel dynapack. Dynapacks tend to be very accurate and repeatable, but they read higher than dynojets due to differences in testing regimens. Dyno-testing and tuning rates are the same as the other shops.

Biggest draw? Right across from the Shell station at the Fort... tons of places to eat while you're waiting.

Emperor Motorsports, a slot in that big lot beside Metrowalk in Ortigas

They pimp stuff. Expensive stuff. Lots of springs, shocks and exhausts for more common cars, as well as a bevy of accessories.

eRL MotorwerX, near P.Tuazon, opposite the Chocolate House

Do some high-end work and some low-end work, custom mandrel-bent exhausts, turbo-installs, and the like. They don't pimp their own stuff, but they have a stockpile of surplus parts. They do some high-end work on BMWs and EVOs, but they're pretty low-key.

DMF Motorsports, that old used-car lot at the corner of Katipunan and Boni Serrano

These guys don't offer shiny new stuff, but they're drifting fanatics. Can do custom engine installs into any rear-wheel drive chassis, as long as you're installing an SR20 :hysterical: , but seriously, if you want a serious drifting "beater", these guys can hook you up. Can do custom suspension and chassis modification, too.

Fusion Motorsports, E.Rodriguez (is it), near Banaue

These guys do custom installs of surplus engines. If you want to swap an SR20DET into a Sentra, here's where you go. I was supposed to go here to do my install, but I cheaped out. Argh. Go here, these guys know what they're doing. Sentra SE-Rs may be the "in" thing in the US, but out here, Sentra tuners are thin on the ground compared to Honda and Toyota installers (the Toyota 4AGE is ubiquitous out here, and people can get really cheap 145-170 hp engines into their Corollas, well... anywhere!)

Creative Speed: on the Alabang Zapote Road, near Casimiro Village

They have a dyno, too, but that's about all I know about them (someone contribute?). They can do dyno-tuning, too. I'm not sure about their preferred weapon, though.

Staging Lanes, Shell Station opposite Perpetual Help Hospital in Las Pinas, on the Alabang-Zapote road

They have their own garage and work on drag-racing Civics (fiberglass tube-frame Civics, at that...) in the back. They pimp some stuff out front, too.

ATI, machineshop, on the feeder road to Tagaytay coming from Santa Rosa

A machine shop that specializes in engine-work. They do rebuilds, balancing, port-n-polish, etcetera. What sets them apart is that they have a flow-bench to check their work.

Brodeth, near Rockwell (sorry, forgot exact street)

They do custom exhaust work for turbo and non-turbo applications... all TIG-welded... can do turbo-manifolds, if you need them.

Mufflerland, T.Morato, just after E.Rodriguez

Not a performance shop, per se. Does exhaust work. Mandrel bends, TIG-welds, etcetera. Not the most high-tech of shops, and not a speed-freak kind of place (I have no idea if they can do a proper turbo manifold), but the work is good quality and turn-over time is very quick. They sell local and imported mufflers and resonators of reasonably good quality. Only downside is they have no stock of 2.25" and 2.5" stainless pipes and bends... in-house pipe is 2.375" aluminized (which isn't bad for N/A mid-pipe applications. I buy my pipes from Speedlab when I'm there... but if anyone knows a cheaper place to get good quality pipe, I'm interested (sorry, Sids... ).

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There are tons of other stores I'm missing... some high-end, some low-end, some in-between. Lots of places that pimp cheaper suspension parts, do engine-work and installs and street-tuning. I haven't even mentioned the suspension places like Zee, Cruven or M7. You just have to know what you want and ask the right people to point you where to go.

[aizen]

agree ako sa lahat ng sinabi nya +1000 ako syo paps

[RED XIII]

For me it would be autoplus, speedlab and emperor. Since my bro niky already mentioned each location thanks for making my post a bit shorter, damn man may be your the tuner guide for our newbie dhel here!

Since u mentioned this Se-R popularity in U.S. I have this friend who has this b13 sentra who had nitro installed in Speedlab, basically they specialize mostly on the big 3 (Honda, Nissan, Toyota) and mazdas too, they can also supply you with many many branded parts if not available, they can order. They can also do a pretty good job on exhausts from Tanabe to taiwan brands.
Autoplus, whew gives me goosebumps everytime I see their work of art GTR V-spec w/ aroud 1000 horses, this are the guys to hook up if you have cars that can swallow around a minimum of 500 horses, just like bro niky said it hurts ego when u have this compact car around 150 hp (w/c is not bad ha here in Pinas) rubbing elbows w/ the big boys of autoplus lead by their GTR, EVO and Supra, but I think the supara was already sold.
Emperor, the shop's name is actually based from a Initial D cartoon team with the same name (and fonts too!). The shop also has it's group also led by pimped out Evos and Silvias. They carry all U.S and Japan tune brands from Nismo to Spoon, to AEM and Blitz. If you have an EVO or Silvia these are the guys to hook up.

Lastly, I too had a bit of the tuner scene experience in the states. And have you seen Ms. Leah Dizon a pinay import car model, she's really really hot!
Kamusta na pinoy tuners sa cali, Do you know Leo aka "pinoy jdm" have they finished there 3 240sx project? and mind you, back here at home it is quite diff. we have a long way to go pa. Dun pakalat kalat 2JZ engine and if your in the right side of town you'll see an RB25 or RB26, dito... he he ur lucky to find one, exemption sa autoplus ofcourse.

[niky]

RB's aren't that hard to find, actually, but you need to get lucky to get one in good condition... I've seen one or two RB25DETs and an RB26DETT at the engine shops in Evangelista.

Most popular for RWD here are the RB's and the SR20DE's and DET's, with some of the old-schoolers going for the tried and true 4AGE and their variants (the big Nissan sixes won't fit, and the 4AGE gives similar output to the SR20DE...)

But the tuning scene is mostly the common 4AGE or B16A swaps, or the occassionaly SR20DET and 4G63T swaps. It's often hard for the budding tuner to find the right suppliers here, or to find people who know certain engines well, but if you have a hankering for a particular motor or car, the car club forums (grupotoyota, protegetech, clubmitsu, nissanbayan, hcp (is it?), fordclubph (although our knowledge base is still small)) are a HUGE help.

[RED XIII]

RB's aren't that hard to find, actually, but you need to get lucky to get one in good condition... I've seen one or two RB25DETs and an RB26DETT at the engine shops in Evangelista.

Most popular for RWD here are the RB's and the SR20DE's and DET's, with some of the old-schoolers going for the tried and true 4AGE and their variants (the big Nissan sixes won't fit, and the 4AGE gives similar output to the SR20DE...)

But the tuning scene is mostly the common 4AGE or B16A swaps, or the occassionaly SR20DET and 4G63T swaps. It's often hard for the budding tuner to find the right suppliers here, or to find people who know certain engines well, but if you have a hankering for a particular motor or car, the car club forums (grupotoyota, protegetech, clubmitsu, nissanbayan, hcp (is it?), fordclubph (although our knowledge base is still small)) are a HUGE help.

Well I guess you're lucky, the last time I got there all I saw was an RB25.. the limited RB26 that you saw how much are they selling it?

[niky]

It was sold even before I saw it. Yup... guess I was lucky... :lol: ...the demand for these things is such that they're snapped up right away when people get wind of them.

[mazdamazda]

I'd give a shout out to SpeedyFix too though. They were the ones who chronicled a B18 transplant to an Civic HB a few years ago for Top Gear Philippines.

Btw, a "branch" of Emperor is located also in the same compound that SpeedyFix occupies.

[dhel]

Wow.. there's a lot thanks Niky! I heard a lot of guuud stuff about autoplus and speedlab.. the flaw about speedlab daw was their dyno, well in the states its just the same thing, diff. shops, diff. dyno reading. But the discrepancy is not that high though. Back there nga lang there are lots of street tuner sportscars that I don't see here, here I guess it's more of the compacts.. but that changed a bit when I visited the shop you guys mentioned that had this Godzilla named autoplus. Their R34 is wickedly sick! I felt kinda embarassed nga when I parked at their shop with my tito's super stock family car corolla. Me and my friends here were actually planning on our project cars. I was actually looking on acquiring the S14 Silvia of a relative, konti na lang papayag na. Pero a bit dissapointed coz I found out that all locally released S14 here are all matic! I heard Silvia tuners here usually converts it to manual pa (I'm hearing the cash register sound again).. And one more thing that disapointed me a little bit was the new sentra model here, very different from those in the west.

Shout out to my man REDXIII, pinoy tuners in cali are all good before I left, don't know the dude you mentioned though. I hear some of them are planning to compete their 240SX/ Silvia to drift and track.. But I certainly know hot Pinay models Ms. Leah Dizon and Ms. Melissa Reign!

I'd give a shout out to SpeedyFix too though. They were the ones who chronicled a B18 transplant to an Civic HB a few years ago for Top Gear Philippines.

Btw, a "branch" of Emperor is located also in the same compound that SpeedyFix occupies.

About this shop, I heard a not so good story about it... They install AFCs poorly, wiring not properly attached making the engine incoherent.

[niky]

Dyno differences are dyno differences.

Autotechnika's dynapack dyno really reads high compared to dynojets, but it's quite accurate if you compare dynapack to dynapack readings, they're remarkably consistent. I've read up on a possible conversion rate, by calculating inertial drag caused by the wheels and tires to bring the numbers closer to dynojet numbers, but unless you've got accurate scales and a wheel-balancer, these numbers aren't accurate, and they still don't model frictional losses from a dynojet's rollers.

The problem with Speedlab's dyno was calibration. Sid and Ferman sent their roller out a few months ago and they had the surface machined for better grip. Sid says they've also calibrated their dyno since they had the rollers machined, and they're now getting numbers that are close to dynojet numbers. I'll find out within the next few months whether this has been effective.

I did feel that my car over-dyno'd when it was there, but the numbers for vehicles with less torque were more or less consistent with dynojet norms. If it's more accurate now, all the better. ;)