ptholt

I've used RC for a while, and have found there main downside to be trying to get hold of them as they are busy (isn't that a good sign in a way??) but the plusses have far out weighed the odd communication issue for me.

I would also advise treading a little carefully before posting potentially libellous content regarding what may or may not have occured on certain cars, as i remember from a post here not so long ago from an upset evo owner that he admitted his car was ran without oil in following some problem or other, so there are always two sides to each story.

I have also met that same owner who was very vocal at the time on the net (understandbly) yet when i met him, Clive and Max at PE where he was dropping his car off all was very friendly, and the last i saw of him he was happy as a sand boy though unfortunately didnt post here telling people the outcome (though may have done on the mlr).

I'm not a huge fan of the trial by internet process that has occured on this and other bulletin boards over the years, from my 4 years of scoob ownership i've been to places people have advised against and had a great time, i've been to the so called 'experts' and had a complete nightmare, others have had the complete opposite.

My advice would be to try people till you find one you can trust and you can get on with

re the 430bhp car from memory of my conversations with Max and Clive its an early car running later parts but its on road performance was tempered by to much weight of ice installs etc.
when i call them next ill see if i can get a better idea of what its internals are if Gez hasnt done so beforehand seeing as both our cars are now sitting side by side at rc.


[Edited by ptholt - 12/5/2002 11:18:57 AM]

MrContro

Hi all,

Has anyone had any dealings with RC Developments ?

Where they good bad ?

I've heard mixed things with some people not impressed with the service, but I'm not sure if this was to do with delivery delays etc. rather than their technical ability.

Has anyone had their car mapped there ?

Any info would bve greatly appreciated

Cheers

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

It depends where you live, if its in the northwest and depending on what you want done i would use either Pro Sport in Stockport or DP? developements in Warrington.

Tony

Gez

Right, I must say that RC dont have the swiftest of part delivery systems but the pro is the prices at which they offer parts. The do have a lot of gear in stock but its mainly for the Evos which is what RC are known for. There technical knowledge and experience is second to none. Clive knows his scoobs very well along with Max who has some very good connections back in Japan. A lot of scooby boys slate them mainly because they usually deal with evos and also the brand of parts they use. Many scooby owners love british parts and gear designed by small motorsport companies. The fact is that Subaru is Japanese and in my mind HKS, JUN, APEXI, ARC and a load of other manufacturers will know the subary better thabn any other company in the planet mainly due to resources. I also know now for a fact that they have built a large number of scoobs with well known jap components to a very high spec. One of their projects has been a 430 BHP (approx) scoob which has been going for some time. It was built and mapped by RC with no dramas. They have like many garages had a bad bout when an evo had a few problems but i heard both sides of the story and i have to take RC's side.
I will let everyone on the board know how my project is going with RC every month.

Regards

Gez
Ps: It may sound like im promoting RC but im purely stating what i know about the company for the 2 years that i have known them. They are all a lovely bunch and very helpfull when you can get through to them especially Jenny and Lee who have HKS, GREDDY, APEXI etc catalogues for brains.
Re DP Motorsport, Clive use to work for them for a long time before he whent his own way.

]

[Edited by Gez - 12/3/2002 11:17:30 PM]

RRH

I've only heard good reports.
never used them myself though, so hope they don't mind positive hearsay!

simon

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Gez,
RC developements car has been out for some time (the guy who owns it lives round here) but its never been put on the rollers AFAIK so i would say (estimating that the car has had around 70k spent on it) that Harveys car would be a better example of how to get over 400bhp and without having to mess around too much (and cheaper to boot )

Tony

R19KET

Gez,

Any chance of posting the spec' of the 430bhp car.

Mark.

Ian236

I have dealt with RC Developments for my STi and found them very nice people to deal, they worked late to ensure my car was ready and didnt give any bull regarding what could be achieved with my car given the budget.

I would trust them with my car, and bearing in mind it was only 3 months old and brand new, again should I require any further work doing in the future and would not hesitate to recommend them with complete confidence.

I have been in business myself for over twenty five years and would consider myself a good judge of personal and business character.

I would wholeheartedly recommend them - and no I do not have connection with RC whatsoever.

Regards.


Ian

MrContro

Thanks Guys,

Could anyone post details of the mods they performed to your cars and have any of you had your cars on the rollers to determine power output.

Has anyone had any of the Apexi gear off them, have you had an Apexi Power FC mapped there ?

Cheers

Gez

Tony, i think the £70K you are stating (which is true no matter how unbelievable it sounds) includes all that interior work, ice, bodykit etc etc. I dont think he has spent £70k just on drivetrain, engine etc. He'd might as well have gone out and bought a new Porsche.
R19ket, the spec is huge, Jenny showed me the printout and it was about 1m long. Dont forget it is RC's demo car as well so there is bound to be loads of money spent.

Cheers

Gez

Gez

Tony, i think the £70K you are stating (which is true no matter how unbelievable it sounds) includes all that interior work, ice, bodykit etc etc. I dont think he has spent £70k just on drivetrain, engine etc. He'd might as well have gone out and bought a new Porsche.
R19ket, the spec is huge, Jenny showed me the printout and it was about 1m long. Dont forget it is RC's demo car as well so there is bound to be loads of money spent.

Cheers

Gez

hypoluxa

70k... is that cost or retail

UkLegacyT

i found rc developments to be a real pain in the ar*e, and kept getting fobbed off for weeks when i'd ordered the pistons. then the tried sending me a non-genuine cambelt, even though id payed for the genuine one. they blamed it on suppliers etc...so why didnt they sort it out instead of sending incorrect parts

basically, they bullsh*t you about [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

ian

p.s. i also know of a number of people that have had bad experience, lancer owners included...court cases etc.

i wont deal with them again.

achad

I had a SS DP fitted there. Charged me 3 hours labour!!! and didn't re fit the heat shield!

Having said that engine tech wise they do know there stuff (especially on the evo side of which they are quite opinionated about). Ive talked to Clive a couple times, about my scoob and my bro's evo. Jenny is also very nice. I would say there main prob is that they take too much on at any one time. In my experience and a couple others i know they have a tendency to get carried away on the 'time issue'.

Be strong mined about what you want (it really is Apexi, HKS everything there) and u can do much, much worse then RC.

Anthony

RICH WILD

Alanjack has had a lot of work done by RC and he has had rolling road results at 2 of my rolling road days (at differing states of tune) and he's coming to Well Lane 4 too to run.

I'll let him tell you his specs and figures, as even though they've been printed up before on her after the RR days I wouldn't want to put it here without his OK.

I'd love to see that spec on the 430bhp car too.

Cheers

Rich

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

Rich,

Is the 430bhp car not the one that you sent me a pic of.... i.e early car with HKS intercooler and later blue inlet manifold? Be interesting to know if RC fitted the inlet mods. I may have to call in and have a chat to the RC guys.

Tony.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Tony,
the car in question is a K reg WRX in silver with a large exhaust and rear spoiler (owned by Scott).
It has been on one of the northern meets if i remember right (6??)
and is a bit of a monster but the money that its had chucked at it i would say that CraigH probably did the same for cheaper (including car!) and that was before RC developements really got to grips with this bit of a beast

Tony

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

Yep... that's the one im thinking of. His car (or engine bay) is always pictured on RCs ads in various mags i think?

Tony.

P.s don't suppose anybody knows his e-mail address.... would like to know how he go on putting a later manifold on his early car.

Dyney

Guys,
This really should be in Dealer and Third party!!!!

LEGACYTURBS

I got a turbo timer ecu harness, ordered on monday came on tuesday.

The bird was on a friendly vibe.

Can't fault them.

Adam M

have dealt with jenny,

cant fault her for pricing and down right friendliness, she is a lovely girl.

would like to see a picture as she sounds quite sexy too (sorry clive).


Have no idea of their tuning ability, but having discussed my engine with clive in the past, he seemed to know his stuff, so I would have no reason to doubt his competance.

Have no idea of his mechanical ability though, so cant comment, but he has done a lot of differing makes of car, and seems to have built a decent reputation.

with regard to the 430bhp. Power may well be valid, but 370k sounds like bollocks to me. I have spent fortunes on my car, and done everything properly from beginning to end, and I am including gauges, and interior, ice, HIDS sat nav, and mechanical stuff, and have not spent anywhere near 70k, including the car itself.

would like to see a break down of that figure.

would also like to see a list of bits on the engine.


btw. 3 hrs labour ona downpipe is not unreasonable, some of them can be pigs depending on the state of the nuts!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Adam,
i believe the engine has been rebuilt more than once to achieve over 400bhp (but havnt seen it on the rollers so cant really say much, then again i dont think anyone has seen it on the rollers for that matter!)
It has also been off the road quite often as there is more developement going into it but 70k does include the car (93k wrx) and all the bits added to it (but 70k is roughly whats been spent on it by the owner!! )

Tony

LEGACYTURBS

Changed my mind now.

After a number of phone calls to them i was promised i would be called back, so i called again. Then as an answer to my question i was faxed the instructions for my turbo timer (already got them), so i called again. A chap called Lee answered the phone and told me i would have to speak to an somebody else, but didnt help with when.
FOOKING AR5EHOLE (like ive got nowt better to do than ring them up)

IF YOUR BUYING SOMETHING FROM THEM THEY ARE VERY HELPFUL, BUT IF YOU WANT SOME HELP/ADVICE AFTER YOUVE GOT YOUR GOODS, YOUR FOOKED.

Thats not how to deal with customers.

I will NOT deal with these monkeys again.

ptholt

hmm a tad unfair seeing as Lee has only worked there for about a month.......and as he is not there in any form of tuning/mechanical capacity to my knowledge (though he could be training) which would explain why he couldn't help if Clive wasn't in.

(which i can confirm Clive isn't in as i tried getting hold of him today myself)

can't really see what else they can do to help you if no one can answer the question you are asking and you aren't prepared to wait till the correct person comes back......


[Edited by ptholt - 12/13/2002 4:05:39 PM]

Airwolf

I have dealt with RC Developments on a number of occassions, only last week ordering a fair few grands worth of stuff which turned up next day. Everyone there knows what they are talking about, Jenny is an absolute star and one of the friendliest people I know, in fact Jen I'll be coming to check out that place of yours soon, so get the office sorted!

Lee has been there about 3-4 weeks and always tries to do his best, and is a nice guy. If he can't help me, he has got Jen to ring me back with whatever info I need time and time again!

There isn't much Clive doesn't know about Scoobies either, so if you want some work done I'd recommend them any day!

I think the kind of people who shout their mouths off without thinking, especially the kind that call people "FOOKING ARSEHOLE" need to give their heads a shake and think about the consequences!

Gez

G

Trout...

I have no experience of RC Developments - although I have been out on track with their 'big power cars' - which performed well but were some way behind other 'specialist' tuned cars of similar spec - although to be fair to RC this could be purely down to the drivers on the day - or the track not suiting the build they had put together.

The observation I wanted to make was regarding the post that the main Jap brands are the ones to use - e.g. HKS, JUN etc. I would comment that the real big boys who build serious power engines do not tend to use this stuff at all.

The genuine specilists will seek out that extra special bit of kit, and test it out and refine it to get it to work.

And amazingly - the latter approach will be considerably cheaper. Or you can buy in Rigoli spec engines made up, or source parts that Rigoli use from small specialists in Aus or the UK.

So for me a big list of brand names out front is not necessarily the only way forward. In the end you pays your money and takes your choice - I think this is potentially a more expensive way.

Trout

alanjack

.

[Edited by alanjack - 7/29/2003 6:58:02 PM]

Trout...

Alan,

well the question did originate on how to get big power tune-ups. I am just saying that there are other routes than to bolt-on a bunch of Jap equipment.

So two points....

Jap cars can be tuned purely with bolt-ons - big turbos, FCDs, fuel controllers, EBC/EVC, you name it. But the Japs don't tune the cars for the same reasons we do. The Jap market is primarily for Saturday night burnouts - stick in a load of high octane fuel and race on the Osaka highway at 3am. These cars might produce good figures - but they will only do a couple of thousand miles a year and only a few tens of miles on big power.

I am merely suggesting that the 'big brand' route is one way - and not one that suits the UK market. Certainly at rolling road days this approach has generally not produced the most powerful cars on the day - or in my own experience on the track.

The second point is - you would be very surprised how many people do want specialist rebuilds for cars in the UK. There may be far more than you think.

My point is that a number of people have had engines blow and have gone for rebuilds....and for the ludicrous prices they have been quoted they could have had seriously uprated units - either to be strong - or to tune to high levels......all at typically lower cost. Again you pays your money - you takes your choice!

Don't be blinded by brand names - any old Joe can fit an HKS turbo and FCD to get really good RR numbers - but for the same money you could get a much more driveable and quicker car overall.

Trout

wadsy

Trout,
having read what you had to say. Who would you reccomend to do performance tuning?

Thanks