harj

Today I took the 22B to Option Motorsport for an oil change and a full check over, I have to say that all the tuning companies I have used and been too have never been anything like these lads. Option is owned and run by Japanese who have trained and qualified Japanese Technicians, the customer service there was outstanding and I was really treated as a guest not a customer which are 2 very different things.

These lads certainly know everything there is to know about Japanese cars especially Scoobies and Skylines, Im talking about the 1000BHP Skylines they build of which some examples were there. These boys are linked to the TOP SECRET crew in Japan so they must be really good, what I found out today was that most of what ive heard from tuners over here is totally different to what these boys recommend i.e. when modifying a car after after Exhaust and Air Flow, always go for a good Oil Cooler and Intercooler which will make the car ultra reliable where as most people just ECU mod the car to start with.

A normal Oil Change here included full diagnostics of the car i.e. Fuelling and Boost check with Air Flows, Exh Temp etc measurements taken. I have never seen a thorough check before only on a huge service which still doesn’t include the above checks, and time means nothing to these guys, the work is based on the job they need to do so they don't charge by the hour as most tuners do.

So if you want advice or some work carried out by people who have helped develop the Impreza and Skyline from day 1 talk to Option and speak to Somsak Nana who is the man in charge.

Harj.........

Mossman

Harj,

I have heard some good things about these chaps.

Any contact details pls!??

Cheers,

Mossman

Rob B

And is there any possibility of being furnished with contact details for Option, or are you going to play the tease and keep these nuggets of information to yourself? Got an STi IV coming up for its 45k service so am keen to find somewhere good.

Richard Simpson

Harj,

I used to see a few of the guys from Option around Oxford - mainly driving nissans, always looked serious looking cars!

The white Skyline GTR - I heard it puts out around 850BHP was especially beautiful. I heard that the head guy was once Japanese Touring car champ in a skyline.

Were they expensive?

Richard

NITO

I spoke to these guys when they first started up last year sometime. I spoke to Nana and like Harj said, they really know their stuff. They advertise regularly in Evo magazine and their phone no. is 01327 858 555

harj

Guys here are the details!

Somsak Nana Aka Boss
West End Farm
Silverstone
Towcester
Northants
NN12 8UY

01327 858555

They also have a couple of other sites in the UK including Oxford and somewhere else in London.

And yes Nana was a Touring Car Driver who was very successful, these lads will also have their own stand at the Autosport Show with their monster power cars ie Blitz Supra, HKS Skyline that done something like 230MPH etc etc.

We were talking today about new project car which could be a 600+ Impreza and a 1000BHP 200 sx.

Enjoy guys

Harj....

[This message has been edited by harj (edited 04 December 2000).]

Pete Croney

Harj

Can I ask what figures they got for the fuelling, boost, air flow and exhaust gas temp... and what they deduced from the information?

Being as Bob has mapped Richard's car, I'm sure the info was spot on, but did they say what they would have done if they didn't like the figures? Bearing in mind that none of these parameters are adjustable within the confines of the standard ECU, would they have recommended some of those fine Japanese bolt on "ECU improvement devices"?

Did they get the info in the workshop, or did they wire the car up and then rag it up the M4?

My post could be read as cynical, but I suspect they were just a tad interested in what Bob had done.

If my cynicism is unwarranted, please accept my appologies. Its just that I have two cars in that have some excellent Japanese ECU add on's, both with dead engines.

Although we have never tuned a Skyline to 1000bhp and we didn't design or develop the Impreza from day 1, I like to think that my team are also men... not boys.

Type R

Nana is a sound guy with expertise on all Jap cars, i have used him for all my trick bits on my Civic Type R. After speaking to many tuners about tuning imports, and heard a lot of BS, it was a pleasant surprise to speak to Nana for an hour on how to improve my car in different stages, not just power power power. He has a lot of contacts in Japan. Competive pricing too.

sound company

Type R

oh yer,and how many car tuning companies send you a personal Christmas Card. Good service lads

R19KET

Interesting, I called them to enquire about larger injectors, and they recommended their "bottom end" service. This entailed replacing ALL of the crank, and big end barings. This sounded like an expensive, but sensible option, for some peace of mind. UNTILL they told me this could be done WITHOUT removing the engine, hmmmmmm . Maybe the Japanese gentleman I spoke to was having a "bad" day........or maybe those Japanese REALLY are "clever little people"

So, whilst this didn't instill much confidence, it's good to hear that their other services are good.

Mark.

harj

Hi Pete,

The readings they took today were done on equipment in the workshop and on the road with reading equipment, according to Miya the engineer the readings were bang on and he said the car was very well balanced. Boost was pushing to 1.3 bar over and holding a nice 1.2bar, apologies as I can't translate the other readings but they were very good according to them.

The only comment Miya had was the car was mapped very safe to which he thought was exceptional for this car and good thinking, they had heard of the Link system and had nothing bad to say about it as they are only used to Japanese ECU's. In all honesty they had no interest in Bob's mapping as the Link is not a product they sell, the random checks they performed on the car were a normal check for any service.

Also Pete I am in no way insinuating Scoobysport is a (Boys outfit) this remark is aimed at some of the tuners that have told me so much Bull. If you have some fancy Jap Equip call them as they may be able to help you, as I say I have lost count of how many tuners I have spoken to which tell me nothing except say "cheque or cash".

Harj....

RonaldoH

Harj....they got a website/e-mail by chance?
R

rsquire

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>The only comment Miya had was the car was mapped very safe to which he thought was exceptional for this car and good thinking<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

See I'm not such a silly old git afterall

*edit* Oh yeah further confirmation of the excellent work done by Bob Rawle.

Richard
*takes small pat on the back and exits stage right *

[This message has been edited by rsquire (edited 04 December 2000).]

harj

Ron!

I did ask the Q today and was told there will be a new big one going up in the new year, oh and I forgot to mention that ive never met so many Racing drivers in 1 place at once. Various Drivers popping in and saying hi from team members of Jordan / TWR and some GT Teams that Nana knows very well.

Shaun

Richard,

These guys might be good, but.......when we going to MOUNTUNE

Shaun.

sunilp

Have you spelt the name of that company correctly Shauneeee?

Shaun

Unless they have changed it....YEAP!!!

rsquire

Shaun,

Nudge, Nudge, say no more...

Richard

Sith

These chaps had a feature in either Banzai or Japanese Performance. They have a big setup in Japan, and the boss over here is the son of the big boss over in Japan. If I rememer rightly.

P.

harj

Yes Sith it was Banzai with the 850BHP Skyline, what a car! Wonder if they could build an 800BHP Scooby LOL

pat

Harj,

thought it was Prodrive that built the 600BHP plus Imprezas. Pity that they don't sell them to the public :-( But then I would want my engine to last a bit longer.... but then who am I to talk about engine longevity! LOL

Cheers,

Pat.

Alberick

Good to hear that you have a Japanese tuner over there! Going often to Japan and visiting many car shops or tuners (Zero Sports, Car Station Marche etc) which are specialised in Lancer's and Imp's I can just confirm that the service and quality of their work and recommendation is miles away from Europe and all these "followers wanting to make money".
However, what's that comment I read there? Two dead engines with "excellent Japanese Bolt on ECU's"! Hmm, These cars are made in Japan so there surely isn't anything better than Japanese accessories! IF you wanna fit the "excellent" Japanese stuff you also need excellent people, not just some hobby mechanics who try to sell their overpriced stuff and calling themselves "the market leader in Impreza tuning"

Al

pat

Al,

If you wanna fit an aftermarket upgrade to a car, it makes sense to choose the most appropriate and have it fitted correctly. One would assume (hope?) that Option would know what to do...

As for two dead cars at Scoobysport, I've seen at least one (hey, maybe he means mine is the other one! but I use only British tuning goodies...) Cars with lots of Jap stuff that should have been really good, but for some reason (hmmm, wonder what that could be, PETROL?) the cars aren't working very well now :-( But then I have always thought that bolting things onto the outside of an ECU to "fix" problems with it is a Bad Idea(TM) and that a programmable replacement ECU is a Good Idea(TM), especially when set up by someone who knows what they're doing, like Bob Rawle :-)

It's a bit like making a light bulb brighter... would you buy a transformer to up the voltage to the bulb to make it glow brighter, or does it not make more sense just to buy a brighter lightbulb from the outset?

Cheers,

Pat.

harj

Pat good point cus the 2 cars that Pete has must have been tuned and set up in Japan thus Fuelling! Still its about time that someone over here sold the Jap ECU's that can actually set them up for the UK not Japan.

I know of 1 other Jap Tuner here that has an interesting reputation but past experience with them was a bit ........... so I won't continue.

Harj....

Pete Croney

Alberick

On the face of it, I would have to agree with your comment.

But... perhaps you could remind us of how many World Rally Teams are based in Japan

CraigH

or how many Japanese Circuit specialists are based in the uk?

Alberick

Hmm, don't see the relation between Japanese tuners being much better than here and how many World Rally Teams are based in Japan....? But, as long as you see a difference it's ok!
I just know that most World Rally champions are Japanese cars.
Other than that I'd prefer to relate to road cars, not Rally Cars.