[vinnydahitman]

I've recently purchased a 94 supra and need a good shop to get me up to speed. I am currently taking it to a good place but it is a lot farther than I want to drive for a tuner. Any and all recommendations would be welcome. I live near Centreville VA.

Thanks in advance

 

[vinnydahitman]

--- bump ---

no one in the Northern Virginia area with a recommendation?

 

[Chris Peterson]

vinnydahitman: I live in Chantilly right up the road from you and had my MKIV worked on at a couple different places around here for various things. I have taken it to Ultimate Performance/Mach V, EB3 Motorsports, the now-dead RedShift Performance, and have gone as far out to AR Fabrication in Winchester. AR Fab have been the only ones with any real Supra experience between them, and they are not close by any means. From chatting with people on here it seems that many people take their cars to MD for Supra-specific work (MSP, ISP, etc.).

I have also talked with Evolution Motorsports in Chantilly and DTM Motorsports in Dulles about doing some work on the car; the former didn't seem that interested and couldn't dyno tune the car themselves anyway, the latter I am in the process of setting up a meth kit installation and AEM tune with in the next couple weeks. DTM has an Eddy Current Dyno for tuning and one of the owners, Mike, has had at least one Supra in the past and seemed to know the ins-and-outs of the car when I talked to him. I know a couple members on here have recommended DTM as well, but I don't have any direct experience to relate to you as of yet. Maybe in a couple weeks I can provide more feedback on them.

Sorry I can't provide more help, but shops that have experience with the car in our general vicinity seem to be hit or miss. What are you trying to get done exactly? That may be helpful in figuring out the best shop(s) for your needs.
Chris

 

[downthecoee]

I'd recommend Evolution Autosport, they did some work to my friend Dann's 98 RR 6MT; and he was quite happy. They seem quite knowledgable to the supra platform.

 

[Ryan23]

I'm working at Brauning Motorsports in Colonial Beach, VA now. If you want to bring it by, let me know.

Take Care,

Ryan

 

[gogo]

I'm working at Brauning Motorsports in Colonial Beach, VA now. If you want to bring it by, let me know.

Take Care,

Ryan

^^ Heard only good things on Ryan's work.. PS, I'm in centreville with a red 98.. Hit me up...

Nat

 

[vinnydahitman]

Wow, more owners than I though that live in the area. I don't ever see any on the roads. I appreciate all of your ideas. The car I bought has some issues that are in the process of being fixed, those are all mostly things to be expected at 100k miles and 13 years. Short term performance I want to get an AEM AMS, alcohol injection and a tune. Suggesions /Approve / Disapprove?? The car currently has the single conversion to a SP61, HKS Intercooler, HKS Carbon Ti exhaust, MBC (17lbs) and I'm not too sure of the rest. It made 390/360 on AMS's dyno. The previous body kit was booty so I ripped it off and put some of the stock pieces back on but I need a professional to put on a new kit and then strip and repaint the entire car. (Suggestions for body work appreciated also)

I had taken it to Atlantic Motorsports (AMS) for a once over and to fix some of my issues. They did a decent job but took waaaaay tooooo long for my tastes, so I grabbed it back from them yesterday. Since my suspension and brakes were shot they put on DBA rotors, Hawk pads, H&R springs and Koni's.

I will contact some of the places you all mentioned and I would love to meet up with some of you to exchange some ideas and get to know some Supra owners. Thanks again!
Vince

 

[nine5]

there is a new shop in Manassas called P-tuning. Don't know if anyone visited it.

 

[Chris Peterson]

nine5: Thanks for reminding me, I meant to come back and post something about P-Tuning. They just moved to their new facility in Manassas, a zillion pics can be seen here. I spied a couple Supras in there. The facility looks nice, the real question is do they have any experience with the car? A good shop space and equipment is one thing, but guys with knowledge of the car itself are invaluable. That's why you see so many people recommending Ryan23.

vinnydahitman: I am doing some similar work to what you mentioned, I already have the AEM and am looking to go with an alcohol injection kit and get the corresponding AEM tune to go with it. I just scheduled the work to be done with DTM the other day, so I should be able to provide some feedback on them in the next few weeks. I personally don't know anything about AMS, but one of my friends who has an EVO recently took his car from there for some similar reasons. He just had DTM put in a new clutch and tune the car, so far he is very happy with everything.

Also, I had the same issue with an awful body kit when I got my car (VeilSide). I have since removed it and gone back to a stock body, albeit with an RMM Wing and Lip. I had most of the work done at D&V Autobody in Chantilly, feel free to give Kevin a call there if you have any questions, (703) 327-2903. They are good guys and will work with you on whatever you are trying to do. Good luck with everything.
Chris

 

[vinnydahitman]

Chris- I am actually having PTuning do my alignment and change out my rear hub bearings. I don't know how much they know about supra's so I'm a little hesitant to take it there for tuning/alc. inj. Maybe I'll let them do a mild tune without alcohol and go from there with them. I'll wait to hear from you on your experience with DTM for that decision. I called D&V and I'll be stopping by tonight or tomorrow for an estimate. Thanks again.

 

[chicks]

Chris,

Glad to hear the car is back to stock (body wise) with just the lip and wing, clean and aggressive. I'm actually giving some thought to going wingless, we'll see. If not it will be the RMM wing and lip for me as well.

Just an FYI, Evolution Motorsports is out of business. Steve didn't really have the necessary facilities to do much in the way of tuning vehicles and I guess the business just wasn't there to continue on.

Ryan23 might be the way to go for any type of tuning or engine work. He gets rave reviews from other members on the forums and even though he's not down the street he's still only a couple of hours away. The other option is AR Fab in Winchester. I've also heard good things about them.

I spoke with P-tuning. They can do the simple stuff, alignments, brakes, etc... but I would probably advise against any advanced work since it sounded as though they don't see Supra's often and they are relatively new to garage work.

I've been to AMS with the Supra and they have worked on Supra's before, although again their primary expertise is Evo's. They are good guys though.

I haven't had a chance to swing by DTM. Sounds as though you are on pace to have the Meth work done there. Keep me posted on how it turns out.

Court

 

[Chris Peterson]

vinnydahitman: Sounds about right for P-Tuning, they do appear to have some serious money put into that facility though. Much better location too considering their previous joint was right next to a Prince William County Police command center. Location location location! Kevin at D&V can help you with whatever you need, he put up with my indecisive-ass, so you should be no problem

Court: I am giving the winged thing a try again, something always seemed missing wingless even though I liked it. The RMM/TRD wing seems too heavy to me though, it looks great from behind the car, but other than that it is a little awkward IMO. You tell me. I may try the stock wing again for a bit.

Evolution is gone, eh? There is a revolving door of places around here it seems, a new place pops up, another goes away. Hard to keep up with it I had a long conversation with Mike at DTM on Saturday about doing the alcohol kit and tuning. Everything sounds good, then I go and read a thread like this where a guy may have lost his 3.4L motor due to meth problems, and particularly a post like this by Larry at SP, and you start wondering a bit. Mike also said he thought 30 PSI was fine with his alcohol kit and 93 pump gas, that sounded a bit much to me, but I am no expert. I'll let you know how things go, I am still going to do it most likely, just be a bit more careful with the boost and timing I run.
Chris

 

[vinnydahitman]

PTuning is getting my car tonight for the alignment, replace my oil pan, and replace the rear hub bearings. I don't think there is much to mess up there but I'll keep ya'll informed as to their competence. Dave will get the car tomorrow or Wed.

As for meth vs. alcohol, I'm a big fan of alcohol over meth. Alcohol is easier to get and from my limited understanding, if you run out you can run water until you get more, with meth you are kinda screwed and on the side of the road.

I might as well drop this question too while this thread is getting some attention, I'm sure at some point I'm going to have to replace the transmission. Right now its an AT from a JDM Aristo (sp?). When the time comes, are there some AT's that you would recommend over others? I would go to a 6spd but I don't really want to drop the cash to do such a conversion right now.

 

[chicks]

vinnydahitman: Sounds about right for P-Tuning, they do appear to have some serious money put into that facility though. Much better location too considering their previous joint was right next to a Prince William County Police command center. Location location location! Kevin at D&V can help you with whatever you need, he put up with my indecisive-ass, so you should be no problem

Court: I am giving the winged thing a try again, something always seemed missing wingless even though I liked it. The RMM/TRD wing seems too heavy to me though, it looks great from behind the car, but other than that it is a little awkward IMO. You tell me. I may try the stock wing again for a bit.

Evolution is gone, eh? There is a revolving door of places around here it seems, a new place pops up, another goes away. Hard to keep up with it I had a long conversation with Mike at DTM on Saturday about doing the alcohol kit and tuning. Everything sounds good, then I go and read a thread like this where a guy may have lost his 3.4L motor due to meth problems, and particularly a post like this by Larry at SP, and you start wondering a bit. Mike also said he thought 30 PSI was fine with his alcohol kit and 93 pump gas, that sounded a bit much to me, but I am no expert. I'll let you know how things go, I am still going to do it most likely, just be a bit more careful with the boost and timing I run.
Chris

Chris,

I like the RMM wing on your car. It's probably going to take some time getting used to going from wingless to the TRD style. The only other option, in my opinion, is the stocker which I have on the car now or go back to wingless. Some guys are moving to the AB Flug Type 1 wing, which is low and stubby. The Bomex wing always appealed to me as well.

You might want to PM Ryan23 on your meth situation. He might give you some friendly advice on your setup.

Court

 

[chicks]

PTuning is getting my car tonight for the alignment, replace my oil pan, and replace the rear hub bearings. I don't think there is much to mess up there but I'll keep ya'll informed as to their competence. Dave will get the car tomorrow or Wed.

As for meth vs. alcohol, I'm a big fan of alcohol over meth. Alcohol is easier to get and from my limited understanding, if you run out you can run water until you get more, with meth you are kinda screwed and on the side of the road.

I might as well drop this question too while this thread is getting some attention, I'm sure at some point I'm going to have to replace the transmission. Right now its an AT from a JDM Aristo (sp?). When the time comes, are there some AT's that you would recommend over others? I would go to a 6spd but I don't really want to drop the cash to do such a conversion right now.

vinnydahitman,

Check out the boost logic website. They have built auto's in the $2,500 range or you can move up to the TH400 conversion for a couple of grand more.

Court

 

[TRD4Life05]

I just had my supra tuned(NA-T with AEM EMS) at DTM motorsport in chantilly. Smart group of guys. Great place to go for a solid tune. They mainly do evos i think but Mike had a 98 tt supra for a while so Im sure they can handle a few things. I plan to return to DTM for some other small things.

Ive bought parts from P tuning when they were in their old location. A buddy of mine had his alignment done at their new place resently and was pleased with the new shop but im not sure about his satisfaction with the work performed.

I was sad to see Red shift go, and i hear FCCT is gone now too.

 

[Chris Peterson]

vinnydahitman: Good luck, let us know how P-Tuning works out for the simple stuff. I am probably mis-speaking when I say "meth kit", Mike at DTM in all my conversations has talked about running alcohol, not meth. My bad, just used to using them somewhat interchangeably. Boost Logic builds trannies, not sure who else does it these days short of a TH400. Having the search function back would help

Court: I think I will try the TRD wing for a while, then give the stock wing a chance again. I like the idea of a smaller deck wing, but all the ones I have seen don't do anything for me.

TRD4Life05: My old motor would be happier if RedShift had gone away sooner

 

[TRD4Life05]

Oh, whatd Red Shift do to your motor? I remember seeing a black TT supra in there once, but i never had them actually do any work on my car. I just bought parts there.

 

[vinnydahitman]

Well, PTuning has my car so I can't tell you about their service yet but there were just a couple of extra things that needed to be done so I asked them to give me a quote. They are going to change my lower oil pan and do the alignment, but I also need my rear hub bearings replaced. They wanted me to pay 500 plus to change them out! I was thinking more like 100-200, I thought that was a little absurd so I won't be having them do much more work. I talked to one of their techs and since they don't have much Supra experience they just go by what the book says for time to complete a project.

Bottom line, might be good for little stuff but prob not for anything more than alignment work.

--UPDATE--
I just got off the phone with Mike from DTM. Sounds like they are going to be a good option to add alcohol injection and tune. However, it's not a good time of year for anything else that might need to be done. IE rear hub bearings.

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Chris Peterson]

TRD4Life05: That was most likely my TT you saw at RedShift. They installed an HKS EVC 5 boost controller for me, however they connected the vacuum lines from the stepping motor to the wastegate in the reverse order. This caused an overboost to 34 PSI at ~4000 rpm on pump gas, resulting in this:

The tuner shared some blame in this as well as he did not set the AEM Boost Cut, which could have potentially saved the motor. One of the many reasons it would be nice to have local shops that have direct experience with the car

vinnydahitman: Thanks for the update on P-Tuning and DTM. Mike does seem to be busy, plus Supras are not his primary business obviously with so few of them around. I imagine he is a good option for the more advanced work such as you mentioned. For routine stuff I take the car to my neighbor's shop up in Sterling. I've had him do brakes, front end, and other general work that I didn't feel comfortable or have the equipment to do, so he is relatively familiar with the vehicle at this point. I can check with him tomorrow and see what rear hub bearings would run if it isn't too far from you (Route 28 and Route 606). I'll let you know.
Chris