Newsletter No 59
12 January 2009
As 2009 rumbles to life, I am trying to work out what it holds for us.
2008 was a good year for me, with plenty of work and quite a few customers giving me feedback.
Normally I make some changes to my business structure during my short holiday at this time of the year.
Discontinuing services or product ranges and starting of new ones.
I have managed to sell a few of the engines I had built some time ago.
My V8 parts still need to go as a job-lot though.
Since 2008 worked great for me, I am loath to change anything.
Therefore my question to you is, what would you like to see us sell or what services would you like Nick’s Racing to offer ?
Or what products/services do you see as having a negative impact on Nick’s Racing reputation.
Did you know that we also carry some optical devices:
A deal, just over 2000 Rand, an AstroScope
We have done quite a bit of travelling with our Land Cruiser 4.5 EFi over Christmas. Thereby updating that page.
As in most other years I have decided to take a week of leave toward the end of January, beginning Feb, going to the coast with Urda.
Please keep his in mind when planning your bookings.
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In Newsletter 53 I commented on re-tuning of vehicles.
In August 2006 we got some state of the art test-equipment and therefore we should be able to improve most cars done before that.
If you think your cars performance has gone down or your fuel consumption has increased since we last tuned it, check your fuel pump (it is amazing how many fuel pumps are failing & the owners refuse to acknowledge that fact). It could also be that the air mass sensor is failing. We can re-tune around that but it still will not cure the failing component.
A re-tune normally costs between 550 to 1000 N$ depending on how far out your car is.
If your car does not run a air mass sensor but something like a Manifold air pressure sensor then you must have your car re-tuned after any significant modification that has changed the vehicles power (including a performance exhaust- even if that made you loose power).
In this case I cannot really offer you that money back-if not satisfied guarantee. Simply because setting the car up on the Dyno & checking it’s state of tune takes so much time that I have to charge you whether I have significantly changed the state of tune or not.
But rest assured, all the cars we have re-tuned in the past few months have made a difference.
In
my next newsletter I will discuss tuning in more detail, what it is and what it
is not.
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The Unichip factory has done extensive testing and improvements on the version Q Unichip with the focus on reliability. They have seen over the years that most of the failures they had were on units that are mounted in the engine bay. The manual recommends that one does not mount them there! If you continuously make something hot and cold it will eventually fail.
We have always taken great care to mount the Unichip inside the
passenger compartment or even in the wiper cowl. If we mount them in the wiper
cowl, we make sure they are protected from moisture with a watertight cover.
* * * *
I know I have mentioned this before, but it would be nice if us African’s would learn to compliment when it is due.
People are quick to complain, but seldom heap praise on the person responsible. Don’t believe me? ask any Restaurant owner!
So when I get a letter like the one below I am even keener to help this customer:
Don’t know if you still remember me but I gave in my
car a few months ago at your place to have a K&N filter,Branches,Powerflow,tailpiece and chip installed. A greenish Opel corsa 1.4? (picture attached)
I remember you were able to finish it before the drags that was going to take place in Okahandja?
I was at Nedbank but now I have got my own business
here in Okahandja.
Anyway getting to the point.
Ever since I collected the car from your garage, I
must say that up to now I still have had no problem with my car. Once again I
would like to thank you for the excellent quality of service you assisted me
with.
I would like to get some feedback on what you will
charge to put on a K&N Filter and branches for one of my friend’s
1.4 Opel Corsa “bakkie”
as he has been very impressed with the work you have done on my vehicle.
Apart from that I would like to know what you would
charge me to have the following done to my corsa…
->Gasflow the head,
->Put in a street cam which
should be as high as I should go if I am not mistaken,
->And to have performance brakes put on. And which
type of brand you use?
Once again thank you for the excellent service you have
delivered so far.
On a recent visit to
What do you think happened here ?
Recently a handbrake cable sleeve melted on a Polo whilst Dyno tuning.
The reason was simple, because the aftermarket exhaust that a fitment centre had built on this car did not incorporate heat shielding. Ours does !
We cannot check all these things for you, as we assume that your car is stock or if modified then done so with the OEM manufacturers mindset.
Sometimes a Speedo cable breaks, as the stresses of Dynotuning are simply that last proverbial straw.
I am prepared to take responsibility for my actions, but not over wear & tear or others lack of thinking.
Over Christmas I usually ask people to
phone me on my cell, for as long as I am in
This requires that the client leaves a message detailing what their issue is. This enables me to do research on the issue and then come back with a proper answer.
Strangely enough people will rather call me 5 times in succession instead of leaving a message ???
Or they leave a message “Call Pete at ….” This helps nobody !
And finally why do people have to ask me “is jy toe” if the gate & workshop is locked ?
And may tomorrow be a better day for you.
the content of this e-mail does not in any way whatsoever depict/represent the sender in any way, neither does he/she take any responsibility for the credibility or effects/consequences due to or because of any images/data/information displayed in mentioned e-mail.... blah blah blah..... you get it.