djtodd

DJTODD’s (long, LONG overdue) review.

Hey guys, this has been a long time coming and I’ve already put info out in bits and pieces, but here is my consolidated review. I originally intended to get a few thousand miles on before I posted this, but I let real life get in the way.
My apologies if it’s a bit long winded. I didn’t want to half-*** it, as it’s meant to assist people in making a very expensive decision.

I guess let’s start with the end result:



In case the pic is hard to read, that’s 658.59whp and 588.7 lb/ft at 13.4psi and 21 degrees of timing.

If you don’t want to read the whole long review…here’s a quick and dirty summary:
With that said, I’ll explain how we got here, and touch on some of the important things I think those debating a purchase should consider.

I’ll try to touch on the things I would want to know about if I were in the market today. Mainly:

• Pre-sales experience
• Installation
• Quality of the kit
• Post-sales
• Communication
• Hindsight. What would I do different?
• Overall Thoughts

Background:
This entire process started for me about a month after I purchased the car, in July 2012. I called to order a CBE and HFCs. My experience was the same as most others where the exhaust goes…felt like a long wait for an exceptional product. The wrinkle came when I called shortly after receiving my initial order. I asked Tony some fitment questions about a TT kit I was considering. He answered my question, then he mentioned something to the effect of “you know, we’re working on a TT kit…” Well it all went downhill from there. After talking to him for about an hour, I was sold. I literally tried to give him a deposit right then, but he was adamant that they wouldn’t take anyone’s money until the kit was ready.

My reasons for being committed so quickly were more based on many of the small details in the design. They really drove home the fact that this isn’t something they were just throwing together to make a quick buck. They wanted to make hands down, the best TT kit for this platform.

Pre-sales
Over the next 6 months or so Tony and I spoke and emailed back and forth…a lot. He kept me up to speed on the saga and heartache of bringing a product like this to market, and I tried to not lean on him too much. During this time we also firmed up exactly what components I would be going with. My initial goals were rather conservative. 500whp on the stock block. Anything more than that would be gravy.

As painful as it may have felt at the time, the waiting period actually worked out well for me as it gave me the time to do all of the supporting mods. I already had the suspension and brakes sorted fairly well, but being able to do all the other upgrades PRIOR to the TT install really made the end result that much sweeter. I didn’t have to worry about messing with any of them after the TT install.

• January 2013 – FI releases the kit for everyone to see.
• March 2013 – Tony finally lets me give him my deposit. I run around cackling, then settle in for the long wait between prototype & production.

All that being said, the main positive during this period was that I was kept in the loop about what was going on. This is one area where most companies (and individuals) in this space really fall down. During this time we spoke or emailed at least once a week. I can’t overstate how much peace of mind this level of communication gave me during the waiting period.

Fast forward to February 2014. I get the call I’ve been waiting for, we’re ready. I pay my remaining balance and call the transport company (more on the in the next section)

Install
So, at the beginning my plan was to have the kit installed at a pseudo-local shop (~3 hours from home). Tony was going to fly out and oversee the first install. Well, the closer we got, the more difficult that reality became. The main problem was the fuel system. They had already done a production install or two and got a feeling for the headroom in the returnless fuel system. Since I was going straight e85 (damn you flex-fuel cars btw!) we made the call to go ahead and do a return conversion, step up to a larger pump, delete the in-tank regulator, and upgrade to CJM rails, and a few other odds and ends necessary for my long term goals. I also went with the Bosch 1000cc injectors.

Anyway, net-net, since they were doing this fuel system one-off (it eventually became the fast-785) Tony really didn’t feel comfortable prototyping things in someone else’s shop. So, when the time came, I had the car shipped out to Simi Valley. Tony’s best guess on start-to-finish time was 4-6 weeks, which was about what I had in mind as well. I had full confidence in the FI guys, especially after talking with Dan and deducing that he was as OCD as I am about attention to detail.

I loaded the car onto the transport on February 10th. This would have it there about a week earlier than Tony needed it, but I figured having there early was better than late. It took a little over a week to arrive.

The day after it arrived, Tony sent me some pics of it freshly washed, covered, and tucked away in its bay. The next few weeks were tough for me, but work and kids kept me busy so I didn’t go too crazy. The good news was that they were happy with the new fuel system, and fired the car on 3/18. That’s just under a month after they received it.
The next day brought the second reason I was excited to ship the car to CA. Seb@SZ! They took the car to Seb on 3/19, and by the end of the day we had the results you saw at the beginning. Nearly 660whp at 13psi and 21 degrees of timing. Pretty damn impressive.

The next day I gave the go-ahead to the transport to schedule the pickup. It would be about a week before the truck would be there, so Tony and Dan put some miles on the car just to be safe. I had a big track day at Road Atlanta coming up, so we wanted to put as many test miles on it as we could.

The car was loaded on the transport on 3/27, almost exactly 5 weeks after they received it. Tony’s original estimate proved pretty spot on. Dan sent me a quick note with a pic of the car on the transport, and I began my final week or so of waiting.

The transport arrived on 4/4. He had to pull two Mclaren 12Cs out to get mine off. Watching him unload them, it occurred to me that my car made significantly more power than them. Pretty cool revelation.

Anyway, I did a quick inspection, oogled over everything for 15 minutes or so, and then went for my first drive…
…I texted Tony with just a string of expletives a few minutes later. There was probably girly “squee” at some point during that first test drive.

Net-net for the install is this:

• It was thoroughly planned out on their part.
• Expectations and timelines were clearly communicated and agreed upon (by both parties).
• The cost was reasonable for the work being performed.
• The end result was phenomenal.

Quality
Honestly I don’t think I need to belabor this point very much. Like their other products, the quality is absolutely top-notch.
UNLIKE their other products, which are normally 2-6 pieces, this kit is amazingly complex. As impressive as the big parts are (like the manifolds for example) for me, the attention paid to the small parts is perhaps more impressive. I mean even little fittings and heat shields have the FI logo etched or machined into them.

The fit and finish of the kit is…phenomenal…spectacular…UNBELIEVABLY good!

If you’re considering a TT kit and haven’t seen one of these in person, do it. Make the trip to a show, or shop, or someone’s house, or wherever one of these kits is in your vicinity and just look at it. If possible on a lift…with the front fascia removed.
Again, it was the small things that blew me away. The routing of the fuel & oil lines. The perfect placement of the relocated filter. How the solenoids were mounted out of the way but still easily accessible. The hand-bent heat shields…on and on and on.

I really can’t stress it enough. Pictures don’t do it justice. You have to see one in person.

Post-Sales
Since the initial purchase and install I’ve talked or email with Tony more times than I can count. When I last checked there were upwards of 200 emails back and forth. Needless to say, we’ve kept in touch.

I’ve also purchased a few new products since then, and have been brainstorming with Tony for ideas the try over the winter. My experience after the sale has been even better than before, which is likely no surprise for anyone who has done business with FI.

Not much more to say here. Typically great FI customer service experience.

Communication
I’ve already touched on this a lot, but if there is one thing that sticks out in my mind, it’s the communication throughout this entire process. In typical FI fashion, it was top notch from start to finish. I think Faceglide may have put it best when he said something along the lines of “I didn’t have to call Tony. If there was something I needed to know, I knew he would call me.” That really sums it up well.

I spent many, MANY hours on the phone with Tony prior to the purchase and during the early phases of planning this build. By the time I shipped the car to them, I felt so comfortable that I didn’t feel compelled to call or email constantly for updates. Of course Tony came early and often with the updates anyway. He was even calling and emailing right up until the day he hopped a plane for Italy!

Vendors and shops in the aftermarket business are notoriously poor communicators. I’m sure most of you reading this have at least one horror story. I know I do. That was never the case for me. I never felt uninformed or uncertain in any way. Tony was always great about setting proper expectations, keeping me informed throughout the process, and following through on his commitments. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Hindsight. Looking back, what would I do differently?
I honestly can’t say that I would change very much.
I learned more about transport companies than I ever cared to know. All I can say there is plan ahead and get them lined up early, then expect them to change dates on you anyway.

Knowing what I know now, there’s really only one thing I would have done differently…More tire. Spinning 305s in third gear is madness! I'll be stepping up to a 11.5 or 12" rear over the winter if all goes to plan.

Overall Thoughts
Overall I couldn’t be more pleased with my decision. I have about 6000 total miles on the car since the install, 900ish of which were on the track. Several of those track days were 95+ degree days and high humidity. The only thing I've done since the build is change the fluids.

I think Tony was as excited as I was for the first shakedown. It was a very public event at Road Atlanta, so it was really put up or shut up when it came to reliability. I had no time to do any prep on the car before the event. Literally the only thing I did was reinstall my race seat, drain the coolant that FI filled for transport, and refill with water. If I had experienced any problems it would have been very public, in front of several thousand spectators. But as expected, it ran like a top.

And it hasn’t missed a beat since. It starts, idles, and drives perfectly. I’ve never had a single problem with starting, rough idle or surging, etc (which is contrary to all my previous experience with large injectors). In all aspects other than the power, it behaves like a stock car. Speaking of the power…ohhh the power.

Ok yes, the big numbers are impressive. But for me the most impressive aspect of the kit is the power delivery. In particular the boost threshold and response.
Anytime you want, it’s just…there. 2900rpm in 5th gear, tip in and it makes boost…Instantly. And it’s not like these are tiny turbos with teeny trimmed wheels and small a/r housings. It’s shockingly responsive. I was honestly expected a bit of lag (which was fine, ultimately I wanted to headroom) but there is NONE. In fact, I have to dial it back at the track and run spring pressure in first and second gear, which is still ~500hp!

OK I’ve rattled on enough here, but I really can’t say enough good things about the kit, the company, and my experiences with both.

• Tony and the guys at FI have always been a pleasure to deal with.
• The price is more than fair considering the quality of the components you’re purchasing.
• The kit is beautifully crafted.
• It makes ridiculous amounts of power, even at low boost levels.
• The installation was top notch.
• Post-sales support and experience is bar-none the best in the business.


I never felt like just another customer. I really feel like they are much more invested in their customers, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about some of the other vendors around here. With FI, it’s hard to say which is better: The quality of the product, the customer service, or the people.

Regardless, it’s a winning combination.

~Josh

P.S. - If anyone has any questions they don’t want to ask in a public forum, feel free to PM me. I’ll be glad to talk.

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