GOOD/BAD Local car shops

[silenttype23]

Who are all the car shops in Calgary. I need to know who's good, the not so good............etc. I want to spend money on my car, at a shop that know what it's doing that all. I think this will give myself and everybody a better understanding of what shops have to offer, good prices, good info, and best of all, quality work I want to hear people's experiences!!!!!!!!!:clap:

[silenttype23]

I've heard of Impressions, Tunerworks, RPM, Speedville. What are the others???????

[max_boost]

Exactly what are you looking for? Each performance shop offers something different.

A topic like this will just end up in shop bashing because every shop has a few grumpy customers

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by silenttype23
I've heard of Impressions, Tunerworks, RPM, Speedville. What are the others???????

Ghetto Hookups.....:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :rofl:

[buh_buh]

everyone has their own best/worst shop. Your best bet is probably go talk to them and make a judgment for yourself.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by LUDELVR


Ghetto Hookups.....:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :rofl:

The best prices in town :thumbsup:

[cocoabrova]

Like everyone's saying, Calgary has a good number of shops. It's just that topics/threads like this always get outta hand so like buh_buh says, go talk to them directly and make your own judgement. Here's a listof the ones that I know of to simplify it for you, although you already know of a few:
AutoDream
AutoZeal
CCR Motorsports
Concept One (for veedubs only)
Contemporary Motorsports
Impressions Auto
ImportAdrenalin (parts only I think)
Joy-Life Electronics/Alarmtec
Millenium AutoTrendz
RPM Racing
Speedville
Tunerworks

and I think that's it....
:dunno: :thumbsup:

[lilboykorea]

rpm has a nice new shop, never seen anyother shops but its reallll clean back there!

[LaserRS]

What are we calling a shop? Are we calling a rented office with a parts catalogue a shop? Or are we calling a place with a mechanic a shop?:thumbsdow
In my mind we have:
Western Motorsports
Ground Zero race cars
Guyons
Davenports
Sports car parts place
and thats about it.
The rest of the places are just pushers of clear taillights and 18" rims, which does not constitute a performance shop.
I wish there was a dedicated dsm shop in Calgary. I end up going to Renfrew Chrysler for most of the stuff for my car.:dunno:

[cocoabrova]

Originally posted by LaserRS
What are we calling a shop? Are we calling a rented office with a parts catalogue a shop? Or are we calling a place with a mechanic a shop?:thumbsdow
In my mind we have:
Western Motorsports
Ground Zero race cars
Guyons
Davenports
Sports car parts place
and thats about it.
The rest of the places are just pushers of clear taillights and 18" rims, which does not constitute a performance shop.

And its begun......:banghead:

[5.9 R/T]

He does have a point tho. But from what i know tunerworks does have a mechanic, RPM does as well, as does impressions and IIRC autozeal sends them to davenport? The only difference between these shops and the ones laser listed is that they don't have all the proper equipment to build a motor, but they could probably turn you over to someone who could. I am almost 100% positive that all the above shops (except maybe autozeal which doesn't have an install bay) have licensed mechanics working for them.

Edit: this is not intended to start a war, i just wanted to point out that these shops have mechanics working for them, they just don't have all the neccesary equipment to do everything.

[LaserRS]

Could that possible be the criteria of a true shop then, can they biuld an actual motor, and do more than just sell you a sticker package, and some xenon bulbs.
Most of the tuner shops are just way to honda for me, but thats whats hot right now, so thats what sells I guess.

[Toma]

Originally posted by LaserRS
What are we calling a shop? Are we calling a rented office with a parts catalogue a shop? Or are we calling a place with a mechanic a shop?:thumbsdow
In my mind we have:
Western Motorsports
Ground Zero race cars
Guyons
Davenports
Sports car parts place
and thats about it.
The rest of the places are just pushers of clear taillights and 18" rims, which does not constitute a performance shop.
I wish there was a dedicated dsm shop in Calgary. I end up going to Renfrew Chrysler for most of the stuff for my car.:dunno:

So you need a mechanic to be shop? Then go to Canadian Tire....they got more mechanics then anyone :rolleyes:

Besides, knowing a Subaru inside and out doesn't mean you know a Mistubishi inside and out.....

Hardly any of the shops you list have "mechanics", or people that would have a clue about imports.

Western motorsports?? Yeah, if you are into Mustangs
Ground Zero? Chassis only (roll bars)
Guyons? Best chassis/suspension place in the city.
Sports Car Place? MG's and British stuff only

Would I let any of the above do engine work on my Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW? Subaru? etc... NO WAY.

Most the above shops farm out their machining. Once you get a good machine shop, anyone can screw a motor together. From what I hear, getting good import machining in the city is actually hard.

Running the dyno, I can give a BIG :thumbsup: for Nelson and his tuning ability from Tunerworks. He knows his Hondata and others, and works fast to save you $$$ on dyno time.

Sooo, there is a different "shop" for all your needs. Go to one for parts, another for machining, another for engine "building", another for assembly, another for tuning, another for chassis etc... another for Dyno time ::angel:

Toma

[5.9 R/T]

Originally posted by Toma


Sooo, there is a different "shop" for all your needs. Go to one for parts, another for machining, another for engine "building", another for assembly, another for tuning, another for chassis etc... another for Dyno time ::angel:

Toma

Exactly. Not every shop can give you everything. I don't think davenport sells altezzas just as rpm doesn't have a dyno sitting in their shop. It's better for a shop to specialize in a couple of things rather then have them know a little about everything.

[shadowz]

Ya its almost compared to if youre a skateboarder and you can do 5 or 6 tricks very well rather than being able to do 100 tricks and it looks very sloppy and isnt very consistant

[sexualbanana]

Originally posted by LaserRS
Most of the tuner shops are just way to honda for me,

maybe it's because u drive a laser. :dunno:

[HOK]

its sad that subarus best performance support is probably the dealer

maybe i should open one up lol...

[4wheeldrift]

Originally posted by HOK
its sad that subarus best performance support is probably the dealer

maybe i should open one up lol...

See if subaru lachute will open up a branch dealer in calgary? :D

[AaronS13]

Originally posted by HOK
its sad that subarus best performance support is probably the dealer

maybe i should open one up lol...

i know this isn't in calgary, but if you are looking for Subaru parts, check out www.pdm-racing.com My buddy Don owns the shop and mainly specializes in 240sx's however has a very loyal subaru following... worth a look...

I've found that unless i'm ordering a "generic" part (seats etc) I can't find a shop here in town that can get me what i need... In fact, the only 2 shops in town that i've had a good experience with have been Contemporary and Tunerworks... I couldn't even get an OBX intake from one shop in town... 2 months later i got my deposit back... oh well, it happens...

There is also a new place over by where alarmtec is called QuarterMile Performance... my buddy's neighbour just opened the shop... Its brandnew, so don't expect too much, but i have a feeling he's gonna try to do a good job servicing calgary's performance cars... mostly honda's though :madred:

[Tuner1]

Originally posted by Toma
So you need a mechanic to be shop? Then go to Canadian Tire....they got more mechanics then anyone :rolleyes:

Besides, knowing a Subaru inside and out doesn't mean you know a Mistubishi inside and out.....

Hardly any of the shops you list have "mechanics", or people that would have a clue about imports.

Toma

:D Nice one Toma, I couldn't agree more !

Rob
Tunerworks - More than just stickers :thumbsup:

[2000impreza]

Originally posted by HOK
its sad that subarus best performance support is probably the dealer

maybe i should open one up lol...

i found out superior does headwork for the subaru dealership.......... but no shop actually does subaru bottom ends. as the dealership puts it..... "we just replace the bottom ends, no point in rebuilding one if no one knows how to put it together". *sigh* i'm still looking for a shop....

[Joe Malms]

try magnusmotorsports.com (they're in T.O)
Talk to marco, they know a good deal about the 2.5 motors.

[LaserRS]

Originally posted by Toma


So you need a mechanic to be shop? Then go to Canadian Tire....they got more mechanics then anyone :rolleyes:

Besides, knowing a Subaru inside and out doesn't mean you know a Mistubishi inside and out.....

Hardly any of the shops you list have "mechanics", or people that would have a clue about imports.

Western motorsports?? Yeah, if you are into Mustangs
Ground Zero? Chassis only (roll bars)
Guyons? Best chassis/suspension place in the city.
Sports Car Place? MG's and British stuff only

Would I let any of the above do engine work on my Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW? Subaru? etc... NO WAY.

Most the above shops farm out their machining. Once you get a good machine shop, anyone can screw a motor together. From what I hear, getting good import machining in the city is actually hard.

Running the dyno, I can give a BIG :thumbsup: for Nelson and his tuning ability from Tunerworks. He knows his Hondata and others, and works fast to save you $$$ on dyno time.

Sooo, there is a different "shop" for all your needs. Go to one for parts, another for machining, another for engine "building", another for assembly, another for tuning, another for chassis etc... another for Dyno time ::angel:

Toma
Sooo when there is problem you can spend 2 weeks finding out whos problem it is, and who's warranty it is and watch them all point the finger at each other? No thanks..been there done that.
Take the car one place and let them do it, if they are a decent shop they can do it all, the cars may change but the fundamentals of automotives is a general concept, which any mechanic worthy of a mechanics license should have firmly under his belt, reguardless of make,model or year. I have had some pretty poor "specialists " butcher my prior cars.
The other problem is liability, if something goes wrong, your insurance company will give you the finger, if any work was done by a shop without a certified mechanic, I had an incident in which one of my tires came off on 16th ave last year, the tires was put on by a large chain store 2 days prior, my insurance refused to cover the damage to my car, and to another passing car that hit my wheel. I have court date with them next spring, now if a mechanic had put that wheel on, everything would be cool at this point in time.

[4wheeldrift]

Hey roland, why are you doing the bottom end at all? Unless you plan on making in excess of 400hp there's no reason why the stock bottom end shouldn't hold up. Shiv was putting out well in excess of 300hp and the bottom end held up just fine.

[2000impreza]

good question:p shiv did surprise a lot of people with how well the stock bottom end held together. but he is also a expert engine tuner, knows his stuff. i guess i'm a little paranoid about screwing up the engine since everyone that i've hear of installing a turbo on the stock engine had gone through atleast one bottom end.

i have a few things i have left to do before the turbo setup is complete. i guess i'll see how it goes after that.

some people tell me to wait till i get the engine built. others tell me to put the turbo on before i get old....... haha.

[Toma]

Warranty on performane stuff? Yeah right.... good luck.

Tires came off? Or wheels came off? Aftermarket aluminum wheels? Were they new etc? Same thing....good luck proving blame or wrong doing. It's is your car, you are responsible for its upkeep, unless you can prove negligence. If the wheels were new, you saw the big warning label that said "re-torque after 30 miles"??

Mechanics.....
Unfortunatley, that's not how it works. THE ONLY guy that works on my car has no mechanics liscence, trade certificate or ASE certification..... yet he would make any of the former look like baboons when it comes to DELIVERING the goods in terms of performance. Mechanics are tought how to fix things, change timing belts etc.... they got no clue how to tune a carb for performance, drill out PCVR's, and fuq with air bleeds.... they also are not tought how to map injection systems, or size turbos or J port rotary mazdas etc...

Mechanics are "jacks of all trades", masters of none. If you wanna go slow, go to a mechanic ;) If you wanna go fast, go to the guy that does ONE thing, but is the best at it.

I'll make it simple..... you are not gonna go to your family doctor for a brain tumor or a bone marrow transplant....you are goona go to a specialist....

Toma

[impressive]

Very well stated ! I agree totally.

[importadrenelin]

I totally agree with Toma.
Even over here at Import Adrenelin we won't do installs or mechanic work because we are not licenced to do so.

We are more then happy to try out Davenport, Guyon or even Toma to have your car tuned, or parts installed.

I think everyone should just remember not to take shortcuts,
basically do it right the firstime. :thumbsup: