Experience with Pettit Racing (WPB)
 

About two months ago I dropped my RX-8 off at Pettit Racing. It was there over the weekend, and a few days afterwards...

To be installed was a Greddy turbo kit, boost controller, EMU and all the fittings. The car was to be tuned, including dyno time.

I have no complaints about the install of the turbo kit itself. They did a good job, and all the hoses were on just right.

When I was told the turbo was installed, I drove over the next day, taking time off of work. I wanted to be there for the dyno tuning. I was told it would take a few hours, so not a big deal. Unfortunately we had some issues with the unit, the unlocked map from Benny (Greddy) still made the car run funny.

The dyno wouldn't run properly, horse power numbers were incorrect (Said my car made 130 whp), and zero torque. Cam gave up on the dyno and did some street tuning. The car still never quite ran right, there was a lot of drivability issues, with it bucking and stalling when I took my foot off the gas.

Since it wasn't quite ready, I rented a hotel room a few miles away and stayed the night. The following day had similar results, with the car not functional, and not much luck with the EMU. My gauges weren't installed yet either, so that took up some more time, plus welding in the bung for the O2 sensor... Having just taken off two days of work (without pay), I couldn't afford to continue staying, especially when we appeared to be at a dead end. I decided to drive home that night, and mess with the car later. I was disappointed the car wasn't completed, and had no dyno numbers, but I figured it would be a matter of a few little additional tweaks of the EMU maps.




First, here's the good about my experience.

1. Cam spent several hours after normal store hours the first day, trying to get the car working properly.
   
2. They tried hard to figure out how to get the car functional, calling up Benny several times during the two days I was there.
   
3. The install of the turbo kit was well done. Everything was where it was supposed to be.
   

Unfortunately there was also bad things.

1. I had paid $1,300 + tax for install and tuning, but the car wasn't tuned, and wasn't dyno tested. I can't blame Pettit too much on this one, since I was the one who had to leave and take the car with me, but I still felt a little shafted because I paid for services I didn't receive.
   
2. The O2 sensor was wired incorrectly. It wouldn't power up. I ended up buying a second AEM gauge after being told the gauge must have been broken. When I installed the new gauge, it still wouldn't power up. I had to go to another shop (in Orlando) to get it wired up correctly.
   
3. The first day there, I noticed my car received a scratch near the bottom of the driver side door. It looked like the door was opened too wide while it was near the base of the car lift. I mentioned this to them but it was shrugged off. I didn't press the issue since the car still needed work at the time (Tuning, gauges, etc)
   
4. The wideband sensor wires were routed incorrectly, and was left dangling under the car. The result of this was that the wires melted and left me with a destroyed wideband sensor and harness. Also the melted wires were hanging off the bottom of the car ...
   
5. I wrote to Pettit to explain the issues I had, with emphasis on the hardware damaged caused by the incorrect installation of the wideband, but never received a reply.
   

I hope I don't come across as someone who wants to bitch and complain for no reason. I appreciate most of what Pettit Racing did. However ignoring me afterwards put me over the edge. I've given them about two months to reply, so I think I'm safe to say I'm not going to be receiving a reply. If Pettit had at the very least refunded me for the damaged wire and sensor, I would not be complaining. Unfortunately there was damage done to my car that was never addressed and I paid for services I never received.





I am attaching photos of the burned wideband wires. The damage is actually worse than pictured, because all the clips were also melted and fused together. I'm also including the "tuned" basemap that was on my car.

Uh, based on my expectations (which are probably too high) I'd say you got totally shafted.

Installing a WBO2S is not rocket science - almost anyone could do it correctly.
Tuning an RX-8 is voodoo for sure, but they shouldn't accept the responsibility if they can't deliver the results.
Shrugging of body damage is just an overall example of their commitment.

EDIT - after a cursory glance at your "tuned" MAP, I'd have to say you got double shafted. They played with the wrong values.

I will post a reply from first hand experience :

I helped him wire up the AEM wideband gauge correctly (hooking up the new one since he was told by the shop that the old one was defective) In the process I found that the reason the first gauge didnt work was simply that the (+) power connection for the gauge wasnt secure and was not making good contact with the wire they tapped. Once I secured that connection the gauge powered right up, when not getting a reading from the sensor I jacked the car up and had a look under and found that they installed the bung in the downpipe for the wideband and then ran the wire to the gauge into the engine compartment (on the pass side).

The problem was that they didnt secure the wire or run it in a path away from the heat of the exhaust. The result was the wire was RESTING ontop of the turbo manifold, of course with a few mins of the car running this would destrol the wire, not to mention driving back the 2+hrs to his house, so by the time I saw it the wires were so melted the copper wire itself was starting to burn up.

The plastic connector for the wideband sensor to the harness (that connects to the gauge) was also melted and fused together. This made the sensor itself and the harness useless. The AEM wideband kit cost $265, the sensor itself is designed to be replaced and is $70 and the harness (a hard peice to get from AEM by itself) is $30. The gauge obviously works fine, but without a sensor and harness is useless. It would cost $100 to get the parts he needs to have the kit functional to either return it or sell it on his own.

Most of the install looked pretty good, but when simple things like this happen it would make me upset as well. This did not seem like an error due to not knowing what they were doing (they have a very good rep) but more like a rush job, as if the person doing the work was just trying to get it done...the result was a poor install (wire not secure, resulting in damage) and no trouble shooting to find the problem with it (loose wire causing gauge not to function).

I presume they used a "vampire" tap for the power to the gauge?

Any particular reason Pettit was chosen for this job?

I'm located in Tampa. The two big rotary tuners in the area that I am aware of was Pettit and Mazsport. I contacted Mazsport too, but they were busy at the time, so I went with Pettit. Given they're a vendor on the forum, making their own SC kit, etc. I didn't think it would be an issue.


And yes, thank you again Geoff (KYLiquid) for all your help. You guys really saved me :)

And I've been debating over whose FI kit to get, Petit or Mazsport. Mazsports is looking even better after reading about this. About 6 months ago, I inquired from Petit about the price for some Mazdaspeed sideskirts. It took about 6-8 weeks to get a response.

Man this really sucks.
I've been tossing back and forth between the Pettit SC or the Axial Flow SC.
The Pettit SC looked so nice at SS9, they were starting to win me over, this really pushes me away in the other directions though.
I hope things get worked out. As in, they own up to their mistakes.

Please keep up posted if they make an effort to correct this.
Their SC looks sweet, but I don't want to buy good looking problems, especially if they aren't willing to help after I've paid them.

Well, its too bad that you wern't pleased with your experience. Unfortunately, I wish you would have sent the letter to me as well, because I dont have any record of receiving it.

Anyways, Im sorry that you didnt have a good experience, And im not quite sure what happened with the WB02, its quite out of character for something like that to happen.

Situations like this dont arise often, if they did we wouldn't maintain the reputation we have today with RX-7 owners. It dissapoints me when there is a miscommunication that causes problems like this.

Im quite sorry your experience wasn't 100% good.

Bindon,

I won't post our private chats here without your permission. I logged them and can post screen shots or text if you give the okay. But when I explained my problems, you told me to take them up with Cam. This is why I emailed him and quit pestering you about the issues I had.

I would consider this a closed issue if you are able to arrange for an hour dyno time* at Mazsport (Since he's 20 miles from me, instead of 3 hours), and refund for the damaged parts of the AEM gauge. In return I would redo this thread to reflect that I had issues and they were resolved. I think this would be a fair resolution, let me know.


* Since that was the service I paid for and couldn't get because the dyno was not functional at the time.

Sql....
 

Well you DID get a public

"Too bad/Sorry/I'm disappointed"

from their Canadian intern - and you're STILL not satisfied?

S :hahano:

Get what you paid for. Don't allow ANYONE to fluff you.

Unless that's their job :angel:

Wow, that really sucks. Any updates on this yet ?

Nothing yet.

mmmm that's an expensive "fluffing" he got.....hehehe

this thread needs a PIITB warning

blah. I had to look up PIITB.

Piitb ?

Put it in the butt?

not right now im busy

Reminds me of a shop i went to they buchered my poor 8 learned my lesson...

Well I don't think anyone should give them any business until your problems are resolved.

So you took it to Titan Motorsports in Orlando to get it corrected??

They are a business like any other, if you take a proactive approach and talk to the right people about getting your problems resolved, they will get fixed quickly and to your expectations, if you keep sending letters and talking to the wrong people, your situation isn't gonna fix itself. Trust me, coming from someone who works in retail management, a phone call to the guy running the place will get things moving along really quick, and a phone call from a lawyer will get them fixed in a blink of an eye.

Yes, Titan for the first set of problems. Since then I've been to Mazsport in Largo a few times.


I saw 5 people working there during the time I was at the shop (Cam the owner, Bindon their online rep, a sales guy, a receptionist, and a guy working on their SC). It would be difficult to route my complaints incorrectly. I've got hours of logs talking to Bindon about the problems I had, plus the official complaint I sent to them.

As I said, I waited 3 months for them before posting here, as I had no desire to air dirty laundry in a public forum, but it became clear they had no intention of rectifying the situation. About two weeks ago Bindon told me he brought this up with Cam, and *might* be able to get me some of what I wanted, but I have not heard anything since then.