RotorRoar

Hi guys,

Has anyone done any work with Karel from Rotrix? How has your experience been?

I have searched online and it appears that he is legend so I sent my car to him for a conversion on more than 14 weeks ago with the expectation that it would take 6 weeks. He has not been taking my calls or replying to SMS’s and e-mails in the last few weeks. I have been extremely patient and accommodating until now since he seemed highly recommended but I’ve been told that the car is nearly done since 4 weeks ago, in fact I was going to have it 3 weeks ago.

Is anyone else getting work done with Rotrix at the moment? Are you aware if any issues?

Bladecutter

You might want to go over to the shop and see what's going on in person.

BC.

RotorRoar

Thinking of doing that but can only go on the weekend as its farbut was really hoping it would be done by then which he told me would be 4 weeks ago. If only he would reply to my sms or email or voicemail.

RotorRoar

Hi guys!

Just thought I would share my detailed experience with this tuner so no one else gets swindled.

I’ve tried everything. Calls don’t get answered. Sms’s, voicemails, and e-mails don’t get responses. Spoke to Cornell the other guy on the website. Still no responses and resolution just a mess and a nightmare of a half-finished job with too many problems and issues from what I initially though was a dream. And to make it worse, I actually paid handsomely for this drama and have being dealing with it for 9 months and counting now (5 months of which my car was at Rotrix and I still don’t have a complete and snag free car.

I sent my RX8 in for the bigger upgrade (400rwhp @ 0.6bar boost with the T77 turbo) on 3 April 2012. It was supposed to take 6 weeks (mid-April). I only got my car back on 3 July 2012. The accelerator cable melted coz it was going across the turbo on the first day. The accelerator pedal broke coz the cable stuck on the 2nd day. The pedal wasn’t even mine coz I had the aluminium pedals on the high power and this was plain black not matching the other 2 pedals. The car sat in my garage for a month from getting it back while I had to sort it out. This involved a lot of personal time, costs for additional parts and tools. Plus I got a few injuries. Eventually got that right but the car couldn’t hold an idle from the time I got it back which was very embarrassing as it switched off everywhere. The Spitronics USB cable that Karel gave me does not work so I couldn’t tune it. The ECU comes with cable and CD. It had no power in lower RPM and kept backfiring so it was extremely difficult to drive and turn into other roads when cars were approaching which should be a synch with an RX8. The oil temp sensor showed low eventhough it was full and fine. This was one of the things that was changed while I was waiting on the 3rd. The rev counter and speedo kept going off and on and bouncing readings. Heavy rattling in the car and engine bay. I had to change the gearknob as the one I got was loose.

Eventually got 2,000kms on it for the run-in and took it back to be serviced, dynoed, and have the issues sorted out. I asked Karel at this point what upgrades I could do going forward and he said just a bridge port. Karel said it should take a day but I gave him a week as I could only go collect next Saturday. 3 weeks later and the car had not been to the dyno yet. I collected the car from the tuner after 4 months and it was only doing 230rwhp and it can only rev to 7,000rpm which is ridiculous for a rotary so I asked the tuner what was going on and he said that Karel said I need bigger injectors and fuel pump. I sent an e-mail to Karel expressing my disappointment and more problems, tried calling 3 times and still no response. I eventually spoke to Cornell again who told me that apparently the money I paid was do build an engine “capable” of 400rwhp, not to build a 400rwhp engine which is not what I expected at all and I even asked about future mods before. The fuel stuff was never mentioned until I went to collect the car for what I thought was the last time until the annual service.
The accelerator pedal was faulty again so I had to waddle home at 100kms/hr which is not what I was hyped and looking forward too. I had to dig into the car and sort out myself again. The car still switches off on idle when I put the headlights on, when I put the a/c on, when I put the indicators on, or just erratically sometimes. My ABS does not work which was supposed to as I agreed with Karel before starting the job and again with Cornell last week.

The a/c does not work, it could be out of gas but it did work when I sent it in and the is a gauge wire coming through the vent now which makes me think it’s could be a loose pipe or something. The oil pressure gauge still shows low. I still need this whole fuel system sorted out so I can rev my car passed 7,000rpm again like a rotary should and still no response or solution a month later.
I would never do this again. The journey has been just too time consuming, costly, and painful. I would advise anyone to stay away. I think they take on much more work than they can cope with and the end result is that the customers get terrible service and a raw deal with no recourse as they don’t send you documentation even when asked for. I still haven't received a detailed invoice with the engine numbers to insure the car and register it with the new engine. I read all the post about how awesome they are and went to them to make a dream come true but ended up with a never-ending nightmare.

I WOULD ADVISE ANYONE TO STAY AWAY FROM THEM. It is not worth the money, time and pain. A lot of other rotary fanatics have had similar terrible experiences.

Here are some links for more details:

• View topic - Rotrix PTA

• View topic - Rotary Guru giving me the run around after being paid

Be very careful guys!!!

Bladecutter

Sorry to hear all of that.

This thread was made for you:

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...efully-239456/

BC.

ChrisBlackrx8

Here's the running commentary, based on my first experience with Rotrix. I've read the other people's comments on the forum, but in general all other sites have been pointing me in Rotrix's direction for a rebuild.

Right so lets give you guys a little history on my ride first..

Type: 2004, 101000kms, hi power rx8.
Condition: Awesome
What I've done to it: All standard recalls needed according to rx8club.

Why It needed to be fixed: 3 weeks ago during a longish hard breakfast run the car cut out at a stop street and struggled to start.. Got it started and sounded like a coil had given in. The following week I replaced all coils, plugs, leads. etc Still had the problem. Then smoke accompanied by using liters of oil & the dip stick pushing automatically out of its socket by its own accord!!.. I figured.. .rebuild time.

Meeting Rotrix
Finally last week, I called Karel from Rotrix up, and he suggested I bring it in.
I limped to the shop this week-end to Pretoria. I had a snoop around his shop had a quick chat, (He's a real rx7 fan btw), I was amazed at all the rx7's and 8's that he had at his shop, I normally see only one or two every three months in Jhb. (was almost worth going just to have a browse

...anyway he said no worries, he "will call me that Wednesday with an update".
I'm thinking worst case being that it need a complete and total overhaul include re machining the internals of the engine, replacing apex seals, oils seals, side seals etc etc etc...

Wednesday arrives

At 10:30 in the morning I get a call from him, "Good news the apex seal breaking hasn't caused any internal damage as it stayed in place!! I'm a real lucky guy" He had already pulled it out and started cleaning the engine up, in preparation for the parts to arrive in a couple of days.

This far, dealing with Karel has been an absolute treat.. Actually Ffffffing BRILLIANT! He even manage to organize me a secondary air pump effortlessly (mine was squealing) and he had another lying around. - In africa it would have taken weeks to be delivered if I ordered that from Mazda.

Due to the incredible size of the job & adding a couple extra day's for parts.. I'd be more than happy for it to take even 3weeks.

I've decided to do the clutch at the same time, purely because the car is already apart..

So.... I told him to please go ahead with everything. He's also really reasonably priced.

He mentioned that he could likely have the car finished by next week, (Again brilliant & way faster than I expected). If all goes t plan, I'm going to take a photo of me picking up the car and dropping off a case of beer too It VERY hard to find this level of service anywhere in SA.

So far WELL impressed. More updates to follow, next week.

Really looking forward to have my beast back, I've got a C-west kit being delivered somewhere around the end of Feb and that's not going to help my excitement levels if the cars still in the shop with engine probs.!

XXXXXXX LATEST UPDATE:! XXXXXXXXX

Got the car back, running great! The car was finished last week already, but I unfortunately couldn't pick it up.
All I can say is Karel went out of his way to ensure everything was done properly and on time..

This is what he did:

- New clutch, its now silky smooth and works great
- New seals all round, no leaks, no misfires.. car back to normal.
- Replaced secondary air pump.

Additionally without me asking he did the following, before I picked up the car:

- Fixed my aircon, it now blows even better than before.
- Checked compression to make sure build was a success.
- Checked ignition system from end to end
- Pressure tested water/cooling system.
- Cleaned my car

*Final Price came in well under what I expected, he even gave me 1k off the final clutch price.

So there you have it.. >However I forgot to bring the drinks! On my desk at home.. I felt BAD.. because the shop is 80kms away, I will need to drop it off at the 2000km oil change.. (hopefully I can do that in 2-3 weeks, even though I live 5kms from work, I now have even more good reason to go EVERYWHERE in my 8).


Thanks Karel & Team. You guys are an awesome bunch..
At this point you have exceeded my expectations of every level & were fair and honest.. I definitely recommend dealing with Rotrix. - the end.


See you guys on the track


















PS: ANYONE ELSE IN JHB or PTA that's keen for a breakfast run PM me.