Which one is more reliable / has more experience, for hypothetical Turbo upgrades?

 

My understanding is that Renntech is more reliable but makes less power and probably costs more, Weistec being the opposite. I also heard Weistec was struggling as a business - some issues with ownership and practices, but I'm not very up to date on the latest there.

 

this......not sure Weistec is in business anymore

 

Weistec was (and is) one of the many companies being sought out and fined by the EPA for selling emissions defeat products.

This is an excerpt from one of the settlements against Weistec. I don't know if this took them out but could have ended most/all of their product line.

The EPA has obtained evidence, through an inspection on June 30, 2016 and request for information sent on January 18, 2017, that Weistec manufactured and sold products which render inoperative~ emission control systems on EPA-certified motor vehicles. It is a violation of Section 203(a)(3)(B) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7522(a)(3)(B), to manufacture or sell such products. Between January 1, 2015 and January 18, 2017, the EPA has determined that Weistec mahufactured and sold 110 exhaust systems for gasoline-powered motor vehicles that removed the catalytic converters from those vehicles (commonly referred to as “straight pipes”), and developed and sold 13 software tunes which allowed for removal .of catalytic converters by disabling certain emission-related trouble codes, thereby interfering with the vehicles’ Onboard Diagnostic (OBD) systems.

 

Their website still works. They can sell or could have sold exhaust systems that were for off-road use only.

https://www.weistec.com

 

Actually, the EPA has thought through the "off-road" work around too. The vehicle would have to be legally removed from all on-road use. In other words, if the vehicle has a license plate, claims of off-road use would fail EPA. So, the question becomes, how many catless downtubes can a manufacture justify are going on cars that are not allowed on public streets?

Excerpt from EPA:

CLAIMS OF COMPETITION-USE ONLY

The EPA has found that many companies that make and sell aftermarket defeat devices claim “competition only” use but cannot provide any information to show that their products are used solely in competition motorsports. The Clean Air Act does not contemplate removing emissions controls from an EPA-certified motor vehicle in order to convert it into a competition vehicle. As a matter of enforcement discretion, the EPA’s longstanding practice has been not to take enforcement action against vehicle owners for removing or defeating the emission controls of their EPA-certified motor vehicles, so long as they can show the vehicles are used solely for competition events and no longer driven on public roads. Recent EPA investigations have revealed evidence showing that hundreds of thousands of diesel pickup trucks have had their emissions controls completely removed, and most or all the aftermarket defeat devices used to tamper these trucks were sold under the claim of “competition only.” The sheer volume of aftermarket defeat devices belies the assertion that they are only for competition motorsports

This was a 2019 statement taken from the EPA.GOV site. In 2019, which was in another administration, the EPA was getting aggressive with aftermarket performance companies. In 2022, it's a much different story. Just search EPA and emissions defeat devices, the shear number of suits against performance companies and fines levied are significant.

 

There are other options too.
DM us for more information.
We are C190 GT at the moment, we do a package with tune and fuel pumps if you are interested.
https://www.zacmotorsport.com/collec...door-c190-r190

 

I don’t know what allthey are selling but there’s a couple of online dealers that are selling their products for both Mercedes and BMW. I’m only positive about the software side as that’s all I was looking at but they are a vendor for at least three online companies I was sourcing.

 

I would love to toss our hat in the ring as well

we have done thousands of tunes for turbo upgrade cars etc

we recommend pure turbos as a fyi

www.eurocharged.com

 

Ive got eurocharged on my GTR.. absolutely the best

 

For what it's worth, coming from a California GTS owner, Renntech is the only company that I know of that has CARB EO# status with their HHT, meaning no need to hassle with removing the tune when it comes time to smog the car (there is a relatively new protocol with CA smog laws where the testing stations now check for ECU's that have been flashed and it's an automatic fail if it finds anything).

 

Lots of options out there, be sure to educate yourself, ask questions, and listen to people that have and have done, not just those that heard something on the internet.
I did, I went with Premier Tuning Group.
@PTG

 

Yes, I've described this in some older threads. CA started checking ECU CVNs, July 2021. Some have said CO started implementing the same, but not sure as CO owners report different experiences. The CVN must match a factory issued number that is electronically assigned to the ECU at the time of manufacture. A tune will roll the CVN. Some owners got an ugly shock when they passed smog two years ago, but now failed with the exact same equipment. If the aftermarket Emissions modifying parts (this includes tunes) are not tested by CA and given a CARB certification number, then you will fail CA emissions.

It was a tough first year last year as numerous owners with carb certified components still failed BC CA was "behind" in their DB.

And, if you have a radical tune that is supported by other mods, then reversing the tune to pass emissions will probably not be that easy.

A different world....