Shark, Darkside or Other?

[R1CH360]

I have had experience of Shark and Narco, I would not use either of them again!

p.s. Just remapping not mechanical work

What was up with narco was thinking of taking mine there.

[duck]

What was up with narco was thinking of taking mine there.

 

If you just want power and don't mind lots of smoke then Narco will be fine, I paid top dollar for a custom map and found it all very impersonal and they just mapped it how they wanted to without asking what my aims/objectives were, car is now running boost pressure higher than I wanted (peaking 2.4bar) with lots of smoke (embarrassing amount) and lots of lag, don't want to be rude but I think they are to use to dealing with young lads that think popcorn limiters and black smoke are cool!

 

I'm now getting it sorted out by Kris at Diesel Powered.

[@Lee]

MkI Fabia PD100 here. Mapped by Shark to 154HP. Smooth, powerful progressive map that doesn't tail off. Everyone who's driven my car loves the map on it.

[dara85]

I have spoken to Narco on few occasions and I think they improved in terms of getting the map done in the way customer wants it but my car was just mapped by Kris and that is completely different customer service and must say for unbeatable price. We spent 10 hours tweaking the map (in all fairness actuator needed some adjustment too so that took us some time) until I was happy with it. Sure it would be much faster on rolling road but then again, price compensates it.

Narco will be probably cheapest if map and all work you mentioned will be done by them, compare to Sharks or DS but I would let mechanical work done by independent garage and map it by Kris.

[Crazylegs1892]

MkI Fabia PD100 here. Mapped by Shark to 154HP. Smooth, powerful progressive map that doesn't tail off. Everyone who's driven my car loves the map on it.

 

That's quite an increase, bet it feels rapid to drive compared to before!

[@Lee]

That's quite an increase, bet it feels rapid to drive compared to before!

yep. Seen a few disgruntled standard vRS' in my rear view mirror

 

My dyno graph

[shark_90]

Out of the two I certainly wouldn’t recommend Shark Performance.

I was talking to Darren (Dazza66) the other day and to be honest he has had a bit of a nightmare with this organisation to say the least.

In a somewhat summarised version (the detail as discussed with Darren was much longer!!)

Darren had taken his car ( a well know Fabia SE “09” plate) to Shark back in June 15 (last year) for uprated injectors to be fitted, stronger headbolts, head skimmed, custom map and aircon fixed.

He was told the work would take 10 days to 2 weeks max.

The Turbo then exploded on the dyno (apparently a boost pipe had failed and had caused something to get into the turbo) – sounds strange to me.

The Turbo was then sent off to be fixed which Darren agreed to pay for (I wouldn’t have)

Anyway it then took until June 2016 – a full year and 1 week apparently for them to finally sort it – I nearly fell off my chair!!

Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of it as when Darren went to drive off after paying a substantial bill (can’t believe how much he paid for the privilege) he noticed the back panel and door had been damaged and had to get this repaired at a bodyshop – which thankfully Shark paid for (that was good of them!!).

Oh and the air-con that was supposed to have been fixed didn’t work and when he took it to a local garage to be re-gassed they said it wasn’t the condenser but the compressor – easily missed I guess!

Although the car (apart from the aircon) was now working well Darren decided he had enough of modified cars and put it up for sale.

Just to add to his woes on the work done by Shark - once he had sold it the new buyer was driving home and the boost pipe popped off – so nice one Shark, seems they really did a good job here.

Anyway based on the above I would certainly steer clear of Shark Performance if it was my choice but I am sure others may have a more positive view/experience of them.

Bit of a long-winded reply to you query I know but believe me this is the shortened version.

So they blew up the turbo, took a year to sort it out, charged a fortune, damaged the paintwork and then it broke down after he sold it !!!

As for Darkside - I have no knowledge of them so can’t really comment but would recommend looking around.

Thank you for your second hand story, Darren was absolutely fine when he was at our office. Did he mention that he didn't pay for any of the work done? Like, none of it. Just the parts. And we paid for his paintwork without question, which was frankly tiny, but cost us something like £200 to sort out. We do all that and STILL get slagged off?! I didn't think that's how customer service worked.

We even offered to buy the car.

Always two sides to a story chaos and chapesses, absolutely EVERYONE at Shark did their very best for Darren and his car and he left happy as far as we knew with less than half the bill that he should have had. AND we paid for the turbo when AET wouldn't honour the warranty.

Makes me wonder why I bother at all when people like you are happy to bandy around incorrect statements of fact leaving out more than half of the story, when it isn't really your place to relay it in the first place.

Forums can be damaging to businesses when incorrect half truths are written as gospel. I would like everyone on this forum to think about that for a second. When you pay for work done at Shark you are paying people's mortgages, for swimming lessons for my 7 year old. Do you go to work for free? We don't think we should either.

Rant over.

[skomaz]

Just a quick post here to support Shark - had DPF and mapping work done on my MkII Octy 4x4 a few years back and had no issues whatsoever - a good, knowledgable friendly bunch that I would definitely go back to!

[@Lee]

Just a quick post here to support Shark - had DPF and mapping work done on my MkII Octy 4x4 a few years back and had no issues whatsoever - a good, knowledgable friendly bunch that I would definitely go back to!

+1

I can't comment on Skomaz's map so highlighted the relavent parts

[Hardcore]

I'd go for ##!!##h.
They can personalise the maps no problem. Cap the boost / smoke to acceptable limits or push it hard if you like.

Seen them make good power on some of their maps with less smoke than some other companies maps that make less power.
They're very busy for a reason.

[Jonny5ive]

Unit18

JMTPW

[DAZZA66]

Thank you for your second hand story, Darren was absolutely fine when he was at our office. Did he mention that he didn't pay for any of the work done? Like, none of it. Just the parts. And we paid for his paintwork without question, which was frankly tiny, but cost us something like £200 to sort out. We do all that and STILL get slagged off?! I didn't think that's how customer service worked.

We even offered to buy the car.

Always two sides to a story chaos and chapesses, absolutely EVERYONE at Shark did their very best for Darren and his car and he left happy as far as we knew with less than half the bill that he should have had. AND we paid for the turbo when AET wouldn't honour the warranty.

Makes me wonder why I bother at all when people like you are happy to bandy around incorrect statements of fact leaving out more than half of the story, when it isn't really your place to relay it in the first place.

Forums can be damaging to businesses when incorrect half truths are written as gospel. I would like everyone on this forum to think about that for a second. When you pay for work done at Shark you are paying people's mortgages, for swimming lessons for my 7 year old. Do you go to work for free? We don't think we should either.

Rant over.

 

Although I was unaware that Rich had posted anything what he did post was factually correct albeit secondhand.

 

I would not normally post a response as do not feel it is appropriate for reasons mentioned but feel I should clear some of the "Untruths" quoted.

 

Firstly, although I was happy to accept (i.e not Happy in general), this was before I had actually seen or driven the car (my fault I guess) only to discover the damage to the bodywork and the fact that the air conditioning had not been fixed.

 

I agree the bodywork issue was sorted (don't need the detail) and was an annoyance having to take the car for repair as soon as I picked it up. I just wanted to get the car back so I could get it sold so this added delay and meant me having to drop the value for the air conditioning.

 

This brings me to the second issue - Shark NEVER offered to buy the car. They did put me in contact with a "Friend" who wanted to buy the car but wanted to pay a ridiculous price. If this was really on behalf of Shark then that is a bit Naughty!!.

 

Thirdly just to be clear I was actually invoiced and paid for the turbo repair charged by AET. The warranty issue and reasons behind was between Shark and AET. Surely a customer is not expected to pay twice for the same repair when they haven't already had benefit from the original ??

 

I have moved on now having sold the car and I am more than happy with my new vehicle which is why I haven't posted until now. Felt I had to though to have a credible response! 

 

Not a rant but more a statement of fact.

[roberto1954]

Although I was unaware that Rich had posted anything what he did post was factually correct albeit secondhand.

 

I would not normally post a response as do not feel it is appropriate for reasons mentioned but feel I should clear some of the "Untruths" quoted.

 

Firstly, although I was happy to accept (i.e not Happy in general), this was before I had actually seen or driven the car (my fault I guess) only to discover the damage to the bodywork and the fact that the air conditioning had not been fixed.

 

I agree the bodywork issue was sorted (don't need the detail) and was an annoyance having to take the car for repair as soon as I picked it up. I just wanted to get the car back so I could get it sold so this added delay and meant me having to drop the value for the air conditioning.

 

This brings me to the second issue - Shark NEVER offered to buy the car. They did put me in contact with a "Friend" who wanted to buy the car but wanted to pay a ridiculous price. If this was really on behalf of Shark then that is a bit Naughty!!.

 

Thirdly just to be clear I was actually invoiced and paid for the turbo repair charged by AET. The warranty issue and reasons behind was between Shark and AET. Surely a customer is not expected to pay twice for the same repair when they haven't already had benefit from the original ??

 

I have moved on now having sold the car and I am more than happy with my new vehicle which is why I haven't posted until now. Felt I had to though to have a credible response! 

 

Not a rant but more a statement of fact.

Well i never !

i have had no less than 9 re-maps from Ben at Sharkperformance right from the day he started in business.

i have been so impressed i have invested in the company and now work for them.

it was me that made the offer on the car, so YES it was Shark that offered to buy it. 

i looked into its tuning history first, and decided to buy it and we were only £500 apart.

after my holiday i had decided to pay the extra £500 but it was already sold.

yes it had a new Turbo and Darren paid for it.

But Darren was constantly asking Ben for more power and so the new Turbo broke. 

That wasn't Bens fault and Sharkperformance paid for the 2nd Turbo not Darren.

i honestly think this thread should be deleted as it wasn't supposed to be a slanging match against Shark.

i do hope this clears up the half truths.

Edited 19 August, 2016 by roberto1954

[Rich79]

Thank you Shark_90 for your response as you can see from DAZZA66's reply he paints quite a different picture.

I think that he has been very lenient considering he had to wait over a YEAR for his car to be returned.

Good customer service is about getting the job right first time, and if there is a problem then Quickly rectifying the issue to the customers satisfaction! When there is poor customer service, give reasonable compensation for loss and inconvenience suffered!

Forums are about sharing experiences good and bad and in this case warning others so they don't suffer the same fate. My original post was in response to a query from another forum member as to which companies to recommend based on past experience and knowledge, and I gave a response based on the facts of this particular case. When I heard Darren's story I was so I insensed as I know he is a decent guy.

[DAZZA66]

Well i never !

i have had no less than 9 re-maps from Ben at Sharkperformance right from the day he started in business.

i have been so impressed i have invested in the company and now work for them.

it was me that made the offer on the car, so YES it was Shark that offered to buy it. 

i looked into its tuning history first, and decided to buy it and we were only £500 apart.

after my holiday i had decided to pay the extra £500 but it was already sold.

yes it had a new Turbo and Darren paid for it.

But Darren was constantly asking Ben for more power and so the new Turbo broke. 

That wasn't Bens fault and Sharkperformance paid for the 2nd Turbo not Darren.

i honestly think this thread should be deleted as it wasn't supposed to be a slanging match against Shark.

i do hope this clears up the half truths.

 

I was quite happy to let it lie to be honest but when further FALSE statements are posted I have to react.

 

At least you clarify that you were actually acting for Shark in the purchase of the car unbeknown to myself the customer - not the most honest way to operate.

 

I am not sure where you are getting your facts from but at NO point did I "constantly ask for more power". I am sure Ben and the team can confirm that my original remit was to reduce the smoke and not more power (so quite the opposite). I purchased 50% injectors exactly for that reason and if my aim was for more power surely I would have chosen larger injectors. PLEASE DO NOT POST MORE FALSE STATEMENTS.

 

As I have mentioned before I am happy to move on and forget about the whole episode but if UNTRUTHS are posted (in this case secondhand) then I have to respond. Its not a slanging match but just the facts from my side.

[blueboy1]

Thanks for all th replies. I have now managed to arrange for the work to be done more or less on my doorstep and will let you know how I get on!, fingers crossed

[MartynVRS]

The car I bought had a Shark map, has done so for almost 40k and is fine. Smooth, plenty of power and easy to use. If I ever wanted more or wanted other work done I'd go there. Just find it odd that people with hardly any posts and have second hand stories are slagging a tuner off who is well known here and lots here have had work done by them. Sure, people have good and bad experiences with every tuner but from what I've seen over the last 9 years I've been here the majority are happy with Ben and Shark. I know work colleagues who have had several vRS's and each one get mapped by them with no issues and do thousands of of hard miles.

 

[Matt.]

Post count means about as much as the price of condoms in Hong kong to be honest.

Never used any of the aforementioned tuners so can't pass comment or judgement, but a professional tune should be able to take the rough with the smooth. Things go wrong or not today, it happens.

[DanGum]

I had a Shark map on my first fabia vrs and had no complaints. My second fabia vrs I went with a local company and I preferred the local companys remap. Car had a bit more grunt and less smoke (according to my mates following lol)

[wja96]

Post count means about as much as the price of condoms in Hong kong to be honest.

Never used any of the aforementioned tuners so can't pass comment or judgement, but a professional tune should be able to take the rough with the smooth. Things go wrong or not today, it happens.

I completely agree. As I said in my previous post, I've had work done at Shark that I wasn't 100% happy with and Ben sorted it. Before Ben did anything to my cars he always explained what he was doing and he gave me a risk assessment. On at least one occasion he point-blank refused to go further with a map because the EGTs were excessive, even though I was very clear I WANTED MORE.

From my own experience, and people I know from here and the Audi TT forums who have used Shark, they clean up after themselves and you very rarely see anyone post complaining about anything, in marked contrast to several other tuners.

So you'll have to accept my skepticism of some folks who have no real history on these forums who suddenly pop up with tales that are completely contrary to my own experience and the experiences of other Shark Performance customers. Not because of their post count, but because I have nigh-on 10 years of dealings with Ben Wardle.

[Graffiti]

Here bud, I am doing same as you and spoke to Kays Auto Specialists AKA Airtec Cooling Solutions.   They sent me the big Airtec twin pass front mount IC and all pipe work for my Fabia VRS . They posted up to Scottish Highlands and wavered the postage cost plus knocked £60 off the kit.  So all in including postage £440.   its £500 on ebay!   

 

They did all this without me even asking them to drop the price of the FMIC.   now unless I am wrong, this is the cheapest Airtec kit I think any of us have had brand new?  If no then its one of the cheapest.

 

As for maps etc I cant advise as up here its a few select companies locally.  

 

Defo check out the above for a FMIC and mention brisk skoda.

 

G

[Ryan90VRS]

I've had a stage 1 map from Shark on my car for the last 6/7 years and never had a minutes bother. Pulls all the way to redline.

Ben remapped the car for me but I couldn't afford it at the time. He told me I could pay him when I had the money as I'd just lost my job. Not bad customer service I'd say.

[Clarkey666]

Unfortunately, no company will ever have 100% glowing reviews; I'd advise looking a little further than one forum thread to make a decision. Mistakes happen, delays occur and so on. For me, it is how the company and it's people deal with these issues that makes the difference. It strikes me as a little unfair how Shark have been discussed in this thread.

 

My experience of Shark has been superb. Without going on too much, I'll give a brief story of my dealings with them.

 

My first trip to Shark was in an AA truck with my first Fabia vRS on the back soaked in oil, the turbo had blown spectacularly. A fellow forum member, wja96 (I'm still grateful for the help, thank you), recommended Shark to me after I posted asking for help and advice. After being dropped off at their first premises, Ben discussed options with me and took great time and detail doing so, handy as at that point I knew even less about cars than I do now. I collected the car following the fitting of an Allard VT2 PD150 Hybrid Turbo, Forge FMIC, Blueflame Cat Back Exhaust and all the requisite seals, gaskets etc and of course a custom remap. The result was outstanding. I was kept well informed about progress and was at no point let down.

 

Consequently I've been to all three premises to have work done and am still a regular customer eight years later, mainly for servicing and mechanical work lately but when I get a different car I'll no doubt have an upgrade or two there. I'm reluctant to take my car anywhere else and drive 45mins each way to go there. I've always been looked after and would confidently recommend their services to anyone. 

 

I'm a stickler for reviews myself, my point is to those who haven't experienced a company first hand- look beyond the anomalies and furthermore think before writing derogatory comments about businesses. For some, this thread will be enough for them to avoid Shark, which from my experience with them would be a shame indeed.

[Ph1lly87]

Aintree remaps Dave Evans is the owner really clever lad full custom remaps. Also does ambulances and police cars

[Coffin Dodger]

Do Jabba Sport no longer exist? I can't believe there was no mention of them in this post when they used to be the place to go to. 

I also think this got a little off subject, in as much as, it turned into a slagging match against Shark, when only two parties know the whole story.

The original question requested recommendations as I recall.