Shark Paahhformance.

 

This is my review on having my Mk2 golf 1.8t remapped by Shark.... or not remappped as it stands with the end result, did they bite off more than they could chew!

 

Mid January 2015.

I dropped the car off for a custom remap on my 1.8t agu converted mk2, spec of the car ko3s, fmic, saab 346cc inj, bbt acutator, oversize tip. 3inch maf.
They have had the car for 4 days so i ring them up on thursday and ask if there is any progress and im told that they cannot remap my ecu despite me going into lengthy detail on my set up when booking it in, asking all the relevant q's about that they can do narrow band and use the emulator etc.

Being a bit annoyed about this info we then settle on me sending them a later agu ecu which they can flash through the obd, and get told i will be sorted out with the immo defeat normally £60 plus vat.

 

I then get a new ecu sent out to them for the monday, they now take around 3 weeks to immo off the ecu i rang them up for updates around twice a week and get told 'we are checking the pinouts on the ecus to compare they are ok' i said i have done this using autodata and took me approx 5 mins!

Towards the end of the thrid week of having the ecu i get a phone call 'we are mapping the car and is going well but we cannot get the injectors to code in with the maf but we do reccomend a new fuel pump and its not making massive power'....lol, i ask for a more detailed explanation as they dont need to be coded and plug in and play and then scaled in to suit,i agree to the fuel pump fitment i dont get a call back for a few days.

 

Around 2 weeks later i then get a call to tell me 'one or two of the injectors seem to be faulty', i ask about the previous call and get 'the more im talking to customers on the phone the less i am on the dyno... ive got to go bye' haaaa. im then thinking maybe im getting it all done now, so i sort out another set of inj and refurb them and sent out within the week.

 

Around a week later my steering lock is faulting and i go down to sort it out, finding my original red inj in the engine so i start her up and rev through and doesnt seem to be missing to me? I fix the steering lock.

 

End of March,

 

i recieve an email 'one of your intercooler pipes is slipping off under boost, we are about 80% done on the map', i ask can you double clip it to get it through and i will sort out the beading on the pipes after as they have held untill now but get denied. By this time i was in the middle of moving house etc and said i will come and get the car and sort out beading all the pipes.

 

I pop up on the Sat and get told i can only take the car if i pay the fuly mapping and fuel pump bill, i say im happy to pay the fuel pump bill and rest when i bring it back as the service hasnt been carried out and im potentailly cannot use the car as if it was remapped due to the state of tune and risk. The best i get offered is half the bill payment..... so i decide to take the pipes off and leave the car makes it easier for me and im promised that the map will be completed within the next two weeks as i explain it has been going on for a bit now.

 

I get the pipes beaded and i drop them up and fit them on the monday 2 days later. 2 weeks go by and i ask for an update on the wed and get the usual 'we have race cars in and been holding up the dyno, they have dead lines etc' i then say 'my deadline has been and gone, i dont want to be told its going to get fitted in etc between others it needs its dyno slot booked in the diary so its going to actually get completed' i get 'ok we will book it in for in a week time'

So the previous excuse was the Wed, i then get a call the following Tues night saying the engine was heard to be knocking on start up not on the dyno but just manoeuvring the car on last fri/sat..... so why are you telling me that 3 days later???

I tell them im coming to get the car, they then email saying about full payment for a map thats not completed?? I then get offered they will take off the map and i will just pay for the immo off which was sposed to be free and the fuel pump.

April 18th. I arrive on Saturday, start up the car and no knokcing can be heard, i ask to sort the bill out and then get told the immo off is £150 plus vat, when their rrp is £60 plus vat but because of their **** up with the original ecu i would get sorted out for it, so i explain and get told yeah its £60, so i explain even more carefully im not paying for that but happy to pay for the fuel pump and fitting, so thats what the end result was.

 

I then drive the car 150 miles, no engine knock and has been fine. So after 3months i was back to square one. Make of this what you will i just wanted to share my rubbish experience and help others.

 

Just took the car to get mapped today and have an internal rom error, so it appears they did not have a clue what they were doing and have corrupted the chip for me aswell...great!!

Hmm, not my place to mention names but this isn't the first time I've heard of a car and it's owner being messed about by Shark.

 

Are you within a reasonable distance of Hinkley by any chance? Nick and the guys at R-Tech would be able to help you out I'm sure.