Hey folks, this is my first time posting on evolutionm.. I'm a former A4 driver and I just recently totaled my A4 so I'm in the market for a new car. All signs tend to be pointing to the Evo, and I'm obviously going to mod it. I'm in the SF Bay Area and I know the value of going to a tuner who's local if possible, and preferably I'd like to keep the majority of my mods with that tuner, etc. So I am looking at either WORKS or Vishnu - both have really nice upgrade paths and I have heard good things about both, but wondering what you all have to say about the two? If I get an Evo, I'll probably want to choose one and stick with them for the most part, so what do you guys think?

Thanks, and look forward to hopefully meeting more of you if I end up with an Evo.

-mike

 

personally. works.

 

If the tuner being local is extremely important, as you stated above, then I would suggest Works as well. I've seen most of their products first hand and they are of excellent craftsmanship and quality. Also, I've heard some wonderfull things about their support and service.

Good luck!

 

All you're gonna find are subjective answers to this question I think....they're both great tuners in their own different ways. Personally, it seems to me works has preset stages that their tuned p2 (ecus) will work for....so it has to be more or less a combination of certain components to make their tuning work. On the other hand, vishnu allows you to customize your car with whatever you want and tune that for you on the dyno. It's really a toss up, it all depends on ur goals and applications.

 

My $.02

Works is great for generic, through the mail products. Living in St Louis, this is the path I went with.

Vishnu can custom tune the crap out of your car. If you have access to him, I would go through that path.

In the end, WORKS ECU solution is cheaper, but will leave some hp on the table b/c of its generic nature. Both are great, though, and you cant go wrong either way.

 

Thanks for the info folks. The more I look at it, the more I think Vishnu is the way I will go if I end up with an Evo. They are also local like WORKS and I like their philosophy. I also like the XEDE ECU, but it sure would be nice if they had some of the perks you can get with some of the Audi tuners, like a little remote control to switch the software at a moment's notice, etc, instead of having to upload and flash the chip every time.. Would be nice if they had the ability to store, say, 2 or 3 programs or once and have some quick way of changing the software. But in any event they seem really cool and I think I will go with them. I like the fact that they have XEDE programs for so many different contingencies, and I can always get it even more custom-tuned if I want.

Thanks to all for the help!

-mike

 

I had an early Vishnu stage one (3" turbo back, XEDE) that I installed on my car when it had about 12K miles on it. Since then I've added another 12K or so over the last 10 months and the car has been bulletproof. Lots of track days and hard driving, tempratures from -20 F to 100+ F, long trips, etc. The car has always maintained stock-like drivability with a big boost in performance.

Since the original instal, my car wasn't changed at all (ok - oops, lots of suspension stuff) until my last round of mods. I had the XEDE firmware updated and the ECU XEDE flashed, and I installed new cams + cam gears + valve springs + retainers, oh, and a new fuel pump. I did drive the car briefly with just the new flashes, and the performance was even better, the mid-range had more kick. My car is currently in the body shop, but after it's out and tuned, I'm really looking forward to some nice power.

The XEDE can hold 2 banks of maps, and you can switch between them (while driving) with a switch. It doesn't come with the switch, but it's a snap to wire up. The XEDE can also be used to contol additional devices like a water injection system or NOS, and it includes the ability to take control of your intercooler sprayer. The latest software also has launch control and some other nice features. The next version (last word is a July(?) release?) will have an even better feature set. I'd recomend digging through the Vishnu forums here for more details. The software for building and customing the tuning maps is pretty easy to understand and work with, and is free to users.

The only draw-back to working with Vishnu I have found is that they get pretty busy and can be hard to reach. Once I have someone on the phone though, I've always had my questions answered. Since my new cams are Pipers and well outside the range of available "stock maps" I've been bugging them with some questions lately.

 

I can only speak on behalf of Works. I am very satisfied with everything I have purchased (P2, throttle body, croxx plate, clutch cable and downpipe).
Work's offers components to improve everything about the EVO and delivers it like a factory tuned vehicle (ie:fq 300/330).
My highest recommendations!!

 

From the looks of a magazine article i have hear...it looks like vishnu's stock turbo car made more power then works' upgraded turbo car.

Seems like a no brainer if you ask me.

Here is the article....

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0406scc_evo/

 

True, but only 5 more HP. The WORKS car made 11 ft*lbs more torque. Take that as you will. The Works car was also faster on the road course. That whole article can be taken very subjectively.

Tuning is more than wringing HP out of a motor.

 

Bottom line is that every car is diffrent and if Works feels that a generic tune for all cars is ideal well they would not be my first tuning option.

IMHO

 

Works makes good products. Vishnu is a good tuner.

 

if your sticking locally i would recommend vishnu, their products are great quality but a bit high priced IMHO. of course you don't need to buy their products to get tuned by them.

i agree with eric on this one, from what i've seen, the works flash is generalized.

 

am very happy with Vishnu - as a matter of fact, Shiv has tuned my car twice and it won't be the last time

Can't say anything good or bad about Works

 

I have no desire to start any kind of a flame war. Both companies make safe power and have lots of satisfied customers. I'm only posting my two angles on the topic.

It is Works products that don't allow you change tunes at the flick of a switch. The Xede comes with the ability to switch between two maps quickly. You have to turn your car off, put two wires together, turn your car back on, and you are on your other map.

As far as comparing power gains from both companies, one thing you might try is to search through the drag racing forum for the MPH that Works and Vishnu customers are achieving. As you probably already know, MPH is a good way to measure power. You are going to find three things:
1. Neither company cares much for drag racing.
2. Vishnu customers (like me and and at least four others) consistenly post 110 to 114 mph with their straight stage 1 and 1+ setups.
3. Works customers rarely post their results and I don't believe it is because their customers never drag race. I have seen only two Works cars drag race but I study these forums for results all the time and they simply do not keep up with the Vishnu cars. If I am inaccurate, I will retract this statement.