I was skeptical about buying this unit, but the buyer assured me he bought it new and never attempted to install it. I won the auction for $152.50. When I tried to install the unit, I got a code 162, which means it has a VIN mismatch. I called Turner Motorsports where he allegedly bought the unit and they said it had been installed in another vehicle. Urrrrrrrrrr.

I contacted the buyer and he assured me that it was not installed so I sent it back to Turner to have it checked out. Well, they found in the log that it had been installed, then restored. Lucky for me because they will reset a restored unit for $10 so I'm good now. They also gave me the VIN. I ran a search on the VIN and the carfax showed the car registered to a person in the seller's city and state. Interesting eh?

Now I'm waiting for a response. Luckily, I had the foresight to immediately file a paypal claim so the funds are locked. Needless to say the seller is pissed about that, but hasn't responded to my latest email about the testing results.

Are people stupid? The guy had 140 items sold with perfect feedback. I told him that he could not have ever installed it, but he thought I wouldn't notice?

 

In the Immortal words of a (Soon former) president....

Fool me once, eh shame on you !

Fool me twice, eh...eh

Clearly, we cannot be fooled again !

 

I was watching that auction. Glad you got it working. Let us know if your opinion of it when you get it installed.

 

I did some research and the opinion of most is that it's a moderately good upgrade. There's no wow factor like the pulley or bypass valve. I'm not hoping for huge gains, but well worth 1/2 price. I used one of these on my E36 M3 and it was pretty good. You get the illusion of more power because they remap the throttle response so you get more gas with less movement. I got the 93 octane unit so I should see some gains. I'll let you know.

 

With that amount of positive feedback, I will say he probably was clueless. There are so many people on ePay that pick up items to sell from where ever, and not having the slightest clue about the item, put it up for auction. It sounds more like he was just concerned about the money than actually doing research on the item. I have a feeling that he wasn't trying to be dishonest, just trying to make a quick buck and jumped the gun. With the price you paid, plus the $10 for Turner to recal. it, you still made out like a bandit. But it goes to show to becareful what you buy online. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Maybe I can pay Turner to recal/reset my Shark then sell it for 1/2 price as I have RMW tune now.

 

If you do a restore, they will reset the VIN for $10 and that includes the shipping cost. I didn't know they would do that either.

 

Well, I got it back and it installed without any problems. I took it for a quick spin and really didn't notice much of a gain. I can tell a little bit and the tires seem to break loose under WOT in second requiring me to turn off DSC. Like others have said, this upgrade is nothing like the pulley. Even the CAI which is documented to add 9.5hp on this car was a better upgrade. For anyone modding, I would do CAI, then pulley, then exhaust before spending $369 on software.

 

Shark software should be done with or after the pulley. I'd always recommend pulley and software as a single upgrade and CAI/Exhaust as a separate but single upgrade. Each pairing is greater than the sum of its parts.

Shark does a lot besides increase raw horsepower. For example it affects the richness of the fuel mixture so you don't fry your valves from all the extra air, increases the RPM limit and it smooths out the torque curve that is affected from bringing up the boost at lower RPM. So just the Shark alone will not seem all that big a deal to the fanny dyno.

As for your seller, he/she may not have understood the Shark can only be used on one vehicle after which it stores the VIN and restoring the software does not allow the unit to be used on another VIN. It was new to me that for a very modest fee this can be un-done. I'll remember to have that done by Turner if I ever want to sell my car and the Shark separately.

 

I drove the car for about another 50 miles today and the highway gas mileage was great. They must lean things out when cruising. Although, I wonder if you've ever noticed pinging with yours. I don't know if it's pinging or not, but I hear a little something at WOT in 6th gear. I have the 93 octane tune. I have cold plugs and changed the fuel filter last weekend.

 

Which is why Jan doesnt like it...

 

I would uninstall this ASAP......as there have been several tuners who have found that this really mucks up the maps on the ecu.

Jan even had to install a stock tune on a car that he was attempting to tune because it was so out of whack he didn't trust it to do a baseline dyno run on it.

 

Turner is going to take it back, and for another $10 will exchange for the 91 octane tune. They have been extremely flexible and helpful.

 

I installed the 91 octane version yesterday. It certainly isn't as peppy as the 93, but no ping problems. I wouldn't say it's worth the cost unless you need to go over the speed limiter or rev limiter.

 

I had the 93 Octane Shark before custom tune. The timing is too advanced that's why it's causing pinging.