View Full Version : Best tuning shop in Houston?
Yes, I saw the sticky, but would love to hear some personal thoughts and experiences y'all have had.
I want to get my GXP tuned here in Houston, but don't really know the shops at all here yet. The car has Rotofab CAI and Corsa CB exhaust. I talked to G-Force in Pearland, but I'd rather find something a little closer to the west side of Houston so it's easier just to stop by. Thanks in advance!
wnt2gofst
06-07-2011, 04:38 PM
Patrick G....I drove 3.5 hours each way two different times for a reason. He is the best. Car was night and day after his tunes.
if you want it local and on the west side go to www.gowheatley.com charlie has been tuning these lsx vehicles for a very long time, not going to get into a pissing match about who's the best, but i've seen and been to alot of different tune shops and looked over several different tunes and charlie is one of the better persons to go with.
wreckwriter
06-07-2011, 05:05 PM
I'm sure the other guy is good but to be that close to one of the best tuners in the country and not go to him would be dumb. Patrick G.
mgm6.0l
06-07-2011, 05:16 PM
Go with wheatley trust me I know! Charlie isn't just good he is phenomenal at what he does.. Like vv8 said im not going to get into a piss match either. Tell him adam garza sent you. Charlie is a real good friend of mine he'll take care of ya.
GRRRR8
06-07-2011, 05:40 PM
Being able to tune and being able to tune all aspects of the G8s ECM/TCM and AFM is what you need to find in a tuner. I drive 2 hours to Patrick as do all of my customers.
the g8's ecm/tcm is no different then the trucks/vettes/camaros ask me how I know!
metoo
06-07-2011, 07:06 PM
I'll bite. How do you know?
fiveoh
06-07-2011, 07:09 PM
He tunes as well. I think punisher has one of his tunes.
GRRRR8
06-07-2011, 07:25 PM
the g8's ecm/tcm is no different then the trucks/vettes/camaros ask me how I know!
And most of them do not get tuned correctly either. Getting max HP is easy in any car. Having excellent driveability, fuel economy and no quirks is a completely different story. I see more G8s then just about any shop in the US and I can tell who's tune is in it in most cases just with a road test.
Getting rid of all the TQ management so it rips 2nd and 3rd gear scratches does not make a car tuned. Most G8s have low TQ#s because tuners run too much timing. Most timing tables are partially altered for WOT performance and there is no smooth transition in the maps/tables.
I have personally seen over a dozen of the "top" tuners tunes and every one of these cars has issues. Then they went to Patrick. :)
1slow01Z71
06-07-2011, 07:28 PM
Patrick G isnt the only guy who knows how to tune GM vehicles. Charlie is very proficient too, Patrick has had his fair share of problems with tuning just as other reputable tuners. Theyre both good, just dont dismiss Charlie simply because he isnt Patrick. Noth are equally as hard to get ahold of and both probably have close to the same amount of experience. Personally Id go with whoever is closer then whoever is cheaper. Ive known Charlie since before he was even in to tuning and owned an old vortec350 truck that he taught himself how to tune on with tunercat, he has always been a great helpful guy and knows his stuff.
Yes, I saw the sticky, but would love to hear some personal thoughts and experiences y'all have had.
I want to get my GXP tuned here in Houston, but don't really know the shops at all here yet. The car has Rotofab CAI and Corsa CB exhaust. I talked to G-Force in Pearland, but I'd rather find something a little closer to the west side of Houston so it's easier just to stop by. Thanks in advance!
this is what the guy wants and I offered him info he needed, like I said we can go back and fourth all night, but he wants this and this is what I gave him, i'm sure patrick G is good but that is not what the owner of the car wants now is it!
GRRRR8
06-07-2011, 07:32 PM
I for one am not dismissing anybody. I am saying that there are some "cookie cutter" tuners out there that are not all that they are made out to be.
GRRRR8
06-07-2011, 07:36 PM
this is what the guy wants and I offered him info he needed, like I said we can go back and fourth all night, but he wants this and this is what I gave him, i'm sure patrick G is good but that is not what the owner of the car wants now is it!
You are absolutely correct. Stopping by to get a cheeseburger is one thing, but cheeseburgers do not cost $4-500 do they.
You are absolutely correct. Stopping by to get a cheeseburger is one thing, but cheeseburgers do not cost $4-500 do they.
depends where your buy it lol
GRRRR8
06-07-2011, 07:39 PM
LOL! You do have a point. :)
mgm6.0l
06-07-2011, 08:11 PM
Patrick G isnt the only guy who knows how to tune GM vehicles. Charlie is very proficient too, Patrick has had his fair share of problems with tuning just as other reputable tuners. Theyre both good, just dont dismiss Charlie simply because he isnt Patrick. Noth are equally as hard to get ahold of and both probably have close to the same amount of experience. Personally Id go with whoever is closer then whoever is cheaper. Ive known Charlie since before he was even in to tuning and owned an old vortec350 truck that he taught himself how to tune on with tunercat, he has always been a great helpful guy and knows his stuff.
I agree with you It seems like most, not all dismiss charlie just because he isn't patrick.
And yes there are unfortunately a hand full of cookie cutter tuners in houston.
20lbbooster
06-07-2011, 08:21 PM
There are some serious Patrick nuthuggers here. I will personally never let Patrick even breath on my car because when I met him, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't like his cocky attitude. He may be the earths greatest LSX tuner but he's definitely not the only game in town. I'll prove that soon enough.
I had my truck tuned by Charlie about 4 - 5 years ago and it worked great. I don't know what he has done with these cars yet, but I would certainly give him try. Patrick G has been given a ton of credit on multiple forums and that says a lot.
I personally want to see what he can do as a result of his reputation with G8s alone. Don't think anyone one would be disappointed either way.
mgm6.0l
06-07-2011, 08:32 PM
There are some serious Patrick nuthuggers here. I will personally never let Patrick even breath on my car because when I met him, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't like his cocky attitude. He may be the earths greatest LSX tuner but he's definitely not the only game in town. I'll prove that soon enough.
LMAO! Man your great just putting it out there like that :theman:
20lbbooster
06-07-2011, 09:26 PM
LMAO! Man your great just putting it out there like that :theman:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking his ability. Apparently he knows his stuff and he has plenty of satisfied customers, I just didn't care for him personally. Plenty of other good tuners/mechanics out there. Houston is like the Mecca for lsx!
MY SRM GXP
06-08-2011, 04:15 AM
I 2nd that about Pat-G..... (He will never touch my car). How I went to LMR (Late Model Racecraft) I've never herd anything bad about them. My HP # seem alittle low but inhope it's just the dyno, but my TQ# are in line with other GXP's with the same mods. Are they the best? Hell if I know, but I'm happy with it. I still haven't been to the tract to see what she turns. Hope this helps. Good luck with ur hunt for a tuner.
fiveoh
06-08-2011, 04:21 AM
There are some serious Patrick nuthuggers here. I will personally never let Patrick even breath on my car because when I met him, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't like his cocky attitude. He may be the earths greatest LSX tuner but he's definitely not the only game in town. I'll prove that soon enough.
Lots of haters when your on top. :)
I've met Patrick a few times and hes been a nice laid back guy to me. Always answered all my questions and fun to talk to. I never even spent a dime with him or ran his tune(although I wish I had).
Kurt(the owner of the shop patrick tunes at) is awesome too.
wreckwriter
06-08-2011, 06:19 AM
Patrick specced my cam for me. He did a great job and was easy to deal with and affordable.
I can't say anything against anyone elses tuners but I've gotten good results from Patrick and never felt I was being taken advantage of, he's worth every penny. The thing about a custom tune is that they're expensive and you need to do your research on who can deliver results. I don't want to spend 400 bucks on a custom tune just to get OK results and the spend another 400 somewhere else to get that little bit more or that bad bit out.
I'd suggest taking it to a guy that actually has tuned some G8s. I'd suggest two guys: Patrick G or Brian at Powerfab. Brian is on this board and owns a GXP so he knows what to do plus he's here in town.
to the OP this allways happens lol, like I said charlie is close to you and very knowledgeable and one of the better tuners out there. good luck with your car and hope to meet you one day.
metoo
06-08-2011, 10:12 AM
There are some serious Patrick nuthuggers here. I will personally never let Patrick even breath on my car because when I met him, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't like his cocky attitude. He may be the earths greatest LSX tuner but he's definitely not the only game in town. I'll prove that soon enough.
Cocky? ! Wow! Must have caught him on a bad day. My experiences have been the exact opposite even before he tuned my car. When my car was bone stock, he answered a dozen messages, was cool and laid back as any of us in person, and even let me drive his car (500whp G8). After I did my own modifications, he tuned it. A few months later he drove to my house (Houston) to do some extra tuning to my TCM just because he thought of some things to improve it. No charge, but I did tip him anyway.
Even the best resturancts, products, etc. get a bad review once in a blue moon.
In truth, like someone else said, Texas is the LSX mecca. There are several great tuners. Among the great ones, there shouldn't be much of a performance difference in your tune. Rapport becomes the next most important thing. The main reason I went with Pat was the amount of G8's specifically that he's successfully tuned and the seat/dyno time he's had in his own. That said, it would be good for the G8 community to get more G8's under the belt of another tuner. Every tuner I personally checkout before deciding to drive to Victoria would say something to the effect of, "yeah we've done a couple of G8's."
wnt2gofst
06-08-2011, 10:15 AM
There are some serious Patrick nuthuggers here. I will personally never let Patrick even breath on my car because when I met him, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't like his cocky attitude. He may be the earths greatest LSX tuner but he's definitely not the only game in town. I'll prove that soon enough.
Maybe you both rubbed each other wrong way?
I know when I met him he was cool. Never acted bad towards me or better then me or anything like that. Never was cocky towards me. Hell when my car beat his he even gave me props even though he started in the 2nd i started in 1st. Hell he even re-tuned my car for free for the spray. On and off the street making sure my shift points was perfect along with A/F and drive-ability and everything else.
20lbbooster
06-08-2011, 10:54 AM
Patrick personally offended me. He thought he was being funny but I didn't appreciate it. He did it on two seperate occasions. All I can say is you should watch what you say to people when you first meet them. I'm sure he didn't mean to offend, but, he did. I wrote him off after that. I was contemplating spending a considerable amount of money with him but decided not to.
I'm not knocking his skillset. Apparently he's good at what he does, however, like I said before, he's not the only game in town by far and i'll never give him a penny of my money. I'm no newbie...I know my way around a turbo car!
I'm done jacking this thread.
OLD_GOAT
06-08-2011, 06:47 PM
There are some serious Patrick nuthuggers here.
Patrick personally offended me. He thought he was being funny but I didn't appreciate it.
Dude, you are a good guy and I like hanging with you at the track. However we can all get offended. You thought that by calling those who appreciate Patrick's work 'nuthuggers' you were being funny, but I didn't appreciate it. This is simply a humorous way to show how things can go both ways.
One night Patrick was at the track as was 20lbbooster and here is the thread. http://forum.grrrr8.net/showthread.php?t=20889
Now maybe some guys will say that their tuner could do the same thing, but Patrick did it for free. There were no agreements when he tuned my car and as far as I know he was either a car guy helping out a buddy or was being slick, knowing that if he tuned my car, I would somehow feel an obligation to visit him for doing the work (3200 stall, full tune, and ARH 1 7/8 headers). The idealist in me says he was a car guy helping out another car guy. If that was the case, then I would consider him to be a stand up guy.
Different things can upset different people. There is a man in the Houston area I respect as a tuner and a generally great car guy. I've shot the bull with him at the track on several occasions. Since owning my 2005 GTO, the highlight of my racing was finally getting an 11.91 with bolt on's on my GXP. This man (who posts on this board) never told me congratulations or took a second to pm me a quick congratulations. He never posted in my thread where I announced my 11.91. That bothered me greatly, but I hold no ill will toward him. Him, being a very knowledgeable car guy, giving regular old me a quick 'way to go' would have meant a lot, because I respect him so much.
If I were to hug nuts, it would be a can of cashews.:thumbsup: http://di1-4.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/c8/ce/02/40931783-149x149-0-0_Planters+Planters+Cashew+Whole+Honey+Roasted+9+5 +O.jpg
boi1da
06-08-2011, 07:56 PM
Yes, I saw the sticky, but would love to hear some personal thoughts and experiences y'all have had.
I want to get my GXP tuned here in Houston, but don't really know the shops at all here yet. The car has Rotofab CAI and Corsa CB exhaust. I talked to G-Force in Pearland, but I'd rather find something a little closer to the west side of Houston so it's easier just to stop by. Thanks in advance!
I had the same question when I first got my car. Since I live in Pearland several people suggested I go to G-Force and since we're not that far from Victoria a TON of people suggested Pat G. In the end, I decided a 2.5 hr drive was too far when I wanted something changed and I wasn't really sold on G-Force (no knock on them or the cars they work on. I just didn't feel comfortable when I spoke with them). With that said G-Force does have some amazing cars. In the end I decided it would be worth it for me to buy HPTuners and learn to do it myself. While I most certainly do not have the experience that both of those tuners have, I can learn. It will save me money in the long run and I won't have to drive anywhere when I need something changed. Once everything is said and done do what you want. You pay the note, who cares what anybody thinks in regards to who the best tuner is or isn't. Find one you're comfortable with and roll with it.
Thank you to everyone with great responses and input. I have called Patrick and am waiting on his call back. I am also going to check out Charlie. It might be worth the drive for me, but I need to know that he can do the tune while I am down there since it's a good drive and it's hard for me to take off of work. I would also like to know the prices of each. When I had originally talked to G-Force, they quoted me $500 for the tune and I think $50 for lifetime mod upgrade tunes. We'll see what these other guys say. Thanks again!
texn884
06-09-2011, 10:34 AM
I have had my car done by Patrick G. and what he does in my mind is amazing. When he takes you out in the car after he has tuned the engine and transmission you htik you have a different car than what you drove in with.
The first 10 or so emails with Patrick he explained all my concerns and questions, and like I told him I have never had any of my cars messed with or even put adifferent exhaust on. But with my G8GT I was excited and nervious about wit this being done to my car the factory warranty goes by by and I thought WTF and made the appointment and met him and Kurt at the shop and watched them in action. About 3-4 hours later with some bull shitting and shooting guns while we let the engine cool down some between a few dyno runs.
Anytime I have a question I sed either of them a email and I get a reply real fast in a day or so depending on their schedules. Kurt has installed my Kooks LT headers and after Patrick put it on the dyno and got it all set up. Again I would have them work on my car becasue both of them take their time and do it right.
I know I did not pay any where near $500.00. I want to say $200-$250 something around there and so worth it. He spends time to get it right so yu don't hav to go back for updates he has all that figured out.
Just my $.03.
So I can't ignore all the great reviews of Patrick. I talked to him and he quoted me a great price and seemed very versed in our cars. I also did a little research on him on other lsx type forums and word of mouth and he seems like one of the best tuners out there possibly. I'm sure there are other great tuners here too, but this gives me a chance to spend the night at my ranch near Victoria. I'm heading there tuesday. Can't wait!
wnt2gofst
06-09-2011, 12:44 PM
So I can't ignore all the great reviews of Patrick. I talked to him and he quoted me a great price and seemed very versed in our cars. I also did a little research on him on other lsx type forums and word of mouth and he seems like one of the best tuners out there possibly. I'm sure there are other great tuners here too, but this gives me a chance to spend the night at my ranch near Victoria. I'm heading there tuesday. Can't wait!
Make sure to let us know what you think after words. Good or bad. About the tune and him/Kurt.
BLKG8
06-09-2011, 01:00 PM
Cant loose. A tune and a night at the ranch.... +1 on the update afterwards.
98aggie
06-09-2011, 02:06 PM
Make sure to let us know what you think after words. Good or bad. About the tune and him/Kurt.Yep, I'm the one you got to worry about. So when my new toy shows up in a couple months you headed back down. (AR-10 with ARIES system)
wnt2gofst
06-09-2011, 02:49 PM
Yep, I'm the one you got to worry about. So when my new toy shows up in a couple months you headed back down. (AR-10 with ARIES system)
Will head down for some fun when i get back from deployment. Also to check that crazy build you have going...:beer3:
AR-10? The 7.62mm AR-15? I wanted one of those but they were to expensive when I was in the market so I got an HK-91.
meatbag
06-10-2011, 02:44 PM
Its hard for a tuner to please everyone since everyone drives different and expects something different. Usually I try to get people to drive the car for a couple days after I tune it and take notes if anything needs to be adjusted. Of course I do not charge anyone for adjustments.
In the end you have to go with who you are comfortable with. You need to be able to tell that person hey this part sucks or this is awesome without anyone getting butt hurt and be able to talk back and forth. Otherwise your car is the only thing that suffers.
So the tune is done! I truly could not be happier! Patrick and Kurt were super cool. I grew up in the area so I felt very comfortable with those guys and the place their shop was in. Plus I got to my ranch with about 40 minutes of daylight left and got to blow off about 2 boxes of shells at clay pigeons.
Now to the numbers. My car only has Rotofab CAI and Corsa catback (plus tune now). My baseline was 375ish...honestly can't remember, but it was +/- 2-3 hp. After all was said and done the car peaked at 399.3 rwhp. patrick tried to get that elusive last hp, but i was super happy with that number. Hell, essentially 400 rwhp with minimal mods. I highly recommend these guys. Thanks to everyone for the input and thanks to LSX Performance Dyno Tuning!
wnt2gofst
06-16-2011, 02:50 AM
Good to hear. They are really good. Glad you was very pleased with them.
Also nice strong numbers. Now get it to the track.
BLKG8
06-16-2011, 02:58 AM
Nice numbers !! I guess it was well worth the drive.
Patrick G
06-16-2011, 05:59 AM
Enjoyed meeting you Greyson and that GXP of yours is a factory freak! Very strong power. With your high initial baseline, I was wondering if we'd be able to get our normal tuning gains. I was pleased that with just a laptop, we were able to extract an additional 22 rwhp. I look forward to hearing how your fuel economy improves as well. Take care. Patrick
I think it might be a little while until I can figure out my "real" fuel gains because so far I'm thinking that my normal driving habits are a bit aggressive. It'll be a little while until my foot looses some weight! Thank you so much again! I look forward to making that car get into the 500 range in the near future.
mgm6.0l
06-16-2011, 07:34 AM
So the tune is done! I truly could not be happier! Patrick and Kurt were super cool. I grew up in the area so I felt very comfortable with those guys and the place their shop was in. Plus I got to my ranch with about 40 minutes of daylight left and got to blow off about 2 boxes of shells at clay pigeons.
Now to the numbers. My car only has Rotofab CAI and Corsa catback (plus tune now). My baseline was 375ish...honestly can't remember, but it was +/- 2-3 hp. After all was said and done the car peaked at 399.3 rwhp. patrick tried to get that elusive last hp, but i was super happy with that number. Hell, essentially 400 rwhp with minimal mods. I highly recommend these guys. Thanks to everyone for the input and thanks to LSX Performance Dyno Tuning!
Glad you got a tune man! Enjoy it I know I did, fuel milage goes down a bit on the first week for some odd reason lol!
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