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I’m the tuner for Vmax, I’m sorry I haven’t read everything on this thread or the other, but I’m pretty sure I get the gist. I’m the source of the IP but have not had any input on operations whatsoever, people send me computers and files from all over the world and I make sure they go fast.
Andy aka Bill has come under heavy fire, and I know the internet loves flame wars that’s why threads like this blow up like wildfire. I’m going to interject with my 2 cents and the flame war can continue if you guys so choose.
Firstly, I’d like to apologize for what this has become, although I’m confused as to what the main concern is here so I’ll give you guys a data dump from what I know and you can make up your own minds.
Andy AKA Bill had a successful business for a long time, his business from what I understand was sabotaged by competitors in the marketplace, the only thing people really had to complain about is that he wasn’t the tuner and was reselling products. In reality, he’s doing the same thing here, but as far as I know there is no crime in doing that. He provides a service and was doing a bang up job until recently. I haven’t read every gripe or complaint so I can only presume to defend his actions as pertaining to VMAX as that’s the only stuff I have any knowledge in first hand.
From what was explained to me, Andy/Bill didn’t respond to ROBGODIUS back East while there were issues with scheduling, and didn’t respond for quite a while (about a week). During this time, I also didn’t hear from him at all, I was literally googling him to see if he was in the obituary’s. The story I was told is that he had a concussion and was in a medically induced coma because of brain swelling, I understand the story he said here was different and frankly I have no idea which is the truth and don’t really care to delve into it much further, the bottom line is there was a communication break-down, the customer was upset, and VMAX refunded the customer no questions asked. In my opinion, that was the right thing to do. He’s sporadically gone missing since, which I assume is also a function of recovering from his injuries. As for why the car didn’t make the same kind of power as some other customers have made I can only provide the information I have:
I was told a file would come in 6am my time on a Saturday, I woke up at 5:30am and waited till about 8am before I received anything. I made a tuned file, sent it out, and waited for dyno results to customize the tune further. It took me ~4 minutes to make the first file. Once I got results I made a few revisions and sent out a new tuned file. If I’m at the dyno with a car these revisions can be done fairly quickly but because there was a degree of separation between tuner and customer/dyno operator there wasn’t enough time to troubleshoot what the issue with his car was that day. The car still made significant top end gains but the customer wasn’t happy and wasn’t willing to give it another shot, so the refund was given at great expense to VMAX’s reputation. I was waiting around forever to play with this car and I’m not sure what the holdup was, dynoing is like..my thing..man.
In the case of the JARONSTOYS and his V6 Jag, I have no idea what the problem is/was, all I heard was “refund me or I’ll post everything on the forums.” VMAX did refund him but he still posted with a vengeance, oh well that’s his prerogative I suppose. I never saw a dyno, never heard what the complaint was, just heard that he learned who Andy was and was unhappy about it. Normally again, if there is a problem with a car making power, I can use dyno results or logs to diagnose for instance a boost leak or open wastegate or determine if the car is hitting a torque limit. VMAX wasn’t given a chance to do any of that, but instead the customer was refunded because that’s what he wanted and THAT was the right thing to do.
I’m not sure what the vendetta against Andy personally is, but he has delivered a product to many happy customers, and the customers (2) who weren’t happy were refunded. That’s way way way more than I’ve seen from other vendors on here or any other forum for that matter. I’ve seen customers on this forum have “tunes” from other vendors and they were nothing more than adding a signature in an attempt to change the checksum slightly. So you’d get zero power and trip that tuning detection at the dealer.
So much fun.
Here’s the bottom line, Andy’s previous business was decimated, his personal reputation attached to it made him use an alias in order to make a living in the only industry he feels at home in. He’s a car guy just like all of you here. How many of you can’t google your own name because of someone’s personal vendetta against you? Andy put together all the graphs and vbox runs and all the information you guys wanted and needed to show the community a REAL product that WORKS. There was independent dynos done by members of this forum who made more power than anyone thought possible. This guy puts his personal money into making hardware for this community to advance the platform further than anyone else has and look where it got him. His job was to do marketing not do any R&D. I’m not sure what will happen from here on but know that a man’s livelihood and subsequently his life is hanging in the balance over this. He’s not perfect, he’s made mistakes, but he did right by everyone here including the guys starting these threads and jumping on the “death to VMAX” bandwagon. I kept asking him what he was going to do about this forum/thread and he’s too depressed to do anything about it. Other than the past two weeks I haven’t heard one customer complaint about him, I have been able to stay in the shadows were I feel safe and warm without interruption but I think this debacle necessitated my insight on the matter.
I private label tunes for a lot of companies, I won’t lose anything if VMAX goes under which it seems like you guys want so badly to happen. I only asked for the login for VMAX today to tell you guys this stuff and there’s always two sides to every story. I like tuning this platform and I think you guys have great automobiles. I think you should be running my tunes because there’s real R&D behind the code and I know for a fact that it’s the best on the market because I spent more time developing the tunes on these than anyone else has thanks to Andy pushing for its importance. VMAX could have launched with any car make but it was Andy who pushed for you all. Can the man not have a job for the rest of his life? Doesn’t seem fair.
Now that I said all that, I’d like to share with you some screen shots that will hopefully show you that though there has been some issues on the front end/marketing for VMAX, the actual tunes are second to NONE.
(Highlighted the high load section of the map on the horizontal axis and RPM on the other.)
OOH AHHH, a timing map! Who cares right? Let me drop some knowledge on you, we make CRAZY power on 91 octane, do you know how? By treading carefully around these maps! 91 octane is a hair better for your car than running on the tears of your enemies, and as such it’s extremely hard to squeeze more power out of a highly tuned engine with ignition timing changes when the car already has a tendency to knock on the stock ignition reference maps. So! Where does the power come from?
Torque. Limits. “What are those?” I’ll tell you since you asked nicely. Torque limits are a general term we tuners like to use for any type of limit on throttle, boost, ignition, valve opening, etc. You can play with timing all day long but you won’t make a single pony if you are hitting a torque limit. Some torque limits are even spelled out for you nicely but the values are in icky newton meters not ft/lbs like God and Abraham Lincoln intended.
How do you find torque limits? This is what sets us apart from the average tuner. The Jaguar MED17.8.31 has 4MB of 1’s and 0’s in its processor, all neatly scrambled in a random assortment like a bag of m&m’s mixed with a bag of skittles. It’s not easy is what I’m saying. What is required to find these proverbial needles in the haystack is acquiring what is commonly known as a DAMOS file. This is what identifies each map address, what the offset is for the map, what the x and y axis represent, etc. It takes a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of redbull to find pertinent maps and it takes testing on a dyno in order to verify if they work and how far you can push the maps without putting the engine or components in danger. I happen to speak bosch so I don’t really need these, but I get them anyway because I don’t like not knowing more than everyone else.
Vmax posted a dyno recently of a 4wd v8 that we dyno’d locally and it showed an unbelievable gain in power which a lot of you were quick to call BS on. Dynojet’s do not have any type of manipulation bias like a dyno dynamics or a mustang dyno, you can’t change load or elevation to try and get a bigger delta gain. Any correction factor change will subsequently change both or all plots equally. The tuned file on the dyno vs the stock file made like 100whp at redline. Yes I know that is crazy, but nothing we could do can make a more realistic graph, I have no control over what is plotted in the dyno. The reason for the crazy delta is that the engine was heat soaked. Our tuned file would make the most power on the first run and subsequent runs would lose power gradually. The stock file that was represented in the graph was the highest of 3 runs, we didn’t have time to wait for the car to cool down and try again unfortunately so we had to show what we ended up with regardless of how it may appear. The reason our tuned file didn’t heat soak as badly is because of my friends the torque limits. The stock mapping proactively pulls power depending on various engine temperatures and our tuned file raises these limits, so in essence it’s absolutely necessary to get a tune if you plan to track your car simply because by the time you get through one pass the car will be down significant power without a tune. (preferably a vmax tune I haven’t seen any other tuner change these correctly)
Example of what kind of info is displayed in a damos file and I even left the map address for our referenced timing map to help some of the competition play with something new.
The Jag supercharged cars are some of the best looking, sounding, and performing vehicles on the market, I implore all of you to get the most out of them by modding them. I was actually pushing the VMAX team to buy a shop V8SC to help speed up production of aftermarket parts but this hoopla obviously put an end to that. Thanks guys, I really wanted to play with one ;(
The next few days are going to determine the future of VMAX and this forum, so if you could show your support it will go a long way to making this forum and its members have lots of fun in the future. I’m going to crawl back into the figurative dark place my soul resides in, I hope to hear from you all through the grapevine. By that I mean I don’t intend on talking to any of you directly, I only talk to my cats. I don’t have cats, that was a joke, please love me.
What I’d like to ask of you guys is to email sales.vmaxtuning@gmail.com and let the powers that be know if you’d like for Andy to stay on or to get rid of him. Sales people can always be found, but I can guarantee you no one they find will have the passion that Andy has for this platform.
There’s a triage team being put into action, so if you’ve emailed or called, you should receive a response in the next few days as they dig through the debris.
"There was a request to contact you about Andy/Bill as itrelates to an issue on the Jaguar Forum and tuning. In my opinion, this man shouldnot be employed in any position requiring trust or customer contact. He has notearned that right and, apparently, has a long history of betraying trust. Ifeel certain that you can find other people to attempt to earn that trust backfrom the automotive community."
To me it seems that he has shown that he does not deserve any more opportunities, despite his passion. Doesn't matter whether it is six figure cars or one figure burgers, trust is important.
i can't believe this Wow
1. Now he was in a coma ? His mom did Not have a stroke ?
2. Once again it is signed the nerd not Andy?
3. Just tell people who you really are it's better to beg for forgiveness then continue to lie
4. I posted because you trick people into believing you're somebody you're not because of your past people should have a choice to do business with you based on your past experiences Andy we had a 45 minute conversation about it .
Last edited by Jaronstoys; 02-23-2016 at 06:45 AM.
If you have access to the "sales.vmaxtuning" email address, then you've got my email address, and you need to get in touch with me. Failing that use the PM function here on the forum and message me with your contact details, and your real name, and some sort of proof of who you are.
You talk about a "team" of people, Bill/Andy told me he "fired two people" after the debacle of him being unreachable, but frankly for all we know the Vmax operation was one guy in his parents basement re-selling tunes "procured" from other people.
People know who I am. You can find me on most Jaguar and Land Rover forums, I use the same name everywhere, and anyone with half a brain can identify me in real life.
You posting anonymously on an internet forum is not going to restore a reputation, so I strongly suggest that you get in touch with me and tell me a damn convincing story, with evidence to back it up.
Andy you are Vmax !!!! Just stop the bullshit come clean, if you want to do a successful business and start your name over tell people you're sorry. Don't hide behind a fake name and just do the right thing by people, if they want to forgive you they will do business with you but this time around do it right !
Larry people would not even know who they are dealing with if I did not step up and tell people . I guess it's true you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
Yes, everyone please take a deep breath, sit back and watch the show.
No bandwagons or lynchmobs. If this guy is who he says he is, and he actually wants to get somewhere, he knows what to do. So i'm waiting for a response. If I don't hear anything in 12 hours from now, it's all over.
Please tone it down. You have vented on this subject. I would like to see how this thread progresses rather than seeing it locked. Thanks,
Larry
Agreed, you were asked for specifics regarding the problems with your tune and what happened during the tuning process by both Cambo and me. You failed to provide any details whatsoever in both cases. It doesn't appear that you are either willing or able to provide either a comprehensible account or actual data.
According to your account, you were at a dyno when the tune took place. Why couldn't you provide before and after dyno plots?
Agreed, you were asked for specifics regarding the problems with your tune and what happened during the tuning process by both Cambo and me. You failed to provide any details whatsoever in both cases. It doesn't appear that you are either willing or able to provide either a comprehensible account or actual data.
According to your account, you were at a dyno when the tune took place. Why couldn't you provide before and after dyno plots?
I was at the dyno shop that's how I found out who he really was Andy not Bill and was lied to I would've never done business with a guy with such a bad reputation In my community
I do have a Before and after dyno graphs and will be driving my car to the shop lance had his car done on Thursday to be fixed as posted earlier,
All in all I did not want this post to become about fixing Jaron's car I wanted to the community to understand what kind of business person they were dealing with and that they were being deceived
Larry people would not even know who they are dealing with if I did not step up and tell people . I guess it's true you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
Have a great day
Jaron,
I think what people are now trying to figure out here is whether the IP underlying the VMax "product" is sound or not. You have clearly established the reasons for not trusting the front people, the delivery operation, and badly botched roll-out. Theoretically, those issues could be fixed if the product is sound, but will take a lot of work at this point.
Please don't make me out to be a bad guy because I called Andy out for who he really is anybody can read about his past tuning experiences and his deception if you feel this is the type of guy you want to do business with and trust your hundred thousand dollar car to feel free
Please don't make me out to be a bad guy because I called Andy out for who he really is anybody can read about his past tuning experiences and his deception if you feel this is the type of guy you want to do business with and trust your hundred thousand dollar car to feel free
You're clearly NOT the "bad guy," and no one is trying to make you that. What a couple of people have said is that we've heard from you, we believe the info you have provided, but you probably don't have anything further to add at this point. You're quite right that no one wants to do business w/ people who are deceitful, but theoretically that could be changed going forward. Moreover, there are a number of questions you haven't answered.
So as Cambo said, let it rest, you've made your point, now let's wait to see if the other side of the story can clearly emerge.
I think what people are now trying to figure out here is whether the IP underlying the VMax "product" is sound or not. You have clearly established the reasons for not trusting the front people, the delivery operation, and badly botched roll-out. Theoretically, those issues could be fixed if the product is sound, but will take a lot of work at this point.
I agree with you we need to know what's going on with the product and the company Lance used to dyno his car is very knowledgeable and I had a 30 minute conversation with him yesterday and totally feel comfortable taking my car or 6 1/2 hours to him to fix it I am even meeting Lance at the Dyno
i'm sure this company will get it sorted out for me.
Real, honest business do not use alias. Real, honest business has working internet address. Real, honest business do not tell BS stories and do not disappear for days or weeks.
After reading the Nerd's factually challenged initial post, I was ready to write a novel rehashing the whole sorry affair. But then I realized my time is better used working on my short game. The simple fact of the matter is Bill/Andy misrepresented himself and was unable to deliver professional services with a modicum of acceptable results, beyond a few early successes. Bindy then tried to recover by concocting some cockamamie story and begging forgiveness, still without coming clean. He then got caught by Jaron in his web of lies and has crawled back into whatever hole he slithered from. If others think there is any merit continuing to listen to story after story, go for it but you have been warned. Personally, I am done with them. I turned down a free tune from vMax because there is zero trust or confidence and for that, they should thank Bindy instead of trying to shift the blame to us. In fact, I trust the vMax OEM reflash so much that I am going to pay my dealer to reflash to stock. Now, time to work on my putting.
You talk about a "team" of people, Bill/Andy told me he "fired two people" after the debacle of him being unreachable, but frankly for all we know the Vmax operation was one guy in his parents basement re-selling tunes "procured" from other people.
I talked to someone either physically residing in Irvine or a master manipulator well researched on the local streets and freeways, with accurate timing.
02-23-2016, 03:10 AM
VMax and Bill
I haven’t seen any other tuner change these correctly) 
