There is a lot of concern and discussion surrounding Vargas turbo tech so I thought i'd clear the air once and for all in regard to his 'business ethics'.
Back story:
I initially purchased stage 1's to replace my dying stockers. My stockers were making the death siren and the VTT stage 1's seemed like a good alternative, being both slightly more powerful and much more durable. After the first install The turbos ran strong but my car had a smoking issue. I assumed it was packing grease burning off, but after a few heat cycles, it still smoked so I knew somethign was wrong. I contacted Tony after sending my car back into the shop and after a few emails, he told me to go ahead and send the turbos back under warranty. I was prety upset initially due to the fact that i'd be out some cash on the install. I was honestly expecting to be on the hook for another install with no reimbursement. Tony stepped in and to help me offset labor, he upgraded me to stage 2 (which I was not expecting at all, talk about standing behind a product!). Mind you, fault was not even determined at this time (did the shop screw up? car anomaly? bad turbos?) but he still warrantied them with no questions asked. I just had to box em up and send them out.
I sent the old turbos back, he performed an autopsy and found the oiling issue was unresolved but there was no damage to the turbos according to the micrometer. Freak accident I guess. Either way, everyone walked away happy from this.
On the Stage 1's: I have limited experience with these aside from a few drives, but they felt much healthier than my stockers. They had NO wastegate rattle which was a nice bonus as well. I am curious as to what kinda dyno numbers these woulda put down if it weren't for the oil consumption/smoke that I experienced. If install costs weren't an issue, I probably would have just gotten another pair of these.
On the Stage 2's:
Holy balls, these things pull. They whistle under boost like a semi truck and pull like one too. The difference was like stock vs. downpipes + JB4. Seriously good stuff. When I have some free time i'll be getting dyno numbers too since I know quite a few of you have a fetish for numbers. On the street, I can tell you i'm not afraid of lining up with anything with 4 doors and most things with two anymore. I've even chased down some two wheeled beasts.
OVERALL-
Pros:
Tony was VERY GOOD about communicating. I got emails back at 1am on a Saturday night at times. He also was pretty understanding and able to cut through my hysterical bullshit and help me troubleshoot and problem solve.
The product is good, and appears well made. When the turbos spool, the car looks and feels like a vortex of death is forming around you. The second set of turbos sent to me work FLAWLESSLY. No smoke, no weird noises, just hard hitting boost.
The warranty was completely worry free, and I was only out the cost of shipping. It's a no-bullshit warranty. He didn't try to screw me out of my initial investment by blaming the shop or me for the mess-up like i've had happen by another parts manufacturer in the motorcycle world.
Cons:
Shipping was expensive at $65 bucks when he's in the same state, but they came fedex express with A TON of insurance i'm sure.
The first set of turbos did not come with paperwork, the second set came with stickers, a detailed invoice and warranty card, and all the info. It seemed somewhat inconsistent.
My car was out of commission for a few weeks, but this was unavoidable. Once again, Tony did a good job of compensating me for this. While the ordeal kinda sucked, Tony made sure it was made right. I've had a similar incident with an aftermarket rear shock on my gixxer where a part failed and the MFG blamed the shop. I had to fight both the shop and the MFG and got boned. Where Tony could have weaseled out of the warranty like the shock MFG, he instead empathized and made the situation 100 percent better.
Some of you may hate his forum manners, but he's not a foreign dignitary, he makes turbos. I can say from experience that he stands behind his product. I have no dog in this fight other than what i've experienced. I was on the fence between his turbos and stockers, but decided the upgraded thrust on the stage 1's would be a good upgrade over getting another pair of stock turbos.
I didn't even consider RB's, but wound up with stage 2's by chance. I am glad I did, even though I had to pay twice for the install lol. Either way, with the value of the upgrade, the cost of the install was completely offset and the replacements have been better than expected. No fanboying here, the main reason i'm a VTT fan is because of the way he handled this situation. I have no biases in the RB vs. VTT argument. I just wanted slightly more durable stockers initially.
Tony,
Thanks again! You've earned my business and respect.
I will probably be looking into his HPFP upgrade in the future based on my experiences here. Even if something goes wrong, he's 100% behind it.
