Vivid Racing - Agency Power Dyno Runs Part III

[Sportsguy83]

@vividracing, I have nothing more to say and good luck with your business. This is already a horse beaten to death so my apologies for lighting it up a bit more. I have my opinion of AP/Vivid and that's that. I understand everyone can have their own opinion and I fully respect one that's different than mine.

Have a good weekend.

[clayrush]

I have not had the chance to go dyno the FRS again after I got the intake put on. I know my butt dyno says my car made more power and the real dyno showed a little. But I know either way we did not get the same HP% gain as them. If I did not mess up the math in my head, we got about 4% and they got 7%? I am sure if we played with they dyno a bit more we may have shown more. But who knows.

I will wait to buy more exhaust parts for the car till my girl decides what she wants to do to the car next. But Vivid costumer service was good in my book. So ill continue using them..... (As long they carry stuff I want and keep giving me little price breaks) :P

I originally preordered the whole system from them. But when I ran in to money issues they changed up my order with no hassle at all. They kept me in the loop with ETA's for intake and muffler. AP had a little confusion on the order change up and forgot to ship a part, but vivid got the part to me in a couple of days. I had an issue with the tips not lineing up and they offered to work with me on the issue. But once I got the part and played with it, they match up pretty well. Not perfect but well.

PS i still think it sounds pretty bad ass. but at 4k drones inside a little too much for our likeing.

[TwinRz]

I posted this in a thread where a poster posted a magazines dyno numbers of 11 different exhausts. Look at what Vivid/AP claim in these threads versus what the numbers in the dyno say. Also other customers have posted their dynos which show similar numbers. They say they have no reason to lie about numbers yet that is complete BS. By the time people realize what has happened they would have made their money back and more.

Just look at what AP charges versus Perrin. Both are totally different companies. One company, Perrin, is charging around 8-900 which covers things like R&D and quality materials made in the US. While a company like AP charges the same price when it probably costs them as little as 60-100 bucks for an exhaust made in Taiwan/China. Dont forget that people have also posted saying things like bad fitment if your unlucky. This isnt just their exhaust for the FR-S/BRZ this is for all their parts. The gains to be had from their exhaust arent even close to what they are claiming and what Perrin is getting/charging for theirs.

Just look at the link Showbe posted from NASIOC of the 60 page thread where half the reviews were of bad things of Vivid Racing. I have even read things like people getting car parts stolen from their cars from there shop. Charging people for things that they never paid for or even hidden fees. Go ahead take your chances on them but I certainly wont from a company with such questionable practices. Their is more then enough information just on this forum that shows what kind of people they are inflating their dyno #s just so they can sell a product.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...racing&page=45
Old thread that lasted from 2001-2006ish but even a quick google search will still show people having the SAME problems that are from 2011 and 2012.

Here is a Quote from the other thread I posted and the picture of the dyno numbers from the magazine with how their exhausts does against Perrins and other companies. Their exhausts probably performed the worse out of all of them and the cost of theirs is higher then a lot of them also.

Originally Posted by TwinRz

LOL. No surprise Agency Powers gains were all inflated in their thread. Look at their numbers compared to stock. Then look at their dynos from their thread.. I feel bad for anyone who bought their cat back.

Agency Power/Vivid Tuning charge almost just as much as Perrin for their crappy exhaust and just compare the numbers of the 2. With Perrin you are paying for a USA made exhaust with proper R&D and great gains. AP/Vivid on the other hand is a shady company that their vendor on this forum claims there exhausts are made in USA when they are actually made in Taiwan or China make nothing close to what they claim charge just as much. There site even states that. Also claim they do R&D when their R&D is just copying another vendors hard work. They come on these forums lying to everyone to make a quick buck.

They claimed they have changed owners and changed which is complete bull. Theirs a reason why they are banned on every major Subaru forum as a vendor. Shady business practices, lies, and selling parts they claimed that are made in USA that are actually made in Taiwan/China. You are better off buying from a company like Megan that charges what you should be paying for an exhaust thats similar.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by TwinRz

I posted this in a thread where a poster posted a magazines dyno numbers of 11 different exhausts. Look at what Vivid/AP claim in these threads versus what the numbers in the dyno say. Also other customers have posted their dynos which show similar numbers. They say they have no reason to lie about numbers yet that is complete BS. By the time people realize what has happened they would have made their money back and more.

For the lazy, the article tested a PEAK of +6 WHP while here is the claimed HP numbers by AP in the first post:

186Whp 144Wtq[/SIZE] [SIZE="5"](or +12 WHP over stock run)

2013 Scion FR-S
15** miles
91 octane Arizona Fuel
108* Dyno room temp
Stock exhaust manifold
Stock cross-pipe
Agency Power Catback
Stock pulley
Stock Flywheel/Clutch
Stock ECU/Tune
Note AFR Probe Fell Out During #2 Run

[TwinRz]

Originally Posted by sportsguy83

For the lazy, the article tested a PEAK of +6 WHP while here is the claimed HP numbers by AP in the first post:

186Whp 144Wtq[/SIZE] [SIZE="5"](or +12 WHP over stock run)

2013 Scion FR-S
15** miles
91 octane Arizona Fuel
108* Dyno room temp
Stock exhaust manifold
Stock cross-pipe
Agency Power Catback
Stock pulley
Stock Flywheel/Clutch
Stock ECU/Tune
Note AFR Probe Fell Out During #2 Run

None of the numbers even come close to the dyno that they provided. I am not saying it doesnt produce any power. I am saying that they inflated all the numbers just for the sake of sales like what a lot of shady companies do. Their dyno shows gains throughout the whole dyno while other peoples dont, which I will go into a little more detail below.

Other people have posted their dynos and when you compare them to AP's in this thread. The gains they got were about the same as the magazines. Showing about 6 WHP, they are nothing close to it. Theirs show gains across the whole dyno, while the magazines and other peoples show only that much at the peak and the rest performed not even close to theirs. Half of what they claim and almost no gains below that. I am sure it was a red flag for a lot of people when they had those bullshit dynos that claimed 40 WHP. They made the dynos hit 200 WHP because everyone on these forums wanted the car to hit that mark. They released parts early that dont even produce like they claim and inflated their numbers so people bought them since no other company has released a quality product that gets those numbers.

For what they charge you would expect a quality product like other companies who charge just as much. Not for quality and performance like a Megan Cat back. Bad fitting, poor performance, and over priced Cat back. Like I said in my last post. Many people who have bought their parts have said the same thing for other cars then just this. Their are tons of forums where people have given similar reviews on their forums which resulted in them getting banned for shady practices/lying. Dan the owner is infamous on many forums for stealing designs and sending them to Taiwan/China to be made. He did that for Hondas in the 90s with success but didnt have the same success with k20s and newer engines.

They charge the same price as Perrin for a Cat back that produces nothing close to theirs and other vendors who are charging less then that for a better quality product. The poster who is posting for Vivid/AP claim they make all their exhausts in house in the USA. And their site claims they even make it in China. On NASIOC their were posts with pictures of shipments to Taiwan for their parts. A moderator on those forums basically fucked them hard in the ass by leaking a ton of information. All the information that people suspected for a long time were true. Nameless and every other company that charges cheaper provide a better product then Vivid/AP. What you get from AP is basically an overpriced Megan Cat back that you could of gotten for hundreds cheaper, probably at half the cost .

The links I posted were older reviews but if you do a google search you will see a lot of reviews that are very similar to the problems people faced back then. They have 10+ years of this crap. I have never heard of a vendor so hated by a community in this scene to the point where they cant even post on any forums anymore. Why do you think they made Agency Power and another company called like NSW or something like that. The Vivid name has been so bad they made those companies just to sell crap parts.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by TwinRz

None of the numbers even come close to the dyno that they provided. I am not saying it doesnt produce any power. I am saying that they inflated all the numbers just for the sake of sales like what a lot of shady companies do. Their dyno shows gains throughout the whole dyno while other peoples dont, which I will go into a little more detail below.....

I agree with you 10000%, and I KNOW there were even worse Dynos on the first thread.

[clayrush]

Blah!
I do wish I got the power they claimed. I guess I knew deep down the nubers were high but I was cool with it because my girl got so excited when she herd the sound of it for the first time. We even disgust that the power will likly not be the best because it was one of the first to hit the market. I am not trying to advocate for them. But my experience with them was fine. if I had the chance to do it all over again, I may have gone with our original exhaust choice Greddy because we wanted an even louder exhaust than AP.
Years back for my celica TRD gained the most power on an otherwise stock car, but I went with veilside because of the tone and how lightweight it was. Hell some of you guys will likly say u hate the sound of it just because of your feelings towards them. But fuck it my girls happy with her car so that makes me happy.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by clayrush

Blah!
I do wish I got the power they claimed. I guess I knew deep down the nubers were high but I was cool with it because my girl got so excited when she herd the sound of it for the first time. We even disgust that the power will likly not be the best because it was one of the first to hit the market. I am not trying to advocate for them. But my experience with them was fine. if I had the chance to do it all over again, I may have gone with our original exhaust choice Greddy because we wanted an even louder exhaust than AP.
Years back for my celica TRD gained the most power on an otherwise stock car, but I went with veilside because of the tone and how lightweight it was. Hell some of you guys will likly say u hate the sound of it just because of your feelings towards them. But fuck it my girls happy with her car so that makes me happy.

As long as you are happy with your purchase and experience, that is all that really matters.

[TwinRz]

Originally Posted by clayrush

Blah!
I do wish I got the power they claimed. I guess I knew deep down the nubers were high but I was cool with it because my girl got so excited when she herd the sound of it for the first time. We even disgust that the power will likly not be the best because it was one of the first to hit the market. I am not trying to advocate for them. But my experience with them was fine. if I had the chance to do it all over again, I may have gone with our original exhaust choice Greddy because we wanted an even louder exhaust than AP.
Years back for my celica TRD gained the most power on an otherwise stock car, but I went with veilside because of the tone and how lightweight it was. Hell some of you guys will likly say u hate the sound of it just because of your feelings towards them. But fuck it my girls happy with her car so that makes me happy.

Thats what matters. But whats done is already done. If you bought it and already have it you cant do anything about it but maybe sell it but that would even be tough. Just be glad they atleast made a little power instead of losing.

I am just making this known to potential new customers and more people of this community since they are unaware of how horrible Vivid/AP are as a vendor. You can see that they are full of shit and just here to make a quick buck. Its not because they were the first ones to release it that it didnt produce as well as others. Its because they dont care about this community as everyone has seen from their past dealings. They have a long history of ripping people off and lying to many people on many forums. Its no surprise that the same thing is happening here.

Their are a lot of early bird vendors who made quality parts with gains. Since they were first they knew people would jump to buy an exhaust just because they were the first ones to release one. They have access to a dyno and would of been able to see what kind of gains it would of made. Instead they tweaked with it to make a quick dollar from people who didnt know any better. They tried to show people what everyone was wanting which was to hit the 200 whp mark. They tried to do that in their first dynos which everyone called them out for. Now they have tried to make it some what believable but the truth is now out after people testing their exhausts/products

They are pretending to be someone they arent. Ripping off other companies hard work and ripping off peoples hard earned money. Selling them something that is inferior to other vendors who charge just as much. Be glad you atleast have semi honest companies like Megan that will charge you much cheaper for a very similar product. I have much more respect for companies like them then people like Vivid/AP. They would still make money if they gave us a good product but they took a short cut so they can maximize profits. I remember reading somewhere that their exhausts costs as little as 60 dollars to make.

[stopdrop]

That header needs work if its only adding like... 1 or 2 HP... come on !

Right there I said, hmm AP is doing something wrong... and that's like, the very first part of your whole exhaust there on back...