Dan Lesser Viper Specialty Performance

[mackzilla]

I'll start by saying Dan is the man! He's knowledgeable and he's patient and uses both to provide exceptional customer service. A little history on me and my car:

In September 2016 I bought a clean 2000 GTS for a price I couldn't walk away from (many other people apparently did). The car started, it drove, the paint was immaculate, it had good maintenance history and a boat load of free parts. The motor is an RSI 510 stroker kit with unknown cam, it dyno'd a respectable 641hp. Why was everyone so dumb I thought?

Something about the extremely quiet back roads I test drove on and fresh sea air of Washington (1st time going west coast) put the blinders on me. I was driving it fairly hard so I never noticed the drenching exhaust gas that lingered behind or the rpm bucking being that bad. I shipped it home with a plan in mind: I'll get it tuned and life will be PERFECT. Then the reality of Columbus Ohio set in: high 90s and humid af, my 20 minute/15 mile drive turns into a 2 hour stop and go... At cruise speeds on my way to work I looked like Michael J Fox was driving - my elevator rides upstairs people got high off of my aroma - I smelled like I had just been in a gasoline fight with Zoolander. I started to hate my car unless I was at the track.


I reached out by email casually during the winter to a lot of Viper places to gauge the cost of tuning my setup, it wasn't easy with so few details passed between previous owners. I got some dialogue going but none went as well as with Dan Lesser @ VSP. He coached me in the right direction: to correct this I needed to start with the hardware. He got me a package for Cloyes timing equipment, SCT handheld with his tuning, Crower street cam, Cometic gaskets and some kick-ass fasteners.


He planned the delivery of my stuff down to the day so that I could take a day off work to tear into my car. He exchanged timely emails with me when I needed help. Frankly, he bailed me out of a screw up more than once. I had things to reconfigure, rewire, get welded etc. I'm waiting on a crank pulley and I'll be turning it over soon. I'm sure me and the car will be much happier after all of this.

Thanks Dan!

[Viper Specialty]

Not a problem at all, and Thank You for the review Zack!

While VSP is more known for the oddball super-complicated conversions, custom parts, electronics, tuning and crazy engine builds... we still do handle the easier projects too!

We have a lot more application specific, systems background and in-depth data than just about anyone else. For example, knowing how a camshaft responds in an engine on the dyno is one thing, but knowing how the PCM processes the management strategy and how the sensors respond to differing conditions is a whole separate conversation that goes well beyond the typical shop knowledge.

Glad we could be of assistance!

[ellowviper]

Dan,
What's the latest status on your relocation to Florida?

[Viper Specialty]

Dan,
What's the latest status on your relocation to Florida?

Status is: Its not happening fast enough.

Construction is going to take a good while. I will be back and forth over the next 9 months or so as it should be wrapped up around the end of the year. Ultimately, I have the feeling the weather and scheduling is going to dictate how quickly I get down there more than anything. With any luck, things will be far enough along that it makes sense to start moving inventory down and storing it in that area before the weather turns in the fall, so I won't end up in limbo too badly if the weather shifts before it is completed.

To say it has been a LONG road to get everything designed and approved is an understatement, its been an uphill battle and do-over central on the entire project. In the end, it will be for the better I think though.