Well, technically yesterday.


7am wake. I got myself and stuff over to Vuk at AMS. He’s a great guy; very informative and helpful. Shocking really considering most, if not all of my past experiences have been mediocre at best at all other shops. This one was a great experience and I would highly recommend.

A few hours later I get a call. The Nismo S-tune suspension and Hotchkis sways are on and everything has gone well. Perfect. I am really excited at this point. Just one slight problem however...my Berk HFCs are just shredded.

Now, I thought I noticed a change in sound earlier in the week but I have been quite involved with work and thought oh, no big deal. It’s just my imagination. They are essentially brand new. Everything is probably fine. I definitely heard (and smelt) a difference while cruising over to the mini-meet yesterday.

Vuk was great. He let me know that my suspicions were accurate. I was able to run my stock cats over to the shop where he was able to replace to correct the issue.

I am very disappointed in the performance of the Berks. Yes, I have read the previous thread on them cracking with the Nismo exhaust and yes, I recall Reality having a similar experience. Unfortunately, I already had them on order so I gave them the opportunity to impress me.

Even with the extra bracket attachment, these things were shredded; the welds at the upper front of the point of mounting just shirred right off.

I am not calling out Berk. I am just disappointed in what occurred. I believe they are under warranty as I just purchased in Feb. They we’re on the car for three months < 3 thousand miles. I will be contacting them shortly.

On top of this, my Razo shift **** is acting up. It appears there is an issue with the spring inside as when I put the car into to park, it is not always fully releasing and obviously, the key cannot be removed from the ignition. I am considering putting the stock one back on if I can’t find anything to replace it. Suggestions are most welcomed here. Not being able to remove the key is quite the issue.

So, that’s my little story for the night. The suspension and sways are great. Even driving home from Mississauga to Unionville I could feel a definite improvement. I am really pleased in that respect.

The other two issues are disappointing. I think I may have had a small epiphany when my treasured Z was on the hoist and I saw frist hand the catastrophic failure of those cats. It maybe time to put the additions on the back burner for now.

Sorry Church man, I can still bring the noise but now at a more reasonable db level.

Anyway, I am just exhausted now. Just got back from The Dark Night. I don’t even really know how to end this. Hopefully some good comments will cheer me up.

It’s going on twenty plus hours. I should probably sleep.

Night…

 

Church is not the only person with this problem. There was a LOT of threads about the berks... Hopefully you can get a new replacement under warranty and maybe modify it to be stronger?

 

Hey Risky you were in good hands at AMS.

Uhmm now you got me worried about my Berks. I had Vuk put them on for me in the spring with some progress sways and the AMS Rad. I agree Vuk does excellent work and is the best shop I have ever been to hands down.

I don't think I have any issues but the car has not been on the hoist to have a look since then.

I really like the extra sound I get through the HKS Dual Exhaust with the Berks so I hope I don't run into any issues.

 

sucks man, I am always dealing with **** like that.

 

XX...yeah, I'll see how it goes. I will contact them tomorrow if I can find time at work.

S...don't want to worry you too much. Keep an eye out for any changes out of the blue and obviously, you can give them a visual inspection at your next oil change.

Thanks MM. I hate it too. Incredibly frustrating. I think I will just run the stock cats for now. No choice really until I can get this resolved.

Anyone know if the MoMo ***** are any better? There are tons of threads of them which I have read but I am trying to gain first hand experience if their design is any better than the "push down and shift razo." Maybe the button style at the top is less likely to break down. I don't know...just want to be more sure before I throw a bill at it.

 

****!!!!

Mike, contact bryan@berk, he will send you out a replacement set..

The problem seems to be our exhausts.. dam nismo exhaust is not HFC friendly..

 

Aside from that I'm sorry to hear of your experience. I too am done with mods. Everytime I want to buy a mod I will just picture the 911/Z06/GTR and if that doesn't work I will shock myself with a taser.

 

i have the nismo exhaust too and thats why i am hesitant to get HFC's...

 

good call man. Pass on more for now. Keep your SS clean. We're both looking good. Good re-sale opportunity to parlay it into something different should you choose to in the future.

In reference to the last post, I wouldn't put them on with the NISMO exhaust. I am not sure about other set ups but there are two local examples here of them going down with that set up.

I cannot say for sure this will happen. You'll have to read and make your own call. Good luck...

 

Get some testies You'll love the sound and smell, it smells like.... glory for lack of a better term.

 

Honestly, in the Z and G's, TP's does not smell as bad as other car's I've been in/driven that also had TP's.

Hell, my MR2 smells worse inside the car with stock cats.

 

Mike, sorry to hear about your Berks issue... Sounds like you had a rough day on Saturday. You should take Church up and call his contact. Hope things improve!

 

Hey Bro since you get your stuff done at AMS. Do you happen to know anyone who works there by the name Kevin?

 

believe I met Kevin as well...they both did some work for me.

 

an e-mail to Bryan at Berk on 30/07/08 with a description and photos after a phone call conversation with him.

Holding for a response.