Sooo....what's Going On With Lucky?

[rmorse]

Maybe they meant spam artist?

I make that mistake all the time.

Maybe they meant scat artist?

I don't think you want me to post a picture....

no, the people on T5D5 not you

Gotcha

[Brad850]

When i grow up I'm gonna tune my own car.

Edited December 11, 2013 by B850

[Fudge_Brownie]

I've seen some people coming out of the wood work lately and it sounds like he might be going through some growing pains supporting a growing number of customers. Then there's the separate claims being made on SS and T5D5 about his tuning practices.

Kevin, you're just bandwagoning. You're obviously a happy customer of his. Great. But that offers zero defense to the claims being made.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I know we've got a lot of happy ARD customers around here. So instead of trying to silence any naysayers by spamming them with "He's awesome, don't talk shit about my friend" responses, contribute to the Aftermarket Vendors section with your review of the business.

Oh, and the monster sigs allowed over at T5D5 make dolphins cry.

[Dick Dastardly]

I've stayed In The woodwork for about this for a while. Gabe and few others know all about my experience and the experiences of a few others.

I know the whole back story aBout the guy on SS. And it's from a vendor not just forum bullshit.

I'll respond later when I have a minute to put something together that isn't off the cuff..

I don't know what happened to those people and their tunes, but to call lucky a scam artist is unacceptable and flat out wrong

Not a scam artist, but he's had some issues... Running customer support on top of "tuning" is not his strong point.

[ARD - Lucky]

Hey guys thought I'd touch base since I know I've been away from the forums and haven't posted up much in a while There's alot of press lately around ARD Tuning good, bad, and otherwise but I thought I'd at least address any concerns you guys might have. As far as other forums, most of them require vendor fees before you can post up and in most cases (Volvospeed aside) the cost just doesn't pencil out so we're not able to post up about any products or services.

With that said I'm happy to answer any questions around our parts or tuning and my email is always a good way to contact me.

With regard to tuning, we try to keep a very transparent method of tuning. You ask for it, you get it! Big injector, big turbos, nitrous, E85... you name it and we're happy to work with you to get it. We work hard to provide products and services that meet the needs of folks while still maintaining a level of safety and longevity with regard to engine performance.

Customer support is very important to us and we strive to get back in touch with folks as soon as we can, however our level of customer contact has increased so much in the last year that we now ask for 24-48 hours time to return emails and phone calls. With the amount of technical support we provide and being the only tuner in the building I do my best to get everyone what they need but I'm still only one guy.

I'm still the same guy I've always been, growth has been challenging to manage for sure but it's part of continuing to develop new products and services. We've got some pretty neat stuff planned for this spring so that's taken time away from being as active in the forums as I used to but in the end I think it will be worth it.

We've got a few fairly large builds coming into the shop in the next few weeks and I had only planned on posting them on Facebook but if you guys are interested we can do a more detailed write up including tuning methodology and parts. We've got an RN/M56 swap 850 we just finished and a P2R coming in as well that will be some fun cars to put together.

My best point of contact is email so that's the most direct way to get ahold of me with questions or interest on products, I'm a bit slammed so I'll keep my eyes on this thread as I can but ARDideas@gmail.com is best option!

Thanks all!

-Lucky

Edited December 10, 2013 by ARD - Lucky

[Dick Dastardly]

http://forums.t5d5.org/topic/24621-an-unhappy-ard-customer-another-t5d5-world-exclusive/

A lot of info in this thread I won't argue with..

[Commander Riker]

I've had nothing short of great experiences from ARD... especially in terms of customer service. Bought a blue tune for my K24/RN/M66 swapped 98.. and it was a quick turn around. Ran great the first go, and has since.

Also, I've bought and purchased a larger K24 compressor wheel. Lucky took my inquiry call while he was at SEMA on the show room floor. He totally didn't have to do that... but he answered my questions.

Most of the problems I've seen regard the ME7 cars... and I think there is a higher degree of complexity to those systems, especially in terms of security. I have yet to see a situation where he hasn't worked to make things right.

This is just my personal experience and take on things FWIW.

[andyb5]

For your entertainment: http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?148049-Let-s-See-Your-R-in-Winter-Mode!&p=2228207&viewfull=1#post2228207

Connor (Cmod_R) organized an ARD dyno tuning day for a bunch of P2R guys and was supposedly dissatisfied with the results. Why is he still driving around with an ARD windshield banner?

[Bonus Lane Man]

I had the Carbon tune on my S60R. And I was very disappointed with it.

The car didn't feel any faster, and the dyno numbers didn't show any significant gain over stock dyno run.

Additionally, the first time I received the tune, it was spiking up to 25+ PSI, Lucky trying to tell me that it was something wrong with my car, and after three weeks, THREE WEEKS, after I another member pointed me to a thread on Swedespeed, and I emailed Lucky about it, he now changed his mind and said the tune is fucked up.

I've been on the down low about saying anything, but the truth needs to be told. If I ever get another Volvo, I'll definitely will NOT be going with ARD Tune.

[thewhiteguy1]

[Dick Dastardly]

I had the Carbon tune on my S60R. And I was very disappointed with it.

The car didn't feel any faster, and the dyno numbers didn't show any significant gain over stock dyno run.

Additionally, the first time I received the tune, it was spiking up to 25+ PSI, Lucky trying to tell me that it was something wrong with my car, and after three weeks, THREE WEEKS, after I another member pointed me to a thread on Swedespeed, and I emailed Lucky about it, he now changed his mind and said the tune is fucked up.

I've been on the down low about saying anything, but the truth needs to be told. If I ever get another Volvo, I'll definitely will NOT be going with ARD Tune.

Not to mention Carlisle..

[Bonus Lane Man]

Not to mention Carlisle..

Yup.

[Dick Dastardly]

his wife told me "You aren't our only customer".

I've had better customer service over a $10 purchase

Not the only customer...

to get a response like that..

[mattsk8]

I'm curious who gave me the -1. Why? Is it because I spoke the truth? I'm not out to slander anyone, just being honest. $770 is a lot of money and its not like I picked up a tornado air filter expecting 50hp gains and 20% better mileage. I needed this tune to make my manual swap work. I got my ECM out to ARD right when I started this project back in Oct and just got my car going for the first time last night, and all because of the tune. And that's after I argued back and forth w/ his wife that I'm really not a complete idiot, and I'm sure my wiring is good. But, just to be sure, I double and triple checked my wiring to be certain (including pulling everything back apart that was already put together).

When I first plugged the ECM in and it didn't work, the next day I gave a call and I was told Lucky would be in touch, 4-5 hours go by and no call. So I try to call back and it just rings and rings. I keep trying to call and finally Lucky's wife answered and started arguing w/ me about how she's sure it wasn't anything w/ the tune. Then she tells me when I started this whole process I did get the email that it would be 24-48 hours before I heard back. After she explained that to me she enlightened me to the fact that I'm not their only customer. That's all fine if you're someone w/ a question about whether or not this or that will work, but that doesn't work if you've paid ($770) for your part and something's wrong w/ it, anyone in their right mind will want some action taken right away.

I'm still concerned about the tune to be honest. As stated before, once everyone finally realized it was the tune I was told it was probably related to how I connected the battery, or my ECM is bad, or there was a slim chance something possibly went wrong on their end. Whatever... After ARD reflashed it, he tested it in a car there and it worked; I got it installed in my car and my car revs beyond 4k finally. But again, I'm being honest about the fact that I'm not feeling a 70hp increase.

None of this is exaggerated and like I said, my purpose isn't to slander anyone. I paid a lot of money for a tune and I expect it to work properly; and when it doesn't (just like anyone else would) I expect some reasonable customer service, not an argument about why things are the way they are.

Edited December 26, 2013 by mattsk8

[Brad850]

I was under the impression that the 70 hp increase of the blue tune is assuming you are upgrading to an 18/19T from a 15g/16T.