Beware of James Rakes Tunes...
Senior Member
Joined: 06-06-06
Posts: 2,729
Likes: 9
From: O Fallon, MO
I agree. I have had people ask if I would tune them. A few of them I have and a few of them I haven't. For example, I had some kid with a stock LNF wanted me to tune him for 24 PSI and disable the rear 02 sensors. I told him no way. I offered him a 23 PSI "stock clutch safe" tune (he was like 19 and was already on his second clutch... with only a stock tune) IF he bought the 3 BAR sensors and I even told him I would install the sensors myself no charge before I started tuning. He said he knew somebody else who would do the tune for him stock so I told him to go have somebody else do it.
Senior Member
Joined: 12-19-05
Posts: 9,704
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh, NC
I'm pretty much gone from home from 11a-12a hahaha doesn't leave me much time.
James tuned my TC from when it only had a DP all the way to the BNR on pure E85. Car made great power. I raced it every weekend. Beat some pretty nasty cars. Never had a hitch while racing at any step. On James' tune, I put down 262whp on stock turbo which is still currently one of the highest stock turbo TCs currently posted on this forum. That being said...
I had to move away from his tuning. James can make power but his daily driving tuning techniques need a lot of work. My car would take off from just light throttle input which drove me nuts. I had absolutely terrible gas mileage. I know E gets less mileage but I was just barely getting 200 miles to a tank.
His customer service is the best I've seen but the guy can't take constructive criticism nor can he handle being wrong. He will do WHATEVER he can to avoid admitting he's wrong and when I realized this, I began questioning him. I often asked him questions that I knew the answers to just to see what he'd say. Often he'd guess but make me believe he knew for sure the answer and usually he was wrong. More than once I told him he should learn how to tune daily drivability but he was too stubborn.
The final straw was when I had the BNR on E85. I had just gotten ZZPs stock intake cam with larger fuel lobe. After a week of revisions, he couldn't figure out this really weird idle I was having. It was idling in waves. "Just a couple more revisions and I should have it smoothed out" he said. Well I got tired of it and asked another tuner (who will remain nameless) to have a look. Literally five minutes later I had a revision that not only fixed the issue but the car never felt better. I couldn't believe it. Since then, James never touched the car.
Great guy. I would throw beers back with him any day. He'll never touch another car of mine ever again though.
I had to move away from his tuning. James can make power but his daily driving tuning techniques need a lot of work. My car would take off from just light throttle input which drove me nuts. I had absolutely terrible gas mileage. I know E gets less mileage but I was just barely getting 200 miles to a tank.
His customer service is the best I've seen but the guy can't take constructive criticism nor can he handle being wrong. He will do WHATEVER he can to avoid admitting he's wrong and when I realized this, I began questioning him. I often asked him questions that I knew the answers to just to see what he'd say. Often he'd guess but make me believe he knew for sure the answer and usually he was wrong. More than once I told him he should learn how to tune daily drivability but he was too stubborn.
The final straw was when I had the BNR on E85. I had just gotten ZZPs stock intake cam with larger fuel lobe. After a week of revisions, he couldn't figure out this really weird idle I was having. It was idling in waves. "Just a couple more revisions and I should have it smoothed out" he said. Well I got tired of it and asked another tuner (who will remain nameless) to have a look. Literally five minutes later I had a revision that not only fixed the issue but the car never felt better. I couldn't believe it. Since then, James never touched the car.
Great guy. I would throw beers back with him any day. He'll never touch another car of mine ever again though.
Rent me! per hour
Joined: 03-22-07
Posts: 24,161
Likes: 20
From: Still fixing others mistakes.
It can't be tho, James does not disable codes. lol
I like James, great guy and I do think he really knows his stuff. But I don't understand how his "nutswingers" as some call them can sit and defend when the facts, proof, etc. are right here.
I put nutswingers in " " because I don't think defending someone makes you one. You are obviously going to defend the person, especially if you have had a good experience.
I have had both good and bad experience with James when it comes to tuning. On a personal level James has been nothing but good to me. I wish he would just put the pride aside and own up to mistakes. He keeps saying "it's what the customer wanted", well i'm pretty sure they didn't ask for a bunch of DTC's shut off and an unsafe car. Even if they did, you say NO, and if they decide they don't want your services then oh well, less headache.
Just my $.02
I like James, great guy and I do think he really knows his stuff. But I don't understand how his "nutswingers" as some call them can sit and defend when the facts, proof, etc. are right here.
I put nutswingers in " " because I don't think defending someone makes you one. You are obviously going to defend the person, especially if you have had a good experience.
I have had both good and bad experience with James when it comes to tuning. On a personal level James has been nothing but good to me. I wish he would just put the pride aside and own up to mistakes. He keeps saying "it's what the customer wanted", well i'm pretty sure they didn't ask for a bunch of DTC's shut off and an unsafe car. Even if they did, you say NO, and if they decide they don't want your services then oh well, less headache.
Just my $.02
Senior Member
Joined: 07-13-10
Posts: 884
Likes: 0
From: Bogalusa
I forgot I had these bad boys kicking around. I blacked out the file names because fingers don't need to be pointed anywhere as far as who's cars they are. Here are a couple examples of tune files that I had repaired for a guy on here and another sent from someone asking me to help him with issues he was having. I wish I could fit a little more in the screen shot, but the disabled DTC's and Tip In Retard removal should be enough to add to the OP's point. The disabled and modified DTC's are highlighted in green because they are being compared to the stock files just in case a few of you didn't realize. Some of the b1s2 DTC's I can maybe accept due to a catless dp but everything else is just straight up ridiculous.
Senior Member
Joined: 07-25-08
Posts: 12,450
Likes: 6
From: Florida
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Joined: 04-12-09
Posts: 4,869
Likes: 16
From: Connecticut
Really? That's strange.. None of them are disabled in any of my tunes or any of the reputable tuners that have commented in here yet we all seem to have no issues. The codes will only throw if there is an issue. If the only way you can stop the codes from being thrown is to disable them.... well.... all I can say is it's your engine, not my mine or any of the cars I have tuned. Good luck.
Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
Joined: 04-06-10
Posts: 3,702
Likes: 0
From: 6000ft on a Mountain in Colorado!
I'm not even gonna read this thread, but I will contribute with my experience based on the title. When you read my experience take it for what it's worth. You can believe me or not, it doesn't matter, but I will never recommend James to anyone. I didn't have a good experience and this isn't to say you he's bad, but based on what I've dealt with, I prefer Terminator2 tunes and Trifecta over CCSS3.
James ran my tune richer than Trifecta. His tune was even richer than Superchips. He told me my car likes running that rich. James also took approximately 60 logs before getting my tune right combined; around 30 for stock turbo, and around 30 for my K04+
My AFRs fluctuated violently at idle and my idle was rough. Second gear was almost undriveable because it was all or nothing. I didn't like my fans blaring the moment I turned on my car, supposedly it "stabilizes" MAF calibrations, which I didn't believe. The amount of air going to my intake from the fans I bet were negligible. Maybe it does stabilize, I'm no tuner, but I found it hard to believe.
After I switched from CCSS3 I was happy, my cars idle was fine, I went leaner than Trifecta, all was fine in the land of vahdyx.
I don't care your opinion on my story, it doesn't matter to me and my story may not matter to you. That's fine, it's all in the past and if my story helps someone choose a tuner that isn't James, I'd feel like I did something good. If it doesn't do anything, it's water under the bridge. I don't care what you, you, or you do with your car, and if my experience bothers you don't heed it.
At the end of the day, I was happy with my decision and that's all that matters.
James ran my tune richer than Trifecta. His tune was even richer than Superchips. He told me my car likes running that rich. James also took approximately 60 logs before getting my tune right combined; around 30 for stock turbo, and around 30 for my K04+
My AFRs fluctuated violently at idle and my idle was rough. Second gear was almost undriveable because it was all or nothing. I didn't like my fans blaring the moment I turned on my car, supposedly it "stabilizes" MAF calibrations, which I didn't believe. The amount of air going to my intake from the fans I bet were negligible. Maybe it does stabilize, I'm no tuner, but I found it hard to believe.
After I switched from CCSS3 I was happy, my cars idle was fine, I went leaner than Trifecta, all was fine in the land of vahdyx.
I don't care your opinion on my story, it doesn't matter to me and my story may not matter to you. That's fine, it's all in the past and if my story helps someone choose a tuner that isn't James, I'd feel like I did something good. If it doesn't do anything, it's water under the bridge. I don't care what you, you, or you do with your car, and if my experience bothers you don't heed it.
At the end of the day, I was happy with my decision and that's all that matters.
Member
Joined: 05-01-13
Posts: 348
Likes: 3
From: O FALLON, IL
Ive read this whole thing... and have yet to comment.... Ive never dealt with james... Nor any other tuner on this site... so i cannot bash anyone.
What i will say.... that i COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH.... was the fact that everyone keeps saying "He gave the guy what he was asking for.... its the customer's fault!.... "a good tuner does what the customer asks".... and so on.
Thats bogus.
A good tuner's job is simply that..... TO PROVIDE A GOOD TUNE. No matter how aggresive the tune they ask for... no matter how moderate the tune..... the tuner's job is to provide a good/safe/reliable tune.... that will best meet the customer's needs while still being safe.
This is not what was provided... clearly.
Im not saying that there probably havent been PLENTY of people that have had tunes from this guy that were COMPLETELY fine..... but its those ones that he was neglegent about that will make and mold his reputation.
I was a mechanic... ive seen the best of mechanics screw up because of neglegence.... or being in a hurry.... or because they were simply having a bad day. Own up to your mistakes... and learn from them. Plain and simple in my eyes.
What i will say.... that i COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH.... was the fact that everyone keeps saying "He gave the guy what he was asking for.... its the customer's fault!.... "a good tuner does what the customer asks".... and so on.
Thats bogus.
A good tuner's job is simply that..... TO PROVIDE A GOOD TUNE. No matter how aggresive the tune they ask for... no matter how moderate the tune..... the tuner's job is to provide a good/safe/reliable tune.... that will best meet the customer's needs while still being safe.
This is not what was provided... clearly.
Im not saying that there probably havent been PLENTY of people that have had tunes from this guy that were COMPLETELY fine..... but its those ones that he was neglegent about that will make and mold his reputation.
I was a mechanic... ive seen the best of mechanics screw up because of neglegence.... or being in a hurry.... or because they were simply having a bad day. Own up to your mistakes... and learn from them. Plain and simple in my eyes.
I'm not even gonna read this thread, but I will contribute with my experience based on the title. When you read my experience take it for what it's worth. You can believe me or not, it doesn't matter, but I will never recommend James to anyone. I didn't have a good experience and this isn't to say you he's bad, but based on what I've dealt with, I prefer Terminator2 tunes and Trifecta over CCSS3.
James ran my tune richer than Trifecta. His tune was even richer than Superchips. He told me my car likes running that rich. James also took approximately 60 logs before getting my tune right combined; around 30 for stock turbo, and around 30 for my K04+
My AFRs fluctuated violently at idle and my idle was rough. Second gear was almost undriveable because it was all or nothing. I didn't like my fans blaring the moment I turned on my car, supposedly it "stabilizes" MAF calibrations, which I didn't believe. The amount of air going to my intake from the fans I bet were negligible. Maybe it does stabilize, I'm no tuner, but I found it hard to believe.
After I switched from CCSS3 I was happy, my cars idle was fine, I went leaner than Trifecta, all was fine in the land of vahdyx.
I don't care your opinion on my story, it doesn't matter to me and my story may not matter to you. That's fine, it's all in the past and if my story helps someone choose a tuner that isn't James, I'd feel like I did something good. If it doesn't do anything, it's water under the bridge. I don't care what you, you, or you do with your car, and if my experience bothers you don't heed it.
At the end of the day, I was happy with my decision and that's all that matters.
James ran my tune richer than Trifecta. His tune was even richer than Superchips. He told me my car likes running that rich. James also took approximately 60 logs before getting my tune right combined; around 30 for stock turbo, and around 30 for my K04+
My AFRs fluctuated violently at idle and my idle was rough. Second gear was almost undriveable because it was all or nothing. I didn't like my fans blaring the moment I turned on my car, supposedly it "stabilizes" MAF calibrations, which I didn't believe. The amount of air going to my intake from the fans I bet were negligible. Maybe it does stabilize, I'm no tuner, but I found it hard to believe.
After I switched from CCSS3 I was happy, my cars idle was fine, I went leaner than Trifecta, all was fine in the land of vahdyx.
I don't care your opinion on my story, it doesn't matter to me and my story may not matter to you. That's fine, it's all in the past and if my story helps someone choose a tuner that isn't James, I'd feel like I did something good. If it doesn't do anything, it's water under the bridge. I don't care what you, you, or you do with your car, and if my experience bothers you don't heed it.
At the end of the day, I was happy with my decision and that's all that matters.
so i had this big thing typed out..... internet timed out and all went away.... dont feel like retryping right now lol. will do it soon though. anyone care to shoot the **** pm me
