Urban Racing, Warrington - the truth, the scandal :(

[Debo]

At the beginning of last year, I was told about Urban Racing in Warrington by a friend of mine. We purchased a DTA e48EXP ECU amongst various other parts which totalled over £1k from them, in a short period of time. To cut a long story short, we ended up taking the car to them to have this engine management system fitted. We constructed the wiring loom, fitted it to the car, and provided a wiring diagram of our work, plus a wiring diagram for the original ECU. To the point then, and this is where the fun really began. Having spoken to Steve on several occasions, to ensure we had everything ready for them, we booked the car in for the DTA to be fitted 3 weeks in advance, some time in September. At the time, we were told this was to be a 3 or 4 day job max (we thought this was too much, as we had done practically everything already, the existing ECU needed removing, and the DTA plugging in, it literally was that simple - so we expected it to be a 2 day job, as did DTA themselves when we approached them about the situation). So, we took the car to Steve and left it there on a Saturday afternoon, ready for work to start on Monday, and the car to be returned by the Friday. Having heard nothing by mid week, we decided to call them, only to find out that they hadn't even started yet, and would be starting it tomorrow, so of course, there was no chance of it being done in the time schedule they had quoted... the excuse for not starting it? too busy with other cars that kept getting 'dropped on their toes'. Funny that, because when the car was booked in, the diary was empty, and surely a customer who has booked their car in would take priority!?! Anyway I digress, the job wasn't started that week, and the car was collected on the following Monday, having spent 8 days outside the Urban Racing workshop.

It was at this point we only wish we'd walked away from the company, and left them to it. As it happens though, we didn't. We decided to give them a second chance, as we really needed the car running on the DTA, since the spec was so far from standard the existing ECU simply couldn't control everything in the manner required, and we didn't want to cause any long term damage due to not having the car mapped properly. How ironic that turned out to be..... when the car went back to Urban Racing the 2nd time, we were 3 more weeks further down the line and now heading into October, and again, the diary was empty, and the job was still only going to take a 'week tops'. After 4 weeks, and many phone calls later (not one was made by Urban Racing may I add, we were always chasing them) the car was alledgedly complete. Whilst it was at Urban Racing for this duration of time, we had been contacted by many people who had been to the premises, and were advised that the car was constantly sat outside, with no work happening. I'd also like to say that the 4 weeks it took also included moving the battery to the boot of the car from under the bonnet (we estimate this would've taken us approximately 2 hours) and also fitting a FMIC (which we estimate would've taken us 3 hours, and an hour to make up the pipework for it). We were hardly asking the earth, or that was what we thought anyway. However, by the end of October, Urban Racing had our car for a total of 5 weeks - it finally left their premises with the following faults;

•Air Flow Meter missing - still not returned to the present day!
•Boost transmitter missing
•Intercooler boost transmitter stub stripped
•Intercooler incorrectly fitted (picture was provided for them to work from)
•Intercooler had flywheel bolt screwed into boost transmitter stub
•Front bumper ruined, after specific instructions not to cut the face of it
•No 3-bar MAP sensor fitted, as requested
•Air Temperature sensor glued into inlet manifold (should be screwed in)
•No oil breather / catch tank fitted as requested – recirculation pipe removed
•Screws missing from front scuttle panel
•Screws missing from front bumper lip
•Jubilee clip stuck under throttle butterfly causing it to stick ‘open’
•Vehicle was ‘boiling over’ on Urban Racing’s ramps as collection commenced
•Jubilee clip from bottom hose fell off – causing breakdown #1
•Earth lead from battery to chassis was not fixed tight – causing breakdown #2

The car went to them in perfect condition, with a brand new, highly tuned engine (built by ourselves) that had done 1000miles. It came out a mess, and was infact, lucky to come out at all, since we had to bleed the radiator when we arrived to collect the car to prevent it from boiling over! It didn't end there though. After the initial shock of Urban Racing ruining the looks of one of Italy's most popular cars, and possibly destroying our engine, the car then broke down 24 hours after collection. The bottom coolant hose had fallen off, causing the car the drop it's water content all over Sainsbury's car park in Sale. We rang Urban Racing immediately, to advise them what had happened, to be told there was nothing they could do and we were advised to drive the car home, with no water in the engine! Enough was enough, so we checked the engine over ourselves, to find the above fault list. Less than another week later, and the car broke down a second time, this was due to the earth lead on the battery not been fitted correctly, which eventually led to the alternator not running and charging the battery - the diagnosis? a flat battery.

A major complaint was raised with Steve (who we understand is the company owner, or so he told us anyway) at Urban Racing over the phone at this point. He was completely on the back track, which came as no suprise to us. We were told by Steve that he'd never had any complaints before, and this was the first one - this did actually come as a suprise to us, considering the treatment we had been given, despite handing over the best part of £1800 on parts and labour. It was at this point we considered contacting Trading Standards, but in the end was a move we decided not to make, as Steve had generously offered to rectify all the faults created by themselves, and map the car for free (it was running around on a Cosworth map at that moment in time), although we really didn't see any alternative, other than a labour charge refund... which wasn't offered. This left our options closed off, but seeing though we aren't complete arseholes, we came to an agreement that only Steve would work on our car, and we were to have the faults rectified and the car collected within 24hours of leaving it with them again. This was the only promise delivered, but at a cost of £200. Unsure as to how we ended up paying this amount, afterall, Urban Racing were only rectifying faults they had caused, and provided a 3bar MAP sensor and Cusco catch tank - but this should have been done in the first instance?!? Anyway, that aside, we paid the bill and took the car home. We then arranged with Steve for some mapping to take place, which was the main part of the job we asked them to do in the first instance, several weeks earlier. Bearing in mind, we were now almost 3 months on from when we had originally spoken with Urban Racing about the "1 week max job", we got the car mapped at F1 in Bolton. What happened next, was nothing short of amazing, and this is what puts Urban Racing in their very own league in terms of engine tuning! We managed to capture alot of what happened on the rolling road on video, as evidence, and also as part of the cars profile. We had a dyno run first of all, to try and get a 'before & after' type printout for once it was mapped. 150whp was what it made running just 11psi of boost on the Cosworth map - not bad for a 1.4? So, we were happy with 150whp, and infact, we were still smiling, impressed with our own handy work, and the fact it had made a fair amount of power despite running s**t, when it happened.... yes, every turbo owners worst nightmare.... the car cut out whilst slowing down on the rollers, with the exhaust manifold and turbo glowing red. In Steve's infinite wisdom, he had fitted the 3bar MAP sensor to the end of the cam case, which wasn't a problem, but the problem was the amount of wire he had left attached to it. He'd left so much, it was dangling right next to the exhaust manifold. Needless to say, the MAP sensor wire had melted, causing the car to cut out. We can only wish the torture stopped there though, it didn't! Somehow, the car started after some initial messing with the DTA ECU (hadn't noticed MAP sensor wire at this point), it would appear that the remains of the MAP sensor wire were still good enough to transmit a signal. The mapping commenced, and an hour and a half later, 3500-5500rpm had been mapped, then a turbo hose blew off, and then we ran out of time. Running out of time, really, was a God send. Throughout the afternoon, we were just plagued with trauma - Steve got a little excited with his 'advance' knob at one point, causing major pinking, and he also forgot to turn the fan on at the front of the car on at least one occasion that we happened to notice and turned it on for him.

[Debo]

Breakdown #3 was on the cards, less than 1/4mile from F1, the car died. It started and cut out a couple of times before finally calling it a day. We then had to tow the car back to Manchester from Bolton. The car had previously never broken down once, yet in the space of 2 and a half months, and whilst Urban Racing were telling customers of a "200hp Punto" that they'd been 'tuning', the car had broken down 3 times. We were told by them when we called to advise them what had happened on the way home, that 'these things happen when you tune a car to its limits'. Little did they know it was actually within it's limits, and we weren't exactly pushing it to its full potential, since we'd only just ran the engine in! Going by their logic, should we expect to rebuild it once a month?!? This was the last we heard from Urban Racing, until they wanted some more money off us for parts that we'd ordered weeks earlier and had actually forgotten about. Afterall, our main priority was to get the engine running again, and check what damage they may have done. That in itself was interesting, as we have a lap top and DTA programme to communicate with the ECU. We found that the water temperature had been recorded at 120degs (default max reading so it was probably higher) which is of course, cylinder head and head gasket crippling heat. We also discovered that our intake temperature had been as high as 70degs, which renders the map near enough useless as intake temperatures on the road are 5degs above ambient.

In summary, we can put our hands on our hearts and say that "Urban Racing are nothing more than thieving, lying, untrained monkies". After reading this post, if anyone is still considering taking their car to them, you need to seriously consider your psychiological state of mind. No doubt we weren't the first, or indeed the last people that have been ripped off by them. Our advice to you, would be to find another garage somewhere else to do whatever work you require. Urban Racing cannot be trusted to lace your boots, nevermind 'tune' your engine. Our experience with them is one that we'd like to forget, and we only had an engine management system and an intercooler fitted by them, we were hardly asking for them to re-create the De Lorean.



Sorry for the long posts, just really needed to get that out in the open, and let you GT owners in the N/W know not to use this company.

Regards,
Matt.

[demonfish]

Does Richard Beatty run it?

[Puntoboy]

that makes very interesting reading indeed.

it amazes me how companies like this get away with it. an how the still make money when ppl tell other ppl about the bad things that happen to their cars.

are u still owed anything from them?

[psxprince]

Its scarry to read never mind experience ,people can get away with such calus practice,Im just glad you were never drivning the car "at Speed" and any of the things you mentioned happened god only knows what we may of been reading .

Truelly shocking I feel for you.


Antony

[FLiPNFiLL]

Sorry to hear this mate, its just pathetic really how these companies exist.

[PuntoSporting]

That really is a shocking read!

So have you gone to Trading Standards at all? Something needs to be done about this company!

[Mr Hans]

as we really needed the car running on the DTA, since the spec was so far from standard the existing ECU simply couldn't control everything in the manner required, and we didn't want to cause any long term damage due to not having the car mapped properly

Hate to say it but, seb4.1 would have worked more than fine and saved you thousands and a lot of hindsight......

[Mr Hans]

150whp was what it made running just 11psi of boost on the Cosworth map

What the hell is a cosworth map.

Im somewhat confused as you told me your tuning expert company GPM were doing all the work.

To pay out for the real work to be done doesnt make sense....

So GPM can screw and engine together, thats pretty much what most can do. You told me you were just buying parts from Urban...

Are we talking Steve Greenall?sp? I thought he was road/track ?

[minifreak]

matt, if you want a good mapping place i know one but there in the south...