Jerry and Lidio visit s/c #12

[TOM LEONARD]

It was with extreme pleasure that I recieved a visit from Jerry Barnes (owner of Trilogy Engineering/Motorsport) and Lidio Iacobelli (owner of Alternative Auto). It was apparent from the start that we were dealing with absolute professionals. In the two days we spent together fine tuning the car, the integrity with which these gentlemen handled my situation was incredable.
The kit was installed mid December and delivered even more power than I had expected. On one particular "run" (after driving it very hard) a tech thought he heard a ping (I did not, I was to busy holding on). After a phone call to Jerry, Lidio called and asked me to check the intercooler for circulation. I turned that task over to a tech who said it was fine. After a call back to Lidio, it was decided that he and Jerry would fly out from Detroit and diagnos the situation. We all know that the quality of fuel in California (91 octane max, combined with a horrible winter blend) is the worst in the country.
Upon arriving, Lidio connected his test/programing equipment, and took the car out for some test "pulls" through all RPM and load ranges. Returning, he said it was pinging badly (I still never heard it-age maybe?). Both Jerry and Lidio said they were'nt leaving until this situation was resolved. They were both adament that they would not allow any possibility of damage to the engine by use of their product.
It was soon discovered by Lidio, that the intercooler was not circulating as had earlier been reported. Lidio bled the system (we suspect an air pocket) and out we went again. They did not stop there. The only company with a dyno within 150 miles was closed on Saturday. That did'nt stop Jerry & Lidio.
They contacted the owner of RPM Machine (Brad) in Rohnert Park, and he came to the shop on his day off and let us run three "pulls". The results were outstanding-no ping-tremendous low end torque and loads of horsepower.
I've been in business for over 27 years, and I can honestly say I can't remember ever enjoying doing business so much, as I have with Jerry and Lidio-First Class Indviduals.
Now I'm just waiting for Summer weather.

[jettle]

Tom,

All I can say is....Man I wish I were in your shoes. I want that kit SO bad!

I am very happy to hear that you received such great service and your car is all dialed in now.

Enjoy!

Jeff

[Jerry Barnes]

Tom,

I cannot thank you enough for the support and hospitality. It was a great trip and we were very happy to see your car running well. Also, thanks for all of the help on the C.A.R.B. questions and the emissions test on your vehicle. Lidio and myself spoke about how nice it was to visit you and all the folks at your shop. We truely enjoyed ourselves and hope to see you soon!!! I will give you a call a little later this week to see how everything is going and see if you have heard anything from C.A.R.B.

Thanks again!

Jerry

[MI2QWK4U]

Glad to hear about the good news, I saw Lidio today and he was very pleased with the results. Now that the California fuel isnt much of an issue, anyone out there can feel better getting this azz kicking supercharger and tune. I feel very lucky and fortunate to live 5 min from Lidio and right around the corner from Jerry. You are right about both being honest and genuinely concerned about their customers, then again you aren't a customer to Jerry, but a friend. Enjoy your ride... I still have a couple months before the snow melts here in Michigan!

[Lidio]

With the significantly better then Michigan weather in Santa Rosa California at this time and getting to Work on, Tune, Dyno and numerous WOT test drives in a Marauder… It was hard to justify to my wife that this trip was work related
It was a blast and fun on some nice roads with great views.

Tom Leonard, the owner of the MM was great to hang with and brought us to a nice Mexican restaurant twice for some great food. His MM is the second blue one to my knowledge to be equipped with a Trilogy blower.

On Jerry Barnes’s earlier post he didn’t stress enough that while in California at the Ford dealer where Tom is employed, his MM (Tom’s) passed the required emission test as easy as if were unmodified!!
Trilogy’s kit should get a CARB number very soon and very easily.

I also want to mention that for the most part, the tune that Tom originally got with the kit in the mail, which is included in all Trilogy’s so far… works with no problems with the 91 octane available in his area. In fact I think there could have been room to play a little harder with the tune, but my extreme conservativeness always kicks in and I left it alone.
The key reason Tom’s car spark knocked is the intercooler pump and/or system had an air pocket in it causing it to not flow at its full potential so the intercooler was really not working efficiently. The intercooler system on these can be a little tricky to fully bleed out the air.

Thanks and I really enjoyed the visit

[dailydriver]

Excellent news! This is the information I have been waiting for. Jerry, please PM me with the details and cost. I would like to be on the list for when the CARB certification comes around.