Good morning Manny,
I've followed the posting on:
Garry's 2006 Z06 From Alberta Just Arrived - Corvette Forum
about the work that you're doing and some of the folks on this site were wondering why I didn't go local.
I'm not about to sign up to get another forum but I thought that as the owner of the car my point of view might offer some clarity on this thread if you wanted to share it with them.
So here is the story.
When I first started to consider modifiying the car it came down to a question of bang for my buck. Now for some personal information, I'm not a company CEO, I don't own an oilfield service company or a trucking company, I'm not a doctor, lawyer or accountant. I'm just a semi-retired grain farmer former research agronomist who wanted to first fulfill a promise that I made to myself if I survived 5 years after my cancer treatment ended which was to buy my dream car (Velocity Yellow C6 Z06). Having done that and being bitten by the thrill of speed now it became a question of going faster.
I dealt first with Manny and Dasilva Motorsports when it came time to venture down the road with the first of the changes, the "Mild to Wild" exhaust control and the Snake Charmer air intake.
But then came the desire for more power yet and so I talked with Manny about what he would recommend for a major boost.
Now as I mentioned previously, while it might appear otherwise, money is tight and cost is a factor. After I talekd with Manny I talked with some folks in Edmonton and also Davenport in Calgary and I ended up either getting a lesser package (and rwhp outcome) for the same price or I would end up paying considerably more for the same upgrades.
And this is AFTER taking into account moving the car from Northern Alberta to Ontario.
And while I plan at the moment to fly to Ontario to drive the car home in the early spring I'm looking forward to the trip to see parts of Canada and the US I have not seen in a long time and to just have a nice road trip in the process.
I don't fault companies like Davenport etc. for the prices they gave me. This is a "what the market will bear" situation and Alberta's economy, IF you are in the right industry, is smoking hot right now. So what are they to do? Have one price for the oilfield guys making the 6 digit incomes and other for the rest of us? it doesn't work that way sadly.
I remember going to try to buy a vehicle in Grande Prairie in 2007 and trying to negotiate with the salesman and he just looked at me and said "why should I go below sticker price when some rig worker will be coming through that door at any moment and will pay me asking price in cash?"
Sort of a hard reality to live in.
Now on the other hand, the economy in Ontario, at the moment, is not that rocking along. Thus for the prudent and shrewd if you shop around and do your homework you can find that for the same product there are significant differences in the price you will have to pay.
If I could get the same outcome from Dasilva for much less than from Davenport well that is money left in my pocket and that is a much better outcome for me.
I'm sure that the Edmonton and Calgary guys do very fine work, having seen their cars at "Race the Base" and autocrossed against a Davenport modded ZR1 (who had the best time that day by the way!) but for me it it was just an economic consideration.
And if you ever heard the full story of my experience in moving the car to Edmonton in a blizzard for rail transport to Dasilvia, it is experiences like this that give life a bit of flavour and make it just a little more colorful and fun.
I hope that this will hlep you understand that my choice of Dasilva was as informed a decision as a car owner as I could make for furthering the experience of owning what has to be the best car to drive, a C6 Z06!
Cheers,
Garry