GDZHHR

My intention is to give an objective review about my experience with Hahn RaceCraft and the installation of a prototype turbo for a 2.4 Chevrolet HHR. There are photos of my engine compartment and general performance numbers posted here and elsewhere.

For exact dates and details, please refer to my timeline and the pdf’s that I have posted. You will find more information than is needed for a simple review there.

I’ll address the system itself first.

Looks:
The quality appears to be outstanding. The piping and intercooler look great. Aaron did a very good job of polishing the front of the intercooler and the pipes really pop under the hood in the red. Based on looks alone, I am very pleased.

Performance:
This is a difficult area to address because of the tuning never being completed. I can tell you this, it compares very well to when I was running a 75 shot through my ZEX set-up. The difference is that the power is constant. There are some issues around 4000 rpm’s which will need to addressed, but I don’t see this as a major issue which can not be fixed. I do get an occasional CEL light. I originally had three; two related to the transmission, the other for running lean. Once I replaced the TCM and had it flashed to stock, those codes went away. So I’m just running lean once in a while.

The shift points will probably need adjusting too. Really I think all of the performance complaints I have will be addressed by a proper tune.

Customer Service:
This is the area where there is an almost complete failure. My car was in the possession of Hahn RaceCraft for 277 Days (39 Weeks and 4 Days). I understand that The Hahn family experienced great personal tragedy during the year and I was as patient and understanding as anyone could be. However, my primary complaint is that that should not have been used as a way to explain away a project which was originally to take three months and that after it was slightly scaled back was told would take 2-3 weeks once work began. Little, if any work was done for the first several months my cars was there.

If there had been frequent, honest, open communication much would have been forgiven. However, I was constantly told that work was progressing, given an expected delivery date; only to find out as the day approached that little had changed. Over the course of events I stressed several time how important communication was to me.

I won’t detail all of the instances of wasted time; those can be found in the other files I have posted. I will however give two blatant examples.

The ECU’s in my car had an aftermarket tune that Hahn RC knew about. I even made arrangements for Tune Time to put them back to stock. However, Hahn RC did not send them off until eight months had passed. The car sat for over two weeks waiting for them to be done so that tuning could start.

My car also has a custom bumper. In the original discussions this was a concern shared by Bill Hahn and myself. For that reason my wife and I drove both of our HHR’s when we were to drop mine off so that Bill could take measurements and photos of a stock HHR. The first thing to be done was too remove my bumper and test fit an intercooler to determine in my car would work. Hahn RC needed a configuration that would work on stock 2.4’s also. The bumper was not test fitted over an intercooler until the weekend before I picked up the car. Because of this the intercooler had to be repositioned and further modifications had to be done to make it work.

As for how I was treated personally……..Aaron was always very respectful. Bill Hahn was not. I was often made to feel that I was not allowed to express any frustrations because his personal issues trumped them. This happened on more than one occasion. I asked over and over for updates about what was being done. At different times, I was told by Bill Hahn that he would have to “train” me to understand all of the “nuances” and that he didn’t have time for that. He also told that because of all of the technical aspects that I wouldn’t understand, all he needed to tell me was when my car was ready to be picked up.

Overall reflection:
If I had to do this again, I wouldn’t. I place much of the blame on myself for not keeping accurate records of early phone and private message conversations about the project and never getting anything in writing. I will not make any conclusions on the project or about the people I had contact with. I am just stating what happened and how some of it made me feel. I will not do business with Hahn RaceCraft in the future.

Jerry W

I kinda' kept up with your car through the various posts from you and others asking about the progress on your car. While I understand the personal loss when a family member passes away, many of us have lost parents. I have lost parents, but my job and other obligations did not suffer because of my personal life. To me, when personal life conflicts with business to this extent, it is a business that I will not do business with. Life is full of crisis, but it goes on and my obligations do not cease to exist because of them.

When you give your word to someone, you do what you said. You don't drag it out for months and even then do less than agreed upon and act like that was ok because you experienced some personal loss.

EcoBoost

Jerry, I will say it once to you, for I feel you do not know this part of the story...

I left my home, and my business, for many months this year to take care of my dying father. I left suddenly, with zero chance to plan for the impact it would have on my business. He became very ill very quickly with severe lung cancer, and time was running out fast.

I well knew I was risking my entire world in doing this. As I had spent all of my life previously placing business over family, this was a definite 180-degree turn. I had little choice...I was my father's only kin.

Mikes car came to us in January. I left for Florida and Dad in early March, so yes, nothing happened to the HHR while I was gone. The months I spent taking care of Dad in his home were a time I would trade for nothing. Not Mike Long's HHR, not any of the other projects this absence also stalled (whose owners did not choose to damage my reputation in public forum), not the lost business momentum. I did it for my family, and my Dad. He died in his own bedroom, with me at his side.

When I returned from my months-long sabbatical, I faced a long uphill battle that continues to this day, although the worst of the storm is mostly passed. At the time of my return, and once again after that, I offered Mike to take the HHR back until such a time as I could catch up and get back to it. He declined each time. I now know I should have insisted.

Upon my return, catching up to my day-to-day duties of keeping our manufacturing operation running consumed me, much more than I realized possible. Unfortunately, times like that mean new product development like this HHR must move to the back burner while we tend to the very real need of keeping our parts business running. Having been gone for months, the catching-up was enormous. My staff was spread thin from covering for me while I was gone. God bless my dear wife; she was my rock during my time with Dad, and she really stepped up to take care of Hahn RaceCraft while I was gone.

Finding the time to finish the HHR was tough, but we did finally prevail, and arranged for Mike to pick up. When my Aunt Diane died the week Mike was here, I again had to take time off to take care of my grieving mother (she'd now lost two dear family members in mere months) and help tend to Diane's affairs. More weeks lost in a year that was already destroyed, but family does indeed come first. My efforts on Mike's car that week were sub-par...my mind was dominated by my aunt's sudden hospitalization and emergency open-heart surgery. How I wish I'd have spent more time with her in her last days, but once again...cars dominated my life. The day after Mike left, she died too

Mike's got a genuine beef with us, and for his trouble and inconvenience, I am truly sorry. I had, and still have, every intention of finishing this project. I have tried. Mike refused to bring it back to me when I asked him to, saying he feared losing it for more months. I tried...but it would appear that under the circumstances, I just didn't try hard enough. My latest trip back to Florida was delayed several times (I was going to stop and visit him and the HHR on my way) and I had been unable to go to Mike's area until earlier this month. When we then made phone calls and emails to arrange to work on it, they went unreturned.

Were I able to conjure up many months of time to replace the ones I lost to taking care of Dad, I'd not find myself in this position with Mike. But that's just impossible. My family and I just want this nightmare to end. Fortunately, I only had to be in Florida for a few months...I may still be able to recover from the damage the absence caused my business if we can catch a break. All I want to do is get back to life as it was pre-2009.

Mike and I had agreed that, because he'd lost his job and funding was tight, he'd then just get by with what he had paid so far, which was well short ($1000 short) of the agreed upon price for the higher level prototype. So, I reduced the price of the system by that amount to help him out, and we both agreed to simplify the project to reflect the lower price. My willingness was there to accomodate the limitations of HIS situation and help out when he was down on his luck.

As an aside, Mike's total charges were also discounted many MORE thousands of dollars in exchange for his participation as a partner on a prototype vehicle.

All I've asked for is understanding and forgiveness, and a chance to finally make it right. I'm sorry, Mike. I truly am. We didn't deliver 100%, and it took forever. But it's so close, and there's still hope.

GDZHHR

I will not get into a battle with Mr. Hahn here as this is not the venue for that. I have offered proof for my statements he has not. This is a simple review. For those who want the full story with all of the proof documents, I suggest going to the website I created and referenced above. edit

I will gladly answer any questions people may have but will not enter into discussions here. This is a review, nothing more.

TkHHR

Mr Hahn
I respect your attempt to address these personal attacks so publicly here. I understand what happened in your life and commend you for taking the time to be with your father during his final days. You have done nothing wrong in my opinion and down the road it will become clear that time with your father in his moment of need was far more important than any HHR.

ChevyMgr

Mike has made his statement/review. Posting from other members is neither wanted or needed in this thread by either party. Thanks.

This needs to go to PM if you want to discuss it with the 2 parties involved.

Any further posting by anyone other than GDZHHR or EcoBoost will be deleted.

JonyyB

Also, keep in mind the site rules you have agreed on when you signed up to use this website:
Conflicts – All conflicts should be resolved in private via PM, email, or IM. Do not drag your personal conflicts on the forums.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/rules.php
Please resolve your conflicts among yourselves.