Q: Whatever happened to the genny? - Joel

A: To preface this for those who are unaware, MSA acquired a 2010 3.8L Hyundai Genesis Coupe that we presented at the SEMA Show 2009.  We did a lot of modifications and resulted in creating our own line of products for the vehicle, including the very first turbo kit.  So...what's happened with the turbo project?

2010 Genesis Coupe - highly modified, custom MSA Turbo

We are not a large shop, and each of us stay busy in our dedicated roles.  As with the other shops that have attempted to do a turbo kit on this particular model, they've run into a lot of issues.  Mainly...the ECU.  The ECU in itself didn't have a crack out there available such as UniChip, Hondata, ECU Flash, etc...  So we were left on our own..  We contacted UniChip, Dynojet, ECU Flash, Cobb, and everyone else we could to get someone to develop something with these ECU's.  I can make a turbo kit...the key is in the computer.  We were shot down by everyone that we talked to (including at SEMA 2010 and 2011).  We were told no company had an interest in doing it because of the R&D Costs.  Cobb told me it'd be an estimated $300,000 if I wanted to fund it myself.  Ouch.  Our sole goal for the project was to provide a kit that was easy enough for the garage wrencher and still at a decent price...$4,000ish.  If we invested in the ECU like these companies (including those that support the forums), we wouldn't have met the goals.

In addition to the ECU, we've had a few things come up here and there.  We had to figure out a way to better feed oil to the turbo.  We then came up with our sandwich plate (which somehow has been removed from our website). (I'll provide a link here when it's back up.)  We had to provide a more efficient way of pulling the oil from the turbo.  We've dealt with MAF and MAP errors.  A few minor things here and there on the trial and error side as well.

I can't tell you how many times we've been close to a successful run.  But after a few days, another bug comes up.  I am NOT going to sell a product that can't take a beating just because if I bought it as a consumer, that's what I would do.  AND I want the confidence I would still retain a reliable daily.

With myself having the responsibility of getting the website together (it's been incomplete for longer than the Genesis), the day to day operations of the shop, and the book keeping...I just haven't been able to set aside the time to dedicate myself to the project.  Although it's been fun and it's been a great challenge, I believe it's time for me to focus on the future and development of MSA.  We hope to grow so that in the future, we can provided a dedicated staff to R&D.  Thanks for your inquiry!

- Bryan Lin | CEO, The Motorsports Authority, Inc.