Blacktrax Performance

This place is the WORST PLACE EVER!!! Don’t waste your time. If I could give them a 0 stars I would.

Paid for complete tune $ 1300 tune. Ran like shit, asked them what wrong. They said I have to pay extra to street tune. Complete tune is not so complete.
Hardwired my ECU to the battery.
Cut cornered on HG job caused leak.
Car got 0 compression after 6 months of NOT driving since the day I got the car back from them.
Spent almost 7 grands to get EVERYTHING fixed again at another shop.

I was referred there by a few friends and It took me a while to get on the schedule because of the upcoming races that they had on their calendar already. Once I got in and James had a few parts to order for me I got on the calendar. They tuned my ’93 Miata up on the dyno and got me 15 more horsepower. This car hums now! They called me a few days after I had my car back to check how everything was running. Great customer service and great tune as well!

First time in 12 years of ownership that I took my s2000 in to a shop for work, and these guys are super detailed, responsive, and organized. They also have very deep knowledge of s2000 which is rare and why I brought mine to them for my engine replacement. Thanks!

I rent space in a shop with a lift, and build crappy race cars with my friends. I do most work on my cars myself, so I tend to be picky with shops that I pick. Compared to the average car enthusiast, I can do more than hold my own in terms of wrenching. Compared to Blacktrax, well, that’s like comparing my 12^th grade intramural basketball team to the 1996 Bulls. James is great with communication and knows his stuff. Aki builds great motors. I’ve spent thousands here and have no regrets.

I went to Blacktrax to dyno tune a megasquirt ECU. Jei is fantastic. Super friendly and he knows exactly what he’s doing. I’d recommend Blacktrax to anyone looking for a high quality dyno tune. Thanks Jei!

First, I called a lots shop to tune my ECU for my R32 GTR. I went to Z car garage for a tune and they didn’t make my ECU tune works done, and keeping tell me I should change my ECU system (power FC) and said I had a bad fuel pump in the tank and charged me more than $ 500 to fix my fuel pump problem (even I provide a brand new fuel pump to them), because they said I have a «Bad» fuel pump (that one is new, only two weeks old !!) and then one time I try to switch that one with the old ones in my LSX 240sx to see if it still works? ! And amazing thing happened ! It works great !!! After this I told myself I never go back to Zcar again and they always «OVER PRICE » !!
Exact Motorsport owner John recommend me to ask Blacktrax (BT) to see did they tune Power FC, luckily Jei can tune for me ‚
After I made appt to get the tune, and he told me a lots thing about my RB26 and I also knew he tune for racing teams as well, also he speak a little Chinese too :)!!
After I got a few custom jobs from Aki, and he is also friendly too (even he looks very seriously when I first meet him hahaha)
His jobs to done on my cars is great works !!! He also a Japanese :))
And after that I listen what jei recommend, changed my injectors to 1300cc and also changed my PFC to AEM V2 … Man … My GTR become different stage ! Car runs very smooth and drive on freeway AFR is always around 14.7, and power very stable (450AWHP) with single fuel pump and 91 gasoline …, I never drive my car like this kind of feeling before .more important is before Jei tune it, my car only get 13 miles/​per a gal (freeway and street) and is more than 17 … You get more power and also good gas milage !!! I bet on freeway Cruise it can get around 19 – 20 !!
Today , just finish my LSX S13 in here, after the tune it has 20 more WHP and 23 more torque. And before this tune it only get almost 20 miles/​gal on the 100%freeway driving, but I think now it can get 25 – 28 like Jei told me so!!! and it only took almost two hours done .
I think a lots ppl in the bay area are looking for a good tuner and a good person who did a great custom job. They didn’t mind to pay the right cost .(I recommend BT or Exact Motorsport). They also looking for honest relationship with the shop workers .
But think about it, if u planing to do it, but you don’t want spend the «right» cost at «right» place to finish your project, then usually you will spent more and more money to fix this to fix that at different shops ! Also you won’t know who mess up your baby car in the end .
Also please ask James or Aki or Jei, they are really honest and knowledgeable, before you do anything with them, they will help u to plan and also make it right and also save your money and times !
You guys rocks !!!

Had a rod knock/​TCT sound pop up on my S2000 and I thought for sure the motor was in need of major repairs. After having it towed there on a Thursday evening it was diagnosed and the repairs began by 11am the next day. This is unheard of everywhere else that I have taken my cars. I’d recommend them to anyone that is searching for honest work to be done on their vehicle and is ready to get it back in a timely manner.

Can’t say anything about their work but I called twice for a quote and both times they said they would get back to me and did not. Customer service sucks.

If you want custom work done, replacement work done, or upgrading parts on your car, this is the only shop to go to. Hands down best customer service, performance, and quality in California.
I recently had a supercharger installed on my 03 s2000 along with a clutch, gauges, and master cylinder. James, Aki, and Jei were very helpful in assisting me by getting all the parts I needed, and installed. I ran into a few issues on my end and they were very patient with me, and took care of everything. I wouldn’t think twice about taking my car elsewhere. You really get what you pay for when you come here.
My car turned into an amazing monster!
Thanks again everybody at BlackTrax for the awesome work!

First time here and getting my baby worked on. The shop wasn’t hard to find at all and when you come in, you see a small array of parts they sell. Don’t let that fool you though because of all the things I’ve heard from friends about this shop, they do an amazing job. I made my appointment to get my aftermarket steering wheel installed on my s2000. As the shop was completely booked, I made an appointment a week and a half before I could get it installed.
So I came in today for my 10 AM appointment and James set me up completely and quickly. They brought my car in and started working on getting the installation done. As I have bought the complete kit, James came to talk to me that there was an extra step missing that was never included with the kit I had bought. He explained to me that I had a dual stage air bag release but the company I bought my kit off of only knew of a single stage and provided resistors for that. James went through with me about what is happening and that he is going to search up more information on how to fix this as any s2000 under the 2006 model, needed only a pair of the provided resistors and the 2006 and newer ones needed more resistors as it was a dual stage air bag.
James charged me only for half an hour of work because they needed to find more information on if any one else with my year or newer found a way to get around air bag kit. When they find out how to solve the problem, as he also contacted the company who made my kit too, he will call me in and completely finish off the steering wheel resistor kit. James is very honest and thorough with explaining what is happening and I really appreciate that. He walked me out of the shop and showed me to my car, I was amazed at how the steering wheel looked and that the install was done correctly and cleanly. I will definitely come back for any more modifications I need to my car.
Honesty, great explanation and in and out fairly quickly. This place deserves more than 5 stars as I am completely satisfied even though there is one missing factor that needed to be solved that the company I bought my kit from didn’t even know about.

I cannot say enough good about Jei, Aki, and Natalie, It has been a little while since I have been here, but Blacktrax has been wrenching on my cars for many years. The biggest project for me was a WRX /​STI swap into my 2002 Bugeye WRX several years ago.
With a donor salvaged STI, the Blacktrax crew swapped out the 2.5 Liter STI engine,
6 Speed Tranny, Rear End Drive Shaft, The Brembos all the way around Axels and probably things I am forgetting. Jei had to build a custom wiring harness and change the STI engine to drive by throttle cable from the drive by wire system. They have also done very comprehensive work on the suspension of my Subie, and last year they totally hooked up my Honda with coilovers, a sway bar, strut tower brace fender/​door bracing, and damn! I did not know a front-​drive could handle so good. He also hooked up some power adders to my Honda that are nice too. Oh, and FYI– on the STI swap– I picked the car up on the 21^st day after I dropped it off, loaded up all my old parts and came back to Bakersfield. Very very timely service. It is 254 miles one way from right in front of my garage in Bakersfield to right in front of Blacktrax’ garage in Milpitas. And you can bet I will be back when I get another project.

Top-​notch service. I met another one of their customers with a supercharged S2000 at the shop to purchase some parts that were being removed off a car. The parts were previously installed by Blacktrax and the installation was pristine (and great for resale of parts and car, obviously). The parts I purchased were cleaned and neatly organized in meticulous fashion (which in particular is why I’m writing this review).
Some of the components I purchased were fabricated/​modified by Blacktrax which I found very impressive in build quality.
Both myself and the other customer had funny schedules and Blacktrax was able to accommodate.
Although my appreciation is only immediately shown via a handshake and a Unilocal review, when there is something that I can’t do myself (or don’t trust myself to do) on my cars, I will be taking my cars to Blacktrax, even if they are 50 miles away from my house.

I recently had a header installed on my 2009 Civic Si. I thought I would be finished since I already had CAI and Exhaust. I found out that to truly maximize the potential of my bolt ons, I would need a Flashpro and Dyno tune. Jei and the rest of the guys gave me all of the above at an amazing price! James ordered the Flashpro unit and had me on schedule ASAP. When I got there was on the dyno within miniutes. Jei did an incredible job with the reflash, tune, and gave me the baseline so I knew all the numbers going in and out. After the tune I really couldn’t believe it was the same car. Highly recommended.
Thanks Jei and Blacktrax!

Best place to go hands down. I saw some awesome cars being worked on here. They do custom welding/​fabrication. They can do motor builds and install pretty much anything. I got my car dyno tested. $ 80 for 3 pulls. I would recommend making an appointment for your car as they are busy.

Pretty hard to find a well trusted shop in the bay area. Found them on the Honda s2ki forums. Got a discount 10% discount off labor :). Got many quotes from different shops way over price for the labor so for people saying its expensive? Not too bad, very nice and friendly people here. Great shop.
The work I got done.
Replaced Ap1 retainers and keepers.
With Ap2 retainers and keepers.
Got that peace of mind so I can rev to 9!

Outstanding! From the start Jei answered all of my questions I had asked about my supercharging kit (Honda civic si). He kept in complete contact from the start all the way until the day of my tune. He even gave me a base map so when I drove it to the tune (free of charge) A+.
After many back and forward emails. (all quick turn around a day or less) I came in to tune day. I had to get some O-​rings replaced for my injectors and they put them on. I talked with Jei for a little bit and it was easy to see he knew is stuff! He asked questions about the car and talked about how tuning works. I then let him do his thing.
The tune went well except for a minor issue with my OBD sensor but he basically looked at it for free and suggested I get a new one (when he could have charged me $ 110 to look at it).
Overall: awesome experience I highly recommend using this shop. I will definitely be back and suggest my friends to use this shop.
He could have easily charged me 2hr tune /​2hr repair (because of the actual time he spent on the car)
But instead he combined the issues as one and charged me
1hr tune and 1hr for repair coming out to $ 295!!! That is amazing!

This is one of the Great Ones… Not a couple kids that rented a crappy building in some bad neighborhood and called it a Tuner Shop. They know what they’re doing whether its a simple bolt-​on install or full build, and they also Tune! They Drag Race, RoadRace, Drift… and know what it takes to succeed at all of the above. Did a great job on my intake manifold, and have helped with issues over the phone several times. Not to mention they have a great Shop-​Dog!!!

This seems like a great place to go for an unorthadox engine swap. for an actual repair that requires troubleshooting i would go elsewhere.
I was having a slight shimmy when braking at higher speeds. i have a brembo bbk on my car, and was recommended to blacktrax by a friend who has had them do engine swaps for him. i had already tried to diagnose the problem myself, and nothing appeared wrong. i drove over an hour from the north bay and brought it in asking them to do a runout check on the rotors and basically do whatever was needed to pinpoint the problem. it is a hub over rotor with a floating disc, not the most basic or simple setup. given their rep i had high hopes.
after waiting at the abomination of a ‘great’ mall (full of empty stores and inedible food) about a mile for away for about 4.5 hours before i was called back. i was told that everything looked fine and that they couldn’t pinpoint the problem, though they did notice it when driving. i asked if they did a runout check and was told no, that they couldn’t do that there. uh, ok? so basically i got charged ~$ 300 for them to look at my brakes and tell me what i told them when i brought it in, that it all looks fine, but there is still a problem. they did clean the calipers well though!
Also, i was originally referred to Jei, but the project was not handled by him. i got the feeling like they didn’t want to get distracted from the really high dollar jobs for some minor brake problem diagnosis. i can’t blame them for that, but the fact that that i spent a whole day and several hundred for not much of anything was a disappointment. they did tighten the brake lines properly, which the next shop i took it to did not.
I would still consider coming here for a major project, but considering the drive and my experience i dont think i’ll likely return here for any type of diagnosis or ‘general’ repair. I hope that i do have a project for them in the future so that i can give them a better review.

I took my Prelude to Nat & Jei last year to get new hub bearings and lug studs pressed in. Not only was i more than happy with the service, Jei also got me a deal on replacing my front axles since all my CV boots were torn. I was on a time crunch due to an upcoming meet and my car was done with plenty of time to spare and all the work done perfectly. They even pointed out a few parts and leaks around my engine bay that needed attention, things that I hadn’t even noticed in the year i had been tinkering with the car.
If you have a Honda Prelude, this is the performance shop for you.