DaSilva Motorsports Review

[SYNGSS]

Unfortunately some bad publicity is flying around these forums and it's now turned into a big flame war between two shops and former customers of DaSilva Motorsports.

I don't know the other shop so I cant comment on their abilities, But when I was targeted as a some poor F**k on a social media page it really got to me in a big way. When I read these comments I almost lost my mind and yes I lost a lot of sleep over this. But I was still convinced I made the right choice. And in the end I was very happy with the work and I'm still smiling as I write this.
I'm posting this review based on my experience with DaSilva Motorsports, And I'm not drinking the shops koolade either.

Please note: I was not paid, nor given any special discounts to write this review of DaSilva Motorsports. This is just a review of the great experience I had with this shop. Any shop this good deserves my time and effort to write a review.
This year I decided It was time for me to get a supercharger for my 2011 Camaro SS. Searching and reading with many phone calls all over the US to get the right information was quite the time consuming effort and I had a hard time figuring out what kit would best suit my needs and want. At the same time, I wanted a kit which would allow me to make big power without swapping out the supercharger later down the road. My budget also played into this equation.
I have lot of experience with large displacement screw chargers, so I do understand the whole concept on how much power these big units are capable of making. We did one of these deals on a 500 inch BB Chevy that made well over 1100Hp on C16. So, yes I love superchargers. But sticking a big 10-71 Alky blower out of the hood of our Camaro was just not practical for street use. The thought did however cross my mind.
Ok, enough with that big blower deal. After scouring though enough forums, I stumbled across these ECS kits and I quickly became intrigued on how much power these units can make without changing the head unit. Great! So where do I get one of these? I found through the ECS website a Canadian authorized dealer named DaSilva Motorsport. Fair enough, I figured, seeing as they are an authorized dealer for ECS Superchargers, they should know this product really well.
I picked up the phone and made the call to Manny Dasilva to get an estimate to have this unit installed and tuned. I was shocked at how good the price was because I did the conversion from US to Canadian dollars and trying to find a shop to install it would have taken me over my budget no doubt. Manny also suggested I should do a meth kit at the same time. From all the research I did, many builders swear by using meth with superchargers and it made total sense to go in that direction. I also wanted to have a new shifter installed; so once again Manny suggested to go with the MGW instead of the Hurst brand.
I absolutely love this shifter! It’s a gorgeous piece of engineering and I’m glad he pointed me in the right direction on that one. The best part was he knew I had other items on my wish list that I wanted done, but again, my budget was thinning out. I also needed rear tires and I wanted gauges and my shiftlite installed. Once again, he said look, we’re already doing a big build and I don’t mind cutting you a great deal for the rest of the work you want done. About 10 minutes later, he re-estimated my build and presto, right on total budget plus the extra’s he threw in like an upgraded oil catch can.
You know, I thought to myself, is this guy for real or is he just yanking my chain to get me through the door and then come at me with some surprise expenses. I’m very well aware of these cats and I fell victim to some deals that are just too good to pass up and paid the price. So, I had to check this guy out to see if he’s the real deal. I spent hours and hours reading through forums and comments from many of his past and present customers to whatever else Google can dig up on this cat. To my surprise he’s the real deal and he gets lots of respect from his customers and these are guys not spending chump change I can tell you that. I have seen the outcome of some of these builds and they are nothing short of impressive, many of his customers thank him for doing that little extra to make it a great experience.





So I packed up my car and headed down to DaSilva Motorsports to drop it off for the work I wanted done. Upon my arrival, Manny greeted me and chatted with me and my wife for a bit. After that, he took us on a shop tour to see some of the projects they were working on. Holly LS heaven!! You gotta see some of the cars he’s working on: Corvettes, Camaros, everywhere from mild to wild, and a parking lot full of cars outside waiting in the cue. I paid very close attention to the work already completed and the level of detail and craftsmanship they put into every build. I knew at that point I was in the best hands possible and even my wife mentioned that on the way home. After 3 long weeks, I was there to pick up my car and square my bill with Manny. He took me into the shop to see my car being completed and getting ready to go on the Dyno. The installation looked so good that if you didn’t know any better you would swear it came from the factory like that. The detail in the workmanship was staring me right in the face and it takes a lot to impress me and boy did this ever.
They had to cut my custom painted engine cover around the brackets and head unit to fit it back on. The cuts were absolutely perfect. They where sanded and painted so you could never tell it was modified.
Moving on to the Dyno tune; I was chatting with Dave the tuner as they were strapping down the car. I asked him the question: “So, based on this setup, what kind of numbers should we be expecting?” Now, if you meet Dave, you will notice he is a very cheerful and humble character. He looked at me and said: “Well, 600rwhp is where I’m predicting it will end up.” I was quite interested to see how these tunes are done and why this humble dude gets his crazy good reputation from. After watching him input all the numbers one at a time, I figured this guy is doing a lot of inputting of data. Ok, time to go outside and have another smoke with Manny to ask him what the hell is Dave doing. Oh yeah, he builds all the tunes from scratch; he’s very methodical on how he tunes. I thought: ok, he’s about to do a pull; he brings the revs up and then back down and I notice he has this strange look on his face. I asked Manny if something is wrong with the car and he replied: “No, I don’t think so... Dave will not do a full pull until he’s confident with the tune.” That is what I think is a sign of a tuner worth his salt. Shortly after, he gave me thumbs up and we were ready to make some music. On the first pull, it hit 572RWHP. More tuning, second pull 580, third pull 599, fourth and final pull 604.8rwhp. At that point, I had a smile from ear to ear. After some street tuning, I was ready for the long drive home in the rain.
One more thing I want to point out was fuel mileage. I filled up before heading out to Breslau, Ontario. When I arrived, I had between empty and a ¼ tank of fuel left. I filled up again before heading home and as I was almost home I noticed I had a ¼ tank of fuel showing on the gauge. Hard to believe I’m getting better gas mileage, but I am. Cruising down the highway I did notice that the AFR gauge bounces between 14.7 to 15.2 air to fuel ratio. So what does that mean? Well it’s running very efficiently; as good as it gets and it runs great around town.
When I hit the throttle it becomes a total beast. I can’t tell you how happy I am with the work done by DaSilva Motorsports. I’m still smiling and you could not wipe that perma-grin off my face with a hammer drill once I mash that throttle.
Thank you to all the staff at Dasilva Motorsports for taking such good care of our ride and making us happy here in the 613. I will be back for more of that DSM Magic no doubt!

[SSCam77]

You got lucky man, many many others have been scammed & lied to with proof & pictures to show exactly what was done. Dasilva might put out a couple cars that are ok but that doesn't mean that all the ones they put out that are really bad don't exist because they %110 do exist.

& just for the record I'm not part of any social media group or have any connection to any other shop. This is my own personal experience & the experience of many friends & people I've met over the years.

There is a reason Manny is being sued by multiple customers as we speak & cops are literally looking into this & that's no lie.

[camaross22]

Totally agree...and I do believe you will hear of others who had the 'smile ear to ear' when they first picked up their cars from Dasilva. Sadly, the perma-grin did not last.

[SRTKILLER]

Originally Posted by SSCam77

You got lucky man, many many others have been scammed & lied to with proof & pictures to show exactly what was done. Dasilva might put out a couple cars that are ok but that doesn't mean that all the ones they put out that are really bad don't exist because they %110 do exist.

& just for the record I'm not part of any social media group or have any connection to any other shop. This is my own personal experience & the experience of many friends & people I've met over the years.

There is a reason Manny is being sued by multiple customers as we speak & cops are literally looking into this & that's no lie.

Amen, the truth will come out as it is already starting to. The pictures I've seen, the logs files I've seen of the cars knocking and my own experience is proof enough. I'm just sitting back and enjoying the show!!

[SSMY1LE]