First Place Automotive, Knowing your Guru

[treekiller]

First Place Engineering is Jeffrey Lloyd (AKA: Treekiller)

Address 4011 21st avenue east Unit 111
Tampa, Florida. 33605

Phone: 813-333-1100

What do we do: Chassis, Brakes, Suspension, and tires, and helping you make them work together. Corner Balancing, Alignments, setup, tuning, and Home base for “Treekiller Enterprises” Track and Classroom instruction, and on track services.

What we don’t do: 24” chrome wheels, Aluminum wings, Ridiculous bodywork. I don’t sell “cosmetic” parts that do nothing for the racer. I do not cut springs; I will not install a suspension that is not properly damped, I will not paint your brake calipers or install your fake Z3 side vents. I do not do window tint, Stereos, or any non-performance electronics

The Problem:

When it comes to making a car perform, Just-having faith that your shop knows what they are doing is not adequate, you HAVE to be skeptical if not completely faithless. I’ve written this article to let you know WHY “Knowing your Guru” is vital.

Racers love to tout their opinion, you’ll hear from various sources “this part is the best” or “that part is junk” from people that have never even seen, better yet driven, or worked on or with the various components. The truth of the matter is no part is right for every driver, and every application, and this is what 99% of “tuners” refuse to acknowledge.

So I’m here to explain to you why I’m the person you want to call first, and I’m the person you want to TRUST for your suspension, brake and tire advice. And I want you to know how, why, and when; spending a little extra up front will return you dividends in the long run,

Who are you?:

First off I’ve been successful in several different forms of Mortorsport, From my first drag race sneaking out in my Mothers Trans-Am before I had my license, to nationally recognized events like One Lap Of America, and 24 hours of Lemons. I’ve been a successful event organizer, driver, and car builder for over 17 years. But I’ve also failed at times, ALWAYS learning from my mistakes. A wise man once told me “Success comes from experience, and experience comes from failure”

You may say, “Yes, but Jeff, how does building race cars and winning autocross, Time Trial, Rally events, and Drag Races qualify you to work on MY car.” Let me explain to you why I feel the 1st Place way, is the right way. For one I work harder then anyone at research, and I work harder then ANYONE on making sure you’ll be happy with the final outcome, regardless if your goals are a sporty street car, an all out track monster, OR simply to stay within a strict budget. I never recommend a part or modification without first doing several hours of research, testing, and comparing that item to other options available, of comparable performance, and or price.

The Difference:

Many racing shops, by nature, are not trustworthy; they don’t make money by sharing all their information and knowledge, with the world. They contribute nothing to the racing community, except perhaps helping their big budget customers have faster, if not exactly “legal” racecars. Now I know the tricks, I used to be one of those guys; I would build class-dominating cars, always stretching the extremes of any given rule set. I have been instrumental in developing rules for different clubs and event styles, and have even had rules written to prevent me from using “tricks” I developed to give my cars an advantage, but this behavior does end up hurting regular, drivers.

I founded 1st place with one goal, to bring that level of service and preparation to the masses. To give everyday Joe Driver a chance at winning. Sure, I don’t have a $10,000 laser alignment rack, I don’t have 10 lifts or a highly polished floor, and I don’t even have a showroom! But even the best tools, without insight are a totally wasted investments. My location is simple, and cheap, since that beautiful showroom has to come from somewhere. And it’s built into the price of what you buy. I have chosen my location because it’s inexpensive, and I can pass on my savings to my customers.

Motovation:

Don’t get me wrong, this place, 1st Place, is my salvation, I’ve spent the past several years out of the car world, I was working for a large financial firm, Working 80+ hour weeks, Sure the money was good, but I was tired, miserable, and would sometimes even drink myself to sleep. I was on the path to a wooden box, and quickly. When I saw the chance to get out, I did. But what to do, I wanted to get back into building cars, but I did not want to return to flocks of screaming customers calling me every 5 min because their SR20DET swap into their 81 Corolla was taking more then a week to complete,

But then it came to me. As one of my hero’s Colin Chapman is famous for saying “Simplify and add lightness” I can apply that lesson to a business model except modified, to “Simplify and Enlighten” That would be the goal. To not only provide the best racing Parts, Service, and Fabrication, at a good price. But to help educate the customers on how, and why things are done. To not just sell them a big brake kit but also find out what they are doing with it and make sure they get the correct brake pad compound, and providing them with all the engineering data so they can make proper, correct, future decisions to work within their goal-set. Taking the mystery out of the equation.

Requirements:
But if you want the 1St place way to work for you, if you want ME to work for you, there are a few things you have to accept:

1st You have to commit yourself to having an open mind. Sometimes I’ll recommend things not popular on your “model specific forum” this might seem counter intuitive at first but there is always a reason behind it. Remember you’ll never have an advantage over all your friends with X Brand Shocks, if you also buy X brand shocks. But if I recommend another option rest assured you’ll know why.

2nd you have to accept the fact I may turn you away. I’m sorry, but I can’t help everyone, to do the research necessary for each customer is time consuming. I don’t have time to worry about wings or body kits; I’ll never be rude, but if it’s something I do not specialize in I will not be able to help you.

3rd FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION. if a chrome wheel is heavier then it’s painted counterpart, or worse your existing wheels, I can’t sell It to you in good faith. Likewise I will not offer for sale, items that have no performance value.


Thanks for your time.
Feel free to call 813-333-1100 with questions or to book an appointment,

Our address is 4011 21st avenue East Unit 111 (Last unit)

For Diagnosis, or to ask questions, feel free to stop by, Service work, setup, or installs need to be scheduled.