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Shrep
03/16/2006, 02:05 PM
Okay...so it was brought to my attention that some people may have missed that I'm working at a performance shop these days.

So...I figured I'd actually create a thread about it, and tell you guys "what's up". ;)

The Company

LSE Performance was founded in 2003 by John LaCroix, Josh Swanberg and Ryan Etheridge. The company started with the dreams of creating a stronger and faster import community. In the 2003 and 2004 season LSE Performance worked on customer cars in private settings. 2005 brought many changes to the LSE Performance crew, and the shop was officially opened to the public. They have performed many builds for customers across the country and a very high success rate.

About the Owners:
John LaCroix- Lead technician, product designer/chief fabricator. John has been wrenching on vehicles since 1998, and has been involved heavily in the import community since 2001. He is known locally for a few of his vehicles. The first one is a white Mitsubishi Galant VR4 that went 11.66@122 in the 2003 season. This run was done on 92 octane. His 2nd vehicle is the 1990 red Eagle Talon TSi AWD that went 11.06@128 in 2004 on a 60 trim turbocharger. The run for the Eagle used no nitrous, was nearly full weight, and used a LSE Performance Stage 1 shortblock. His current vehicle can be seen here (http://www.lse-performance.com/gallery/john-talon). (http://www.lse-performance.com/gallery/john-talon)

He has experience working on the Dodge SRT-4, Nissan 240sx, Acura NSX, Nissan 300zx, DSM's, 3000GT's and Stealth's, Acura Integra's, Honda Civic's, Honda Prelude's, the Honda CRX, Honda Accord's, the Acura RSX, and a few scattered others. He can install or fabricate any part for any car.

Josh Swanberg- Office Manager/Parts Specialist/Customer Service Representative, Part-time wrench, and tuner. Also started wrenching on vehicles in 1998 and has been heavily involved in the import community since 2001. Josh specializes in the "front end" of the business. Also, he can design systems to handle any power level on any vehicle. This ranges from sizing available components for your specific build, to creating one off turbocharged or supercharged monsters using off the shelf and custom made parts. He has made vehicles extremely quick with relatively little into them as far as modifications are concerned using very small budgets. An example of this would be his 1993 Dodge Stealth Rt/TT. The stealth made a 13.0@104mph pass in 2003 with a boost controller, airfilter, and a basic tune-up. His current vehicle can be seen here (http://www.lse-performance.com/gallery/josh-stealth).

He also co-owned and co-operated QPR INC last season before handing over ownership December 31st, 2004. He has worked on variety of import vehicles, with a specialization in Mitsubishi.

Ryan Etheridge- The "part timer". Ryan is the guy that every shop needs to fill in the gaps. He is a certified hydraulics technician and has been in the community as long as John and Josh. His 1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 ran a best of 12.3@109 in 2004 on the factory intercooler, turbocharger,nearly full weight, and stock head/refreshened shortblock. The run was made with a small shot of Nitrous. Yet another example of properly chosen components to get the job done.

Other Employees:
Pattie LaCroix- John's Mom, but like a mom to the rest of us. Pattie assists Josh in the front office answering phones, scheduling appointments and doing general office work. Doesn't sound like much, but without her, LSE wouldn't be where it is today.

Kyle Schroepfer- Kyle has been around cars and trucks nearly his entire life. Though he lacks any formal training, he has become quite adept at what it takes to make a car fast. He's been involved in many builds, including his brother's 1993 Probe GT that is currently still in the works.

Justin Schroepfer- "The Suspension Guy". Justin has been fiddling around with cars since before he got his license. Fastest car built yet to date, a 1984 Camaro that ran 10.8. He came in with a formal education in mechanics and hydrolics, and some metal fabrication and polishing skills.

The new shop vehicles are currently under construction and will be completed as time permits. The delay in our personal cars is because: Customers have always been, and will always be first. LSE Performance started with a goal to provide unrivaled service and an overall excellence pertaining to the automotive community. It is a law we follow to this day.

The Shop
As of February 10th 2006, LSE moved into a new facility!

The new facility is 4000 square feet. It has 2 offices currently and 2 bathrooms, and a clean engine room. Our dyno is tucked away in the corner with full exhaust evacuation. The building features a drive in bay on 1 corner, and 2 dock doors on the other end.

Here's a shop pic from last night:
http://www.lse-performance.com/gallery/albums/newshop/P1010012.sized.jpg

More shop pics can be seen here (http://www.lse-performance.com/gallery/newshop).


Our list of equipment includes: a Chevaler mill, Jet lathe, Lincoln 185 TIG welder, Miller 251 MIG welder with spool gun, 250 Heliwelder TIG welder with cooler, Pro-tools 105 series pipe bender, Rotary brand lift, Snap-on and Matco boxes with tools, and more. We are fully equipped for engine assembly, any part installation or one off fabrication of any part. We offer full motor builds, porting, and polishing. Production products are outsourced so they can be completed in a timely fashion after prototyping is completed. This allows consumers with "group buys" to receive finished products in a reasonable amount of time.

Our Dyno
LSE Performance is the proud home of the HIGHEST LOAD CAPACITY AWD CHASSIS DYNO IN NORTH AMERICA!
Our dyno is capable of load tuning 1200 whp on either axle or 2400 whp in AWD mode. It is also capable of graphing 2400 whp in F/R drive mode, and 4800 AWHP!

John and Josh are EFI University Certified, and are familiar with just about any tuning software on the market today.

Our address:
10550 County Rd. 81, Ste 219
Maple Grove, MN 55369

Phone:
(763) 416-DYNO
..............(3966)

Please feel free to browse the site by clicking any of the links in this post, or my signature.

MN Probe GT
03/16/2006, 05:39 PM
Sounds like a pretty nice place.

Lancimus
03/16/2006, 06:36 PM
i might need to come in for a "tour"...

rebby
03/16/2006, 07:24 PM
You guys really need to get some muscle in that palce. ;)

pcmmelite
03/16/2006, 08:00 PM
Sweet place. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be getting a G35 coupe within a year or so. Future plan is to get an APS twin turbo setup too. Looks like I found the guys to help with the install.

I know that there are probably liability/isurance issues and stuff, but is there any chance that I could swing by some time and watch some builds by people that obviously know what they are doing? I'd love to see how customizing and tuning is really supposed to be done on a hands on level. I'd obviously be willing to sign off on waivers and such for insurance purposes. I just think that it would be cool to see monsters being built from scratch.

Fazda 16
03/16/2006, 09:37 PM
Sounds like you guys need a body guy!!:D Anyway, shop looks nice and very well kept up. Its no fun working in a dirty shop. You guys seem to keep it real clean up in that place. Glad to hear its doing well also. You ever expand, let me know!:thup:

wannabfast
03/17/2006, 01:28 AM
how much to rebuild the fiat? im just playin.. however i might have to bring it in to do the exhaust... hehe

edit* and its spelled hydraulics.. not hydrolics...

naustin
03/17/2006, 10:41 AM
Justin - that place is really cool! Wanna tune my wife's focus? 5 years from now... :shy: (i'm broke)...

It's an auto - but I'm thinking I'll just have to put a good tranny kit in it someday and deal with the compromise...

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:43 AM
You guys really need to get some muscle in that palce. ;)Bring her down when she's done! We'd love to have her!!!

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:43 AM
Sounds like a pretty nice place.Thanks Kirk!

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:44 AM
i might need to come in for a "tour"...
You're always welcome Lance! We're open from 9-6 ;)

I'm usually not there till after 6...so we'll make special arrangements for ya ;)

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:47 AM
Sweet place. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be getting a G35 coupe within a year or so. Future plan is to get an APS twin turbo setup too. Looks like I found the guys to help with the install.

I know that there are probably liability/isurance issues and stuff, but is there any chance that I could swing by some time and watch some builds by people that obviously know what they are doing? I'd love to see how customizing and tuning is really supposed to be done on a hands on level. I'd obviously be willing to sign off on waivers and such for insurance purposes. I just think that it would be cool to see monsters being built from scratch.We don't mind tours and stuff, but as far as just hang out watching...that's where the insurance liabilities become an issue.

However...on a tour you'd get to see one of our many ground-up builds...Josh's Stealth R/T TT. We're hoping for 600+ on pump gas...

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:48 AM
Sounds like you guys need a body guy!!:D Anyway, shop looks nice and very well kept up. Its no fun working in a dirty shop. You guys seem to keep it real clean up in that place. Glad to hear its doing well also. You ever expand, let me know!:thup: Will do. Thanks!

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:48 AM
how much to rebuild the fiat? im just playin.. however i might have to bring it in to do the exhaust... hehe

edit* and its spelled hydraulics.. not hydrolics...LOL just a typo.

Yeah we can install your exhaust....

or do you need us to make it??

meh...either way.

Shrep
03/17/2006, 10:49 AM
Justin - that place is really cool! Wanna tune my wife's focus? 5 years from now... :shy: (i'm broke)...

It's an auto - but I'm thinking I'll just have to put a good tranny kit in it someday and deal with the compromise...

All the real drag cars use autos!!!

wannabfast
03/17/2006, 11:01 AM
... stop post whorin! and yes it will need to be made.. if it was a simple bolt on.. i woulda already done it

Shrep
03/17/2006, 02:05 PM
Sweet!

We just custom fabbed a 4" exhaust for the Stealth...

You wouldn't think that it'd be that much bigger than 3" (just an inch right?) 4" pipe flows almost twice as much, and appears almost twice as big! It's rediculous!!

MN Probe GT
03/17/2006, 05:34 PM
Sweet!

We just custom fabbed a 4" exhaust for the Stealth...

You wouldn't think that it'd be that much bigger than 3" (just an inch right?) 4" pipe flows almost twice as much, and appears almost twice as big! It's rediculous!!
area of cross section of 3" pipe: 7.1 square inches
area of cross section of 4" pipe: 12.6 square inches

yes, much bigger :)

wannabfast
03/17/2006, 06:14 PM
Sweet!

We just custom fabbed a 4" exhaust for the Stealth...

You wouldn't think that it'd be that much bigger than 3" (just an inch right?) 4" pipe flows almost twice as much, and appears almost twice as big! It's rediculous!!

riight.. i was thinkin 2" piping...:wtf:

Lancimus
03/18/2006, 02:08 AM
You're always welcome Lance! We're open from 9-6 ;)

I'm usually not there till after 6...so we'll make special arrangements for ya ;)

gonna have to take you up on that...it is spring break for me, so just let me know when...i already have directions...

wannabfast
03/18/2006, 02:34 AM
what days are they open? can i dyno my fiat once for free?

ReDDiE2ShiFT
03/18/2006, 04:48 PM
Justin- how much does your shop charge when putting performance parts on? Is it per part or per hour??:)

Let me know!

*ReD*

andrewpgt
03/20/2006, 10:12 AM
i think i need to make a trip and talk about some stuff there.

andrew

love the shop!

Shrep
03/20/2006, 10:13 AM
MNPOC members get a discounted shop rate of $80.75/hr. We do hourly or flat fee depending on the service...so if you need a quote...just ask.

As for the dyno...
Regular rates:
$75-3 pulls w/tail sniffer.
$180 for the 1st hour, $150/hr for each additional hour, or for 2+ hours booked.
$150 for the 1st hour, $120/hr after that if you want to use it yourself.
(We charge more for the first hour because of hook-up time, prep time, and that the sessions typically tend to go for over an hour anyway.)

Dyno Day:
$60 per person. Get's you 2-3 runs (depending on time and number of participants). Minimum of 5 cars, max of 15. Plus, should you find while you're on the dyno that you need tuning, you can schedule tuning time w/in 2 weeks of the dyno day, and get 10% off the regular rate.

Thai - um yeah, anything more than 2" would be overkill on your car. Don't worry, I'd never consider putting 4" on that beast! No free dynos...gotta pay this thing off. Open M-F, and Saturday by appt only.

centralwrestler
03/24/2006, 01:14 AM
how much would it cost to fab a straight cat back for a 95 PGT?

Shrep
03/24/2006, 02:33 PM
If we're talking 1-off (custom) fab, then we charge straight hourly. Whatever it takes for us to make it.

Most of the time, it's going to be cheaper to just order a part if it's already available.