What happened to John Welch?

[S4Esprit]

I sent John Welch the turbo off my S4 and my dad's SE. He managed to get one of them back to me a week and a half longer than the 1-2 day turnaround he promised. On top of that, I also got his injectors and memcal - and honestly the setup performs pretty underwhelmingly. Actually, if the housing didn't look different you wouldn't know that I spent 2k on a turbo upgrade. So now I'm digging to figure out why - without any input from John - because he seems to have fallen off the face the earth.

To add insult to injury, he's had the turbo from my S4 for over a month. He has been unreachable by phone for the last two weeks and no longer responds to emails. I know he's got an iPhone - so as long as he's not in the hospital or jail - at the very least he's getting my email.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do. At this point all I really want is my turbo back. I don't care if he scoops the parts off the bench into a box and sends it to me in pieces.

What happened to John Welch? I thought this guy was a pillar in the Lotus community??? Anyone here have any idea how to reach him? Is he still alive? In a Mexican prison? Trapped in a well? I'm dying to know.

Edited September 9, 2008 by S4Esprit

[karmavore]

Vacation?

[jfitz981]

There was a very in depth discussion regarding turbos not all that long ago. I always suggest doing a search on here before making a purchase. Most of the time you will find the opinions of others who have bought the product in question. I make sure to do this before I buy almost anything that is considered expensive.

Hope it all works out!

Jason

[S4Esprit]

Hi Jason.

I did research him. The write-up on lotusespritworld.co.uk says

There are some fantastic articles written by John Welch on Esprit Turbos. If money was no object his WC Engineering Ceramic Ball Bearing Turbo would be the way to go.

They need to get that off there quick.

After I had trouble with the first turbo I started digging through here looking for a solution - and much to my suprise only found negative remarks - except for the one good one written by John himself.

Far as I can tell, I'm totally f*cked.

Wonder what a new turbo costs?

[t70]

Aerobat has a wc engineering turbo on his car.. it performs beautifully, without any trouble so far..

[lotus4s]

Ditto, mine works perfectly also. John has always been a good guy in my book and this is certainly not characteristic of him so there must be something unusual going on.

Sorry to hear of your troubles Buddy, hope it all works out for you...

[S4Esprit]

John has resurfaced in an email this afternoon.

I'm going to put my complaining on hold for now. After this is all over there will be an explicitly detailed write up with pictures, graphs, and dyno charts. I've got my fingers crossed.

If you've been thinking about a turbo upgrade; stay tuned.

[Bibs]

Where was he? Holiday?

[esprithk]

My car is using his ceramic turbo.

It performs beautifully.

wonder where is he now? any update?

[S4Esprit]

Apparently he was having trouble with the phones and internet due to unforeseen circumstances during construction of his new shop.

Esprithk; when you say 'beautifully' - do you mean 'gobs of extra horsepower with little lag and it provides boost all the way to redline' - or do you mean it some other way?

Edited September 10, 2008 by S4Esprit

[Kjakk]

Add me to the satisfied customer list. I got a WC turbo too. Mine works great!

[t70]

The turbo itself will not provide any extra horsepower without the chip modifications... What the WC turbo does is keeps the engine breathing right to red-line without increasing lag at the bottom end. The idea is that, once you increase the amount of boost your car will put down with the chip (and change some of the brutally rich fuelling tables) you will notice a serious increase in power in the 3500rpm+? range... which will continue to be there right to 7500rpm..

[SE Owner :-D]

I have WC Stage 2 turbo - and MODIFIED Chip....amongst other toys.

Oh yeah you do 'notice' the increased power....

John Welch has been very approachable for me in the past.

His turbos are something i would recommend, and i don't say that often.

Rog

[Paul93Lotus]

Where was he? Holiday?

In the United States, "Holiday", ie "Vacation" typically do not last more than two weeks unless you are wealthy. We don't get a month or more off like you guys get over there where you can basically be MIA. Over 40 hour work weeks are typical....with some jobs regularly working 60+ a week (without "overtime").

The few times I have dealt with John he was very quick to get back to me, and was very helpful.

[esprits4de]

He seems to take a dive in to silence time on and off, but always responds in some way....with helpful hints!

BTW he has a nasty spamfilter, be sure you do net get cought in that.... :-) I did....

[s4s]

His turbo is great !! But his service is very disappointed.

It took me 4 months, more than 5 email without any reply, to get my turbo back.

I had to ask my friend in the US to make a phone call for me, finally he reply me an email.

"very sorry for late reply, it is race season, I'm out of the shop and very busy on the road, I will send ur turbo ASAP"

Two weeks later, I got my turbo back.

[S4Esprit]

I keep hearing that his turbos are great but generally as a rule no one ever elaborates.

Has anyone ever gotten 357 HP with a transient peak of 375 out of one of them?

Just curious.

Edited September 11, 2008 by S4Esprit

[jfitz981]

Hey Buddy,

I just meant in general always search this particular forum before making any big purchase for the car. By doing so it could save you thousands. It has for me and the people here are excellent and knowledgeable!

Keep us posted.

Jason

[SE Owner :-D]

Budddy,

couldn't tell you figures as i wouldn't dyno my car for all the tea in china and i don't really give a fig about numbers as they mean nothing to me that i care about.

however it moves the way i want it to.

Edited September 15, 2008 by SE Owner :-D