There's an awful lot of misinformation, illogic and just plain ignorance bandied about in the real world as well as the internet - especially when benchracing or discussing politics & Big Oil - but sometimes it's difficult to remain silent.

Just today, I was with one of our vendors discussing his personal truck - 2006 CTD 4WD 2500 auto - and smiling a lot during these kinds of statements:
"got my ** downloader from the guy (name deleted to protect the integrity of the individual) who designed the cummings... makes 230HP on my truck - more than on any other"

How does he know it makes that much on his truck?
Why - because it says so on the box's label!

"burnt up my engine twice and rebuilt it both times - gonna rebuild it again at 98K miles"

Apparently, if you abuse your parts enough, it's a lot easier to plan that next CTD overhaul!

"we pulled out that restrictor plate (aka silencer ring) from the turbo and made a lot more power on the dyno"

Umm - the silencer ring doesn't effect the turbo's performance - Dodge required Cummins to include it on the Holsets (a subsidiary which they wholly own) to help meet NVH standards.

"I don't care what cummings says - that restrictor plate really limits the airflow! We proved it on my buddies dyno."

He really ought to pass on his findings to Cummins - I bet they don't know how Holset has been sandbagging their turbos!

"check it out - I got me a K&N filter and wrapped the intake (aka silencer tube) with HVAC wrap"

??? Bet that's worth a bunch of HP right there eh?...

So, I asked him if he ever thought about adding any gauges to his truck:

"yeah, next time I burn it up"

Obviously, he's invested an incredible amount of forethought and planning into his BOMBing campaign!

There's more, but you get the picture.
The guy's nice enough - no doubt a good soul - but his lack of knowledge truly boggles the mind!

I just didn't think I could bust his Bubble without hurting his feelings, so I tried to smile a lot whilst biting my tongue.

What would you do?

 

I would thumb wrestle him!

 

Nah.....Rock - Paper - Scissors! LOL
Really though......you were smart in your decision not to argue. You just can't fix stupid!

 

XLR8R:

Good post!! And it is SAD, but very TRUE! And what I would add to what you have said is how many times do you talk and talk and talk trying to help some people only to have them COMPLETELY IGNORE everything you have told them after hours of conversation!

---------
John_P

 

NAW.....Best of 5 playing "rock, paper, scissors"..........

Seriously, sometimes it's better to just smile and knod your head. It gets to the point where some people just will not listen to anyone or anything. You just gotta let them figure it out for themselves; hopefully before they hurt themselves.

 

so, are you going to start selling these wrapped intakes and 400 hp programmers

 

Mike,
I'll take one of each, but I have to burn up my engine first and replace it with a Cummings.

~Rob

 

Anyone have a good outlet on them there Cummings engines?

 

Pretty sure Ford owns 'em, might want to check the local dealer

~Rob

 

Oh great, I guess now you are going to tell me that my Cummins Turbo Diesel sticker on my truck doesn't give me 50 hp! Great, Just great!

 

Just what you did, stand there and say very little. Like the man says, "you can't fix stupid". I would consider this guy a candidate for one of those ultra rare, ultra high performance "53" blocks for his next rebuild. You could probably find one for him cheap.

 

That's classic. I probably would have stood there and smiled as well.

Reminds me of the guys next to me at the truck pulls last year, the more the beer flowed, the worse it got.

 

where can i get a 50hp sticker or maybe 100hp

 

Well, I was thinking might be more effective!

Too true, my friend!

No doubt - and I really enjoy helping people out, especially to learn about something, but it's tough without even a Glimmer of Hope...

We would never stoop so low in deference to the profit motive!

Besides, our stainless steel flux capacitor is much more powerful than a mere 400 horse downloader...

You can't fix stupid!

The scary part was, this guy was as sober as a judge...

 

It is tough, but I hold my tongue for that kind of stuff. I am not a very out going person anyway so I do a lot of listening and little telling. Back in the late teens and early 20's I probably would have argued until it broke out into a fist fight!

Being the 2nd shift foreman in our shop I get a lot of tech school kids that work a couple of hours in the evenings for school credit. I just laugh and shake my head at the stuff that they say. It gets quite entertaining at times It amazes me with every new crop how many of them have 10 sec. cars and have been there, done that with everything.