Sent you a PM

 

I had a flat 6 innovations stage 2 4.0 motor built with the old program where I ship my car to Georgia over last winter. FSI is the company to work with in my opinion ( LN Engineering Now ) they have the most experience with these motors and make a great product. My motor is transformed to what I had wished the car would be when I first got it. The 3.6 motor stock is a fun motor however just felt a bit under powered to me. A 996 with an FSI motor is a perfect combination in my opinion. Nikasil cylinders is a must in my opinion as I do not want to worry about bore scoring. If there is any way to get on their list and wait to get one I would do it. If I could find a roller and had the money I would love to have one of their R motors as well... Maybe some day.

 

Specialty Cars in Allentown PA builds engines, but I think they have a big backlog.

https://specialtycarsservicecenter.com/

 

Did LN Engineering acquire FSI?

 

I've got a Stage II track performer 3.8l (built from a 2000 M96/04 3.4l). I've got around 20k miles on it (since 2018/19) and I'm super happy with it. My impressions/experiences with the build were documented in thread here. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-critique.html Unfortunately, I think the thread turned out with more of a negative bent than I intended... Also, I believe my build was the initial impetus for Jake to re-think his build model. All this being said, my experience with the build itself (sans shipping problems) has been nothing short of amazing. Plenty of smooth, worry-free power ( 306 whp on the dyno with around 285 max torque @6500 rpm). I've since added an IPD plenum with the 80mm GT3 TB, and 997 3.8l airbox and a more aggressive tune per FSI (from the tuner as part of the Stage II build). I haven't had it dyno'ed again so I can vouch for any more power gains - suffice it to say that the 60 whp difference between it and the stock engine is Night & Day... This engine really makes the car. Jake, Judd and the rest of the crew at FSI were a pleasure to work with.

 

Yes

Same guys will still be at FSI, except for Jud who will move to LN Engineering.
Customers will deal with Jud at LN instead of Jud and Jake at FSI.
Engines will be built and sold through LN.
No more customer's being able to choose this and that with their engines.
They will have to go with FSI spec as-is.(Not a bad thing IMHO)
I can't imaging anyone not choosing all the available options unless they're on a REALLY tight budget.

No more shipping entire car to FSI.
You will no go through a certified local-ish installer.

 

I actually have read your thread that you are referring to. I read that before initially calling Jake, that review got me thinking that I may want to work with those guys. So thanks for posting that, nice write up. They did not disappoint at all! Glad to hear of someone with one of their motors with some actual mileage on it! I have 4750 miles so far on mine as this is my first season with it. My driving this season was derailed by hitting a deer this spring and fighting a cold start misfire issue. The misfire issue turned out to be the fitting on the ack of my UAOS breaking off! If those events had not happened I would likely have been to 6k or more by now. I hope to put a good 6-8 k on next summer. Keep on enjoying the car!

 

We are currently working through a bit of a merger. This will not be complete until FSI works off all their backlog which will be complete in June 0f 2023. Mr. Raby tagged the line for new engine sales in January of 2022 and no engines have been sold since.
Mr. Raby will become the developer at LN and will still oversee the same employees that are building engines the same way that they always have. All the changes are being limited to the sales and support of engine orders only. The engines will all receive the full monty of developments, they won't be cookie cutter, and they still won't be mass produced. One builder will be assigned per engine, just like always.
The main difference is Mr. Raby will only be in the background working with the machines that he loves. He won't be doing sales, support or having any contact with purchasers. The exception to this will be special projects that I expect he will select from applicants, and work directly with them and still accept their cars. I'd guess this will be limited to 4-6 builds per year at maximum that he will perform from start to finish personally. I expect these will only be R- Series engines with totally open checkbooks behind them, and only offered to what Mr. Raby refers to as "like minded individuals" that he knows he can just be brutally direct with.
While the rest of the FSI crew is busy keeping the remaining scheduled builds on- time for completion, Mr. Raby has been working on his M9X Performance Book, as well as doing a ton of intake system development that will be included in the book, as he creates 1/2 dozen new products for LN. He has started building the first engines for the new program himself, completing one every few weeks. I expect the first of these to be offered just after the first of the coming year via the notification list.
Engines will not be held in stock, the demand for them is too great for that. I was looking this morning, and with zero advertisement we already have 13 people in the pre- qualified notification list for M96.01 engines, and 18 for M97.01 engines. He finished an Aircooled engine back in July and when Jud posted it to the Aircooled notification list it was gone in something like 12 minutes or so.
All FSI engines will be Stage II or greater. No more Stage Is or Stockers. No more committed "queue". No more backlog. No more deposits. No more dealing with shipping cars in and out. No more worrying about missed dates, or blown budgets. Engines will be completed and crated before being handed to Jud at LN to be sold. Each engine will cost a different amount, and how fast someone can react to pull the trigger will determine how long they'll be waiting for an engine.
The reach of Flat 6 Innovations Certified Installers is being greatly expanded, with a couple dozen new installers being trained at this time. The current installers dating back to 2012 are going through new training on the program, and they are being empowered with the full potential of FSI organization to manage engine removals, replacement, and testing. Jud will act as the liaison between the Certified Installer and the engine purchaser. He will be on the phone with them during the first start and through testing, as well as for all follow up with the vehicle owner. Jud has been doing this work at FSI for a decade, so he is basically just moving his ​​​​​ place of employment.

I spoke to Jake last week, and he is sending out a memo in a few days about all of this. I'll see if I can post it here.
The biggest difference with the changes is there will be no more Jake, unless you can somehow break in behind his iron curtain. I would suggest that no one try that, he is seriously done with humans! He is very happy to be moving on and is excited to be finishing his M9X Performance Book, as well as creating all the new LN products. We will have at least a dozen FSI products in the system at LN by next spring. These are things that FSI hlready developed, but would not sell outside of an engine. The new intake system is going to change everything.

 

Wow, ok, interesting!

 

Well...this kind of changes things a little for me. I have a 2 year timeline (mostly funding acquisition as well as solidifying potential part spec) and if staying with the M96 engine, sending in my X51 engine. Although, I haven't seen any feedback from somebody with an X51 sending in their engine for a Raby motor and the kind of results it got...so that was also going to be part of my decison process or going with a Mezger. Nowthat seems to be no longer an available option since there's no longer going to be motors to be sent in or anybody to talk to in that regard...

 

The only cars that Mr. Raby will consider receiving are cars like yours. Special edition cars, GT2/ GT3s and X50 Turbos. Submit an application and it might strike his fancy. Very few of these will be taken on, though and the jobs that he does accept he plans to be the only person that the customer deals with from A-Z during the process.

There's 3 different X51 based engines at FSI now. There's a rare 3.4 X51 from Australia that's being taken to an R38, a 3.6 X51 that's being built to a Stage II 4.0 and Jake is currently assembling a 997.1 X51 into an R43 for a Canadian purchaser. Here's a pic of the 997 X51 as a long block in Jake's clean room a few days back. There's 5-6 more X51 variants on the remaining backlog between now and June of 2023 before the "EOL" or End Of the Line. They do a ton of them.

 

Gotta love the paint marks on all the bolts showing that they were torqued.

 

Most of that is anti- sabotage torque stripe.. He doesn’t want a wrench on his engine when its finished!

 

People will always try to take down the king

 

Where can you even source a Mezger unit?