Rtek S5 TII Stage 2 update
10-15-09, 05:05 PM
#1
S5 TII Stage 2 update
I just wanted to update you guys (whoever has been oh so patient) on the S5 TII Stage 2.
It seems every product we release, the harder we try to find good beta testers. And the harder we try, the bigger we fail.
We learned our lesson on a previous beta test to make sure to specifically ask if the tester's car is together and operational right before we ship as we've had people agree to test when their car wasn't even running.
Well we now learned that we need to ask if the car is in the same state as the tester as our first S5 T2 tester's car was together, but wasn't anywhere near him. He failed to mention that. Excuse after excuse and failure to maintain the feedback schedule we sent to him and he agreed to (another lesson learned from previous tests) he now no longer even replies to my emails. So basically he stole a full stage 2 from us. (Be weary of any S5 T2 Rteks for sale as that unit will NOT be supported)
So we tried harder, making sure to ask lots of questions before we pick a new one. Guess what? It doesn't matter. No matter how hard we try, we still can't weed out the duds. The second tester has had the ECU since may or june and he is just as unresponsive, though I haven't lost all hope on him yet.
At this point we are down two prototypes and we'd need to do another run of boards if we had to pick yet another tester. Unfortunately, I think the only option is to charge the tester for the unit and if they live up to their commitment, they will get some sort of reimbursement.
I will take some blame here as well as I'm a bit busy to constantly harass beta testers to send feedback. And if they don't what can I do? Send another email? I'm not saying this is why product development is so slow, but it is certainly a big part of it.
So that's the deal. The current tester says he's been driving the car 2-3 times a week for the past few months, but has a problem connecting the Palm, so he hasn't really been using the ecu to its potential so he isn't really testing it fully.
Still waiting to find out more.
It seems every product we release, the harder we try to find good beta testers. And the harder we try, the bigger we fail.
We learned our lesson on a previous beta test to make sure to specifically ask if the tester's car is together and operational right before we ship as we've had people agree to test when their car wasn't even running.
Well we now learned that we need to ask if the car is in the same state as the tester as our first S5 T2 tester's car was together, but wasn't anywhere near him. He failed to mention that. Excuse after excuse and failure to maintain the feedback schedule we sent to him and he agreed to (another lesson learned from previous tests) he now no longer even replies to my emails. So basically he stole a full stage 2 from us. (Be weary of any S5 T2 Rteks for sale as that unit will NOT be supported)
So we tried harder, making sure to ask lots of questions before we pick a new one. Guess what? It doesn't matter. No matter how hard we try, we still can't weed out the duds. The second tester has had the ECU since may or june and he is just as unresponsive, though I haven't lost all hope on him yet.
At this point we are down two prototypes and we'd need to do another run of boards if we had to pick yet another tester. Unfortunately, I think the only option is to charge the tester for the unit and if they live up to their commitment, they will get some sort of reimbursement.
I will take some blame here as well as I'm a bit busy to constantly harass beta testers to send feedback. And if they don't what can I do? Send another email? I'm not saying this is why product development is so slow, but it is certainly a big part of it.
So that's the deal. The current tester says he's been driving the car 2-3 times a week for the past few months, but has a problem connecting the Palm, so he hasn't really been using the ecu to its potential so he isn't really testing it fully.
Still waiting to find out more.
10-15-09, 06:39 PM
#4
Well, DAMN!
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I believe you'd fair better if the tester was a known quantity on these boards. The tester should also understand that part of the testing process will be club-based updates on non-sensitive material so as to keep him focused / on track. While you obviously cannot do that with the current honorless testers, you can write that into a contract prior to upcoming tests.
For a second set of eyes, you could have people within the vicinity of the beta tester verify that the set-up is, in fact, running under its own power without issues, to redliine for a pre-determined duration of a drive.
You're providing something special and much needed within this community. I see anything you do for this community as a call to action for the people involved. You'd be surprised by the help you would receive. It would also greatly help facilitate other ecu upgrades (S4 AFM delete!!!!!!!!!!).
For a second set of eyes, you could have people within the vicinity of the beta tester verify that the set-up is, in fact, running under its own power without issues, to redliine for a pre-determined duration of a drive.
You're providing something special and much needed within this community. I see anything you do for this community as a call to action for the people involved. You'd be surprised by the help you would receive. It would also greatly help facilitate other ecu upgrades (S4 AFM delete!!!!!!!!!!).
10-15-09, 06:53 PM
#5
Both tester *were* people that came here often. They do not anymore...not that anyone knew they were testers. So i dont know if it was the luck of the draw that they happened to lose interest right when we needed them or they dont come around because they didnt live up to their commitment.
Having "public" beta testers is an idea I will take under consideration. The problem is still that there's nothing anyone here can do to make sure they do what they said they would other than post complaints. If you knew who the current testers were now, it wouldn't make a difference. Maybe I'm too nice, but I'm not willing to release an angry mob on these people.
I'm convinced testers need a heavy incentive. It's too easy to take something for free and make promises. There's no value in free. But to pay for something knowing you could get it some or all back for a little time and a few emails, I think the fact that they are willing to put up the money first says a lot about their commitment. And if they don't provide feedback, then they don't get anything back and we aren't out the time and cost of the install.
Unlike software beta testing, we don't have the luxury of releasing a lot of units for beta testing to get decent feedback knowing most wont give any feedback. We'd beta test ourselves out of business. heh.
Having "public" beta testers is an idea I will take under consideration. The problem is still that there's nothing anyone here can do to make sure they do what they said they would other than post complaints. If you knew who the current testers were now, it wouldn't make a difference. Maybe I'm too nice, but I'm not willing to release an angry mob on these people.
I'm convinced testers need a heavy incentive. It's too easy to take something for free and make promises. There's no value in free. But to pay for something knowing you could get it some or all back for a little time and a few emails, I think the fact that they are willing to put up the money first says a lot about their commitment. And if they don't provide feedback, then they don't get anything back and we aren't out the time and cost of the install.
Unlike software beta testing, we don't have the luxury of releasing a lot of units for beta testing to get decent feedback knowing most wont give any feedback. We'd beta test ourselves out of business. heh.
10-15-09, 07:43 PM
#6
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pretty raw deal there with the other two testers. I am pretty sure there are some people that would beta test it and pay up front.
I would but I have an s4 t2 =/
I would but I have an s4 t2 =/
10-15-09, 10:17 PM
#7
Well, DAMN!
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True, other than pressuring him on the boards, you cannot really "hammer" the public beta tester, BUT what you can do is have the person verified the beta tester be the collector of your product if the tester wavers on his commitment. If that's a bit too aggressive, there's another option...
When I was giving out sponsorships back in the day, I had the recipient of said product respond and acknowledge an email contract-I would also get a VALID CREDIT CARD just in case they chose to fudge their agreement! Only had to call on this process once out of maybe 100 contracts so the process seamed to work.
When I was giving out sponsorships back in the day, I had the recipient of said product respond and acknowledge an email contract-I would also get a VALID CREDIT CARD just in case they chose to fudge their agreement! Only had to call on this process once out of maybe 100 contracts so the process seamed to work.
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10-24-09, 03:32 PM
#10
This past week I was on a business trip and was able to meet up with the latest tester. I am hopeful things will move forward from this point. We have started the production ball rolling. The hardware has been validated so its just a matter of final validation on the firmware.
10-25-09, 12:20 AM
#12
Well he's been driving the vehicle this whole time with only a minor issue, which we are trying to determine if it's a firmware bug or just a tuning/setup issue. He had some stuff to sort on the vehicle and we'll go from there. But it has been running so the hardware has proven it is fine allowing us to start the process of having production PC boards made.
11-08-09, 04:58 PM
#16
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If all you need is a fairly normal running car then I will offer if you need more testers, I have a 90 TII with RB exhaust and an after market BOV, other than a ported waste gate on the stock turbo it's all stock power train wise. I would like to get a BNR turbo eventually and upgrade the fuel system and will obviously need something to tune with at that point.
I'd be happy to pay the normal retail price with no expectation of a rebate as long as it's not going to blow up my engine. I also think I am fairly close to Hendrik who I think works with you guys so I'd be able to meet with him if anything ever needs to be looked at in person.
I'd be happy to pay the normal retail price with no expectation of a rebate as long as it's not going to blow up my engine. I also think I am fairly close to Hendrik who I think works with you guys so I'd be able to meet with him if anything ever needs to be looked at in person.
