We hope you had an amazing end to 2023 and I’m stoked about 2024!
Jerry Hoffmann here with a little update! So a bit more than 3 months have now passed since DIYAutoTune/AMPEFI changed hands from my own, having founded the business in a spare bedroom back in late 2004/early 2005 and from there grown it over a period of 19 years roughly until October when it changed hands to the, what I hoped to be, capable hands of EFI Innovations Inc. The guys that brought you the amazing DD-EFI Dashes and that had a reputation for taking amazing care of their own customers both on the dash side of their business and the tuning side of their business.
So 3 months later, what have I found? Capable hands? Absolutely! It’s no small task to come into an operation that has been running for nearly 20 years, learn it, understand it, quickly learn the staff and processes, assure the staff that good things are ahead, and then begin to make it happen. There are what seems like a thousand different ‘top priorities’, all at the same time. They were drinking from a firehose and I was similarly feeding them and having to keep up with that rate of flow… and what an experience that was!
No small task at all. But these guys have absolutely killed it. They have come in and spent lots of time with staff throughout the company learning their roles, and learning how they as the new owners can do the best job possible taking care of DIYAutoTune’s customers and making sure that DIYAutoTune and AMPEFI continue to make killer products for the best customers in the business.
I cannot say enough about how well they’ve taken this on. That’s a huge relief for me, as I chose them for this task, and I was confident I had chosen well— it was incredibly important to me that our staff, our customers, and other supporters were well taken care of. But until you see the results of your choice, you can’t really be sure. Well, I’m sure. These guys are rockin’ it!
So why did I choose these guys to take my legacy, my baby, and to care for it from here, rather than seek out some big Private Equity company? That’s easy. My staff is like family to me, as are many of you, my customers and other supporters. You’ve been amazing, and I wanted to leave this company in not just capable hands, but passionate, focused, car guy hands.
Someone that knows the products in and out already, and doesn’t have to come in and learn it. People that I could be confident would focus on keeping manufacturing here in the USA in every case it was possible to do so. A team that would take care of the current staff and give them a hope and future in their positions here. And I found that. I could not have some PE company come in, break the company up, and send the jobs elsewhere or even overseas. And I couldn’t be more pleased with the new team.
So what is Jerry doing now? Oh, a little of this, and a little of that… and a lot of something else.
I’ll be glad to share. For now, you can take a sneak peek at one of my projects at https://smartassproducts.net – and I’ll be back in another blog entry here at DIYAutoTune to tell you more soon!
A little more about the new owners….
Kurtis Warne
Kurtis Warne, the new CEO, has been deeply involved in the car scene since the age of 5, tinkering with Foxbody Mustangs. In South Carolina, alongside his uncle, he transformed neglected Foxbodies into either stock versions or radical builds. After relocating to North Georgia, he found a new passion for the winding roads of the mountains, diving headfirst into the thrill of auto-x and road racing. During this period, Kurtis founded Digital Dash EFI, a company specializing in designing, building, and selling modern plug-and-play digital dashboards. These dashboards replaced factory instrument clusters with a reliable HD Digital Display, addressing issues of inaccuracy and frequent malfunctions. Now, as our CEO, Kurtis is embarking on a new chapter, driven by a lifelong love for cars and a dedication to giving back to the car community.
Steven VanOrder
Steven VanOrder is the new COO and has been around cars and drag racing his entire life. He recalls growing up in the shop with his father while he was working, growing up he owned a small auto repair shop. He would task Steven with taking apart small parts to keep him busy and they would go racing a few times a month at the local tracks – and as soon as he could reach the pedals he got a car of his own.
Steven prefers racing in stick shift classes, no-prep if possible. He says he just really likes how it evens out the race as you can be competitive with a small budget if your setup is right. Steven spends a lot of time as a part of the crew for others as well, usually on keyboard duty helping make sure the engine management is doing its part. He says “What I like most about racing is the comradery, we treat each other like family. If our competition breaks something and needs a hand or a part, we help. Nobody wants to win that way.”
Scott Kieser
Scott Kieser, the new CFO, has been passionate about cars all of his life and really got fired up after taking a couple of Skip Barber classes at Road Atlanta, first in a Miata, and then in higher horsepower cars. From there he did a ton of HPDE stuff, became a member at Atlanta Motorsports Park, and got into the Karting, TAG, and shifter karts. Then met a friend who introduced him to drifting. He has built and campaigned several drift cars and continues to enjoy the sport all the while sponsoring Federico Sceriffo in FormulaDrift and his Ferrari 599GTB with his other company progressivemedicalstore.com
Other News from the team….
Bringing DIYAutoTune/AMPEFI and DD-EFI Digital Dash together!
1. In the coming weeks EFI Innovations (the new owners) will be combining all product lines under the one retail store DIYAutoTune.com. This means all retail customers and dealers will be able to purchase them from one store.
2. They will also be releasing the bundle packages as well for ECU and Dash together!
Expanding product line teaser
1. Something Small (and awesome!) this way comes. If you’ve got a 4cyl/6cyl project, you’ve got something to be excited about for sure. Hang tight, February’s coming. And you’re going to like it!
2. The team is also working on bringing drop-on wiring harnesses manufacturing in-house. Starting with the LS harnesses DIYAutoTune and AMPEFI have offered for years. The costs keep climbing to have them made by other contract manufacturers while we stubbornly insist on keeping them MADE IN THE USA, so… we’ll just do it ourselves! We’re tooling up for LS harness production in-house now, with other models coming soon! (Generic V8 and Coyote are on the shortlist, tell us what you want!!!)
New partnerships to offer you even more solutions for your projects!
1. We have partnered with Lowdoller Motorsports for our customer’s sensor needs and we are partnering with Lanier Laser to offer custom switch panels! Stay tuned for more info on both of these developments!
