The father-son duo said they have built a reputation of excellence with their customers by incorporating what they've learned in hill-climb racing into their automotive repair and performance shops.  Clint Vahsholtz and his father, Leonard, who runs the family performance and machine shop on Loop Drive, are champions of the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), with a combined 32 victories.

Their attention to detail and performance on the course greatly influences how they run their shops, they said.

"The customer walking in the door is your livelihood," said Clint Vahsholtz, who runs his father's repair shop on North Pine, specializing in drivability diagnosis and repair.  "I treat their cars as if I were racing it at Pikes Peak tomorrow.

"If I'm driving into a blue-sky corner at Pikes Peak, I want to be able to rely on my brakes at the last minute," he said, adding that he's committed to working on his customers' vehicles as if they were his own.

"The most competitive thing I've done is race," Vahsholtz said.  "I run my business just like that."  The similarities between racing and business are perfection, precision, performance, and desire, he said, adding that any successful business has those ingredients.

When it comes to diagnosing drivability problems, precision is necessary, Vahsholtz said.  He said he sees 10-25 vehicles a week with drivability problems, ranging from check-engine lights, engine hesitation, and airbags to ABS problems.  Doing the jobs correctly means having the right tools, he noted.

"You can't fix modern vehicles without the tools and equipment to interface," he said, adding that the shop is equipped with an arsenal of diagnostic tools--two SPX/OTC Genisys scan tools, a Snap-on Solus Pro, a GM Tech II, a Ford New Generation Star (NGS), a Matco 9000; several labscopes: a Fluke 98 ScopeMeter; a Snap-on Counselor II; and a Bosch J2534 Reflasher.

"The aftermarket scan tools can get you close," Vahsholtz said.  "I'm really at the point where having the factory scan tool is necessary to fix the car."

The diagnostic process starts with getting as much information as possible from the customer, Vahsholtz said, who then tries to reproduce the problem.  "On the intermittent ones, we pull the codes and run a monitor," he said.  In many cases, they'll let the customer continue to drive the vehicle to reconfirm the diagnostic trouble code (DTC).

The diagnostic process, however, doesn't end with a DTC, Vahsholtz was quick to point out.  Measuring electricity flow with an amp clamp is one of the best diagnostic methods, he said.  The voltage to and from a component allows a technician to confirm the flow of energy, he said, which takes diagnosis a step further.

An increasingly popular method of diagnosis and repair confirmation is with a mode six tool, he said, which applies engineering principles to a repair.  He said he's considering purchasing a mode six tool from Auto Ingenuity, in addition to the Bosch Mastertech for Toyotas.

Vahsholtz said he's begun to reflash vehicles with the Bosch J2534 Reflasher that he purchased from his nearby CARQUEST jobber, which acts as an interface between the vehicle and a PC.  If a vehicle's system is operating perfectly and a code is still appearing, a technical service bulletin (TSB) may call for a reflash, he said, which usually widens the data parameter on a component's operation.

"You've got to be fairly educated with a PC," Vahsholtz noted, when using a reflasher.  The reflash software must be purchased from the automaker's Web site, then downloaded to the reflash tool and then loaded onto the vehicle.  On Ford vehicles, he said access to the Web site for 72 hours is about $30 but only $60 for a month.  He said he usually will buy the 30-day access in case he needs another Ford reflash in that time.

Equipping the shop with these tools begins to add up quickly, Vahsholtz said, which translates to a higher labor rate and fewer customer amenities.  Lack of customer creature comforts hasn't stifled business in the slightest, he said, adding that repeat business occurs when the vehicle is fixed properly.

"Customers expect you know how to diagnose and repair their vehicle," Vahsholtz said, adding that vehicle technology is making diagnosis and repair much more difficult for aftermarket repairers.  "There's a belief that you know what you're doing.  If you don't know what you're doing, it'll bite you.  If you misdiagnose a fuel pump on a Chevy, for example, it could be a $700 mistake."

"People would rather wait a week and half than go somewhere else," said Shelly Vahsholtz, Clint's wife, who is the shop's office manager.  "People just trust Clint."