Zach, President

He has been married for over 10 years and has 5 kids who all enjoy coming in to occasionally "help" their dad at work.

Zach went to school for auto body repair where he learned to weld and fabricate. Right out of school he spent a good number of years practicing those skills and machining for many different applications. Zach elevated VAST Performance's fabrication department, which allowed him to gain a huge amount of experience with performance manifold, intake and exhaust development. Later on, but soon to return, he transitioned into construction management where he built a successful career in commercial and residential excavating & foundations.

After a few years in construction, the draw back into the European automotive performance world placed Zach and VAST Performance's original founder, Mike, together in 2016 to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of VAST. Zach took over full ownership of VAST and built it into what it is today.

Gil, Senior Technician

Gil has fully embraced the culture of top notch quality and attention to detail that we emphasize at VAST.

He has always been interested in anything mechanical and modifying almost every related item he could. Growing up, his family’s interest in powersports gave him the ability to drive and ride go-karts, dirt bikes, jet skis, boats, cars, scooters, and motorized skateboards. The first car he ever drove was a 1968 Toyota Landcruiser with a 3 on the tree and his very first personal car was a 1996 Audi A4 2.8L FWD. He currently has a 2012 VW CC 2.0T, 2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quatrro, 2000 Audi S4(800+whp) and a 2002 Harley Davidson XL1200S.

He is an ASE master certified technician that started his professional career working at a Mercedes-Benz dealership then quickly grew into the aftermarket, due to the fact that he was constantly modifying many of his vehicles. During many years in the Euro aftermarket he repaired and modified a plethora of different makes and models including but not limited to Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, VW, Ford, GM platforms, Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Porsche, De Tomaso, Lotus, Aston Martin, Austin-Healey, and Triumph.

On many of those brands, he has performed routine maintenance all the way through full engine builds. He has fabricated and installed custom turbo and supercharger systems, custom, fully adjustable suspension systems as well as building performance engines and transmissions. When he moved to the Audi & Mercedes dealerships, he was not only a full shop Service Foreman, but he earned certifications and received factory training on the majority of the newest automotive electrical systems including the new high speed CAN, LIN and Flexray systems.

 

Paul, Senior Technician

Paul has been with VAST since 2019. We have been very grateful to have found someone who immersed himself into what VAST is all about and is able to take on the various German brands we service and upgrade. Paul has many years of being a true, grass-roots BMW enthusiast. He is currently building a single turbo BMW 3-series track vehicle and also does prototyping for VAST with various CAD tools, 3-D printing, final design release and validation of concept. Paul hit the ground running so fast that we needed to rearrange our shop space between all of his internal engine teardowns and upgrades, suspension work, diagnostics and development work.

 

Dewey, Fabrication & Tuning Support Technician

Dewey has worked with the facility many years ago and has rejoined the team in 2021. He brings a wide breadth of knowledge from the off-road world and Audi community as well as skills in MIG/TIG welding for custom engine and exhaust systems. Another unique aspect with Dewey is in his vehicle data acquisition and flash tuning support to prioritize and help optimize the rigorous tuning process we adhere to when customizing a vehicle engine or transmission software flash to a vehicle's build status. In his time away from work, he loves to spend time in his new marriage and dogs and enjoys cycling and not eating spicy food.

Nate, Technician

Nate has joined us in 2022 with a background in finance and is a BMW enthusiast. We're happy to have him show us how skilled he is in VAST's repair process and has adjusted well to our group. As early as being in high school, he built a MK4 VW Jetta engine. Afterwards, he owned a Subaru WRX with a built motor and many modifications, which lasted him many years. He currently owns a heavily modified, N54 BMW 335i with a single turbo system. 

 

Mike, Tuning & Customer Technical Consultant

Mike was the original founder of VAST in the early 2005, but has since focused on tuning, product and customer development. He started working on vehicles in 1996 at independent automotive facilities and absolutely fell in love with the Audi brand. In 2001 he purchased a brand new biturbo Audi S4 with a vision to exclusively work on Audi models and perfect anything from general maintenance, reliability improvements all the way through customized performance builds. He hit the ground running to instantly develop the acquired platform and in 2003, Mike earned his Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering and currently works on our Bosch and Continental engine and transmission control unit calibrations found mainly in Audi, BMW and Mercedes vehicles.  In 2012, he left VAST to get back into engineering, technical product launch and market quality tasks for Audi of America. In 2016, he then collaborated with Zach, current president and owner, to structure VAST into what it is today.