COBB Tuning’s Mike McGinnis Shows Us How He Turned His Passion Into a Living

Mike McGinnis, founder, and owner of Innovative Tuning was always into mountain biking and computers. Originally from Manhattan, he and his family didn’t have much reason to drive, but when they moved up to Westchester in his high school years, driving morphed into a necessity. Mike would become significantly more interested in cars—and eventually, make a career out of tuning them—after witnessing the arguably blasphemous act of a ‘96 Subaru Impreza bombing the same mountain biking trails he was riding on. After that moment, it was both literally and figuratively “Off To The Races” for Mike McGinnis.

The WRX: The Gateway To ECU Tuning

Although Mike went on to study computers in college, he wouldn’t exactly stay with it for too long. After getting a comfortable full-time job in the computer world up in Rochester, McGinnis bought himself the highly sought after WRX; A highly anticipated car that finally arrived stateside in 2002. The bite from the Mod Bug came right around the same time that Mike was doing any and every form of racing he could get into.

As any car enthusiast knows, there comes a time when a modified WRX needs to be tuned to perform at its highest level or risk a quick and painful demise. The only problem was that there were no tuners anywhere near Rochester, New York…or was it a problem? Nope, Mike made a decision that day: Come hell or high water, “I’ll tune it myself.”

The Birth Of Innovative

Mike’s successful tuning of the WRX’s ECU didn’t go unnoticed. His friends got word of what he did (and saw the results for themselves). They asked him to tune their cars too. Word of his tunes spread like wildfire beyond Rochester and before he knew it, Innovative Tuning was born, and McGinnis was tuning cars full time.

As the business continued to grow, so did his racing career. Mike built an Open Class Subaru “GC8” Impreza (the same chassis he first saw bombing the trails)—lovingly called “Voltron”—which was as much of a record-breaker as it was a rolling marketing tool for Innovative Tuning. Not only was he able to destroy the competition on the track and make a name for himself as a driver, but the car itself also helped keep his tuning career alive.

Shifting Career Gears

Mike started a family relatively young and, as his kids got older, he wanted to spend less time at the shop and more time with them. Having met all of his initial goals in both the racing and tuning arenas, as he puts it, McGinnis started to plan his next move.

Around the same time that Mike was strategizing, the guys at COBB Tuning happened to be looking for a new Senior R&D Calibration Engineer. McGinnis had been one of COBB’s first Pro Tuners since 2004, and a substantial portion of his business was made using their tuning software. McGinnis and COBB worked out a deal and, a few months later, he and the family packed their bags and relocated to Austin, Texas.

Godzilla And The Confluence Of Passions

Although I had been connected to Mike McGinnis through various social media outlets for a while, I first met him when I toured the COBB Tuning facilities. Like any connection of this kind, it was great to match a physical being to a Facebook profile. A super down-to-earth guy, Mike invited me to a track day at Circuit Of The Americas, which was taking place a few days after the tour. I obliged not knowing what to expect.

With the change in both residence and jobs, McGinnis had also recently changed the car he races with. Although he still maintains Innovative Tuning, Mike decided he didn’t need an Open Class monster anymore (who’s transmission literally broke after every two races), nor did he need a dedicated marketing tool for the business either. And judging by what you’ve read thus far, you’ve hopefully learned that McGinnis often tends to be at the right place at the right time. So, when COBB had wrapped up R&D on their 2009 Nissan GTR, Mike just happened to be retiring “Voltron’ and was in the market for a new, more reliable track car…so he bought it from them.

The GTR that you now see still has the original, stock motor with mostly bolt-on modifications. Of course, McGinnis had to nerd out and add his own personal touches, which include an electronically-controlled, height-adjustable rear wing and a digital, heads up race display. When I met him at the track day, Mike was making adjustments to his car and preparing to compete in Global Time Attack’s “Super Lap Battle” at Circuit Of The Americas.

Although he’s met all of his racing and career goals thus far, I can tell you that McGinnis’s future in racing and tuning isn’t clear to him yet. Based on his personality, I can confidently say that he won’t ever be sitting back contently. Mike will continue to advance his tuning and racing careers for the remainder of his lifetime.

Born to Rally:
Rally Ready Driving School

So, you know how there are people who are so busy to the point where they’re difficult to reach online but, if you’re able to meet with them, are actually quite settled in person and are able to give you their full and undivided attention? Yeah, that’s not Dave Carapetyan of Rally Ready Driving School.

When I first arrived at the 137-acre ranch in Dale, Texas, Carapetyan was already on his porch with his five dogs and the guys from Global Time Attack discussing how he could help them make their first event at Circuit Of The Americas a successful one. It’s funny because, when we initially chatted on Facebook, I thought that his rapid-fast way of conversing was a result of him killing it in Mario Teaches Typing as a kid. After only a few minutes of sitting back and watching the meeting, it was clear that that wasn’t the case. He just doesn’t stop.

I decided I didn’t want to waste time asking him about what ultimately led him to found Rally Ready Driving School. Instead, I listened to the Do It For A Living podcast that he was a guest on recently. From this, I learned that he’s essentially lived in Austin all of his life and, as a teenager, was in a punk rock band. It was only after his band members introduced him to Gran Turismo 3 that he became hooked on rallying. 

Between the band’s introduction, a near-death experience with a cattle trailer, and a whole lot of growing up in between, Carapetyan decided to start Rally Ready back in 2010. With nearly a decade of existence in the books and having already taught some of his most famous students including Daniel Ricciardo, Bucky Lasek, and Aaron Kaufman (who you’ve likely seen most recently in Gymkhana Ten), Dave has created one of the most successful rally schools in the Midwest, if not the country.

But it wasn’t until 2014, when the X-Games came to Austin, that Carapetyan took Rally Ready to the next level. After networking at the games, Dave ended up meeting someone there who decided to help him buy the 137-acre ranch that both he and his school reside on currently. By 2014, Dave already had a fleet of about 25 cars and had taught a few classes, so having the business living on a dedicated space was really the next big step.

WELCOME TO RALLY-VANA

Pavement turned to gravel as I putted along on the 40-minute drive. As I drove along, I not-surprisingly observed that, compared to Austin, Dale was pretty desolate. My immediate surroundings were draped with a strange, golden hue as each house passed me by. In what seemed like an instant, I was at the Rally Ready ranch.

Making my way into what was the equivalent of the “Parking Lot,” I proudly parked my functioning Mazda Miata rental next to a bare, stripped out Lancer chassis. I initially thought that my rental was the only functioning vehicle in the immediate vicinity until I saw six-car fleet parked a short distance away.

Just beyond the functioning fleet sat a gated-off area filled with even more cars, or to people like us: A field of potential. Not so inconspicuously placed within what Dave would call the junkyard sat his Pike’s Peak-winning Evo (one of the many projects he says he might get back on the road…someday). After ogling over that car for far too long, I continued towards the house where I saw even more goodies, like the Rally Ready Subaru BRZ. By the house sat a few Yamaha and Textron UTVs, which Dave will claim, until he’s blue in the face, are the future of rallying.

Dave has a great sense of humor because, when people like Ricciardo or I say that he’s living every car nut’s dream, he quickly retorts, “Ehh, all I own is a bunch of stupid race cars. It’s not that glamorous.” Not true man! Not true.

Although there weren’t any classes going on while I was there, the track had just been used to film a commercial for COBB Tuning. But having said that, it was nice to walk around and photograph a “cold” track for once. The silence in the air and vastness of land really contrasted with Dave’s seemingly-manic life. And, although we weren’t able to rip through the woods, I could really get a sense of just how much fun you could have spending a day in one of his classes.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES & LIFE LESSONS FROM A RALLY DRIVING INSTRUCTOR

Dave Carapetyan is equally as fascinating as he is busy. I only spent a few hours at Rally Ready Driving School, but I learned so much about him, the sport of rallying, business, and life in general. He’s flying by the seat of his pants, and I already know that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I didn’t go to college, I went to rally,” Carapetyan joked on Do It For A Living. One of the many keys to success for Dave was learning as he went and not being afraid to fail. As cliché as that sounds, it’s helped keep Rally Ready alive and growing to this day. “A lot of us in this industry have this fear of failure,” he explained on the podcast. “The thing that helped me most was realizing that I already made it…according to my metrics, I’ve already succeeded.” 

That’s not to say that he’s complacent by any means. Quite the opposite. Dave has one and five-year plans for Rally Ready, which include UTV driving classes and, what he calls, the “Ultimate Driver’s Ed Experience,” where he hopes to provide first-time drivers with a more in-depth education. All this coming from the man who never went to business school and jokes that his business plan changes “just about every 45 minutes.”

Oh, and that’s the other interesting thing about Dave: When it comes to his business, Dave doesn’t keep secrets. He’s more than happy to divulge anything and everything he’s working on. Why? Because, in his mind, no one can replicate what he’s doing.

What initially sounds like an overly confident, bold claim is, in reality, a true testament to how much Carapetyan cares about the future of both rallying and motorsports as a whole. In an industry that’s primarily driven by ego (which, by the way, he argues also has its benefits in motorsports), Dave is happy to, not only share his business strategy with anyone but also, to help anyone in any way that progresses motorsport. To him, it’s crazy to think that other driving schools across the country are his competition. Carapetyan explained to me that he’d much rather join forces with other schools to not only refer business to one another but also to unite and grow motorsports as a whole.

COBB Tuning Facility Tour

Ever since I got into Subarus, I’ve admired and respected the COBB Tuning brand for the products and services they’ve created and continue to create. When I first started the sponsorship program for my Bagged Baja project back in 2016, I knew I had to have them involved in it and was thrilled when they agreed. So when I decided earlier this year to visit Austin, Texas, I absolutely had to take a tour and share my experience with our readers.

MAKING GOOD THINGS EVEN BETTER

In the late ’90s, you likely wouldn’t have heard of COBB Tuning. But 20 years later, it’s become one of the largest aftermarket automotive performance tuning companies on the planet. Beginning in the Subaru market, COBB has since developed performance products and software upgrades for eight different automakers and counting. Using a specific brand’s car as a foundation, COBB’s mission is and has always been, to take a good thing and make it even better.

NEVER FORGET YOUR ROOTS

Like anyone visiting a place for the first time, I had no idea what to expect when I got to COBB Tuning headquarters. With as many shares of the various tuner markets as they have, and with roughly 100 employees to keep the company running, it’s not-so-surprising to see how large of a space the company needs to occupy. Oh, and trust me, they use all of it.

 When I walked inside, one of the first things I saw was a display case filled with historic COBB products. In addition to the one-off prototypes and diecast memorabilia, they proudly display the various renditions of arguably their best-known product, the AccessPort. It’s a nice reminder for not forgetting how they started and where they came from.

The reminiscence continued as I walked down the main hallway and passed by Customer Service, large banners and framed magazine features hung prominently on the wall. My tour guide, Marshall Glasgow, remarked that the framed features really needed to be updated; I politely disagreed. Rather than remove the classic features, I suggested they add more to the wall instead.

We made our way to the manufacturing side of the building. Having dramatically expanded over the course of their 20 years of existence, COBB creates the majority of their products almost entirely in-house. With CNC machines, tube benders, and a handful of staff welders, they do everything from R&D and prototyping to final execution and packaging all in one place. Continuing to walk along, there were shelves filled with what seemed like an endless amount of exhaust jigs for every make and model, reminding me of the company’s prominence in the industry.

There quickly became a running joke about how none of their doors seemed to work properly, and as we walked throughout the building and into the shop. There were lifts, tool boxes, and cars packed into the brim, mainly because they couldn’t get the garage door open. They managed to open it shortly thereafter but made for a good laugh nevertheless.

Adjacent to the all the car eye candy, sat a Mark VII Volkswagen GTI with enough exposed wires and contraptions attached to it to give me heart palpitations. Marshall managed to calm me down when he explained that, what looked like the explosion of the GTI’s insides, was actually a highly controlled situation. The way that they had everything hooked up to the car actually allowed the engineers and tuners to program in real-time without having to constantly go back and forth from the car to their desks and vise versa. Phewph!

Next to the GTI was the dyno room. The uniqueness of COBB’s dyno room is that it’s actually been divided into two rooms. The smaller space is used for their Pro Tuner training programs, where certified COBB tuners can study and learn from in-house engineers in person. Dyno rooms are somewhat notorious for not having a lot of space, and so using a live feed from the main tuning screen, students in the training room can see changes the tuner is making, without hovering over his or her shoulder.

THE FOUNDATION OF COBB: AUTOMOTIVE ENTHUSIASTS

The coolest part of the tour for me was seeing just how much of a role automotive enthusiasm plays into nearly every aspect of COBB Tuning. For the people who work there, it’s not just about going into work, clocking in, getting the job done, and clocking out. Most employees eat, live, and breathe cars and racing.

The conference rooms, for example, were all named after world-famous race tracks. The cars employees drove and modified really varied across the spectrum: A 5-series wagon with an M5 front end, an LS-swapped Volvo wagon, and a rear-wheel drive converted WRX, just to point out a few. Things got even more interesting when Marshall pointed out that a few cars in the lot were originally COBB R&D vehicles that had since been purchased by employees. The white Fiesta ST, for example, was one of COBB’s vehicles that ended up getting sold to an employee. If that’s not a testament to the quality of COBB’s products and services, then I’m not sure what is.

We ended the tour shortly after that and, as I headed back to my rental, I reflected on all that I saw. It was enough proof for me that having a passion for something can fuel a group of people to create something special. One thing became clear: Automotive enthusiasm isn’t disappearing any time soon.