Basic tune recommendations for newb

Stock 01 Jetta 1.9 stick. Looking to pick from 2 or 3 quality reasonably priced performance tunes. Hope you all can point a couple to compare.

Will make recommended necessary updrades but not looking to go crazy & buy new turbo, or spend big. Car pulls clean & smooth has been maintained & recently had shop replaced water pump & preventative timing but has 260k.

Thanks

The basic stage 1 tunes are going to be roughly the same from kerma, rocketchip, malone, or any other reputable tuner, main difference being throttle response and partial throttle drive-ability. Things start to become more noticeable once you start adding turbos etc but everyone has the basics down pretty well.

If it was my own money, I would pick up a set of DLC1019s before even tuning it. Since I'm in Canada I'd go with Malone (obviously some bias there), but since you're in Ohio Jeff @ rocketchip is just a state over in PA. He can be a bit hard to get ahold, but you might get a good price at a car meet, know he has a sprinter van and is fairly mobile in the summer. Ideally you'll want to give some feedback and dial the smoke in how you'd like it, that's easier to get done with a local tuner. We also have a bunch of distributors in the area, but if you could get Jeff out in the car with you and give him some feedback on what you'd like adjusted if anything after a base tune, I'm sure he'd set you up with something good and take the time to dial the smoke however you'd like. Can always make adjustments after the fact by moving your injection quantity around.

Owain, you have my respect; that was a very stand up guy thing to say. Yes, you are going to be biased, but that would be expected based on where you are and the tuner you work with. I can say I agree with you that a "basic" tune (Stage 1) from all of the vendors will be very similar number wise (boost and torque) but throttle response and part throttle drive-ability will likely vary; I can speak from experience from having different tuners that part throttle drive-ability is very different. I believe the biggest difference is when the tunes get up in the higher Stages: a tuner needs to be really creative and/or experienced to write a tune that puts out big numbers at WOT but still doesn't choke just off idle with the A/C on. The tune I have now is a custom Stage 4 with a 24 psi limit than not only halls a$$ at WOT, but around town with the A/C running I can't even tell the A/C is even running.

Heading to Ohio and Boston in the next few weeks. I usually post my trips on Facebook when they are open to the public and not private tuning sessions.

Thanks I appreciate the replys and I will invest in a tune this summer.

What I just read in the op's post is he wants to spend a grand on tunes, but he doesn't want to spend big.
Supporting mods are a big factor.
What do you want out of a tune and do you have a Vag-Com?
I would invest in a VAG-COM and one tune done right rather than multiple tunes.
I chose Malone because Owain is so honest and I haven't seen him just try to sell a tune. He puts real information out and I appreciate that very much.
I go by the thought that if someone is just trying to sell you their stuff, move along. If someone is honest and gives facts along with reasonable information, you have a keeper.

Remember, your car has an oem tune, so you have one tune now.

I agree with all the info above......In my opinion, Owain(malone) is the way to go.. Very good product excellent customer service! I bought flashzilla so I can load my own tunes. After sending them my stock file they emailed me my tunes the same day, and they always get right back to me if I have any questions. In my book you cant put a price on good service. The other tuners I contacted many other tuners and they were pushy salesmen... but not malone! They told me my options and then let me decide what I wanted to do. I'm sure that what ever you chose you will enjoy it!

I agree with the above, I have never seen Owain trying to sell a list of parts to go with a tune. As far as the other guys go, it's a different story. i would like to say if you want to upgrade your TDI's power output try to have a goal before you start. Many years ago I purchased Sprint nozzles as they were the least expensive and went with the biggest tune possible for my stock turbo, a Stage 3 tune, and I had no complaints the difference was amazing. Then my turbo died, and I was able to buy a larger hybrid turbo cheaper than a stock size one, so then I "needed" more fuel but my Sprints were already maxed out; time to invest in nozzles, again. If I would have purchased one size bigger than the Sprints when I started out, I wouldn't have "needed" to buy larger nozzles. This of course is just my $0.02, YMMV.

Oh, and by the way, my odometer just crossed 262,000 miles and I recently upgraded to a Stage 4 tune and plan to get at least 500k miles out of this girl before she gets a new motor.

I agree also. Malone is a great tuner. I have the stage 4 custom on my 1999.5 jetta. Couldn't be happier. I did a good bit of mods on mine but I love it. Only down fall is having to be chipped instead of a flashzilla. I went thru Fix my vw which are stand up guys. My mods are vnt 17 turbo, stainless braided oil feed line, 2.5 tech tonics down pipe, egr delete with race pipe, 3 bar map, dark side SMIC kit, Malone stage 4 custom tune, arp head studs, south bend Stage 2 clutch with single mass fly wheel, pp764 injector nozzles stage 1 setting. Never did a dyno run yet but boy does it go. I average 45mpg. I also upgraded my axels to vr6/1.8t. This is a great set up but I have some cash into it.

Regards
Brayden

Brayden, thank you for speaking up about "having some cash in it." It is a really slippery slope once the torque bug bites us. Even though our cars are quite old, "faster" is always an available option, and every time my faded paint Jetta crushes something with way more displacement it still makes me smile. I have a bit of cash in mine too, but with the exception of the SB clutch and the SS braided oil feed line, all my parts or either used or rebuilt.

Nevada, I hear ya man. I haven't been on this forum long but I have been in the diesel game for awhile with trucks. I can't believe the power these little engines are capable of. Torque bug is total right. It's an addiction.

To you Mr. Verndiesel good luck with what avenue you go for. If I can help PM me. I'm no guru like these other gents on here but I can help with what I know and have done myself. Good luck!!


Regards
Brayden