Deeds' Q5 TDI Ownership Log

DieselDeeds

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2014 Q5 TDI S-Line + Black Optics Package
I just straight piped mine Q5 yesterday and finished the project off today by adding two resonators. I’ve had a Rawtek 3” downpipe for a while now with a stage 2+ tune. I went to an exhaust shop because full exhaust systems for our cars (I think flowmaster is the only one that makes one for our setup) are expensive $$$. No cats, no mufflers, but I did have two resonators installed after they cut the mufflers off and put on two chrome black tips. So I have a 3” all the way back to the Y, they replaced the Y with a 3” inlet to 2.5” dual for about 6” in length, then back to the stock 2.25” piping, then to 2.5” for the muffler inlets. It was obnoxiously loud yesterday so I went back today and had them throw (an 8” and a 10” back to back). I absolutely love the sound now. I’ll take a video tomorrow if I remember and I’ll post it here.



Since I have a generic Stage 2+ tune from Malone, I'm wondering if it would be worth it to have a custom tune? I'm under the assumption the hp/tq gain or loss from a custom tune would most likely be negligible and go unnoticed but i'm looking to smooth out any rough edges in acceleration and increase the longevity of my car. What do ya'll think?- Just asking for opinions and knowledgeable advice.
 
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Huskies2710

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Chicago
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2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Since I have a generic Stage 2+ tune from Malone, I'm wondering if it would be worth it to have a custom tune? I'm under the assumption the hp/tq gain or loss from a custom tune would most likely be negligible and go unnoticed but i'm looking to smooth out any rough edges in acceleration and increase the longevity of my car. What do ya'll think?- Just asking for opinions and knowledgeable advice.
Check out my "Ownership Log", I just had a Custom ECU and TCU tune for my '16 A6. Last night I received some info from the shop better explaining what the TCU tune does in the simplest terms for me lol.

I'd say your presumption is correct though. A custom tune will smooth things out and its why I went with one. My car was kept an extra day to workout things and make changes with the ECU/TCU tune.

Here is what they told me:
"With the TCU upgrade we increased the torque limiter while increasing the speed and quality of each shift. When the car is in Dynamic-Sport mode, your tune will shift to the next gear quickly and smoothly minimizing the jerk motion when re-accelerating through shifts as you are used to. You are being pulled gear to gear instead of shifted in essence. Continuous power moving you forward at all times from quicker shifts and most aggressive in torque requested limiters. You now have minimal to no lag between gears. Hope this explains why you said you felt as if your being pulled harder in the higher gears.

As you asked, we kept the EGT/Turbo temps at a safe level to protect the car. Keeping the heat under control is why the power/torque increases were not as high they could have been for the ECU tune especially true when comparing to numbers you read online. Since your goal was to raise power, improve and smooth out shifting, while trying to protect emissions equipment (until you decide to delete, then we will really get some power!) We tried and I believe succeeded, to build a custom tune that produced the results you desired.
 
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Owain@malonetuning

Associate Vendor , w/Business number
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Jul 1, 2016
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Vancouver
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PD jetta wagon
Exhaust looks clean! Can only make so much power with the stock turbo, if you'd like to data log boost and EGT and email the file off to us we're happy to go over it. Stage 2 is fairly aggressive as is and is well tested, custom tuning is typically best suited for modified motors or older ECUs that aren't as clever but we can probably dial things up a hair based on the logs.

Cheers,

Owain
 

DieselDeeds

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2014 Q5 TDI S-Line + Black Optics Package
Thanks Owain! I have a vagcom, do I need to order a flashzilla to log and tune? When I had my stage 2+ tune done, I had PG Performance do it so i'm not sure how to log and tune via flashzilla. Thank you!

Deeds
 

Owain@malonetuning

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Jul 1, 2016
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Vancouver
TDI
PD jetta wagon
Flashzilla would be ideal, we're just in Surrey ourselves and there's an awd roller system nearby though. Wouldn't recommend street logging on this side of the border given the crack downs due to the incident with officer Cain (stancenation kid harassed him online over a deserved VI, whole PD has gone after enthusiasts since) best to play it safe in a controlled off road environment for this stuff ;)
 

Pittdawg

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May 28, 2018
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Los Angeles
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2014 Audi Q5 TDI
Interesting; can I ask how much that ended up costing? I spent $763 on a full 3 inch Magnaflow catback and couldn't be happier with it.
 

DieselDeeds

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Interesting; can I ask how much that ended up costing? I spent $763 on a full 3 inch Magnaflow catback and couldn't be happier with it.
The guy has done work on my last few cars so he might have swung me a deal and he knows I’ll always come back to him for my work. I don’t like to give exact numbers for pricing online for small independent companies (only to protect the integrity of his business and pricing) but I will tell you I ended up paying 100$ for both of the tips and less than $300 for the labor, pipes, and resonators. So after the Rawtek downpipe, he did all the piping, +resonators, cut out the bungs for the O2 sensors from the stock Audi piping and put them in the 3” piping, and everything to the tailpipes in the pictures and first post mentioned above. Total out the door, I feel comfortable saying everything for less than $400.

I really looked into getting the magnaflow! Sounds like you really like it?! Have you deleted your egr+dpf and had a tune?
 

Pittdawg

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2014 Audi Q5 TDI
The guy has done work on my last few cars so he might have swung me a deal and he knows I’ll always come back to him for my work. I don’t like to give exact numbers for pricing online for small independent companies (only to protect the integrity of his business and pricing) but I will tell you I ended up paying 100$ for both of the tips and less than $300 for the labor, pipes, and resonators. So after the Rawtek downpipe, he did all the piping, +resonators, cut out the bungs for the O2 sensors from the stock Audi piping and put them in the 3” piping, and everything to the tailpipes in the pictures and first post mentioned above. Total out the door, I feel comfortable saying everything for less than $400.
I really looked into getting the magnaflow! Sounds like you really like it?! Have you deleted your egr+dpf and had a tune?
No emissions deletes, generic APR tune, BITDI intercooler, AFE Dry flow filter and a sprint booster. Would love to find a local TDI knowledgeable tuner to extract a bit more power but don't know of any.
 

DieselDeeds

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2014 Q5 TDI S-Line + Black Optics Package
Flashzilla would be ideal, we're just in Surrey ourselves and there's an awd roller system nearby though. Wouldn't recommend street logging on this side of the border given the crack downs due to the incident with officer Cain (stancenation kid harassed him online over a deserved VI, whole PD has gone after enthusiasts since) best to play it safe in a controlled off road environment for this stuff ;)


Hey Owain, I PM’d you regarding a custom tune!


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Macradiators.com

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Romania
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2.0 CR 360hp
Just put a bigger turbo on it.right now you have the 2056 iirc. upgrade to 2260 and you get a nice increase i power with a tune.

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commedeschatons

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dtw
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2003 ALH Wagon 5mt, 2016 VW Touareg TDI, 2014 Q5 TDI, 2011 335d Msport, 2009 Q7 TDI
I just straight piped mine Q5 yesterday
hell yeah buddy!

please post up some exhaust clips. I'm currently straight piped with no resonators/3inch and want to hear your setup
 

DieselDeeds

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Question! Just straight piped my Q5

So I went into my exhaust shop that I initially had do the work and had them weld on a new Y-pipe that went from a single 3” to a dual 2.5” all the way back to the tail pipes (before it went to a dual 2.5, then 2.25, then back 2.5) and then had a few additional resonators put on because the drone was becoming annoying while cruising on the freeway. I’ve noticed with the pipe change that acceleration is much more smoothed out and the initial lag from stop to go is essentially gone. There was also a time when I added in the high flow cat and my gas mileage dropped a tad. On a trip to Oregon and back to WA, I averaged 35.3mpg with my wife, and two daughters in the back, and a car that was packed to the brim with speeds between 70-80mph. I took the HFC out and noticed a ~5mpg increase on the freeway and 3mpg increase with city driving. Current gas mileage with the HFC removed and resonators added on the freeway is anywhere between 41-43mpg if I stick between 63-68mph. The drone is soooo much better. The resonators were added towards the rear right before the tail pipes giving me a total of 5 resonators and no cats. It sounds great- nice and quiet with great performance. Attached is a picture and I’ll get some sound clips soon.



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Pittdawg

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2014 Audi Q5 TDI
That's the issue with custom exhaust; no R&D, especially for drone. I did the same thing years ago on my GMC Envoy and had to keep changing out/adding resonators because of the drone driving me nuts. What initially started out as a cheaper option ended up costing me more to get it right. Hopefully you are happy now.
 

DieselDeeds

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Very true. I straight piped both of my turbo’d cars before Q5 (previous cars were WRX and then an STI) to get max power and gas mileage- I just kept adding resonators until I got the desired sound. After my dpf delete and tune on my Q5, I wanted to see what deleting the mufflers and going to a straight pipe would do- I picked up another 3mpg on the freeway but now dealing with the drone haha


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Daemon64

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Diesel,

That exhaust legit looks sick. I wish I could go this far... Massachusetts requires the DPF, they are super strick on emissions on second to california i think. I've been wondering if getting a catback would do anything because it reduces back pressure a bit, but then i remember that DPF will probably still be the most restrictive. I've been looking instead at anything that will reduce EGT... which ofcourse will help things.... So been looking at the dark side intercooler.... and also this: https://www.kwe-racing.de/Audi/Audi...ance-Tuning-Intercooler::815.html?language=en
 

Pittdawg

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Los Angeles
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2014 Audi Q5 TDI
Diesel,
That exhaust legit looks sick. I wish I could go this far... Massachusetts requires the DPF, they are super strick on emissions on second to california i think. I've been wondering if getting a catback would do anything because it reduces back pressure a bit, but then i remember that DPF will probably still be the most restrictive. I've been looking instead at anything that will reduce EGT... which ofcourse will help things.... So been looking at the dark side intercooler.... and also this: https://www.kwe-racing.de/Audi/Audi...ance-Tuning-Intercooler::815.html?language=en
I went with the smog legal Magnaflow catback to stay on the right side of CARB here in Cali myself. I also went with an OEM Audi BITDI intercooler; I'm sure they could still mess with my warranty coverage but I figured it would be less likely if was an OEM audi part.
 

Daemon64

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Pittdawg,

I was looking at the magnaflow catback for mine. Do you see any benefits from it besides sound? Just curious as I considered doing this as well.

Thanks!
 

Pittdawg

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May 28, 2018
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Los Angeles
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2014 Audi Q5 TDI
Pittdawg,
I was looking at the magnaflow catback for mine. Do you see any benefits from it besides sound? Just curious as I considered doing this as well.
Thanks!
I didn't dyno before and after or log egts but I imagine I gained at least a few hp and a slight dip in egts. Other than that, it looks beautiful and adds just a very subtle amount of a deeper tone. If you have all emissions equipment in place the sound increase is very. very subtle but I like the stealth sound.
 

Midwesthick

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Oct 26, 2011
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Denver
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A3, GSW, 02-Golf
Solid setup man! I went to a local shop and had them remove both the rear mufflers but I’m keeping the alphabet soup for the mean time. I found several posts showing the inside of our stock mufflers and those are great at restricting the exhaust at the very end.

$200, new pipes welded onto the backend, more responsiveness and can barely hear a difference. Not mad at all, lol.
 

DieselDeeds

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Moved states! : )
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Solid setup man! I went to a local shop and had them remove both the rear mufflers but I’m keeping the alphabet soup for the mean time. I found several posts showing the inside of our stock mufflers and those are great at restricting the exhaust at the very end.

$200, new pipes welded onto the backend, more responsiveness and can barely hear a difference. Not mad at all, lol.


Thanks man! All my drone is about gone. Can only hear it if I cruise at like 75mph- which really doesn’t happen so everything is good.

Sounds like you have yourself a good setup also. I watched a video with a guy who chopped off his mufflers, dyno’d pre and post, and picked up like 17hp and 25ft/lbs or something. I remember when I removed my mufflers after my delete, I picked up another ~2mpg. Have you noticed anything with yours since you’ve kept your dpf but hacked the mufflers off?


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Midwesthick

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Thanks man! All my drone is about gone. Can only hear it if I cruise at like 75mph- which really doesn’t happen so everything is good.

Sounds like you have yourself a good setup also. I watched a video with a guy who chopped off his mufflers, dyno’d pre and post, and picked up like 17hp and 25ft/lbs or something. I remember when I removed my mufflers after my delete, I picked up another ~2mpg. Have you noticed anything with yours since you’ve kept your dpf but hacked the mufflers off?


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I saw a couple of videos out there like that so I figured it was worth the $100 at a local muffler shop. I am extremely pleased with the results. There is such a small difference in exhaust tone it's almost impossible for me to hear. However, the pickup across the powerband has been quite impressive, more than I anticipated. I also heat wrapped my downpipe in the engine bay last night and there is a noticeable difference in heat under the hood.

I did just hook up my Chipwerke box but haven't driven that around just yet. I am hoping I have better luck than other people who own 14' A6 TDI's.
 

Daemon64

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Oh this is awesome. Im glad to see there is a difference there. Mass requires mufflers so I will likely do the magnaflow.
 
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DieselDeeds

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I’m going to update this thread title to my ownership log modifications to my Q5 - today I completed my most recent mod: Darkside Intercooler. My buddy and I knocked it out in about 3-4hrs together. We followed the instructions Darkside sent with the intercooler but they were only useful for removing the bumper and the intercooler, not so much when installing. Below are some photos of the size difference.



So far I have a deleted 3” straight piped Q5 and just installed the intercooler today. I took IAT logs with the stock intercooler via VAGCOM a couple days ago (pre-install) and will make some runs tomorrow with similar weather conditions (within a couple degrees Fahrenheit ambient temp) for some logs with the new intercooler so we have some temperature data to compare.


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Daemon64

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Diesel,

That looks awesome man. I'm planning on doing the darkside intercooler in the spring w/ the magnaflow mufflers to free up the exhaust a bit. I'm happy to see that someone has done this on a Q5... as I will be doing it as well. I'm awaiting your results with great interest.

Thanks!
 

Huskies2710

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Chicago
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2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
This looks great! Anyone know if the Darkside will fit the 2016 A6?

I have the Wagner Intercooler saved in my audi bookmarks. This will be my first project when the spring rolls around.
 

Daemon64

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On darkside it specifies b8. But I feel like I was reading somewhere that a lot of the A6 tdi owners were getting stock Q5 intercoolers because they are a decent bump in size and it was fairly easy to do. But that's just what I remember reading a few months ago when looking at the darkside for me.

This thread seems interesting in relation to intercoolers on the A6 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAQegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw2VjlFQ4uzeTNwbnYN08PUd
 
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Pittdawg

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May 28, 2018
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Los Angeles
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2014 Audi Q5 TDI
I installed the Euro BITDI SQ5 intercooler a while back. Not as big as the the Darkside but noticeably bigger than our stock intercooler. Egts are down and it basically looks stock. They are very hard to find though.
 

Huskies2710

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Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Well my shop just sent out their New Year's specials on performance upgrades. Time to make some calls and see what they suggest on the Intercooler for the A6.

Pittdawg you the only one who made that SQ5 upgrade?
 

DieselDeeds

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2014 Q5 TDI S-Line + Black Optics Package
Hey Brokein, yes I have! Sorry I haven’t been able to get my logs posted- I haven’t had any time to take logs after I installed the larger fmic. I can definitely say I feel a difference- it’s not night and day difference (like a tune or larger turbo would be) but it’s definitely noticeable in the mid to top end rpm range of each gear. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It’ll probably be more noticeable during the summers when the stock FMIC typically gets heat soaked after one hard pull. I’ll work on getting those logs and some videos posted.

I also installed the ECS rear diff mount inserts a week ago. Along with the transmission mount insert that I installed a while back- the Q5 feels great to drive.


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