ECU Tuning?

Litemup

Member
Joined
May 13, 2018
Location
Cincinnati
TDI
16 Touareg
Anyone have thoughts or experience with Malone Tuning or any other ECU Tuners?

3.0L V6 TDI 240hp
Stock
240 bhp 406lb-ft

Stage 1
270 bhp 475lb-ft
$599

Stage 2
305 bhp 490lb-ft
$649
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
My recommendation is to get Stage 2, if you don't you'll be wanting it shortly after getting Stage 1 and having to pay more now.

Malone is a very reputable tuner !
 

Radman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 13, 2001
Location
Montreal
TDI
2014 Audi A6 TDI, 2014 Touareg TDI
I thought the Stage 2 required DPF delete? Could have sworn it used to state that on their website. Maybe something has changed or they do not want to mention it publicly due to Emissions etc. If it does not require any hardware mods then go with Stage 2.
 

DieselSport15

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Location
Kansas
TDI
2015 Sportwagen SEL, 2014 Touareg Exec.
I have the Stage 2 (with delete) as well on my '14 Executive. Its great but when you step on it people behind you will definitely know it!! Not quite "rolling coal" but it puts out a good puff of black smoke!! I also had the APR tune on my first T3, don't know if I can tell a significant difference.
 

30Bones

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Location
Cedar Rapids, Ia
TDI
2013 Touareg TDI
I have the Stage 2 (with delete) as well on my '14 Executive. Its great but when you step on it people behind you will definitely know it!! Not quite "rolling coal" but it puts out a good puff of black smoke!! I also had the APR tune on my first T3, don't know if I can tell a significant difference.
More importantly did you mpg go up? I really don't need the power increase, but some mpg and deleting future repair items like EGR, addblue and DPF would be nice
 

bryanmabbott

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Location
Phoenix
TDI
'02 VW Golf Manual; '13 Touareg TDI
I did a Stage 2 from Malone last week for my '13 Touareg TDI. You can definitely feel a power increase, but not as much as I was expecting compared to my '02 Golf TDI with Stage 3. Glad I went with Stage 2 instead of 1. I kept all the emissions systems (DPF, Adblue, EGR) intact. Still too early to tell about mpg but will report later.
 

bryanmabbott

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Location
Phoenix
TDI
'02 VW Golf Manual; '13 Touareg TDI
Any update on MPG?
According to my Fuelly logs, before tune my avg was 21.6mpg over 10,308 miles from April '18 to Nov '18 versus now at 22.3mpg over 3k miles. I do travel about 30% city, and on the highway I keep my cruise set to 5 to 10mph above the speed limit which I go between 70mph to 85mph here in Phoenix. I do take my corners aggressively too. Keep in mind, I do tow a 5000lb boat at least once a month for 50 miles and have been doing a lot of off road driving this past couple of months for which I do not segregate the mpg data. Summer diesel is supposed to net better fuel economy too, but I don't have any significant data on that yet.

My impressions on the tune, you can definitely feel the power increase of stage 2 over stock especially when towing particularly when accelerating. However, it was not as dramatic as a stage 2 on my MK4 Golf TDI from Kerma back in 2006 imho but maybe that's due to the DPF? Does it feel like 500lb ft of torque, yes! I have not dyno nor 0-60 time it. I love the roll of torque when merging/passing on the freeway, the Touareg just feels at home on the freeway. My only gripe is the transmission tuning which I will get done at some time. When making quick acceleration from a stop, there's a lag from when you push the accelerator pedal to when you get going which in my opinion can be dangerous when you pull out in front of traffic. When you get going though, the car pushes you back into your seat more than it did when stock and gets out of the way. I don't think it's turbo lag but instead post-fix transmission tuning as read on the clubTouareg forums. I do have the trans coded as Cayenne which slightly firms the shifts and holds the revs a little longer in drive and is more eager to downshift. Overall, Malone tuning did a great job with the tune and I would not hesitate to go with them again on another TDI.
 
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