Sold- 2016 A6 Prestige - Ownership Log

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
After months of waiting out the winter, and some luck finding a 2016 A6 Prestige in Florett Silver it arrived on truck from the West Coast yesterday.



Got to drive it around for a bit, and the joy of driving one last year came right back. My buddy who sells used luxury cars was very impressed. He didn't quite understand why I was so adamant about buying this TDI, this year, and this trim level. He took it out for a spin and he gets it now.

I won't be taking it home yet. Its going to be a long 36 hour wait.

Today: Tint/Rebadging.
The car is going to have the windows tinted as well as rebadged. Not for everyone, but chrome is not for me. Front/Back audi emblems will be rebranded with black ones. The A6 and TDI badges will be removed all together to give the trunk a clean look.

Tomorrow: Tune
A surprise I was not expecting from my buddy. A close friend of his owns a performance shop which he took me over to visit. They have a technician in house that builds custom tunes. After talking to them they knew all about Malone/Unitronic/Apr/Kerma etc....they do the same thing but customize the tune for the car with the added feature of Dyno runs in shop. I'll have before and after stats once its done. The shop is 20 minutes from my house, just 10 minutes farther then the malone dealer I had planned to go to. I want to apologize to Owain at Malone as we were basically set to pull the trigger on the Malone Stage 2 but won't be moving forward on that. Trae send me a message if you are interested in the Q7 tune.

Future Plans:
TCU Tune - as others have mentioned there really isn't a tune for this transmission. The shop doesn't have one but has completed other TCU tunes. We are going to discuss and look into putting one together. This won't be a quick job might get done or not at all....more research needed.

Exhaust Tips - again, chrome bad, exhaust tips will be dipped to a dark gun metal or black once I have some free time and can leave the car for a day. This is what the finished product will look like. It plays well off the black undercarriage fender. Also picture includes the badge rebranding.
http://tinyurl.com/y3m2veho

RS6 Grille:
No easy project, can't pop the stock grille off and put the new one on. Have to remove the bottom fender. Also, add calibration of adaptive cruise control once finished?

Rims/Tires:
Winter tires a nice benefit in Chicago winters. Not sure if I will use the stock rims for winter and get a new summer pair. TBD.

More to come...
 
Last edited:

Owain@malonetuning

Associate Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Location
Vancouver
TDI
PD jetta wagon
All good, best of luck with the mods :) Hopefully the shops familiar with newer EDC17s, definitely nice to have that kind of talent locally.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
All good, best of luck with the mods :) Hopefully the shops familiar with newer EDC17s, definitely nice to have that kind of talent locally.
Update: Shop is keeping the car to make some final adjustments. Will be ready tomorrow by lunch. Everything is coming along well I've been told. They did write a TCU tune for it thus the extra time needed. Excited to find out all the details and see the Dyno information.

Backside shot for effect....
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
We are all waiting on the edge of our chairs.
Apologize for the delay. Been living in the car between driving and tinkering all weekend. I received the car Friday and have been driving around sometimes for no reason at all. Have logged 200 miles.

Here are the dyno results. They did exactly what I asked as far as power. It was conservative in the fact it didn't send the emissions equipment (which I don't plant to delete) into a hissy fit and kept everything smooth across the powerband.

This measurement is to the wheels not engine power. It added 30 hp and 20 torque. Nothing huge, but paired with the TCU tune is where it becomes fun. Shifts into 3rd, 4th and 5th feel like they pull harder and resuck you back into your seat. Keeping the car in Dynamic mode and Sport, the revs always stay in a spot where I'm driving along regularly and decide to step on it the power is there instantly. No lag. Go back into Comfort mode and all is calm. Currently with spirited driving mixed between city and highway 50/50. I'm at 31.8 mpg. I will do a hand calculation when I fill up.

http://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0GA9Gj76LQGcUpZcGEzNWdBVzRROHpBT0JrMlNTSXJOT280/view?usp=sharing
 
Last edited:

Mythdoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Location
Tennessee
TDI
2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
The nice thing is having extra power lower in the rpm band, in my opinion. That is where the extra fuel efficiency comes in, as well as the fun, and is the exact aspect that VW/Audi chose to reprogram out of the engine to cut their costs on emissions system repairs under the extended warranty. If it becomes clear that warranty claims are not being denied on flashed vehicles, I’ll be right there with you soon enough!
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
The nice thing is having extra power lower in the rpm band, in my opinion. That is where the extra fuel efficiency comes in, as well as the fun, and is the exact aspect that VW/Audi chose to reprogram out of the engine to cut their costs on emissions system repairs under the extended warranty. If it becomes clear that warranty claims are not being denied on flashed vehicles, I’ll be right there with you soon enough!
I still have work and questions to get answered on this tune. Trying to get more information together.

Would a VAG Com tell me if there was a flash on the car? The shop said they hadn't had any previous TDI owners run into trouble with Audi and warranty being denied. They did say if something comes up I should come in first and they'll put it back to stock.

Also, the clean look on the back with the black badge came out well...personal opinion. I did not switch out the front. Unsure what to do as the grille itself has a lot of chrome besides the Audi rings itself.
[/IMG]
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
The nice thing is having extra power lower in the rpm band, in my opinion. That is where the extra fuel efficiency comes in, as well as the fun, and is the exact aspect that VW/Audi chose to reprogram out of the engine to cut their costs on emissions system repairs under the extended warranty. If it becomes clear that warranty claims are not being denied on flashed vehicles, I’ll be right there with you soon enough!
This was the response I received further explaing in simpler terms to me, how the tune was improved with work to the TCU.

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.
 
Last edited:

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Who did your TCU tune? Is it possible to get a remote TCU tune?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
APM Tuned in Villa Park, Illinois. I will gladly ask or you can give them a look and contact them. Ben is the rep who handles the day to day there.

I do not know how important having the car on site for Dyno runs is to the process. I believe the fine tuning and customizing of the ECU/TCU was done with numbers from the Dyno.

Feel free to send me a PM.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Just got back from a long weekend. Drove from Chicago to Detroit with a stop off in two different cities. Started with a full tank and traveled 640 miles before we had one bar left till empty. ~33.3 mpgs for the trip.

I don't know how accurate the mpg gauge is after the tune but I was hovering just below 40 mpg for most of the ride to Detroit before having the wife do most of the driving on the way home.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Here are the more eye appealing and fun power numbers to the engine to look at.

 

DieselDeeds

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Location
Moved states! : )
TDI
2014 Q5 TDI S-Line + Black Optics Package
That’s awesome! I don’t know much about the tranny tune you had but do you think your transmission tune increased tq and hp?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
That’s awesome! I don’t know much about the tranny tune you had but do you think your transmission tune increased tq and hp?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I posted a comment above that tries to explain how the Transmission tune has changed the cars.

To answer your question, I would say no it did not increase them but it made the ECU tune a more complete package for the car overall. The shifts feel smoother while more aggressive. The car is always ready to be stepped on when I'm driving in Dynamic-Sport mode. No lag if I decide to step on the gas randomly at any speed. The other thing that seems quite subdued is the jerk motion when shifting from gear to gear under hard acceleration. I feel as if I'm being pulled forward each shift instead of that back then forward motion one would normally feel.
 

DieselDeeds

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Location
Moved states! : )
TDI
2014 Q5 TDI S-Line + Black Optics Package
Great answer! Yeah I saw your explanation earlier but didn’t quite understand if that increased actual power or just increased drive-ability.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
I picked up an OBD Eleven, its an app friendly plug n play equivalent to the VAG Com. The app makes coding easy by paying for one click access to things like Video in Motion/Turn off Auto Start/Stop, Needle Sweep etc... You can also long code if you prefer.

Anyways today I took the A6 out on the highway as I need to be proactive on the passive regens. I have not traveled for work in two weeks so most trips are short and not above 2k RPM. Adding the tune and deciding to keep the emissions equipment I'm not sure what to expect.

I forgot to take this measurement before the highway spin so I sadly have nothing to go off of. Are these good? bad? numbers for soot and regeneration criteria? I read the criteria number above 85% is where you need to do an active/forced regen.

Maybe I should take it back out on the highway to get that number lower?



 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Update, went on another drive to see what would happen. These are the new results. I assume the regen % being lower is a good thing?

I don't know what to think of the new soot mass calculated vs soot mass measured.



 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Found out some new information this week. Car had Audi care still available and paid for. Thought this would be a good freebie to have the car run over by Audi technicians and see what they find. Maybe the custom tune. You probably know where this is going.

I asked that they do whatever they can to check emissions equipment and give the car a deep dive since I bought it used from across the country though it was a one owner lease. All is good, but then they ended with our technician said the car was tuned as the ECU had a flash and thus turned it into TD1. Moving forward we cannot honor any free warranty work on the vehicle that was to be provided.

All of this I knew and was figuring they would find going into it. This just pushes me a little closer to getting the delete sooner then later. The shop has been dangling the carrot in front of me the whole time to have everything come full circle and really enjoy the car fully by deleting and custom tune.
 

bahiaeternal

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Location
Burlington County, NJ
TDI
2016 Audi A7 TDI
Sorry to hear that they were able to detect the tune even when you were not there for warranty work. I have driven tuned vw tdi's since 2001, but this is the first time I've taken pause to getting a tune. I have already had a Nox and O2 sensor take a crap on me. Those are not cheap.

Keep us posted on your mods, congrats again on the new ride. Let us know if you throw a new rear sway in.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Sorry to hear that they were able to detect the tune even when you were not there for warranty work. I have driven tuned vw tdi's since 2001, but this is the first time I've taken pause to getting a tune. I have already had a Nox and O2 sensor take a crap on me. Those are not cheap.

Keep us posted on your mods, congrats again on the new ride. Let us know if you throw a new rear sway in.
The visit was an experiment to see if they would find it. Now I know and have an idea how to plan for the future. Not mad about it at all.

Your in New Jersey which has strict laws I believe? Have you done any mods to the A7?
 

bahiaeternal

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Location
Burlington County, NJ
TDI
2016 Audi A7 TDI
The visit was an experiment to see if they would find it. Now I know and have an idea how to plan for the future. Not mad about it at all.
Your in New Jersey which has strict laws I believe? Have you done any mods to the A7?
It was a worthy experiment. I've been wanting to replace the rear sway bar, I've read elsewhere that it really changes how the car feels taking exits, pass cars etc. Here is the solution I found online, but not cheap.

https://store.034motorsport.com/034...-audi-q5-sq5-c7-c7-5-a6-s6-rs6-a7-s7-rs7.html
 

Mythdoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Location
Tennessee
TDI
2011 Touareg, 2015 Q5, 2015 Golf
I’m glad you reported this. Many have stated on these forums that “VW/Audi did not flag my tuned car” but they are not going to flag it when the customer is paying THEM money (that only incentivizes the customer to go to an independent garage). But if the customer comes in asking for free warranty work on a tuned vehicle, you can expect them to flag it at that time.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
I’m glad you reported this. Many have stated on these forums that “VW/Audi did not flag my tuned car” but they are not going to flag it when the customer is paying THEM money (that only incentivizes the customer to go to an independent garage). But if the customer comes in asking for free warranty work on a tuned vehicle, you can expect them to flag it at that time.
I had always planned to be hands on with this car. You only live once and enjoying it to full capacity was my goal. Hopefully this takes out some of the questions of to tune or not to tune.

With that said, if I were trying to keep the warranty, I highly advise against an ECU Tune. Reflashing back to stock is a mute point from my understanding this experiment. This dealership simply checked the ECU counter. They didn't mention finding anything besides that and backed out from doing any more digging. Do you really want to argue when your stressed out and something broke?

Unless you look into the two ways below.....

1)Find an Audi/VW dealership who provides and advertises APR Tunes and will guarantee you keep the warranty because you did the work with them. Chicago has two spots, Audi Hoffman Estates and VW Schaumburg. If your okay going with an APR tune over the top dogs Malone, Kerma, RocketChip.

2) Get a piggyback system like the Chipwerke that Mythdoc recommends. Simple as plugging in and out no flash. I've read good don't get me wrong, but I've also seen stories of that being a let down over a regular tune.

Decisions...decisions...decisions.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Small update.....Buzzken with a high flow cat has arrived. Scheduled to be installed middle of next week. Thanks for the quick responses and information from the Buzzken rep on TDI Club.
:cool::cool::cool:
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
Just received the car back from the shop after installing the Buzzken "downpipe" with High Flow Cat. Had my buddy at the shop take it home yesterday (I didn't want to be stuck on the side of the road from a CEL ;) Put 50 miles on it. No CEL's. I've had it about 20 miles and all good especially from my butt dyno. Will put another 150 miles before my long trip coming up. Do not want any surprises mid way through with no shop nearby.
Notes:

Good:
1) Buzzken A6 Pipe Fit - Anyone with an A6 thinking about this downpipe kit this is the only answer you need. Buzzken promised it would bolt right on from factory. Their word held true. The shop confirmed there was no fabrication needed. Very easy install. The other competitor was upfront that fabrication would be needed. Both great products but know the Buzzken will fit the A6 as promised. Side note ordered May 2nd, arrived May 13th. Comes from Canada.

2) No Diesel Smell - Easy install and great fit I assume help. AC was run 10 minutes, no leaks. Heat run 10 minutes, no leaks. Running the car hard on the street with windows up. No smell to talk about. Its 80 out, with a good 15 mph wind. No diesel smell at stop lights with windows down. I'll update when I have a zero wind day and 80 degree heat.

3) Dyno/Power - Waiting to get the official documentation. Tuner said he got another 30+hp and 25+trq. This is a daily driver and I again specified don't push it to hard. Keep the turbo safe. Temps were taken back up to the same level as pre install so we could get a bit more boost �� Estimating Engine HP ~345 Engine Torque ~ 580

4) Heat Inside Car - This is still TBD. It was 50 degrees this morning. Not hot, not cold. I don't think its a proper temp to see if the heat in the car will work in the winter time. Within a few minutes the heat was sweating me out of the car though. Fingers crossed it carries true to winter time. Part of the reason I took the jump is the 3.0L engines fair much better after this install in retaining heat for winter. Or so I've read.

5) Kept all the stock equipment for later down the road if I want it put back on

The Bad:
1) A bit smokey for my liking on only half throttle let alone full. If I drive it normal no issues no smoke. Step on it and you get the burst of smoke. Its not blind the driver behind me bad, but its noticeable and really the only dilemma I have with the install that includes the high flow cat. Currently using Biodiesel. I can drive 10 minutes away from my home though to get straight ULSD #2 Diesel. Would this help? Hot Shot Diesel Additive is a big seller in the truck industry. I'm not sold on that being anything more then snake oil though.

or

Is this tune running to rich? Clogged air filter? MAP sensor need to be cleaned out? other things that came to mind.

2) Custom ECU Tunes Pricing - I dropped the ball on this part, maybe didn't ask enough questions, or they should of specified better that custom tunes pricing is not based off previous tunes. I still received a discount but its not like a malone tune. If you jump stage 1 to stage 2 with malone you just pay the difference. In this instance my stage 1 custom was cheaper then malone. Jumping to the stage 2 though with the new equipment meant starting fresh from stock. Thus I could of saved some green had I gone right to Stage 2 with Buzzken setup. Overall a tad more now then doing the malone route. If anyone goes the custom route make sure you ask the questions! Extra OT shifts are what got me debating to do this so I'll just grab one more and forgive myself for the mistake lol

TBD - MPG's

Anyone with thoughts or help to my one dilemma please share.
 
Last edited:

Radman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 13, 2001
Location
Montreal
TDI
2014 Audi A6 TDI, 2014 Touareg TDI
One concern I would have is Biodiesel, I don't think many people are running Bio in the 3.0TDI due to Fuel pumps being sensitive. Maybe do some research before destroying a VERY expensive pump. Plus your warrentee is void so even more critical for you.
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
One concern I would have is Biodiesel, I don't think many people are running Bio in the 3.0TDI due to Fuel pumps being sensitive. Maybe do some research before destroying a VERY expensive pump. Plus your warrentee is void so even more critical for you.
You make a great point. I'm doing what I can to gather information on the use of Biodiesel. What I do know is most Illinois stations have 11 to 20% biodiesel.

There are ULSD #2 stations in my area and the shop did recommend I visit those as often as possible.

Will that lower the smoke though?

Moving forward I'm trying to figure out my gameplan. Switch solely to ULSD #2? Mix some bio diesel in from time to time for lubricacity? If I have to fill with bio-diesel whats the best additive to keep in the trunk to pour a few ounces in?
 

Huskies2710

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Location
Chicago
TDI
2016 Audi A6 -- 2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI
One concern I would have is Biodiesel, I don't think many people are running Bio in the 3.0TDI due to Fuel pumps being sensitive. Maybe do some research before destroying a VERY expensive pump. Plus your warrentee is void so even more critical for you.
Updates:

1) Through the BMW diesel forum got word a Shell Station very close to me is independently owned and has Shell Premium #2 ULSD. Talked to the owner actually and he said his station is routinely asked that question and why he doesn't intend to switch. Probably helps he is right next to the german dealerships who would prefer to fill up with his product.

2) Having got word from the shop, there was no block off plate or bypass installed to the egr. It was only tuned out. Could we assume this is leading to the heavier then anticipated smoke? Is there a break in period for DPF delete and it will calm down over time? Only 150 miles in.

The car hauls now and is the shifting ever so smooth. There is no motion whatsoever on shifts. Quiet with windows up no matter how I drive. Put the windows down and the exhaust gives a nice low rumble without being obnoxious.
 
Top