REVO Software Installed Today

ToeBall

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2010 VW Jetta Wagon TDI
Toeball,

Thanks for the video....So, in this video, you're running the down pipe, not cat and no DPF and then no muffler?

Just want to make sure I understand what you have done.

Chris, does your software allow for removal of the DPF? and if it does, will I have a CEL or any other warning light on my dash?

I think your exhaust sounds pretty good Toe!

Scott
Scott, I'm running the PDE downpipe and a Banks cat-back. Talking about removing the DPF or other emissions components is against forum rules.

That really is not bad at all in regards to the smoke and I love the sound. My cummins is just so loud and vibrates so much I can't hear the turbo even with the top down.

Also as our main diesel tuner said last week, "If it isn't smoking at least a little I'm not doing my job." :)
Like I said, to reduce the smoke any more than that I'd need to swap out the turbo, and while it's on the todo list eventually, I'm waiting for BIG injectors to be available first.

My Cummins vibrates quite a bit also, but my turbo is very loud. I'm just running the standard 6BTA in a Dodge pickup with the Bosch 300/700 torque plate in it, but I dialed up the boost to 50 psi to help with EGT's and it does help, but the turbo can easily be heard in an otherwise quiet cab (I sound proofed it for stereo competition back in the day).




I personally remove them on all my cars, I don't know why but they just seem to get beat up and ugly really fast so it is cleaner to take them down.

It will be a little louder but should help you hear the turbo a little bit more, I haven't heard a 2.0cr before and after but the noise increase on the 2.0 tsi/fsi is not that great.

Heat in my experience is no issue. I have upgraded turbos both in my mk4 1.8t and A3 2.0t without any problems. My A3 runs a tubular manifold that sits up about 6" higher than the stock manifold, has no heatshield and no intake over it like it would stock and I have no problems with the paint. The car is black so hard to get darker but there is no discoloring or fading in the ~40K that manifold has been on there.

This was when it was being mocked up but you can clearly see how much higher it sits and I have no issues:

I like that setup. Have you thought about ceramic coating the header to reduce heat soak and improve turbo efficiency? I don't see any problems with running without the engine cover either. I'm thinking about getting rid of mine in the long run as well.
 
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scottisha

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Scott, Talking about removing the DPF or other emissions components is against forum rules.
Yeah, Rules.....I moderate another VW forum and I'm used to no rules, other than giving out another person's personal information......
LOL, Even the damn mini-bike forum I go to has rules about not being able to discuss the removal of the governors in our 6.5hp engines.

I can respect it though, so I won't discuss it publicly anymore. Thanks for the heads up.

Scott
 

scottisha

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This is one of my Doodlebug mini bikes with a Harbour Freight 6.5hp clone engine..(GOVERNOR REMOVED) LOL, I can discuss it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsnIV88ys5s&feature=related

The popping sound is it backfiring. It literally sounds like a drive by shooting is going on. Drove past the high school behind my house during football practice. Made it back fire and half the team hit the deck!

Scott
 

stuckinneutral

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2011 Blue Graphite Golf TDI
^ I wanted to remove it for sound, but was worried about my hood getting hot enough to fade paint. Chris's pictures show that even modded his hoods have been fine without the foam dampener. Thanks Chris! I'm removing it after work!
 

chris@revotechnik

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12 JSW, 98 TJ cummins, bunch of gassers
So, to make sure I understand this, removing the sound dampener is to help with heat build-up?
Not really but in theory it could reduce the amount of heat retained in the engine bay. Some people remove it to hear the engine better, others remove it because mice ate it or the clips broke. Removing the seal at the top of the rain tray would probably be more effective at allowing heat to escape vs removing the sound dampener pad on the hood.

Let's say I remove my DPF right now...Am I going to throw codes?
Will my VAG-COM be able to disable anything to stop these codes, if thrown?
Yes you will have codes as far as I understand and no there is nothing vag-com can do to take care of them other than constantly delete them as they come up.

Chris, when does REVO anticipate the release of version 2? You say it's being run in some test cars (beta)......what's the typical test/tune time until software is available?
I want to say Waterfest but I am not sure we'll have time to get all the final dyno testing done before then.

Test/tune time varies by application. Overall the diesel crowd is a little more skeptical of gains and more importantly reliability. I frequently get calls from people wanting to know the number of cars the software is in, how many miles were accumulated during testing and on how many cars from diesel owners which are not very common on the gas side. So we'll spend more time just letting beta testers rack up the miles compared to say a gas tune. If you factor in the fact we were tuning other versions of the 2.0CR engine outside of the US before we were in the US we had well over a year of testing before we sold any software here. Actual US testing went on for months.

The biggest reason we are holding back on the V2 software is soot quantity and we want to make sure someone doesn't go do a track day and clog up their DPF on a dirty tune. While some more frequent regen activity may be expected with more fuel and more power we want to make sure that it is still reasonable (so far it is) and that there are no issues with customers DPFs. To clarify we have not had any problems in testing, but you do the testing to make sure that you don't long term so we are just doing our due diligence.

We were happy with the power output on the first test file, but that is only a small part of the big picture with these cars. One of the test cars recently found the stock speed limiter was still in place, so that was raised as well :)
 
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chris@revotechnik

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Scott, I'm running the PDE downpipe and a Banks cat-back.
I was lucky enough to get a very good behind the scenes tour of the Banks facility, amazing company and unmatched as far as i am concerned in any corner of the Automotive Aftermarket. Got a quick little drive around the block in their JSW to show the group I was with how their dash logging thing worked and the exhaust had a nice note although as noted still limited due to the DPF being intact.



My Cummins vibrates quite a bit also, but my turbo is very loud. I'm just running the standard 6BTA in a Dodge pickup with the Bosch 300/700 torque plate in it, but I dialed up the boost to 50 psi to help with EGT's and it does help, but the turbo can easily be heard in an otherwise quiet cab (I sound proofed it for stereo competition back in the day).
I just have a 4bt in mine, miss my 97 12V though never should have sold it. Most of my vibrations come from how I built the mounts and the short drivetrain. It was built for my GF but I have been driving it daily the past 6 months and will be buying it off her soon so she can get an Outback, once it is mine I'll get to throwing some gauges in. Mine is just a VE pump more than enough fuel for the stock turbo (hy35 i believe it currently has) even with some tweeking so I'll deal. Kept losing the auctions for a P pump one :mad:





I like that setup. Have you thought about ceramic coating the header to reduce heat soak and improve turbo efficiency? I don't see any problems with running without the engine cover either. I'm thinking about getting rid of mine in the long run as well.
It was originally wrapped but it was just constantly flaking so i pulled it off. Coating a welded manifold like that is hit or miss. If the coating is really that good it can cause too much heat retention and actually change the composition of the stainless which will make it brittle and more prone to cracking. The issue then is that you have a coated manifold that you can't weld. That manifold has over 40K on it though without any cracking issues, coating would be nice but probably keep even the next one bare.
 

ToeBall

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I was lucky enough to get a very good behind the scenes tour of the Banks facility, amazing company and unmatched as far as i am concerned in any corner of the Automotive Aftermarket. Got a quick little drive around the block in their JSW to show the group I was with how their dash logging thing worked and the exhaust had a nice note although as noted still limited due to the DPF being intact.
That's odd, I'm actually really disappointed with their product. It's been on the car for about 6 months and is already showing rust, on a stainless exhaust. I'm planning on replacing it anyway since it rattles, but they could have used better materials. I've got a Banks on my Dodge also, and it does show a bit of rust but nothing like the one on my car, and that's after 13 years.

I just have a 4bt in mine, miss my 97 12V though never should have sold it. Most of my vibrations come from how I built the mounts and the short drivetrain. It was built for my GF but I have been driving it daily the past 6 months and will be buying it off her soon so she can get an Outback, once it is mine I'll get to throwing some gauges in. Mine is just a VE pump more than enough fuel for the stock turbo (hy35 i believe it currently has) even with some tweeking so I'll deal. Kept losing the auctions for a P pump one :mad:
I know what you mean. I've had my 98 since new and refuse to sell it, despite my friends and family all hounding me to do so. I was thinking about building a dedicated off-road buggy with a 4BTA, but Cummins wants about $15k for a ReCon. If I happen to run across one for cheap, I'll do it, otherwise, it'll just remain a dream. HPA repowered a Jeep with a PD engine. I like the idea so maybe a CBEA for the buggy instead of the 4BTA?

It was originally wrapped but it was just constantly flaking so i pulled it off. Coating a welded manifold like that is hit or miss. If the coating is really that good it can cause too much heat retention and actually change the composition of the stainless which will make it brittle and more prone to cracking. The issue then is that you have a coated manifold that you can't weld. That manifold has over 40K on it though without any cracking issues, coating would be nice but probably keep even the next one bare.
With turbo applications you're better off using mild steel and ceramic coating. The stainless will crack not just from work hardening but also from expansion rate differences in the tubing vs flanges, or even the flange vs head or turbo. One way around it one of the Borla engineers told me about was to coat both inside and out. They do that for high heat header applications like the Viper.
 

nikhsub1

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Back on topic for a second, can anyone recommend a Revo dealer in the Los Angeles area that is good and can flash diesels? TIA.
 

chris@revotechnik

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12 JSW, 98 TJ cummins, bunch of gassers
That's odd, I'm actually really disappointed with their product. It's been on the car for about 6 months and is already showing rust, on a stainless exhaust. I'm planning on replacing it anyway since it rattles, but they could have used better materials. I've got a Banks on my Dodge also, and it does show a bit of rust but nothing like the one on my car, and that's after 13 years.
I'd let them know, they really want to make sure they can get on top of any issues over there.


I know what you mean. I've had my 98 since new and refuse to sell it, despite my friends and family all hounding me to do so. I was thinking about building a dedicated off-road buggy with a 4BTA, but Cummins wants about $15k for a ReCon. If I happen to run across one for cheap, I'll do it, otherwise, it'll just remain a dream. HPA repowered a Jeep with a PD engine. I like the idea so maybe a CBEA for the buggy instead of the 4BTA?
I paid about 1500 for mine unknown mileage with no accessories but had the turbo.

I like the VW diesels but having my 4bt in the wrangler (depsite it being 700+lbs itself) I can't imagine having anything less. The thing I loved about my 12V was I could just beat the snot out of it and it was so burly it didn't matter, i feel the same with the 4bt I am not afraid of doing anything with it. Vw diesel in something offroad with big tires I'd be afraid it would pop.. and I'm not the kind of person to be worried about blowing up a motor.


With turbo applications you're better off using mild steel and ceramic coating. The stainless will crack not just from work hardening but also from expansion rate differences in the tubing vs flanges, or even the flange vs head or turbo. One way around it one of the Borla engineers told me about was to coat both inside and out. They do that for high heat header applications like the Viper.
For this stype of turbo headers the SS ones last the longest. People actually have more problems with SS flanges and SS pipe fittings than they do with steel flanges and SS pipe fittings. I use only mild steel turbo flanges and head flanges with SS pipe and have not had any issues with cracking. With the EGTs seen in high power gas applications the steel pipe fittings just fall apart after a few thousand miles. That one was just the mock up, the final one was all beveled edges, welds back purged on the first pass. The flange to the head did get warped at one point but that was due to how it mounts on the 2.0T FSI engine, it doesn't bolt down on the bottom it sort of locks in place, the bar that locks it in place backed off causing the gasket to blow out. Head to manifold is the only place you'll find a gasket in my exhaust :)..
 

chris@revotechnik

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Back on topic for a second, can anyone recommend a Revo dealer in the Los Angeles area that is good and can flash diesels? TIA.
Since I'm trying not to directly sell anything I can say we have a few dealers in the area but I don't want to specifically link to anyone to go to. I would suggest emailing either our ussales or ussupport address and we can forward you a link to all the dealers we have equipped to handle the 2010+ locked ecus. Just trying to stay on good terms with the site until our GM gets the vendor paperwork submitted.
 

rootrider

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The biggest reason we are holding back on the V2 software is soot quantity and we want to make sure someone doesn't go do a track day and clog up their DPF on a dirty tune. While some more frequent regen activity may be expected with more fuel and more power we want to make sure that it is still reasonable (so far it is) and that there are no issues with customers DPFs. To clarify we have not had any problems in testing, but you do the testing to make sure that you don't long term so we are just doing our due diligence.

We were happy with the power output on the first test file, but that is only a small part of the big picture with these cars. One of the test cars recently found the stock speed limiter was still in place, so that was raised as well :)
I had the speed limiter still in place on mine with the v1 software :(

This v2 sounds interesting though.. definitely wanting a little more power out of my car, but am also concerned about reliability and longevity since I both track my car and drive it ~30k/year
 

chris@revotechnik

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I had the speed limiter still in place on mine with the v1 software :(
Ah that was you, I had asked your dealer for the ECU ID so that it could get corrected but never heard back from them. Will make sure it gets sorted when we build the updated file. The old ecu currently won't let me read it so waiting on someone to send a read.
 

rootrider

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Ah that was you, I had asked your dealer for the ECU ID so that it could get corrected but never heard back from them. Will make sure it gets sorted when we build the updated file. The old ecu currently won't let me read it so waiting on someone to send a read.
I should probably email you.. I actually had a few issues, including some 'engine faults' showing up
 

scottisha

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20mph roll to 60 mph...Took 6.12 seconds......I'd say the actual acceleration time was around 5seconds since I hit my stop watch at the exact same time I floored it and there was a delay. Plus, I must have been just under the optimal boost at 20mph because there was a brief lag.

I can;t switch back to stock (no tengo SPS thinga ma jiggy) but you guys that are stock can do the same roll on test. Keep in mind that I'm not as fast a shifter as the DSG.

I did this with the stop watch on my phone.

Scott
 

chris@revotechnik

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I was logging a V2 car last week. I still can't post up any power figures but maybe i can find a good acceleration time comparison between the stock, V1 and V2 pulls I did.
 

stuckinneutral

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Hey Chris have you had any experiences with VW dealerships that are also REVO dealers? The closest dealer to me is a REVO dealer and I'm thinking of paying them a visit. Is stage 2 available already in the US?
 

P0234

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I'm curious, does the ECU have any flashing counts or other fingerprint methods? Can it be fully returned to stock? I'd love to go stage II, but when my HPFP goes poo-poo I'd really prefer not to deal with the hassles of explaining my tuned ECU.
 

stuckinneutral

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I went in to my closest dealer to fill my coolant today and they are the Revo dealer I was talking about. I asked while I waited for my car and the tech said no tunes are out for my car yet. I'm not exactly itching to get chipped just yet but maybe I'll pay PFAFF a visit in the near future to see what's up with unitronic Canada.
 

sportwagen rick

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Why do I keep reading this thread? It makes me want a Revo tune so bad! LOL.

No nearby dealers. :( or else I probably would have pulled the trigger during the sale at the end of last year. Maybe this year I'll make the drive to a dealer. :D
 

scottisha

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do it!

Trust me, if they told you at the dealership, when you bought your car, "Hey Mr. Sportwagen Rick, you know, this model over here comes with another 25+hp and 45+ft/lbs of torque for just $500.00 more....and you will likely see your fuel mileage increase."....You would probably say, "Wow Mr. VW salesman dude, that's a no brainer, I'll take it!"

Scott
 

numl0ck

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Why do I keep reading this thread? It makes me want a Revo tune so bad! LOL.

No nearby dealers. :( or else I probably would have pulled the trigger during the sale at the end of last year. Maybe this year I'll make the drive to a dealer. :D
I too and chomping at the bit to get this tune. I had planned on getting the Revo tune this summer, but now I think I'll wait for the Stage 2. :)
 
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I just had my 09 jetta reflashed after the recall flash was done. It is one of the early production cars with build gate was 8/08. Last summer when i had the remap done it was through the odb2 port but this last flash called for reading out the ecu. I waited two weeks for the software to be witten and all i can say wow. I actually wonder if chris gave my shop the version 2 software. The car pulls so much harder than i remember. At this point my care free maintence is over so the dealer will be kept far away from my ecu. If you are on the fence it is the best $500 you can spend on engine performance on a TDI.
 

gaogi

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Been waiting for waterfest when they have sales. Will most likely get this done this week @ $100.00 off. My build date is 10/2010, and I haven't had my first service yet...wonder if I'll run into issues where the dealer over writes my flash when I take it in for its first service...
 
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