Finally APR TDI Tune ... we shall see

I'll put up thoughts when I switch to stock and see. Was it worth six bills? No. Would I do it again? Probably, but I'm like that. Will I take it back for refund, no unless I someone local could provide something better.

Any long term updates with people having APR tunes for a few months? MPG gains/losses?

Thanks

To me it was not a really drastic, night and day difference but I've got very high expectations and a comparison of the Super Chips programmer on my gasoline Titan. That programmer changed the reaction of the throttle really drastically. The acceleration curve in this APR program is very smooth combined with a *lot* of computer control on this engine. For instance, I'm not sure how many have noticed, but the bronco bucking that you can get out of a non-computer controlled manual car is non-existent in these cars. I'll say I can now more easily notice the torque gains, my car will idle completely smoothly in 1st, 2nd or third gear. As for mileage, I was able to scrape 48.9 on a relatively short highway trip. one month after the program I managed 50.4

I'll edit and say if I couldda I woudda, but the combination of a DPF clog or two and a 5 hour drive one way to get a Malone tune gave it a back seat to the APR tune which I got from a shop that is compare to Houston across the street from me and has a really good reputation.

The only thing that ticked me off is I learned about and got the tune about a month after they dropped the sale and then a month or two after they put the sale back on. Makes me feel like an Apple customer.

Well I am about 100 miles from APR. I've driven there a few times with some buddies with GTI's and I have 2 friends with Golf R's that are going in Jan to get a tune. Trying to get a small group buy going on and I might pull the trigger on one as well.

I like being able to switch to stock but I really want to keep stock exhaust. Get close or at 300 ft lbs of tq and most importantly, if I keep my foot out of it, still get the great mileage I have.

Is there any consensus on weather or not chipping can harm any other parts of our cars? Is it degrading to the transmission after 80 or 100,000 miles?

vdubtdi11 said:

Is there any consensus on weather or not chipping can harm any other parts of our cars? Is it degrading to the transmission after 80 or 100,000 miles?

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I'd say that with increased torque, there is a likelihood of more wear. Of course driving style and technique could also have ill effects on the drivetrain. On a slightly more extreme case, I recall the Audi TDI race cars were destroying transmissions during initial testing because the diesel had significantly more torque.

vdubtdi11 said:

Is there any consensus on weather or not chipping can harm any other parts of our cars? Is it degrading to the transmission after 80 or 100,000 miles?

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The first question has to be - which transmission do you have?

If you have a manual transmission, your only worry would be the clutch. How long a clutch lasts has more to do with the way you drive than with the engine's torque (within limits). The transmission itself is beefy enough to easily stand up to a stage 1 or even stage 2 tune.

If you have a DSG transmission, things get a little more complicated. The DSG's controller has the ability to limit engine torque during shifts. This is very annoying to some people. Malone Tuning recommends a DSG tune along with an ECU tune. However, this adds to the cost and the jury is still out on what this will do to the long term life of the transmission and its clutches.

Have Fun!

Don

JSWTDI09 said:

The first question has to be - which transmission do you have?

If you have a manual transmission, your only worry would be the clutch. How long a clutch lasts has more to do with the way you drive than with the engine's torque (within limits). The transmission itself is beefy enough to easily stand up to a stage 1 or even stage 2 tune.

If you have a DSG transmission, things get a little more complicated. The DSG's controller has the ability to limit engine torque during shifts. This is very annoying to some people. Malone Tuning recommends a DSG tune along with an ECU tune. However, this adds to the cost and the jury is still out on what this will do to the long term life of the transmission and its clutches.

Have Fun!

Don

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I have DSG. And I'm looking mainly for MPG. I would be concerned however, about any times I was stuck in traffic or in a city, that my tranny was being worn prematurely by the extra torque. Is there a reason why VW dont build the cars to these specs in the factory if all that is needed is to add a chip and it benefits MPG and performance? Is it detrimental in a to some other system?

vdubtdi11 said:

I have DSG. And I'm looking mainly for MPG. I would be concerned however, about any times I was stuck in traffic or in a city, that my tranny was being worn prematurely by the extra torque. Is there a reason why VW dont build the cars to these specs in the factory if all that is needed is to add a chip and it benefits MPG and performance? Is it detrimental in a to some other system?

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VW sells (more or less) the same engine in Europe with 170HP vs. 140HP here. The biggest difference is probably emissions standards. Europe and the US have different priorities as far as emissions are concerned. In the US they are mostly concerned with particulates (soot) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx). In Europe they are more concerned about soot and Carbon Monoxide (CO). With differing emissions standards to meet, there are different exhaust systems and different tuning.

A good tune can increase mileage, but it can also decrease it. Mileage has more to do with the way you drive than any engine parameters. Power requires fuel and more power requires more fuel. Therefore, if you use the additional power than a tune will give you very often, your mileage will suffer. There is no way to legally get more power and better mileage at the same time. Life (and car design) is full of compromises.

Have Fun!

Don

70k now with flash

70k miles of hard accel driving with a flashed ECU after 20k and no problems whatsoever. The torque is great but the tire wear will increase considerably due to more torque if you use it. On my second set. Clutch is clamping fine, feels like day 1 but I never slip the clutch. My tank averages now are exactly 42mpg( with a heavier foot)

^Is that on the APR tune like this thread is about or the Neuspeed tune you have in your avatar?

I have neuspeed but all the tunes are about the same up until you start removing things like cats and DPF's etc... then you can really start tuning it.
They all hold back on the power quite a bit. But the power is still great. I have said in other posts that I can pull a lexus IS350 on the FWY nose to nose and a porsche boxter etc...those two cars must be putting down similar torque numbers to the wheels as I do with a tune. It has some pretty good torque when the DPF is clear of restrictions/soot. With a tune, It will be the fastest you can go without getting noticed.

Jayg said:

^Is that on the APR tune like this thread is about or the Neuspeed tune you have in your avatar?

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One thing that has been driving me nuts about my 2012 Golf TDI Manual is the sharp throttle on/off transitions, that are apparent in some driving situations. I drove a 2013, which does the same thing so I am assuming this is a normal side effect of our ECU programming for emissions, and DBW system....

Some in this thread have said that the car drives much smoother with the APR tune, can anyone give more details on what is smoother?

whiplash willy said:

One thing that has been driving me nuts about my 2012 Golf TDI Manual is the sharp throttle on/off transitions, that are apparent in some driving situations. I drove a 2013, which does the same thing so I am assuming this is a normal side effect of our ECU programming for emissions, and DBW system....

Some in this thread have said that the car drives much smoother with the APR tune, can anyone give more details on what is smoother?

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I'm glad someone else pointed this out. Way different from what I used to drive. I noticed the sharpness when she is moving from a cold start. 1st gear just rolling along, come off the throttle then back on ever so gently and it bucks so hard that the wheels slip on smooth concrete.

as soon as this happened, I was very upset and took it to the dealer. They couldn't find the problem. They could even replicate it but had no solution for it after keeping it for 3 days and driving a loaner. As soon as I put a tune on it (DTUK), it went away. My guess is rail pressure is too low at low rpm. Any thoughts?

You should talk to Mark at Malone Tuning. www.malonetuning.com as well.

His prices are excellent and his tunes are amazing. He's a master.

Sent from my XT925 using Tapatalk 2

I will be talkin when my warranty expires.

I had a APR tune installed for the 2nd time in my 2012 JSW TDI. The 1st time I got a code for a clogged DPF and had it was removed. I’ve been running the flash for while and question if it was installed properly or turned on. I understand there can’t be big power gains without supporting mods and it’s a stage 1. APR does claim large power gains proportionally and I think these gains should be noticeable.

APR has a flawless reputation but I’m the exception. I’m not satisfied and feel that APR should give me a refund even though I’m past the warranty terms.

To be clear I’ve not approached APR yet but their dealer has been notified since the flash was installed.

I've had both. APR first and currently have Malone.

APR may be great with gas vehicles, but they fall short when it comes to the diesel tune.

Malone tune really woke this car up.

Well you can't expect huge seat of the pants feel on this as it doesn't change the drivability. The APR stage 1 is also compatible with your warranty. On mine it tool some time to settle in and it is less noticeable if you just nail it from a stop rather than actually drive. And as you mention, the working of it is a little complicated, make sure you actually have it turned on.

Hey Bob, did you get a Stage 1, 1.5 2? Any other mods?

stage 2 with dsg tune.

no other engine mods.

WindsorFox said:

Well you can't expect huge seat of the pants feel on this as it doesn't change the drivability. The APR stage 1 is also compatible with your warranty. On mine it tool some time to settle in and it is less noticeable if you just nail it from a stop rather than actually drive. And as you mention, the working of it is a little complicated, make sure you actually have it turned on.

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It's a stage I tune, it should be a noticeable difference compared to stock according to their advertised numbers.

And ANY tune effects your warranty, period. If you tune your car with any aftermarket company no matter who it is; it effects your warranty. VWoA has not partnered with any tuning companies to offer OEM warranty coverage on their tunes.

The level of that effect is pretty much up to each individual dealer (MM Warranty act and all that fun stuff); but I can guarantee you if your ECU fails, or any part they can attribute to your tuned ECU, VW is not covering it...

DubFamily said:

It's a stage I tune, it should be a noticeable difference compared to stock according to their advertised numbers.

And ANY tune effects your warranty, period. If you tune your car with any aftermarket company no matter who it is; it effects your warranty. VWoA has not partnered with any tuning companies to offer OEM warranty coverage on their tunes.

The level of that effect is pretty much up to each individual dealer (MM Warranty act and all that fun stuff); but I can guarantee you if your ECU fails, or any part they can attribute to your tuned ECU, VW is not covering it...

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I was told that APR did collude with VW on their tune.

Probably by your APR dealer, right?

No; they did not. APR has worked with VWoA on specialty vehicles, Police vehicles, etc; but they are not "accepted" as warranty safe BY VW for the public.

just had my 30k service = time to start seriously shopping for a tune!
not sure if I can throw down on both ECU and DSG - may be one or the other... can anyone speak to results of getting only the DSG software?

DubFamily said:

Probably by your APR dealer, right?

No; they did not. APR has worked with VWoA on specialty vehicles, Police vehicles, etc; but they are not "accepted" as warranty safe BY VW for the public.

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Do you know that 100% for a fact? I didn't say "partnered" I said colluded, which could be nothing more than a phone call. But since they have done official partnerships in the past it seems completely believable that they were consulted during the development of the ECU upgrade.

Aaah; no idea. Yeah, they may have colluded; but it still doesn't make them warranty safe...

And yes; I know that 100%

DubFamily said:

Aaah; no idea. Yeah, they may have colluded; but it still doesn't make them warranty safe...

And yes; I know that 100%

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You just said: "Yes, but no."

Really?

Yes: VW has come to APR to "tune" project or concept cars in the past; and APR may have "colluded" with a tech or something on tunes. I don't work there so I can't tell you if that's true or not.

No: APR, or any other tuner, is not warranty safe. If you bought APR just because you thought they were warranty safe, you should get your money back.

If you do not want to believe me; or want to keep arguing the point and/or trying to twist my words to meet your desired goal, then feel free. However; if you want to know if your car is safe for its warranty then call APR and or VW and ask them. Make sure you hold APR's feet to the fire and get a direct answer, because all they'll give you is a runaround. VW, on the other hand, will be painfully direct and give you the same answer I have. 4 times now...

Yes really. I never said anything was warranty safe. I said I was told they colluded with VW when they developed the tune in my car. You said assuredly that no they did not that they partnered for other projects. Then upon explaining more carefully what I meant you said "Oh well they may have colluded. Yes I know that 100%." (That they did not consult with VW) So yeah I guess I'm the one twisting words here. Whateveh...