Malone or Kermit?

[Mass. Wine Guy]

The emissions section on my 2015’s inspection report didn’t state any passes or fails. Just two or three listings with the word “ready.” Don’t know what that means.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

So theoretically speaking, deleting both EGF and DEF would be better re: engine wear and tear, fuel economy? But there’d be a CEL or two. Would dynamic EGR delete trigger a fault?

 

[P2B]

The emissions section on my 2015’s inspection report didn’t state any passes or fails. Just two or three listings with the word “ready.” Don’t know what that means.

The ECU sets a number of "readiness monitors" if the emissions system parameters are within specifications. If any of the monitors listed on the report had been "not ready" the car would likely have failed inspection. BTW this is something you could check for yourself prior to taking it in if you purchased VCDS.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

So if a tuning fiddled with the EGR and DEF systems there would be “not ready” readings?

 

[P2B]

So if a tuning fiddled with the EGR and DEF systems there would be “not ready” readings?

Not necessarily, the tuner can fiddle with the readiness parameters to compensate.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Hmmm…

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Your car does need DEF. If you run out you'll get a warning and a miles count down to a point where it won't re-start after you shut it off. It isn't essential to running the engine, except that the programming will prevent it from running.

VW was a bit of a pioneer when it comes to meeting more stringent emissions standards without DEF. But it requires tuning that can decrease fuel economy.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Ok. I’m by no means dead set on tuning. But if I ever do, it looks like a safer bet to leave the EGR and DEF systems alone.

Thanks.

 

[Nevada_TDI]

I am glad I settled on a VW diesel with an ALH engine, as much as it would be nice to drive a new car with all the bells and whistles having a good motor made gutless because of somebody like the EPA just crinkles my socks.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I own cars with both types of engine. My ALH was very good stock. But when it needed a new ECU my mechanic just had a used one with a Malone Stage 2 (maybe 3?) tune. No great, discernible difference until I need to pass someone or need a burst of speed.

My 2015 is a LOT more comfortable to drive, especially over bad roads. Haven’t had it long, but so far I haven’t uttered a curse because it wasn’t powerful enough.

My son is buying the 2003 Jetta ALH wagon, so I’ll be able to visit occasionally and bring it a warm cup of oil.

 

[burpod]

if you want something better than a balogna stage X let me know , i'm not too far away i know *exactly* what a malone tune is doing to your car and it's not pretty..... its really a downgrade from a stock tune

 

[Nevada_TDI]

I’m with burpod, I had what turned out to be a very expensive Malone time it turned out to be gutless, and when I told him he needed to fix it he told me he needed to charge me more money. At that point, I sent him back his tune, and he sent me back half of my money.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Wow! Forget Malone!

 

[lemoncurd]

My $0.02, malone is pretty good if you have a modern TDI that isnt a weird edgecase or engine swap.
This is just my experience so YMMV, but years ago I bought a stage 0.5 delete tune which did just DPF/EGR delete as I had a DSG but no means to tune it at the time.
About a year passed from then, Malone began having rumors of being able to flash the DSG from a PowerGate3, so I hit them up and they let me a test mule for it. And it worked! From then I had stage 2 for a long long time. About 6 months after buying my stage 2 i believe i bought all my go fast parts, and the accompanying tunes (ECU/TCU). The tunes are "stage 4" but theyre actually custom, they just name it stage 4 to make it coincide with their premade turbo upgrade kits for the CBEA/CJAA.

2 years passed between purchase of tunes and me flashing the damn thing. I had originally set the tune up for turbo + CP3, however i only got the turbo in. With more than a year between the last communication with them, I sent a message to drop the CP3 tuning off the remap so I can get the car running with only the turbo. The next morning I had a new tune right there waiting for me. I flashed it, and we did 5 or 6 log runs/revisions until we got it pretty dialed in on the same day! No more faults/limp mode, car is fast, and boost response is nice.

I have a hardware problem where the turbo vendor didn't set the actuator properely, so my low end boost response is a bit lacking. Sometimes it is as much as 5 PSI off of target!! Regardless, Malone was able to get this all set until I put the rest of my parts in where I told them I will yank the turbo and set the actuator properly.

Now I can't speak to other tuners on the forum, or on the web, but the customer care alone with Malone Tuning is worth it's weight in gold to me. Sure I may not be pushing my hardware to the edge, eeking every last drop of fuel and every last pound of air but the tune is stable, the car is fun, and it gives me a little confidence knowing im not riding my hardware at it's limit.

For what the tune is, I'd say it's good.
This is just my experience with a CJAA motor, I have read some stuff that their older tunes where hit and miss, dirty, etc.
If I pickup another CRTDI, Malone would be the ones to tune it. My parents also have a JSW TDI and I have recommended tuning through malone for them aswell.

I'd also like to point out that you rarely hear about someone having a good experience with big name brand stuff, but you'll certainly never hear the end of it if something goes wrong. I understand we all stick up for the "little guys" individual tuners here on the forum, but they're not having the public exposure these other big name tuners have. I can go into just about any TDI facebook group and see the same smack talk against Kerma, just the same as i see here for Malone. For what each of them do, they're good and I don't think it is a waste of money.

For CRTDI's:
Any plans to delete? Malone
No plans to ever delete? Kerma

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Logging? CP3? I use want the car to run better.

 

[lemoncurd]

Logging is using VCDS to record certain engine/car parameters so that the tuner can enhance the tune

CP3 is an upgraded fuel pump for the CRTDI’s.
The normal stage 2 tune from Malone certainly made the car run better. But if you don’t plan on deleting go with Kerma.