Went with a KermaTDI tune on a CR140

[ATR]

Picked up a tune (came with a q loader as well ) today at Waterfest as a way to breath some new life into the car and seeing if I can keep the car a bit longer.

This tune is the real deal! All emissions systems left intact. NO CEL, just GO juice.

If I had to sum up how it feels ...6th gear feels like it has way more power then 5th had on the OEM tune. Or, going uphill in 5th gear WOT (on Kerma) feels like it's in 4th going downhill WOT on the OEM tune.

Needless to say the 3 hour ride home was fun testing the tune out.

Thanks Kerma for a good tune that may have me keeping the car a lot longer!

Edit to add pic of Kerma provided dyno sheet:

 

[ATR]

Also a quick note...

MPG for the trip was 44.6mpg

Miles Gallons MPG
337.10 7.558 44.60

That is the highest MPG I've ever gotten! Granted I was using the cruise much more then I normally do. That said, the MFD showed 42.5 or 43mpg on the "2"mpg readout.

I'll have to keep you guys posted on future MPG numbers. Seeing calculated numbers HIGHER than what the MFD reads is a promising thing to see because prior to the tune calculated values were always less than the dream meter actually said.

 

[ATR]

Update, the day after... did some around town driving today and had a regen. I'll go over the details on this...

First things first. Around town driving:
The throttle peddle is different feeling... in a good way. A quick before and after.
Before the tune the throttle peddle felt pretty touchy. It almost seemed like the throttle was all the way open when the peddle was at 50%. This made it difficult to get decent mpg unless I used cruise control.
Afterwards the peddle feels more linear. I feel like it needs more peddle input to get the same response frome the engine. This allows better control over fueling and likely better mpg. Once I get past 25% the turbo kicks in. 50%, who strapped the jet engine under my car?! 75% afterburner! 100%

DMF shudder is real... happens around 65-70 in 6th gear under heavy throttle. Seems that so long as it's above 2krpm it's all good and pulls so hard now.

DPF regeneration:
This is what I was concerned about because I really wanted to keep my emissions systems on the car. My reason for this is simple... a year ago we didn't have a huge spotlight and magnifying glass over the company that made our cars.

Anyway, on the how the car handled the regeneration. Initially I was close to home on the low speed limit local roads (25mph). I was keeping a eye on polarfis since it had been ~370 miles since the last regeneration. I noticed a couple of miles from home the car had started a regen. I didn't notice the usual shudder in the engine that I typically have at the start of the regen. The usual idle during the regen at 1,000rpm was the same. Idle quality was smooth except for a slight shudder... I'm going to say it was still going through adaptation for the new tune, I'll update later on future regens.

Now, here's the interesting part on the regen was the EGT at idle. Normally with the stock tune the egt and two dpf temperatures would be even at just shy of 1000°F... at IDLE. Now after the kermatdi tune the idle egt was hovering around half that at ~500°F. On the go temps were about the same in regen mode. Took a trip down the local highway at ~65mph. The egt temps hovered around 1200°F same with the two dpf temperatures.

All that said 2500rpm to 3500rpm it pulls VERY HARD. This tune has really made me rethink my plans for the buyback. A week ago I was in the buyback camp and trading up to a Mk7 GTI. I test drove a '16 Autobahn with performance package last week. And loved it... my big thing that have me pause was the best mpg wasn't the same as my tdi on it's worst day unless you really baby it or go stright highway trips where the tdi would likely also get better mpg.

This is a bit long winded... but I haven't really read much on the kerma tunes with the newer common rails. After speaking to a fellow common rail owner that had a Malone tune tried out kerma tune. He spoke highly of the kerma tune as it really smoothed out the car and seemed to really get even more of a punch out of that diesel engine

 

[named tintin]

Nice review. I have the ability to compare the work done in offering tuning for those TDI, and I can tell you that the Kerma tune is in much higher league than other tune I've seen. Unfortunately for those who want dpf solution, they have no choice to go with a generic tune.

 

[turbobrick240]

Nice review. I have the ability to compare the work done in offering tuning for those TDI, and I can tell you that the Kerma tune is in much higher league than other tune I've seen. Unfortunately for those who want dpf solution, they have no choice to go with a generic tune.

Meh. I don't whose tune the "other" was, but I doubt there is much daylight between the Malone and Kerma tunes. And most of Malones eco tunes are far from generic. Kermas tune dyno plot looks quite good. Does seem to run out of steam a bit early at ~4200 rpm though.

 

[Spike_africa]

I have it too. Its ok, but the DSG pulls power, and this car doesn't have a traction control off button which is infuriating.

 

[ATR]

Meh. I don't whose tune the "other" was, but I doubt there is much daylight between the Malone and Kerma tunes. And most of Malones eco tunes are far from generic. Kermas tune dyno plot looks quite good. Does seem to run out of steam a bit early at ~4200 rpm though.

Well it is a small turbo, so you're not going to get high end uumph. That said, they are working to get a usa emissions compliant cr170 for our cars

I have it too. Its ok, but the DSG pulls power, and this car doesn't have a traction control off button which is infuriating.

Get the dsg tune... it makes a big difference!

 

[turbobrick240]

Not trying to rain on your parade. I was a bit annoyed at the suggestion someone made that Kermas tune is far superior to some mystery tune (malone?). Looks like a great tune. My Malone stage 2 pulled strong well past 4500 rpm, so I don't think it's the turbo.

 

[GolfGTD]

I went from APR tune to Malone and the difference was staggering. Part due to DPF delete im sure but the width of the power on the APR was rather narrow, fell on its face after about 2700rpm.

The first thing i noticed on the Malone Stage 2 was that the power was much much higher even tho on paper they are the same or close. The malone tune for me made the car feel like a GAS car with power band that stratches very far across the RPM range, so much higher initial spike aorund 2000rpm and power continues well past 3500rpm.
Never tried the Kerma one but im sure its good. Unfortunately the increased power causes the REGENs to get also hotter which causes hot pockets inside the DPF to build up and eventually the DPF will crack and fail letting soot pass through. Talked to a DPF engineer at work and he explained that it could even fail on stock tunes dependin gon the regen conditions. Ours cars have 5yr-80k warranty on emission system and this may be the reason. So just get ready to go with a DPF delete down the road.

 

[GolfGTD]

One other question of the Kerma Tune... how are your stock numbers so high? 150hp/270tq stock?

I dynoed mine and as right at 122hp and 210 tq at the wheels...

 

[turbobrick240]

One other question of the Kerma Tune... how are your stock numbers so high? 150hp/270tq stock?

I dynoed mine and as right at 122hp and 210 tq at the wheels...

Dyno's are like snowflakes- none are the same. Even the exact same dyno can get very different numbers based on weather, temp., operator, and correction factors used.

 

[Ganoid]

Reading these really makes me want a newer common rail but its hard to justify ditching the old alh.

 

[ATR]

Not trying to rain on your parade. I was a bit annoyed at the suggestion someone made that Kermas tune is far superior to some mystery tune (malone?). Looks like a great tune. My Malone stage 2 pulled strong well past 4500 rpm, so I don't think it's the turbo.

I'd personally would love to see a good comparison of a Malone vs kermatdi. I know there's a preference of deletes here... but again I really didn't want to go that route. The guy I spoke to had issues with boost spikes and lack of oomph with the Malone tune. The kermatdi tune was both smoother and also had more power.

I went from APR tune to Malone and the difference was staggering. Part due to DPF delete im sure but the width of the power on the APR was rather narrow, fell on its face after about 2700rpm.

The first thing i noticed on the Malone Stage 2 was that the power was much much higher even tho on paper they are the same or close. The malone tune for me made the car feel like a GAS car with power band that stratches very far across the RPM range, so much higher initial spike aorund 2000rpm and power continues well past 3500rpm.
Never tried the Kerma one but im sure its good. Unfortunately the increased power causes the REGENs to get also hotter which causes hot pockets inside the DPF to build up and eventually the DPF will crack and fail letting soot pass through. Talked to a DPF engineer at work and he explained that it could even fail on stock tunes dependin gon the regen conditions. Ours cars have 5yr-80k warranty on emission system and this may be the reason. So just get ready to go with a DPF delete down the road.

No not really... I watch the exhaust temperatures and dpf in & out temperatures during regens like a hawk. With the kerma tune while driving I noted the regeneration temperatures are a bit cooler than stock. When idling at a light during a regeneration temperatures were much cooler. ~500°F idle with the kermatdi tune and 800-950°F with the stock tune.

One other question of the Kerma Tune... how are your stock numbers so high? 150hp/270tq stock?

I dynoed mine and as right at 122hp and 210 tq at the wheels...

They are not my dyno numbers. Please reread my post
As stated before every dyno is different, some fear high others read low.

Reading these really makes me want a newer common rail but its hard to justify ditching the old alh.

A stock common rail makes about the same torque as a average modified alh

Going by the seat of the pants this tune really kicks butt! And REALLY pushes me back into my seat.

 

[Ganoid]

I'm too far down the rabbit hole. My alh is about the same as the dyno above but it would be nice to have that kinda power and economy in something I don't have to shift and has lots of bells and whistles

 

[nate0031]

Although not apples to apples by a long shot, I had a Kerma tune on my ALH I was quite happy with. The CJAA in my A6 is Malone tuned and runs great as well. Good power band, no boost spikes etc. Due to the nature of the swap, no DPF there though. Wife's BRM is also Malone, all good experiences there. I'd be willing to bet both companies tunes are dang close to eachother in many regards.

 

[VWDAVID]

Nice review. I have the ability to compare the work done in offering tuning for those TDI, and I can tell you that the Kerma tune is in much higher league than other tune I've seen. Unfortunately for those who want dpf solution, they have no choice to go with a generic tune.

Lol Malone is far from generic. Just sayin.

 

[named tintin]

Excuse me, have I mentionned malone in my post? There's many many other tuning companies in the world, don't put word in my mouth please, and if you want to debate, please do it with fact, not on opinion.

I'm not going to post anything here in that regard as I don't care, in the meantime, there's nice ''how not to tune'' section on some tuning forum to have a good laungh.

Lol Malone is far from generic. Just sayin.

 

[VWDAVID]

So what you said was you compared tunes and Kerma is in a higher league. So who did you compare it with then. Im in no way knocking kerma or any one else for that matter.

 

[d0u8l3m]

Picked up a tune (came with a q loader as well ) today at Waterfest as a way to breath some new life into the car and seeing if I can keep the car a bit longer.

This tune is the real deal! All emissions systems left intact. NO CEL, just GO juice.

If I had to sum up how it feels ...6th gear feels like it has way more power then 5th had on the OEM tune. Or, going uphill in 5th gear WOT (on Kerma) feels like it's in 4th going downhill WOT on the OEM tune.

Needless to say the 3 hour ride home was fun testing the tune out.

Thanks Kerma for a good tune that may have me keeping the car a lot longer!

Edit to add pic of Kerma provided dyno sheet:

I was actually talking to someone at the kerma tent at waterfest, pretty sure I'm gonna go with malone just because the dude i spoke to seemed like an arrogant ass.hat. I mentioned to him that im still doing reaserch and was narrowing it down from them malone and tdtuning, and he immediately said that they made more power than malone, when I asked how much more he gave me the whole dynos are different BS and that numbers arnt everything...well then why would you even mention that you make more power than them when you cant back it up with numbers.

Their tune is probably fine, but they need to learn how to market a product and talk to customers in a more professional/humble manner.

But hey as long as your car is running fine keep the updates going haha

 

[GiGGer]

All my cars, past and present, were tuned by Tintin and having the most powerful tune does not make the tune better than another. You can have a crappy tune that will be extremely powerful and after a thousand kilometer you will have melted piston. But hey, the dyno would look so cool!

 

[ATR]

I was actually talking to someone at the kerma tent at waterfest, pretty sure I'm gonna go with malone just because the dude i spoke to seemed like an arrogant ass.hat. I mentioned to him that im still doing reaserch and was narrowing it down from them malone and tdtuning, and he immediately said that they made more power than malone, when I asked how much more he gave me the whole dynos are different BS and that numbers arnt everything...well then why would you even mention that you make more power than them when you cant back it up with numbers.

Their tune is probably fine, but they need to learn how to market a product and talk to customers in a more professional/humble manner.

But hey as long as your car is running fine keep the updates going haha

Well, as I said the guy that had the jetta with the roof trunk mounted on the roof had a Malone tune, he swapped to the KermaTDI tune. He felt the kerma tune was both smoother and also more powerful.

I'd love to be able to directly compare the two, but limited funds prevent me from doing so.

That said, I'm quite happy with the tune

 

[gliitch]

I went from kerma to revo and like the revo way better.

Also my buddy has Malone tune but he has dpf delete so it's not really a good comparison but I like Malone as well. Felt close to the revo.

 

[ATR]

So update on mpg...

Copy and paste from fuelly...
38.5 MPG
Details
MPG: 38.5 / UK MPG: 46.2
G/100mi: 2.60
Miles: 535.2
Gallons: 13.91

A couple day trips... one to harpers ferry the other to Annapolis. I used cruise control very sparingly. Most of the days last week were pretty crazy stop and go to & from work.

I also spent most of the past week exploring the added power. Overall I'm still very happy with the tune. MPG numbers are around what I expected, maybe a bit better.

 

[Vernoair]

One of the main reasons I'm keeping my Golf is Kerma's hand held tuner as well as the ability to upgrade-CR170 turbo an tune. I am very happy with it, did a nice sized write up on their site after I got it up and going.
Though I can't say that I have much experience with other CR tuners. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ATR]

One of the main reasons I'm keeping my Golf is Kerma's hand held tuner as well as the ability to upgrade-CR170 turbo an tune. I am very happy with it, did a nice sized write up on their site after I got it up and going.
Though I can't say that I have much experience with other CR tuners. Just my 2 cents.

The obd2 flasher is also available for malone. Though it's something that costs extra iirc.

Bang for the buck KermaTDI wins!

 

[named tintin]

I run an agressive tune (my own tune MRTuning) with DPF on, I agree this is not good for the DPF, I just calm down on the go pedal when it's in regen mode too, There's no hurry, I'm not in a race. There is a looot more to do on common rail ECU to make a good tune than only adding fuel & boost, you can thrust me on that..... I've seen tune for big turbo with still the stock PID parameter from the stock turbo, EGR still active, post injection still active, hidden timing limiter not modified, etc.... etc....

 

[Vernoair]

The obd2 flasher is also available for malone. Though it's something that costs extra iirc.

Bang for the buck KermaTDI wins!

Interesting/good to know. When I was researching tuners in January I wasn't sure if a hand held was available from anyone else.

With you on satisfaction with Kerma!

 

[ATR]

And another fill up...
MPG: 38.1 / UK MPG: 45.8
G/100mi: 2.62
Miles: 511.2
Gallons: 13.41
Price: $1.90/Gallon

Included the price since it was so good
Gotta love giant rewards that take off a significant amount from each fill up.

Again, bear in mind that I have a lovely rush hour commute where I may go up to the speed limit then back to a idle in 1st gear several times. Considering that it's a pretty decent number. Also, the built in MPG meter is now pessimistic. It reads about 2-3mpg lower then what I'm actually getting.

 

[turbobrick240]

My cars estimated mpg also went from 2-3 optimistic to 2-3 pessimistic with my malone tune. Fortunately I have almost no traffic to deal with, and am getting 45/46 mpg this summer. I have an eco tune though, so it's not an apples to apples comparison.

 

[ATR]

I got about 44mpg on my round trip to and from waterfest (roughly 450 miles). Half the trip was with the most current vw oem tune. The ride home was with the KermaTDI tune.