Good value bluefin tune

[Greg Roles]

Both plots are at the engine, and that's a good point. You have a 211hp car, and superchips show it as being 245hp, whereas RDT have it at 214hp. That shows the level of accuracy of a car / dyno for a start.

It's not my place to bag out competitors, but there's some facts. I just asked RDT about the 197hp, and they have to get the plot off the dyno, so will put it up when I get it.

Another thing to note is the torque curve. It's easy to do a big boost spike and have a mountain of torque at 2000rpm, but that equals wheel spin city in a FWD. You also have the problem of blowing turbo's on the GTI if spiked hard. RDT were just telling me the whole point of their more sloped torque curve was to allow you to put the power down, but so too it just keeps climbing, and the actual hp goes farther into the top end, all at as low boost as possible, with minimal spike. It also keeps the heat down, and allows the timing to recover better, they do put a lot of effort into a tune.

OK enough, now it's sounding like a sell job, and I will be putting a lot of this sort of thing up in my section shortly, much to share at last.

[MickeyB]

Greg:

Agreed: my weekender has probably done more km on the dyno in the last 2 years than it has on the Tarmac. The results are big power and wonderful driveabilty. It did come at a significant financial cost, but in my mind it's money well spent, and I never would have achieved the results I have with an off the shelf tune.

Can't wait to see your info when it's up...

In my case, as stated, the Skoda is my daily driver, and I just want it to be that little bit more fun to drive, so the flash tune represents a cost-effective way of achieving that. I bought the car with the intention of keeping it quite mild but entertaining and to be honest, I've been very impressed with the factory offering vs. cost of the car (under $10k initial purchase). If I were looking at a serious performance upgrade, I wouldn't hesitate to get a custom tune...


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

[MickeyB]

Good value bluefin tune

Quick update: I'm still waiting for the bluefin to arrive: the tracking details read "Australian customs delay", which I'm assuming will be due to the long weekend.

As soon as the unit arrives, I'll be installing the stage 1 tune: I'll review when it's all done.

Having browsed YouTube for a bit of advanced "how-to", it appears to be a pretty simple process, so I'm quietly confident at this point...


Ultimately, I think I will go for the stage 2, but I'm interested to see how much difference (if any) the downpipe makes to the stage 1, so I'll fit the part and assess briefly before installing stage 2.

Watch this space...

No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

[garat05]

Is there a problem with the bluefin tunes at the moment? im having trouble getting a quote from any of the AU distributors? I've dealt with Tigersoft for my previous car and they were great but now all my enquires are going unanswered.

[Greg Roles]

I have heard Robbo from Tigersoft has had some health issues, and I believe it is being handled out of NZ, lots of unhappy Facebook posts I noticed the other day!

[MickeyB]

Good value bluefin tune

Is there a problem with the bluefin tunes at the moment? im having trouble getting a quote from any of the AU distributors? I've dealt with Tigersoft for my previous car and they were great but now all my enquires are going unanswered.

I enquired via the official site in the UK, and got a reply from an Aussie distributor within 12 hours- that was around 2 weeks ago...details of the company earlier in this this thread, but from memory it was Peter James.

[donweather]

Quick update: I'm still waiting for the bluefin to arrive: the tracking details read "Australian customs delay", which I'm assuming will be due to the long weekend.

As soon as the unit arrives, I'll be installing the stage 1 tune: I'll review when it's all done.

Having browsed YouTube for a bit of advanced "how-to", it appears to be a pretty simple process, so I'm quietly confident at this point...


Ultimately, I think I will go for the stage 2, but I'm interested to see how much difference (if any) the downpipe makes to the stage 1, so I'll fit the part and assess briefly before installing stage 2.

Watch this space...

No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

I didn't think you could run a Stage 1 tune with a downpipe? I thought pretty much as soon as you got the downpipe you had to go to the Stage 2 tune as the Stage 1 tune will be thinking the stock exhaust/restriction/back pressure etc is there still? I'm sure others on here know way more about this than I do.

[zei20t]

I didn't think you could run a Stage 1 tune with a downpipe? I thought pretty much as soon as you got the downpipe you had to go to the Stage 2 tune as the Stage 1 tune will be thinking the stock exhaust/restriction/back pressure etc is there still? I'm sure others on here know way more about this than I do.

if you have a downpipe, you need the stage 2 tune. if only to cancel the CEL youll get from the 2nd sensor showing incorrect information.

its ok to drive a few days on a downpipe with the stage 1 tune. i did, no problems. got the CEL which cleared when i installed the stage 2 tune. No problems at all.

[MickeyB]

Good value bluefin tune

Guess I'll go the stage 2 as soon as I fit the part then...

Thanks for the info guys: this is my first foray into the VAG product: my modifying history lies with JDM imports.


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

[zei20t]

i came from the JDM scene also.

ive just put on a cat-back exhaust - to add to me down pipe - and whoever tells you the factory exhaust flows well (on an octavia) is dreaming. put a full system on!

[donweather]

Which Cat back did ya go and how loud/droney is it?

[dArK5HaD0w]

tis the same with the apr tunes - u need a stg 2 tune once u get an aftermarket downpipe.
in the case of an apr downpipe, it comes priced with the stg 2 tune included.

aftermarket catback does not require a re-tune.

[zei20t]

Which Cat back did ya go and how loud/droney is it?

Milltek non-resonated.

My whole system comprises of a rear muffler. Its raspy, and noisy. doesnt drone in the cabin, but you can hear the rumble. DSG fart? yes. a lot yes

[Greg Roles]

It comes down to the pipe wall thickness, diameter and the mufflers. With the 42DD I used to sell, the walls were 2mm thick, so there was less "ring" and rasp, but the mufflers were straight through magnaflows, so zero mechanical baffle, and they HAD to have a resonator. The best place for a res is right underneath the passenger cabin, in the longest, straightest bit of pipe. Further a 2.5" cat back was a LOT quieter than a full 3" same specs otherwise. It comes down to the system you are considering, and how it is made up.

[MickeyB]

Update time:

My bluefin arrived yesterday, so I whipped it out of the box this morning and started the tuning process.

After 5 tries, I was consistently getting a communication error and code "D003".

I contacted Peter James, and was advised (I'm paraphrasing here) that you get what you pay for, and the handset was more than likely second hand and will require a reset, or to be registered to my car. Apparently he has had a number of similar queries from customers of demon tweeks...

I'll take it with a grain of salt at this point: I have emailed demon tweeks and am waiting for a reply.

Interestingly, when I google the error code I am getting, it would appear that there are a number of instances where a car has been flash tuned previously, and required a factory ecu reflash before the bluefin was happy- not knowing the history of my car, it may be that it has had a previous tune installed and removed, so I'm waiting to see how this pans out before chucking a wobbly...

On the plus side, the K&N filter which was included in the purchase is all good.

Watch this space...


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy