APR ECU Upgrade MK6 Golf - Customer perspective

[spellbound]

Special now on for APR had my octavia RS done on friday stage 1 $1440 , very nice thank you , and thanks to GERMAN AUTO for great advice and a well priced service at the same time , nice people to deal with .

I believe special is for december only .

[AdamD]

I don't have a DSG, but you can see that video above, that's 5.5 seconds with wheelspin, Stage 1 only.... negate the wheelspin & you can get great times

Anyone who thinks that the APR Stage 1 ECU only reduces the acceleration by about half a second seriously needs to go to their local APR dealership and get the TRIAL ECU installed NOW NOW NOW!!!. Lol, half a second....

Damn, I'm in awe.

I'd love to see results from a MkVI GTI (EA88 DSG customer running stage 1 and timing with a GPS accelerometer. But if low-mid 5s are possible with a good launch (damn, if anything sub 6 is realistically achievable) - which presumably means you'd be getting into the 13s - then how could you not seriously consider the upgrade!?

[G-rig]

Anyone who thinks that the APR Stage 1 ECU only reduces the acceleration by about half a second seriously needs to go to their local APR dealership and get the TRIAL ECU installed NOW NOW NOW!!!. Lol, half a second....

+1 makes the car a lot more fun and what it should be from the factory. Would be the single best upgrade IMO.

[Guy_H]

I think you would find a good difference with wheel spin even with an 8psi pressure variation. Obviously road surface & temperature also plays big factors in traction / grip.

I suppose this is why when you see 0-100 times recorded by magazines, the times will often vary 1.5 seconds (above or below) what the manufacturer claims.

I certainly know with the Golf R, you are trying to get wheels spin to stop bogging down, on the GTI, its more the opposite. Like the WRC cars are quicker 0-100 on the dirt than they are on the bitumen when using the same tyres.

[Big_Dave]

Whoa.

The figures I've heard bandied about are that a stock DSG will do somewhere between 6.5 and 6.9 (I've not seen any magazine test faster than 6.5), and the stage 1 improves on this by approximately half a second. I'd be hugely impressed if a stage 1 could manage a sub-6, let alone a low 5.

Guy - how much of this, in your opinion, is down to super-low tyre pressures? What's a realistic time in your experience for a DSG car running standard pressure (38psi) 18s?

(Just a point of comparison - a Mazda3 MPS manual tends only to manage a low-mid 6 time with very similar power, torque and power/weight figures to a stage 1 GTI.)

Adam, please note that the MPS is throttle/torque limited in first and second gear.
this is done to limit torque steer.
that is why the 3MPS doesn't feel very quick off the mark.
But on the highway a 80-120kmh time of 3.5sec is not too shabby.
this is where the car shines, it really is an Autobahn stormer. (for a rice burner)
rolling accelaration on the highway a stock WRX STI can't keep up.
But dragging off the lights, it's a bit average, untill you hit 3rd gear and 3,500rpm and then your getting all the 380nm.

[Johnbu]

Hi Guy,

I do understand tyre pressure makes a large difference to handling. I prefer mine at ~32.

Racelogic Performance Databox is accurate and the correct way to test it.

To answer your question, no I haven't tested my car stock or mod, the only way to test it correctly is with a PROPER GPS measuring device like the Racelogic Performance Databox (IMO the G-Tech Pro doesn't fall into this category, but nonetheless useful to determine the difference a mod/change in setting/launch technique makes) Or running it down the 1/4 mile.

I'm not terribly interested in the exact time my car can make, whether it's 0-100km in 6.97sec or or 6.02sec, it's all academic to me, how it feels on the road, power delivery and fun factor is me. I'm happy with the way my mod has improved my car. I'll take it to a drag strip one night when I can be bothered.

Anyway back to the question, yes for a track day I would change tyre pressure, but I will also take out the spare wheel.

But to compare a stock car vs a chipped car 0-100km test, I would prefer to keep the tyres of both cars at the recommended settings by the manufacturers- 30-38psi, so you can compare apples with apples.

Anyway, this isn't a dig or complaint about APR or any other brand.

I'm impressed by APR cars at the grag strip. I respect your products.

But really, is there a point on showing a youtube clip seeing recorded by some guy accelarating his car on a mobile phone and claiming 0-60 flat 5. We all know the speedo on the GTI is optimistic at best.

Show it done measured with Racelogic Performance Databox and I'd have some interest.

But if you're going to claim it can do 0-100 in 5 flat by showing a youtube clip, you can't then turn around and pass the onus to the youtube poster to prove it's validity.

[Guy_H]

Actually this topic needs it's own thread - especially since its GTI related not Golf R.

A quick You Tube search revealed plenty of video's of 0-100 - maybe we can split this thread?

[Guy_H]

Not to troll, but how was that claimed 5.51sec 0-100kph run measured?

By looking when the (optomistic) speedo reaches 100kph?

I'm just curious.

But really, what is the point of dropping your tyre pressure down to 18psi?

The performance of a car should be measured on the basis of how your car/tyres is setup on a daily basis. Unless you like to destroy your handling and tyres by driving on 18psi pernamently.....

John,

I'm not sure how experienced you are in car ownership, but tyre -pressures have a LOT to do with traction & handling of a vehicle. On the Michelins I have here, minimum pressure is 20psi, max is 50psi, so a 30PSI "working range". If you ever go to a track, would you change your tyre pressures up or down to suit grip & wear?

32 PSI is great for street grip on your average good road tyre, 42 PSI is great for wear - so 36 - 38 PSI is a good "compromise" between grip & wear. For maximum grip, lower pressures, Maximum wear (and better fuel economy) higher pressures.

We measure all our acceleration data with a Racelogic Performance Databox, same as the magazines use (as they end up testing most of our cars). I don't know what the Video Poster used (maybe you should ask him), I know Fab uses the G-Tech Pro for his.

Have you run your own 0-100 times in your car stock vs modified? or are you guessing you have an improvement because it feels different? (Serious Question). I would love to see your testing results.

[Johnbu]

Not to troll, but how was that claimed 5.51sec 0-100kph run measured?

By looking when the (optomistic) speedo reaches 100kph?

I'm just curious.

But really, what is the point of dropping your tyre pressure down to 18psi?

The performance of a car should be measured on the basis of how your car/tyres is setup on a daily basis. Unless you like to destroy your handling and tyres by driving on 18psi pernamently.....

[Corey_R]

Anyone who thinks that the APR Stage 1 ECU only reduces the acceleration by about half a second seriously needs to go to their local APR dealership and get the TRIAL ECU installed NOW NOW NOW!!!. Lol, half a second....

Sub six second times are so simple my post-retirement age mother could do that. The video that was posted on the previous page just shows how easy it is.

5 seconds flat would be hard. But as Guy_H said, you can always drop your tyre pressures to low levels if 0 to 100 is what you're aiming for. There is always going to be a compromise between corning performance and straight line performance when you're aiming for the ultimate in one disipline though.

[Guy_H]

Hey Adam,

I don't have a DSG, but you can see that video above, that's 5.5 seconds with wheelspin, Stage 1 only.

On my MKV with a manual transmission, to achieve a 12 second 1/4 mile on street tyres, we ended up with 18psi in them - our MPH was still exactly the same, but our 60 foot time came down by a second.

As I mentioned - negate the wheelspin & you can get great times, one way to do this is to lower the pressures. Maybe some other DSG owners can chime in?

[AdamD]

DSG ~ 5-00 seconds flat. about 5.5 for the manual. Hooking them up is the trick.

Whoa.

The figures I've heard bandied about are that a stock DSG will do somewhere between 6.5 and 6.9 (I've not seen any magazine test faster than 6.5), and the stage 1 improves on this by approximately half a second. I'd be hugely impressed if a stage 1 could manage a sub-6, let alone a low 5.

Guy - how much of this, in your opinion, is down to super-low tyre pressures? What's a realistic time in your experience for a DSG car running standard pressure (38psi) 18s?

(Just a point of comparison - a Mazda3 MPS manual tends only to manage a low-mid 6 time with very similar power, torque and power/weight figures to a stage 1 GTI.)

[Guy_H]

Less wheel spin, not more

[scoobyrex]

yep, but as above, negating the wheelspin is the trick. Running about 18psi in the tyres helps.

Guy, is that a typo? 18psi in the tyres? I would have thought 38psi...

[Guy_H]

5 seconds flat for a stock DSG GTI with only an APR stage 1 tune? So it improves the stated stock launch by almost 2 seconds??

yep, but as above, negating the wheelspin is the trick. Running about 18psi in the tyres helps.