APR ECU Upgrade MK6 Golf - Customer perspective

[logger]

Nice one GTom. Any chance you did a second run without the tune active to highlight the difference the remap makes? Seems sort of meaningless unless there is anything to compare it to.
I have little understanding of dynos, so a Question: This engine is supposed to be around 118KW stock (or maybe more for yours) and your report shows it only develops the same 118KW with the remap. On face value one would expect more. Is this because one is measured at the flywheel and the other at the wheels? If so is there a rule of thumb to convert the methods?

[guliver_twist]

Results from the dyno day:

(Mine is a MkV 1.4)

Would be awesome if someone with a stock GTI posted results from the same dyno, to see how closely the tune gets you to GTI performance..

also has anyone tried any tunes other than apr for the 1.4tsi?...
not long ago I saw a bluefin superchips for the 1.4tsi on special for 800aud.
Cheers,

[GTom]

Results from the dyno day:

(Mine is a MkV 1.4)

[logger]

I see APR are doing a sale. Might be an opportune time for anyone who has been holding off on the stage 1 due price. An early Xmas present...

[logger]

Logger, was ur test track Winton? If it is PM me next time you visit as I live ard the corner and wouldn't mind checking ur car out.

Unfortunately not. SE Vic.

I notice you do not have sports pack on ur TSI. Do you find the body roll excessive? I thought it did but then again I felt the sports pack too firm and rather like the comfort of standard suspension.

No, not at all. I find I can give it plenty of stick through the bends without too much roll. But I will clarify this by saying I am not an expert in these matters. When I considered the sports pack, I was put off by; the cost, the loss of ride comfort and a fear that there would be more tire noise with the lower profile rubber. I could not reconcile these negatives with the benefits. If I was 20 years younger I probably could.

logger thank you for this information very valuable. I hope you get a chance to test the max speed soon.

Considered, going back to the same track and being more daring, but on balance I think it would be a waste. Need more distance to wind this baby up.

[oileoi]

logger thank you for this information very valuable. I hope you get a chance to test the max speed soon.

[soogs]

Logger, was ur test track Winton? If it is PM me next time you visit as I live ard the corner and wouldn't mind checking ur car out.

I notice you do not have sports pack on ur TSI. Do you find the body roll excessive? I thought it did but then again I felt the sports pack too firm and rather like the comfort of standard suspension.

[logger]

Glad you like it. The more info there is out there the better I reckon. It is also sorta fun checking it all out.

[thamwk]

awesome work logger!

[logger]

Trying to compare Top Speed

Did some more testing this morning. My aim was to find terminal velocity in each tune, however I couldn't quite get there as my test track is too short. At 2km with a 1.6km (1mile) straightaway I was still accelerating when I had to back off. I reckon you probably need about 3km to get it wound fully out.

Best I could get to was 215kph indicated or 203kph true with the Tune. Again using the DSG's "S" position and WOT. Measured with Vag-Com, so speed and data should be accurate.

Two runs over same length of track, one with Stock tune and one with APR Stage 1. Limited access to the track meant only a single run in each tune I am afraid. Basically I entered the straight away at ~ 110kph then pegging it to the floor. Here is a graph showing from 130kph upwards. Three vertical white lines, one on each graph are snapshot points, with corresponding data at the bottom.



Things to Note:

First snap is at common time stamp (24sec), speed (141kph) and revs (6000) so differences can be read from here on.
Eng % Loads differ markedly. Never above 150% in stock and up to 175% with the tune!
Never got into 6th gear in stock. Wasnt going quick enough.
Second snap shot point at 40secs is interesting. This is where APR Stage 1 tune reached Stock tunes eventual max speed in the test. A full 8 seconds earlier which is fairly telling. To put it another way, Stock took 24sec to go from 141kph to 192kph, APR stage 1 did it in 16 sec or in 2/3 of the time! 33% Quicker in this specific area!!
Third snap as where I ran out of test track and had to back off. This shows max speed reached for each tune. I really wish I had the extra KM to see max speed. OH well - Good fun none the less.

[thamwk]

thanks for those figures. no one can complain about the actual figures posted

very promising and definitely aiding in my decision process

[logger]

Some more Customer feedback on the APR Stage 1 tune.

Drove the 200km from town to my test track yesterday at 100kph and averaged 5.7l/100 or 50mpg so the APR tune is not hurting fuel economy.

I finally got a chance to do some 0-100kph acceleration testing this morning. Comparing Stock to APR Stage 1. I did Ten runs on a nice flat piece of track in still conditions. 5 in each direction and 5 with each tune so as to average things out. Using the VCDS 908 Vag-Com acceleration module to log the tests.

Best time with Stock_________7.6 sec._______Speed @ 400m 118kph
Best time with APR Stage 1____6.9 sec._______Speed @ 400m 132kph

Max time gain 0.7 sec with the tune, although the average gain over all ten runs was less at 0.4 sec, probably due driver error.

Points of note.
DSG was in “S” with WOT throughout.
With the APR Stage 1 tune active, Significantly more ESP light activity in first few seconds. I actually cannot recall it coming on in Stock tune although it may have. Most of the Gear changes were smooth, although several were standout abrupt and they were with the APR Stage 1 tune active.

My 7.6 sec Stock time via Vag-Com is within 0.1 sec of what cktsi came up with (7.7 to 108kph MFD speed) although depending on running gear cktsi I reckon you can probably knock 2kph off that. Either way we are in the ball park.

The relativity of these times is the significant thing and not the absolute times due to the method I used. They are probably fairly accurate. I am very impressed with the Vag-Com capabilities. My car is in stock config (apart from the tune) and with the 16” wheels 100kph true on the vag-com happens at 106kph indicated on the MFD speedo. This 100kph via Vag-Com matched exactly with my GPS which is very neat.

After doing this testing, I felt with the tune active, you sure can tell the car is getting flogged harder than without it. It is not as smooth as the stock tune during the gear changes and the traction control has to work to deal with the extra herbs. But I make this criticism within the realm of a test which is not something most people do every day. Flat biscuit WOT from a standstill.

The extra grunt when I put my foot down in regular driving is outstanding and I love it.
I do wonder how this performance compares with a stock (non tuned) GTI.

Next challenge is to compare top speeds with and without the tune.

Here are some more detail from the logs:

APR Stage 1
Metric units
0 to 100 km/h: 6.9 +- 0.23s
400m: 15.3 +- 0.23s, @132 km/h
90-120 km/h: 3.5 +- 0.24s

Stock Tune
Metric units
0 to 100 km/h: 7.6 +- 0.23s
400m: 15.8 +- 0.22s, @118 km/h
90-120 km/h: 4.2 +- 0.22s

[blutopless2]

And no issues when you go in for servicing?

none so far.
although i get mine serviced by a vdub and audi specialist not a dealer i have had a few warranty claims in with a dealership and they have not mentioned anything to me about it.
the warranty work was not engine related so they probably didn't check the ecu etc...

the last time i spoke with the local apr rep he told me that a few local vw dealerships were enquiring about having it as an option for new vehicles. it would probably become part of the aftermarket window tint/paint & fabric protection section as an added product that you could get done before picking up the car...
have not heard any more on this.

[h100vw]

Do you know what kind of gains can be expected?

Sorry I won't, until they say yes. My take on this, is that there's only so much power in an engine and no one tuner will be able to pull an extra 20kw from thin air.

Realistically you can expect within a couple of KWs of what the rest of the tuning world is claiming.

Cheers

Gavin

[GTom]

It's coming soon, I don't know exactly when. I am on their case weekly to get a positive answer!!

Gavin

Do you know what kind of gains can be expected?