APR ECU Upgrade MK6 Golf - Customer perspective

[GTI2708]

Just out of interest...if i were to cjip my mk 6 gti, would i need to change anything to cope? i.e air filter or intakes?
cheers

[h100vw]

Just out of interest...if i were to cjip my mk 6 gti, would i need to change anything to cope? i.e air filter or intakes?
cheers

No, chip and drive. You might want a lightweight right shoe I suppose?

Gavin

[GTI2708]

No, chip and drive. You might want a lightweight right shoe I suppose?

Gavin

Hahaha that might be a good idea.
Cool, someone told me they had to chaneg their air filter and exhaust to cope with the ecu...but then again....he had a holden s from the 90's.
Is there any real difference b/w revo and apr. Apr seems to be more popular of the two, but revo is marginly cheaper through a friend of mine.
Let me know.
Thanks

[h100vw]

APR would have to be the leader in the market place, doesn't mean you have to buy it though and follow the crowd.

No one is going to blow your car up, so my advice is go to who you feel most comfortable with.

Trial the APR for free and you have something to compare the rest/who you pick with.

Plenty will say one is better than the other but there's a tiny number of people out there that have used different software on the same car.

APR has the features but I know I'd never set it back to stock, so I don't see it as a benefit and wouldn't pay extra to have it.

Your money at the end of the day.

Gavin

[Brian]

As a new Vdubber, with almost 3 years warranty left on the car I thought that being able to set the ECU back to stock for ANY visits to the dealer would be an advantage WRT warranty, or am I delusionary in thinking that VW wont know that Ive got an `XYZ' chip in the car?
Brian

[h100vw]

That would be immoral IMO.

I have complete faith in the software I sell, as does Guy with APR. It is most unlikely that aftermarket software is going to be the cause of a mechanical failure. DSG boxes seem to be getting better, so that's less of a worry.

Arguing the toss with VW might be harder, if they know the car is chipped but realistically if you are worried about that side of the equation, you should leave it well alone.

They can't refuse warranty jobs on unconnected items even if it is chipped. An aircon compressor won't die due to software changes.

It's a coin only you can flip.

Gavin

[Brian]

I guess I'm scared about any drive train or ECU related claim being dismissed because I've put a chip in the thing, even though the increased performance may not be the cause of said failure. In the end, I guess you're right in saying leave it alone if it wories you. BTW the CC site doesn't mention any upgrades for the 118 TSI, or have I missed it?
Brian

[elisiX]

Mate i've known of APR and various other tuning for VW/AUDI vehicles for years. There must be literally thousands of vehicles in Australia alone that have had this done. Not once have I read of any serious issues or warranty rejections on the various forums in our relatively small community. And believe me, if there were to be any issues, someone would have spoken up about it.

[GTI2708]

I am getting an APR chip done sooooonnn as i can.
Just need to save up for it.

[Brian]

Mate i've known of APR and various other tuning for VW/AUDI vehicles for years. There must be literally thousands of vehicles in Australia alone that have had this done. Not once have I read of any serious issues or warranty rejections on the various forums in our relatively small community. And believe me, if there were to be any issues, someone would have spoken up about it.

Thanks for that, Ive only had the car a couple of weeks and its my 1st VW so wasnt sure of what the go was. Will be looking into the chip as soon as everyone gets back from xmas / new year break
Brian

[elisiX]

All good mate. I can totally appreciate where the apprehension comes from.

[GL118]

Gday all Iv been following this thread for quite abit but wasnt a member, and must thank you guys for the informative discussion. As per a previous post and just to clarify over the 8 pages worth of dialogue.. does the APR ECU stage one tune for a 118TSI breach VW factory warranty? And would you have to set it to "stock" setting for them not to notice at the dealership or would it not matter as their upgrades would replace everything? i only ask this as for some reason i had a ECU upgrade as part of my first check up for some reason and the "service advisor" couldnt tell me what it was for.. i had just assumed they left it alone.

Additionally has anyone noticed a fall in fuel consumption?Im quite interested in the tune but im loving the fantastic fuel economy ** i never fail to rub it in my mate's face due to him having an XR6 Turbo and the obvious fail on fuel economy there** so i hope

[Corey_R]

Hi, I'll try to answer all your questions.

1) Does the APR ECU stage one tune for a 118TSI breach VW factory warranty?
Putting any aftermarket component in your car (ECU, stereo, wheels etc etc) does not breach the VW factory warranty. However, if the aftermarket component caused a fault, that may not be covered. So in other words, if you flash your ECU and your windows fall out - VW will fix y our windows under warranty.

2) And would you have to set it to "stock" setting for them not to notice at the dealership?
If you don't set it to stock, they WILL notice. The upgrade is THAT noticable (at least it was on my Golf GTI and is on my Polo GTI) - even at low speeds.
If you really wish to hide it from the dealer though, you will need to get the optional 'security lockout' feature that APR have. That way you need to put in a custom 4 digit code before you can access the ECU program swap. Only then is it undetectable by the dealers.

3) (The dealers) upgrades would replace (the ECU)? i only ask this as for some reason i had a ECU upgrade as part of my first check up.
If the dealer reflashes the ECU, and this does happen occasionally for various reasons, you just take your car back your APR dealer and they'll reflash the ECU again for free.

4) Has anyone noticed a fall in fuel consumption?
I've had a MKV Golf GTI with APR Stage I, and a MKIV Polo GTI with APR Stage I. I have not noticed a drop in fuel consumption with general driving. With both cars I've tried driving 'normally' from home to work and back both with and without the Stage I enabled and found no difference, apart from regular variances due to traffic, lights etc. I also drove to Coffs Harbour from Sydney with it enabled and back without it enabled, and also found NO difference at all!
If you are driving hard, then there is some difference in fuel consumption. But not in day to day driving

[robihe]

hi, just curious as to how long it took to complete the upgrade. is it just a days work or do they require a few days? thanks

[Corey_R]

For the APR Stage I ECU?
It only takes ~30 minutes. They can do it whilst you wait. It's just a software change.