APR or VIEZU tune?

[Andypoo]

Have decided to do a stage 1 tune on the Jetta but what are peoples thought on these two brands?

APR has a little more grunt but is more expensive...

Many thanks.

[Creampuff]

1 vote for VIEZU....brilliant!

[DonJuan]

Can I add Spectune by Tarmac Engineering to your list? The product is great, it's DIY and future upgrade files are free.

Check these guys out:

Home
ECU Tune Builder

[Candyman]

If you want support and professional backing and hardware designed for the tune, VIEZU.

Despite the haters, they deliver the goods (even with Simon's "jump the gun" attitude at times )

They are innovative too, again, despite the haters.

To go with the flow

The product is great, it's DIY or dealer installed and future upgrade files are free, for life.

Edit - and you very likely will not need an add-on extra DSG tune

[brimway]

Have decided to do a stage 1 tune on the Jetta but what are peoples thought on these two brands?

APR has a little more grunt but is more expensive...

Many thanks.

Whichever tune you decide to go with, seriously consider a DSG tune, well worth the money .... if you only have 2 pedals of course.

[Ideo]

Can I add Spectune by Tarmac Engineering to your list? The product is great, it's DIY and future upgrade files are free.

Check these guys out:

Home
ECU Tune Builder

Good call.

I'm more than happy with my Viezu tune. DNA is good too. I like Spectune. Parso is great at Recode for custom tunes in Sydney. GIAC get good off the shelf results and Arthur at Exoticars is well regarded. Bluefin is not bad either.

In order of preference for me
Viezu/Spectune
DNA
GIAC/Revo
Bluefin

Recode is to far for me to go as it is a custom tune.

I wouldn't really look at any of the others.

Some people just really rub you up the wrong way. Nothing against the product though.

[Transporter]

Have decided to do a stage 1 tune on the Jetta but what are peoples thought on these two brands?

APR has a little more grunt but is more expensive...

Many thanks.

You can have more grunt with the Viezu tune for no extra cost and with the stock hardware.

[Ideo]

You can have more grunt with the Viezu tune for no extra cost and with the stock hardware.

And lots of choice in hardware, and no cost with changing the tune to suit.

[tigger73]

Go with whatever you can get local support.

And as others mention have a look at the ongoing costs if you're going to add hardware.

I don't think there's a bad option from any of the forum sponsors.

[Euro Car Upgrades]

Get the best of both worlds mate - go V-Tech - leader in Euro ECU re-maps and good pricing too:
14 day money back guarantee if you are unhappy
Hey mate,
We do V-Tech Tunes - leader in Europe - VW is a EU car.
They work really well , we have done about 20 for the last 2 months and clients are pretty happy.
Forum Special at $1399 including GST

Have a read through:
Cost?

RRP: $1500+GST
Watercooled member discounted price: $1399 inc GST

Tunes available:

Stage 1 with emphasis on power
Stage 1 with emphasis on fuel economy

Stage 2 with emphasis on power
Stage 2 with emphasis on fuel economy

Stage 3 with emphasis on power

Why choose ecu chip tuning over plug-in modules??


1.
Because rail pressure modules/pulse width modules can only increase and decrease fueling.
To make more power using a chip, you need to inject more fuel, which means increase fuel use.
Pulse width can also modify injectors delay, but they cannot advance injection correctly.

2.
Rail chips cannot overcome ANY torque limiters in the ECU. Period.
Increase fuel as much as you like, they will meet a "brick wall" which they cannot get around.

3.
ECU tuning actually can reduce your fuel use substantially and is backed up by ACTUAL dyno figures and real world figures.

4.
We edit over 800 cells in the ecu. The maps are 3 dimensional. This is why we can actually make the car feel completely different with an ECU tune. We all have heard the stories of how "chips" don't even make a noticeable difference in performance but will increase fuel consumption. Not all "chips" are the same, but most do the same thing. ECU tuning is completely different. We do not trick the ECU.

Why does ECU tuning tend to make a more driveable vehicle and make more power and save fuel at the same time?

This depends on how you drive too. The engine management is a flowing 4d canvas with lots of variables. We edit the ECU logic for as many situations as we can envision. Overall you should feel a completely fluid transition from power to cruise and back.


What do we change?:

-Drive-by-wire pedal feel
-Injection angles
-Fuel rail pressure (Never more than 2% increase over stock, unlike plug-in chips)
-Torque limiter for 1st and 2nd gear
-Torque limiter for remaining gears
-Torque governor
-Torque request warm
-Torque request cruise
-Torque request non-cruise
-EGR (Exhaust gas re-circ) (We can switch this off for Off-road/track cars)
-DPF management (We can switch this off for Off-road/track cars)
-Boost levels (We usually keep the boost around stock unless requested)
-Gearbox controls (Auto)
-Turbo dynamics
-Warm up fueling (Usually leave stock settings)

Physical changes?

We do our best to keep the engine bay looking stock.

Can we remove the tune? What if I lose my tune due to VW ecm update?

We re-instate lost tunes usually at no cost. Tunes are only lost if VW make an update to engine management. This usually happens only in the first 1-2years of releasing an engine setup. This period has passed and I don't expect further updates to engine management from VW.

How safe are the tunes?

The Amarok uses a bosch 4.9 wideband air fuel sensor for onboard tuning. The Amarok pulls/adds up to 25% fueling to keep in the pre-determined fueling we set. We aim to keep AFR's above 18:1 to stop overheating issues of the piston crowns.

The Amarok also self-monitors EGT's (Exhaust gas temps) if they get high, power/fuel is reduced to keep the engine safe.

What this means is, the engine management should never let the engine get into a dangerous situation as long as all sensors work correctly. This engine has been tested to over 30psi boost by us and we are confident that keeping to our low targets of boost for stage 1 and stage 2 tunes will keep engines safe.

What are common problems with tunes?

Increased clutch wear
Increased engine mount wear
Increased tire wear

Why do some tuners have issues tuning the Amarok?

These fall into 3 categories,
1. Those who treat a Bosch ecu logic with say Japanese style tuning. (Does not work!)
2. Those who don't edit the ecu correctly, due to the variable firmware from vehicle to vehicle. (There's about 60 different versions of the Amarok ECU so far! - Get it wrong and you could cause damage or get no tuning result!)
3. Those who don't edit the torque limiters and just add a heap of boost/fuel but make bugger all power/difference to stock.

We don't have these issues as we actually write some of the files for Bosch OEM ecu's aswell! We have bosch motorsport heritage and experience.

Its one of the hardest ECU's to edit and only a handful of companies can see the entire ECU contents for values.


Do you offer a trial of the tune?

We offer a 14 day money back if you want your ECU returned to stock in that period.

[jamesatfish]

Go with whatever you can get local support.

And as others mention have a look at the ongoing costs if you're going to add hardware.

I don't think there's a bad option from any of the forum sponsors.

That's the best advice right there.

I went with APR for my first VW tune purely because that's what my local VW workshop supplied - I trusted them to look after my cars so it made sense to go with the product they sold.

I've been very happy with APR myself and have used them on subsequent vehicles also, but I'm sure if the workshop had been a dealer for a different brand instead I would have gone with their recommendation and been just as happy.

[Greg Roles]

Nice cut and paste from LiquidForce. Hilarious.

As a Viezu dealer, for the 1.4TSI, I would actually recommend APR in that instance. I have no doubt Viezu can tune the 1.4 nicely, but my personal opinion is APR have done the extensive local dyno time to get this VERY hard car to max tune. This is just my own, personal opinion, based on tuning a few 1.4s, and whilst the result certainly isn't bad, I would give APR the nod in this instance, given those choices.

You'll certainly pay for those last few kw though!

[noone]

APR or VIEZU tune?

Whoever has the most experience with the model. No brand rules all platforms, Viezu pulled rubbish numbers by comparison on the 9N3 Polo, APR was too soft on torque. Custom Code is great.

[VWindahouse]

Gotta love the new kid spouting crap like - leader in Euro ECU re-maps. Makes me lol.

Custom Code FTW

[Euro Car Upgrades]

Hi mate,
Its a good write up and it shows people what is being done to their cars by a leading company in Europe in the field.

We do lots of 1.4 TSI engines as well as Amaroks with which everyone seems to struggle.

The R&D in the field of V-Tech is very extensive and includes all the new German vehicles as well as other European ones.

Q7 V12 TDI. A8 W12, Bentleys not to mention standard cars in the field.

Nice cut and paste from LiquidForce. Hilarious.

As a Viezu dealer, for the 1.4TSI, I would actually recommend APR in that instance. I have no doubt Viezu can tune the 1.4 nicely, but my personal opinion is APR have done the extensive local dyno time to get this VERY hard car to max tune. This is just my own, personal opinion, based on tuning a few 1.4s, and whilst the result certainly isn't bad, I would give APR the nod in this instance, given those choices.

You'll certainly pay for those last few kw though!