Stage 1 Tune

[Gladbach]

My 2017 162TSI Highline (with R-line pack) has just come out of warranty and I'm now considering doing a Stage 1 tune. I'm probably defaulting to APR because there is a workshop not far from me that specialise in APR (European Autotech in Mona Vale), but am interested to hear some comparisons with other custom tunes in terms of driving dynamics and power/torque figures?

Cheers.

[Lucas_R]

Simply for convenience go with either APR or Revo (VW Village @ Kensington) or GIAC (Exoticars @ Parramatta). APR normally do an end of financial year sale (-10% or thereabouts). Revo has 20% off currently.

Underground Performance also has 20% off currently, but their Sydney dealer is at Ingleburn (not exactly convenient unless you travel that way for work etc).

[Gladbach]

Thanks. I live on the Northern Beaches, hence why the place in Mona Vale that do APR tunes is appealing. They quoted $1299. Revo are indeed doing a 20% off deal (or 19%), but that takes it to about $1200, so there's not much in in between the RRP APR price and the discounted Revo price. I'd consider waiting until end of financial year, but 10% isn't massive. Plus, whether true or not, when I qot the quote and said that I might wait for a special he mentioned that at the moment APR aren't passing on discounts to Australia because of the poor AUD. Although, in my opinion, this will change over the next months as the USA's economy gets decimated by the COVID-19 disaster that is unfolding there.

If I can do it locally I'd prefer that - would then look to have my car serviced there from now on instead of the VW dealer if the servicing prices were around the same or cheaper.

From what I've read, APR seems to have a more boost heavy tune than Revo, a bit more aggressive low down and then tapers off where as Revo seem to have a smoother delivery through out the range.

Superchips/bluefin is quite a bit cheaper and also have a 30% off special at the moment, taking it to $775 which is hard to ignore, but I don't know much about how their tune compares to APR/Revo.

[ope126]

Thanks. I live on the Northern Beaches, hence why the place in Mona Vale that do APR tunes is appealing. They quoted $1299. Revo are indeed doing a 20% off deal (or 19%), but that takes it to about $1200, so there's not much in in between the RRP APR price and the discounted Revo price. I'd consider waiting until end of financial year, but 10% isn't massive. Plus, whether true or not, when I qot the quote and said that I might wait for a special he mentioned that at the moment APR aren't passing on discounts to Australia because of the poor AUD. Although, in my opinion, this will change over the next months as the USA's economy gets decimated by the COVID-19 disaster that is unfolding there.

If I can do it locally I'd prefer that - would then look to have my car serviced there from now on instead of the VW dealer if the servicing prices were around the same or cheaper.

From what I've read, APR seems to have a more boost heavy tune than Revo, a bit more aggressive low down and then tapers off where as Revo seem to have a smoother delivery through out the range.

Superchips/bluefin is quite a bit cheaper and also have a 30% off special at the moment, taking it to $775 which is hard to ignore, but I don't know much about how their tune compares to APR/Revo.

Disappointingly, I would suggest to look away from Superchips / Bluefin at this time; Superchips - petrol and diesel engine tuning, ECU remap software for maximum driving pleasure.

[VW Convert]

Disappointingly, I would suggest to look away from Superchips / Bluefin at this time; Superchips - petrol and diesel engine tuning, ECU remap software for maximum driving pleasure.

Wow, something of a shock but perhaps the first of many shocks in the current situation.

[Gladbach]

Disappointingly, I would suggest to look away from Superchips / Bluefin at this time; Superchips - petrol and diesel engine tuning, ECU remap software for maximum driving pleasure.

Wow, that's a real shame. Last night I did a whole bunch of reading and had convinced myselft that for the price-point, Superchips was the way to go. When I was on their Australian page I noticed that even though it showed that they had stock, there was a pop up banner when you added items to the cart that said that they are not taking orders at the moment due to COVID-19. I actually emailed them and got a response within 20 mins saying that they don't have any stock at the moment (didn't mention the actual situation, but fair enough).

I dodged a bullet I guess but I feel for the company and everyone involved. From the research I was doing I had seen nothing but praise.

[Lucas_R]

Yeah I didn't have a great experience with Superchips/Bluefin so I would not have recommended them.

Another Sydney option is Celtic Tuning - who have a dealer called Zadtec in Artarmon.

https://www.celtictuning.com.au/services/performance-stats/volkswagen/tiguan-2016/petrol/2-0-tsi-161-kw-2018-ECU-remap-chiptuning/stage-1#t3-content

Zadtec Performance AUS - Home | Facebook

[Gladbach]

Thanks. I haven't heard of them before, but I've submitted a quote request. Artarmon would be fine.

[Lucas_R]

Thanks. I haven't heard of them before, but I've submitted a quote request. Artarmon would be fine.

They quoted me $980 for a stage 1 tune for my SQ5. I ended up going with a different company (who cost about $100 more) but given the issues I had, the Celtic tune would have been not only cheaper, but a much quicker process and more conveniently located (closer to Newcastle).

[Gladbach]

They quoted me $980 for a stage 1 tune for my SQ5. I ended up going with a different company (who cost about $100 more) but given the issues I had, the Celtic tune would have been not only cheaper, but a much quicker process and more conveniently located (closer to Newcastle).

Really appreciate the recommendation. They've quoted me $980 as well, and it turns out they have a shop in Brookvale too which is a 5 min drive for me. I've asked for some graphs that show the power/torque delivery and how they might compare to APR and they're going to pass them on to me soon.

[iDiesel]

It'll be like discovering the Tiguan all over again once you have the tune.
Enjoy!

[Gladbach]

So here is a chart (for the GTI, but essentially the same I guess).

[Gladbach]

Here's the APR tune to compare it with. The APR one looks a bit smoother with a more consistent torque delivery, whereas the celtic one comes on a bit harder with the torque but then drops back a bit.

[Lucas_R]

The APR one also looks more impressive because the stock figures are lower than the one used on the Celtic. Given Celtic have sent you a Golf GTI dyno, perhaps they use the 169kw version and thats why the stock figures are higher. Im sure the APR graph has been "smoothed" to look better, but agreed it does look like a better tune overall. The info from Celtic actually is a dyno printout, not a fancy computer generated image like APR use.

[Gladbach]

That's a good point about printout vs. graphic. I think I'm gravitating towards to APR tune though, mainly because they're more common and tried and tested from what I can see.