Apr

[BrilliantS3]

Nice review

Day 1 with high torque APR Stage 1 ECU and TCU upgrades

For those looking to spice up their S3, I highly recommend the APR solution. The car has a new personality in all modes. They did a great job with the transmission changes, shifting quicker and downshifting where you would if you were doing the shifting. The power comes on with far more force once the throttle is over 50% down, and the shifts are crisp. Dynamic is a blast now, way more aggressive throttle response and the torque is vastly improved. Well worth the cost and was installed in under an hour. Also very nice to see what gear you are in at all times. Nice.

 

[92683]

I think of all that is better to just do the new turbo swap. your pretty much close to this pricing any ways.

APR ecu flash is about 799.99. alone.
199.99 is only if you already spent the money on the 799.99 flash.



I would just do the R460 Hybrid Turbocharger System for 8V Audi S3 & MkVII Volkswagen Golf R 2.0 TFSI (MQB)
$4250
it seems pretty much a complete turbo and ecu from the site.

425 crank hp. 390tq

https://store.034motorsport.com/r46...-s3-mkvii-volkswagen-golf-r-2-0-tfsi-mqb.html

 

[jfglass]

From the APR site:
APR Stage I - (High Torque) 100 AKI 104 RON 381 HP 392 FT-LBS +92 HP @ 5,300 RPM +109 FT-LBS @ 3,850 RPM

 

[ScoobyS3]

On APR's website their tune is quoted as making 357-381hp and Stage II producing 372-387hp with way more torque than Stage I.
https://www.goapr.com/products/ecu_upgrade_20tsi_gen3_mqb_r.html

Provided 93 octane is available...

 

[Muad'dib]

Hey all. Currently awaiting the arrival of my ordered s3. Due to the states in October. Will put springs, resonator delete and spacers on the car on the way home from pick up! Soon to follow, stage 2 and accompanying add ons. Looking forward to hearing your advice on which mods are best to accompany a stage 2 and which to avoid. Have read so many threads but always welcome fresh info. Currently drive a 2017 golf r and VW forums are loaded with threads. Seems far less s3 owners are modifying. Do I dare say we might be a little older and more mature??? That's part of the reason I'm leaving the r. Just can't take another boy racer joke! Always wanted the s3 more but thought golf r was a better bargain. Not if you buy one and sell one within six months like me. Oh well. Look forward to threading with you all.

 

[AlltrackMike]

I agree with your assessment, seems the crowd here is a bit older than the Golf R guys and tend to keep their S3's stock. Plus the S3 is so perfect out of the box that there's really no need to do much to make it a fun car.

Hey all. Currently awaiting the arrival of my ordered s3. Due to the states in October. Will put springs, resonator delete and spacers on the car on the way home from pick up! Soon to follow, stage 2 and accompanying add ons. Looking forward to hearing your advice on which mods are best to accompany a stage 2 and which to avoid. Have read so many threads but always welcome fresh info. Currently drive a 2017 golf r and VW forums are loaded with threads. Seems far less s3 owners are modifying. Do I dare say we might be a little older and more mature??? That's part of the reason I'm leaving the r. Just can't take another boy racer joke! Always wanted the s3 more but thought golf r was a better bargain. Not if you buy one and sell one within six months like me. Oh well. Look forward to threading with you all.

 

[Muad'dib]

I agree with your assessment, seems the crowd here is a bit older than the Golf R guys and tend to keep their S3's stock. Plus the S3 is so perfect out of the box that there's really no need to do much to make it a fun car.

I can't wait to find out. Haven't even driven one yet if you can believe that. Got addicted to speed when I got my first performance car a few years back. Now I'm always looking to make them go just a little faster. You would think after $3000 in speeding tickets my first year I would learn my lesson.

 

[LonestarS3]

I'm just waiting for my warranty to run out before getting a tune.

 

[Muad'dib]

I'm just waiting for my warranty to run out before getting a tune.

I had a stage 2 on my BMW m235i and had no issues when repair time came. The repairs were not related to tune so BMW did not make an issue. Have not really heard of anyone having engine issues related to a tune. If anyone knows someone directly please chime in. All I ever hear, " I heard a guy once who blew his engine.....". My tuner said he knows one jb4 tuned street racer that blew his engine. He has done hundreds and hundreds of tunes. I don't race or track. So tuning for me is far less abusive on the engine. Also, Audi by me seems amenable, so I'm going to tune right away. Ask your dealer. You may be surprised. Good luck

 

[LonestarS3]

I had a stage 2 on my BMW m235i and had no issues when repair time came. The repairs were not related to tune so BMW did not make an issue. Have not really heard of anyone having engine issues related to a tune. If anyone knows someone directly please chime in. All I ever hear, " I heard a guy once who blew his engine.....". My tuner said he knows one jb4 tuned street racer that blew his engine. He has done hundreds and hundreds of tunes. I don't race or track. So tuning for me is far less abusive on the engine. Also, Audi by me seems amenable, so I'm going to tune right away. Ask your dealer. You may be surprised. Good luck

Audi is notorious for flagging tuned cars with the TD1 flag. Each time you go to the dealer for any service, your vehicle is hooked up to a computer and flagged if its tuned. They can use this to deny any engine related warranty work. My service advisor happens to be a good friend and he confirmed the same. Told me I would save a lot of headache if I just waited.

 

[Muad'dib]

Good to know. I asked Audi here and they say they have a working relationship with APR. I'm sure this will not cover engine or turbo, but no one should expect that anyway. I will keep forum posted as I get more info. Thanks for the response Lonestar

 

[elmagoo]

Having had experience with APR tuning, and also having just got a used 2017 S3, I figured it'd be worth chiming in

I had a 2015 Golf R w/DSG that I just handed back in (it was a lease). I put both the APR Stage I high torque tune on it (91 octane as that's all I can get here in Los Angeles), as well as the TCU tune before 800 miles were put on the car. After 3 years and 33,000 miles, no issues, and I was as happy as a clam! Before getting into performance details, I wanted to address the warranty question. Yes if you go to a dealer for service, and the tune is currently installed on the car, it will get flagged and your powertrain warranty will be void. Hence what you do is take the car back to your tuner, have them re-flash everything back to stock, and then you go to the dealer to get your warranty service, and the dealer will have no idea that the car was ever tuned in the first place. After the warranty work, take it back to the tuner shop and have them re-flash it. So the main downside to a tune is that if you do end up needing warranty work, you'll have to make 2 additional stops, as well as pay for the flashing (which for the tuner shop I go to would be $50 a flash).

Now of course if you drive your car foolishly, and you go into the shop with some crazy blow out, you'll raise suspicion. But this is no different than tracking your car and taking it back to the shop, and then trying to convince them that whatever happened was in the course of normal driving. A lot of the stories I've heard about warranty or tuning related issues are due to the fact that there are a lot of people that want their golf to beat a Ferrari, and they don't understand the concept of properly upgrading to those levels of performance and what they can do to an engine if not done correctly (i.e. slap a larger turbo and intercooler on it and tune it with nothing else). I daily drove mine, and while I drove it very hard, I wasn't racing it constantly, or running it flat out for hours at a time, or doing launch control sprints at every stop light (I think I did about 10 - 15 LC starts over the course of 3 years). I did the occasional canyon run, as well as zipped around traffic and such, but I never tracked or dragged it. The engine and transmission in these cars are built like a tank.

Also APR has a new program called APR Plus (www.goaprplus.com) that provides a powertrain warranty for your car with their Stage I tune and bolt ons. Meaning they take over the remaining powertrain warranty for your car, but you can't go above APR Stage I (i.e. no downpipe, or turbos and the like). It's $400 more than the standard Stage I tune (from what I can tell), and comes with the same Stage I HP, but about 18ftlbs of torque less. But you can add their air intake and intercooler as well for a jump, and still be in warranty. This is the route I'm planning on going with the S3

One thing to consider is that it's very much worth it to get the TCU tune as well as it works in tandem with the ECU tune. It also protects the DSG due to the way they tuned the shifting parameters (it's listed on their site if you want to read the technical specifics

As for the performance, it transforms the car! 0-60 in the VW went to about 4 seconds flat, and I've seen videos of cars with Stage I only running mid to low 12's in the quarter mile. There's so much torque and punch that makes the car a beast at just about any speed. Maneuvering around traffic is effortless, and it makes the car an absolute sleeper. It's very easy to drive every day, with no jerkiness or finickiness that one might expect from high performance tuned cars. I miss it like crazy right now, but the financials aren't right just yet as I want to have several things done to the car all at once .

That's about it, hope the information is helpful!

 

[Diztek]

im my research, ive noticed that most people who have issues have APR. I dont know if its because most people have APR, but nonetheless. Ive had GIAC and United Motorsports on past cars. For my S3, i will definitely opt for United Motosport's tunes.

 

[MJS2016]

Good info. Thanks.

 

[elmagoo]

Just to update this a bit. Having done even more research into the TD1 flag / getting your powertrain warranty void, I found out a few more things. Flashing the car fully back to stock won't apply the flag automatically. BUT... there are enough parameters saved in the ECU history that a service department has the ability to deduce if / when an ECU tune was put on the car if they decide to do a deep inspection. As to what can trigger a deep inspection, it depends on what you're going in for. If something big and expensive needs to be replaced (i.e. the transmission, the block, pistons / rods, turbo, etc...), they'll most likely do a deeper inspection to see what caused the failure and check for a tune. But if it's something minor, or non power train related, they most likely won't do this and just make the repair.

The key is to find a service center that's mod friendly that will work with you (you'll of course have to re-flash the car to full stock, but they won't do a deep inspection). I've read some stories of dealerships that are very anti-mod and will flag you for even seeing bolt ons.

One other point to mention is that I sent an email to SEMA to ask about the legality of this, and they confirmed that if Audi / VW is voiding warranty just because there's software on the car, it's illegal. What is supposed to happen is the service center / Audi / VW have to do due diligence and investigate the real cause of the breakdown, and if it has nothing to do with the software, they have to by law uphold your warranty. There are a lot of horror stories of people telling their service center this, and the service center responds "we don't care, sue us", which is craptastic of course. But if you have a legit case in that something broke not due to the software, you'll have to enlist a lawyer probably. I've read of a story of a gentleman that ran into this with his transmission because he had TCU software installed, but upon doing his own investigation they found fillings and debris in the transmission fluid pump (which of course has nothing to do with the software). He's got an insurance company fighting for him and they covered the $10k replacement cost for it. But it's something to be aware of in terms of your rights, and what you might have to go through if you chip.