[MacD]

After much debate about which tuner to go for and having read the TTRS owner reviews on maps I decided that APR would be the way forward.

 

We can debate the pro's and cons of each tuner all day long however APR appear to be the nearest to map the power delivery to Audi's own delivery providing a nice smooth OEM style power curve.  Exactly what i was after !

 

Myself and Andy booked our cars into APR HQ unfortunately Keith who was dealing with our cars had an accident in Germany meaning he was going to be staying abroad until he felt well enough to return….. Get well soon Keith! 

 

Evan at the last minute managed to get us booked into Awesome-Gti in Manchester.  I'm sure they need no introductions, they've been around the V-A-G Scene for a long time now!

 

 

We arrived at Awesome at 8:30 where Hassan booked in our cars.   Mark the operations manager showed us around and took us for a behind the scenes tour of the workshop,  board room and stock areas… the place is huge! 

 

Meanwhile my car was being road tested and V-A-G-com'd by Jim the MD to check for any issues prior to the software being applied.

 

Car gets a clean bill so is strapped on to the rolling road for some pre software runs.

 

 

Best of the three runs was 369bhp and 393 lbs Torque….. pretty damn good for 2nd Cats and a K&N panel filter!

 

The ECU was then carefully removed by Jim and the car left in situ so there would be no descrepancies about it being moved and the rolling road needing re setting up etc.

 

ECU being removed:

 

ECU out:

 

Taken upstairs to have the software applied by APR's CCD machine.

 

Software uploaded:

 

Things you dont usually see being done:

Refitted and three further power runs were taken with the best runs being 408 BHP and 480 lbs Torque (This may improve should i choose to start using V-Power instead of Tesco super!)

 

So APR live upto the power figure claims they've advertised! Always the first worry of a remap or modification.

 

Now for the drive,   Its immediately evident as I set off fairly quickly but using no more than half throttle that the car has with out doubt more torque !  

 

We all talk about BHP down the pub but know its for instance torque that wins races!

 

From the word go the car just pushes you along the road with the DSG eating up each gear change ready for the next surge of power.

However the software feels very OEM in power delivery yet there's just way more there to push you back into your seat.

 

Holy crap i think, this can't be like this in every gear…… Oh yes it is!   

 

I start the journey home through town and the car is more than happy to behave just like it did before, no twitchy throttle as Ive experienced in the past when my cars been remapped and no surging into the car in front.

 

We hit the motorway and again this is where the torque is really noticeable again, The car in front moves over, half throttle, and the car behaves like you've changed down two gears… instantly accelerating.

 

Next car in front moves over and I nail the pedal…..  The car knocks down two gears and takes off hitting triple figures without the effort i felt the car had to put in before.

 

One of my bug bears previously was the car always felt like it needed more at the top end when cruising,  This without doubt has more than put pay to me missing the RS4 whilst cursing along the motorway!

 

The verdict… Why didn't i do this ages ago!  seriously!

 

Is money well spent on software?  without doubt!

 

I'm now left with a car that in all honesty feels way more capable,  Has the power it should have left the factory with however remains sensible and safe in how the power is delivered.

 

 

A big thanks to Evan@APR for sorting out the last minute re structure and thanks to specifically Jim and Mark at Awesome for accommodating us at short notice and keeping us topped up with caffeine !

 

 

 

Graphs to follow when emailed across

 

Andy's review to follow but for now here's a few more pics of the day! 

[MacD]

Andy hits the rollers:

 

 

Not my nails but a favourite pic:

 

Cough Cough new Tshirts! 

 

[P_G]

I gather 480 is in ft. lbs? Like you say your start figures are very good and high for a cat bypas and filter, I'm pretty sure mine isn't pushing that out. What were Andy's base and post map figures? And do they lock the ECU again after mapping it or leave it open to be reflashed if necessary later?

[MacD]

Yea its ft lbs of torque. (edited now to show this)

 

Not sure on the re-locking, I'll find out tbh and report back.

 

Andy is busy writing his review so i'll not steal his thunder   I knew if i didnt write it down now i'd not get chance.

 

MPG I cant yet comment on either before anyone asks as I'm sure you can imagine its been a foot to the floor when can kinda drive home.   Will add a further review of the driving experience in a couple of weeks when I've had some more time in the seat.

[Vito]

Have you tried launching it ?

[MacD]

Have you tried launching it ?

 

Not yet, damp roads and the Mrs and Bambino in the car so i'm going to wait until its dry to replicate the last launch I did.

 

I'll then post up the figures for a fair comparison.

[P_G]

Disappointing to hear than Andy, you must be a bit gutted. I realise you don't want to give numbers but did it map near to APR's claimed figures or some way >10% off?

[P_G]

From what I can recall on maps, if bhp is down more than 10% it's not just fuel but torque can be down 15-20% so it could be that you do only run it on V-Power Nitro from now on.

 

Run it past empty and then tank it with Nitro and I'm sure you'll see a difference.

[Vito]

it doesn't add up, reading above Steve's review, he say's he uses the Tesco stuff himself  

[Vito]

READ my post again Vito! lol

 

so the problem could have been that in your tank there was V-Power and Tesco Momentum mixed together ?

[P_G]

Or just a dirty batch of Momentum or dregs from the fuel dump, it happens to Tesco given the high Ethanol content.

Edited by P_G, 03 July 2013 - 11:46 PM.

[Evan@APR]

We'll get to the bottom of it! I have a few untested theories that ill be working on closely with Andy. In the end hopefully everybody will benefit from the info

[MacD]

Or just a dirty batch of Momentum or dregs from the fuel dump, it happens to Tesco given the high Ethanol content.

 

Having spoken to Jin at Awesome at length over fuel and the results he'd see when logging cars it turned out after a while of doing this he could tell which fuel was used by how the car was running on the data logs.

 

From now on I'll be using Vpower as I didnt realise that Tesco99 was cheap crap with additives added into it.  

[Klauster]

I only ever use V Power, never been impressed with Tesco, or any of the others to be honest

[Klauster]

_{Andy, does your car have the 2nd cat bypass?}

Edited by Klauster, 04 July 2013 - 09:06 AM.

[Oli]

From now on I'll be using Vpower as I didnt realise that Tesco99 was cheap crap with additives added into it.  

Well all the fuel in our area, comes from Fawley, from the same tanks, and they all add their own additives to it after.  Shell, Tesco, Morrisions etc they all fill from the same tank.  HTH

 

Ive always used Tesco 99 with no issues on any car, and at RR days have always been in the top 1/4 of figures 

Edited by Oli, 04 July 2013 - 06:53 PM.

[ryes3]

Have you had the 4WD controller update done by any chance? Maybe its the DSG limiting the torque?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[MacD]

Have you had the 4WD controller update done by any chance? Maybe its the DSG limiting the torque?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

No all he's had is 2nd cats. 

[PT3]

The S-tronic/haldex system can both interfere with the power/torque produced.  You may find it's something to do with being a 62 plate car?

 

I believe the later RS3 cars have different control units for some items.  Mine is a later car....was putting out 320bhp stock!

[PT3]

Interesting.