Review - APR Audi B8 2.0T Stg I chip

[hiwords1]

Well I went to H20 today and came back home. 5.5hr drive each way but well worth the trip. One of the main reasons I went was because I wanted to get chipped and the closest dealer to me is 1.5 hrs away. Which brings us to this review. I got the stock, 93, 100 and valet mode for various reasons that I will not discuss in this review but if you really want to know, pm me. I want to start by thanking the APR team for a great job.

I know what most of you want to hear is the power gain with the chip. Well I have to say the chip is a must. The car should have came from factory this way so APR could make an even better map for us lol. The low end torque is just phenomenal. When it was stock, I would floor it and I would have to wait for rpms to climb to 3k before the power was satisfying enough. Well now the wait is much shorter. It'll pull hard just past 2k and continue to pull to about 5k. I'll need to spend more time playing with it but I'm very satisfied. I had several reaction shots taken of me after the initial drive and apparently they were funny shots haha.

As far as gas mileage goes, I'm not totally sure if it went up or not. On my way down to H20, I was hauling a$$ like nobody's business and got 28.4 average mpg. When I got home, the gauge said 30.6 average mpg but I did a lot of hard accelerations. I had filled the gas tank each way. On the way down, I still had 140miles of gas left, when I got home it read 180 miles. Now idk if it's the colder air that affected that on the trip home but as I drive more during the week I'll find out. I mostly do city driving mixed with spirited driving so usually I get about 22-23mpg every $20 of gas until the light comes on. Yes I only fill $20 worth of 93 because I'm one of those firm believers that a heavier car uses more gas to get up to speed. It may not be noticeable immediately but when you do a comparison, I think there is indeed a difference. Also the area I live in is not very heavily populated like Jersey or NYC so driving is very carefree. More on gas mileage will come as I drive more during the week.

Anyways, if anybody is looking for a little more pep from their car but doesn't want to do anything like hardware upgrades, this is a great option. I don't have anything else to compare to because I haven't used other software with this car but personally, I think it's very well balanced. I hope this is helpful to those of you who are on the fence.

Sorry I couldn't come see you guys who were there today because I got there late and didn't want to leave my car while I was waiting. Enjoy the fun tomorrow and some for me haha.

[ShadowA4]

+1 on a must have mod. This should be any B8's initial mod. Definitely has the bang for the buck IMO.

[droppyale]

Excellent. This upgrade is on my list...

One thing I haven't seen anyone write about is gas milage... Will the chip have any effect on the MPG, did you ask them about that?

[hiwords1]

oh right, i totally forgot about that drop. updated.

[guy013]

i think gas mileage will be very hard to measure right after getting the chip done.

all i've been doing is pedal to the metal non stop since i got the K04 kit installed.

[SupFly]

at the end of the day, who really cares about mileage. these cars while luxery is an ingredient, it's really about the fun factor. I guess my logic is if you can afford to buy these cars, I assume you have the money to dirve them...& that'd include gas :)

[gtg196w]

well, there is a large difference between having the money for it, and "being able to afford it." Being able to afford something means that the cost of the item fits within the framework of your budgetary priorities. Just because I HAVE 200 bucks for gas/month doesn't mean I WANT to spend 200 bucks per month on gas (i might have better plans for the money). In a similar way, you can have the money to have steak/sushi/seafood everyday for lunch, but that doesn't mean you can "afford it" based on your financial priorities. In any event, my point is that gas mileage DOES matter to us... I don't think that "if you can afford the car..." argument works as a responsible one unless you own an R8 or some other 6 figure supercar.

[hender]

nice write up!
has anyone gone on record as being denied warranty work because the dealer knew they had a flash?
i remember someone bought a used one, and they were denied warranty because apparently the ECU was removed...but other than that...?

[hiwords1]

idk much about the warranty part. i've heard that the dealer can tell that you've removed the ECU by the one time use screws they use. if you don't replace the screws with new ones, they can tell instantly you've removed the ECU. idk if APR puts any kind of sticker or anything on the ECU after they've flashed it but if so, that's another visual indicator that'll lead them to further investigation. and i recommend ppl not leaving their APR user manual in the glove box lol.

[naemcivic]

well, there is a large difference between having the money for it, and "being able to afford it." Being able to afford something means that the cost of the item fits within the framework of your budgetary priorities. Just because I HAVE 200 bucks for gas/month doesn't mean I WANT to spend 200 bucks per month on gas (i might have better plans for the money). In a similar way, you can have the money to have steak/sushi/seafood everyday for lunch, but that doesn't mean you can "afford it" based on your financial priorities. In any event, my point is that gas mileage DOES matter to us... I don't think that "if you can afford the car..." argument works as a responsible one unless you own an R8 or some other 6 figure supercar.

that is absolutely right.

[cory_can]

Let me explain what 'SupFLY' was probably trying to get across....

In NA driving this car in a way to enjoy the power vs. driving for maximum efficiency is the difference of about ~$500-600/year in fuel (for someone driving approx. 25000 km/year)....or about $40-50/month......if you can't afford an extra $40-50/month to enjoy the vehicle to its fullest vs always worrying about mileage .... buy a Corolla.

[naemcivic]

^^well, point being. Money would be better spent else where then excessive fuel consumption. a few of my co-workers have sold their RS4 and hummers just because of their appetite for fuel, I bet you they could afford the extra fuel cost. They ended up buying Subaru and Ford Tarus SHO.

[cory_can]

it's not excessive fuel consumption......it's just the difference between getting to enjoy the performance vs. constantly worrying about your mileage. Getting rid of a performance car (RS4) because of fuel usage (which is just silly) is completely different than getting rid of a huge hunk of boring inefficient iron like a Hummer (which is smart). If they got rid of the RS4 just because of fuel consumption.....they probably couldn't afford it in the first place.

[UmIsThisThingOn]

nice write up!
has anyone gone on record as being denied warranty work because the dealer knew they had a flash?
i remember someone bought a used one, and they were denied warranty because apparently the ECU was removed...but other than that...?

Yes - my ECU burned up & died a horrible death. ECUs are expensive and a huge strain on a marriage when you have to explain the $1,500 repair bill that could have been avoided.

idk much about the warranty part. i've heard that the dealer can tell that you've removed the ECU by the one time use screws they use. if you don't replace the screws with new ones, they can tell instantly you've removed the ECU. idk if APR puts any kind of sticker or anything on the ECU after they've flashed it but if so, that's another visual indicator that'll lead them to further investigation. and i recommend ppl not leaving their APR user manual in the glove box lol.

Or if you go to a shop that does crap work and they scratch up the ECU during removal/re-install which is a BIG red flag to the dealer.

[naemcivic]

^^I never did recall your ECU dying. If you don't mind sharing, I would like to know more. thanks

[naemcivic]

it's not excessive fuel consumption......it's just the difference between getting to enjoy the performance vs. constantly worrying about your mileage. Getting rid of a performance car (RS4) because of fuel usage (which is just silly) is completely different than getting rid of a huge hunk of boring inefficient iron like a Hummer (which is smart). If they got rid of the RS4 just because of fuel consumption.....they probably couldn't afford it in the first place.

I agree with that also, I rather go all out then just going half ass.The ironic part is, Its all about the tune, I bet some of our tunes/setups here and driving style or combined; would probably be approaching stock S4's fuel consumption territory but still won't reach the power of a stock S4. Whom am I to say anything here, I am running pig rich A/F here...wahaha.

[J. Alan]

I have just become a member of the Audizine family after being a guest for the last month. I have been a daily reader of the many interesting posts, and this thread has made me join the fold. There have been many posts regarding "chipping" or "mapping" the ECU for better performance versus the detection warranty issue, again brought up in this thread.

I am referring to an article published in the June 2010 BMWCAR magazine, a British publication in the "Post Bag" (letters to the editor) regarding this exact subject. Although this mag is slanted towards BMW owners, which I am one, the letter by a U.S. residence discusses this very subject. The letter by this gentleman is very interesting and deals with what he feels is the false information provided by the ECU remap companies claiming their upgrade is invisible to the parent dealership.
I will quote for this lengthy letter as follows: "I know the tuning companies all claim that their products are the only ones that will never be detected, that's their biggest selling point .............But, I modify them (my cars) knowing full well that the second I do so, I am voiding the powertrain coverage from the manufacturer. I've had numerous arguments with tuning companies over this issue, and they have all admitted ........... that, yes tuning the ECU will be detected."

The publisher than issued a challenge to some of the U.K. mapping companies. of which three of them answered with very interesting information. I will not identify these companies, but some of the information does mention Audi and VAG ECU's quoted as follows: "Some manufactuers have a counter in the ECU which displays how many time the ECU has been "flashed".
Audi is one of these and this counter can be read and reset or decremented to the value you wish, if you have the necessary equipment, so it shows the same value as before tuning." More quotes: "we have factory VAG diagnostics and know the ECU operation inside and out, if there is an ECU that can be detected after tuning by the dealer, we let the customer know before we tune it ..... Agreed, dealers can see tuned software if they know what they are lookin for and know where to look. A keyed - up dealer who knows how to, can check and detect quite quickly while most care very little about tuned cars." I imagine if you have serious or expensive engine or turbo warranty claim, an investgation of the ECU would probably be performed.

The jury is still out in my mind regarding the detection of ECU mapping by the dealer. It appears they have the detection equipment if they what to challenge a warranty claim I know that APR seems to be the most popular supplier of Audi ECU mapping according to all the posts I have read on Audizine **** what say you APR!!!

J. Alan

[speedtrip]

OP, Instead of talking MPG and warranty, can I ask what the tune has done for your 0-60?

...and with MPG and warranty, "you gotta pay to play".

[hiwords1]

i haven't measured that but i will indeed do that. if anybody has more requests regarding the chip i'll try my best to fulfill them. and if you've bought a brand new B8, you've already paid lol

[BASARAB]

well, there is a large difference between having the money for it, and "being able to afford it." Being able to afford something means that the cost of the item fits within the framework of your budgetary priorities. Just because I HAVE 200 bucks for gas/month doesn't mean I WANT to spend 200 bucks per month on gas (i might have better plans for the money). In a similar way, you can have the money to have steak/sushi/seafood everyday for lunch, but that doesn't mean you can "afford it" based on your financial priorities. In any event, my point is that gas mileage DOES matter to us... I don't think that "if you can afford the car..." argument works as a responsible one unless you own an R8 or some other 6 figure supercar.

Dont agree. People who care about $5-$10 extra for every fill up dont buy a new high end German car, which runs on 93 gas and costs a lot to insure and maintain(compare to Corolla for example).

[hiwords1]

guys please keep this thread as a review, not a debate about gas mileage.

[cory_can]

guys please keep this thread as a review, not a debate about gas mileage.

LOL.....you better hope that this thread goes off track.....there are about 50+ threads that highlight APR tunes and if your review would to stay only about the initial topic it would be three pages down in two days.

[hiwords1]

not if i decide to be a post whore hehe

[joeyo]

I'm so tempted. I've just been concerned about the warranty issues down the road as others have stated. There is an Audi dealership in my general area that is an APR dealer...maybe I'll finally get around to calling them tomorrow.

[SupFly]

well, there is a large difference between having the money for it, and "being able to afford it." Being able to afford something means that the cost of the item fits within the framework of your budgetary priorities. Just because I HAVE 200 bucks for gas/month doesn't mean I WANT to spend 200 bucks per month on gas (i might have better plans for the money). In a similar way, you can have the money to have steak/sushi/seafood everyday for lunch, but that doesn't mean you can "afford it" based on your financial priorities. In any event, my point is that gas mileage DOES matter to us... I don't think that "if you can afford the car..." argument works as a responsible one unless you own an R8 or some other 6 figure supercar.

I suppose you have a point, but once you start noodling with the idea of flashing the ecu & getting the car to a point that when you next drive it, you wished it'd come from the dealer like that when you bought it....

I personally believe that mileage story becomes a far away buzzing noise that you can't even hear anymore. To each their own. I don't own an R8 or have that kind of budget..but having owned & flashed 2 audi's I still wouldn't think twice about it. Salud

[SupFly]

Let me explain what 'SupFLY' was probably trying to get across....

In NA driving this car in a way to enjoy the power vs. driving for maximum efficiency is the difference of about ~$500-600/year in fuel (for someone driving approx. 25000 km/year)....or about $40-50/month......if you can't afford an extra $40-50/month to enjoy the vehicle to its fullest vs always worrying about mileage .... buy a Corolla.

I'll take it Cory! :) I'll even go further that once you flash, a seed is planted that can grow quickly into a more horsies :)

[audig]

I'm so tempted. I've just been concerned about the warranty issues down the road as others have stated. There is an Audi dealership in my general area that is an APR dealer...maybe I'll finally get around to calling them tomorrow.

I'd be curious what that Audi dealer says about honoring the Audi warranty after a customer asks them to do an APR mod.

[hender]

I'd be curious what that Audi dealer says about honoring the Audi warranty after a customer asks them to do an APR mod.

i dont think the dealer would be allowed to install it unless they explicitly told you it voids the warranty or continued to honour the warranty after the fact.
mind you it probably includes some stupid mark-up, like Stasis (which reminds me, I thought stasis would have had some exclusive rights w/ audi. is it normal for an audi dealership to be a registered APR dealer?)


FREE OIL CHANGES FOR LIFE!
09'S IN STOCK WITH ZERO DOWN AND ZERO PERCENT FINANCING!
SAY BRIAN SENT YOU AND WE'LL VOID YOUR WARRANTY FOR $899!!!

[joeyo]

I thought stasis would have had some exclusive rights w/ audi. is it normal for an audi dealership to be a registered APR dealer?

This particular Audi dealership is both an APR dealer, and a STaSIS dealer...seemed odd, but whatever. A VW dealership in a neighboring town is also an APR dealer.

[DKA4]

Joeyo, You talking about Anchor Audi?

[joeyo]

Joeyo, You talking about Anchor Audi?

Yes, and Platinum VW. Didn't buy my car there, but found them on APR's website listed as dealers.

[speedtrip]

while we're talkin' about APR stage I flash (and while I wait for the 0-60 times--thanks for looking in to it, OP), my local speed shop quoted me $200 to apply the flash. seems like total BS. I'd rather drive to APR and have them do it (or find their traveling road show).

sometimes living in the midwest sucks--dealers/salespeople/speedshops assume you're as clueless as they are...

[hender]

while we're talkin' about APR stage I flash (and while I wait for the 0-60 times--thanks for looking in to it, OP), my local speed shop quoted me $200 to apply the flash. seems like total BS. I'd rather drive to APR and have them do it (or find their traveling road show).

sometimes living in the midwest sucks--dealers/salespeople/speedshops assume you're as clueless as they are...

name of the shop?

[speedtrip]

Reid Vann...I don't believe they've flashed a TFSI motor yet. Thought it was odd that they told me the horrors of a previous customer that wanted the flash removed off his automatic TT and made sure I understand that I'd have to pay again to have my flash removed.

[hender]

makes sense, labour is labour; you buy hardwood floors for $x a sq. ft (on sale by the manufacturer...or in this case, APR) but you gotta pay for someone to install them. same if you want them removed.

if somebody wants to charge through the roof for installation, you just go somewhere else! no shortage of tuning shops, i'm sure...

[Scorpio]

I had also got the fully loaded tune @ H20...its definately a great improvement over stock..at first I thought the idea of switching programs and using the cruise control was going to be annoying and take time to get used to, but its actually really simple. The only thing that I dont like is the anti theft feature, only because the car can still be turned On. Just the throttle is disabled, which on an auto, the car can still be slowly rolled away. I hope that theres a update to keep it completely from cranking at all.

Also found a really wierd problem while at H20. I had the can in drive, turned the e-brake on since there was a really slow drive to exit out and normally when I pressed the acclerator the brake would turn off and I would be able to accl, but instead my car completely shut off. I wasn't able to start or even remove the key fob. The guys at APR worked to figure out what happened and finally got the car to start/release the key fob, by disconnecting the battery. Aparently if you arent wearing your seatbelt that happens.

Anyways thanks to APR for all there help and for hooking me and my bros with free t-shirts. : )

[hiwords1]

UPDATE: I just went through $20 of gas at $3.01/gal. Well the light just turned on and that's when i fill up. I got 22.6 average mpg which is what I was getting before the chip. I'm going to continue monitoring and update again.



scorpio: what i didn't free T shirts WTF?

as for your problems, my car works either way. it automagically turns off the brakes and the car doesn't shut off if i don't have my seatbelt on, this is b4 and after vag mods.

[Cabal_san]

So tell us again why you only get half a tank (OP)?

Now the weight of gall of gas at 72o is about 6.86lbs. So half a tank more to full adds approx 7 or 8 more gallons, which would be about another say 55lbs to the gross car weight.

If you really worried about the 55lbs, I hope you pull out the spare tire/tools and jack also. I mean a triple A card weighs way less than those items!

Now I might see the logic of this half tank nonsense if our cars ran off of honey @ 12/lbs a gallon (thats close to 96lbs!). But really, spending more time on the road than pulled over in a gas station just makes more sense! You waste more gas pulling into the station every 3 days and killing your engine and filling up half way then just getting a complete tank and driving by the station.

[hender]

So tell us again why you only get half a tank (OP)?

Now the weight of gall of gas at 72o is about 6.86lbs. So half a tank more to full adds approx 7 or 8 more gallons, which would be about another say 55lbs to the gross car weight.

If you really worried about the 55lbs, I hope you pull out the spare tire/tools and jack also. I mean a triple A card weighs way less than those items!

Now I might see the logic of this half tank nonsense if our cars ran off of honey @ 12/lbs a gallon (thats close to 96lbs!). But really, spending more time on the road than pulled over in a gas station just makes more sense! You waste more gas pulling into the station every 3 days and killing your engine and filling up half way then just getting a complete tank and driving by the station.

I agree with the logic, but like you, i did some number crunching and found them to be negligible enough to just fill-up completely. much like air miles, you gotta wait years before you see any sort of worthwhile difference

[hiwords1]

price fluctuation. the gas price fluctuates like a mofo sometimes so i get less gas. i can also measure steady state mpg earlier. just an experimental constraint. next order of plan is to take my car to the drag strip and post some times. doubt i can fit that in before the season is over lol