apr stage 1 with warranty

[Rs5nardo]

I bought an rs5-2019. I have an extended warranty. I am not one to beat on the car. But once in awhile, have some fun. I see the apr stage 1 tune. I was going to put it on, till I saw modifications to the drivetrain void the warranty. The tune shop relayed they can flash it back if it goes in for an issue. But Ive heard that the car stores the amount of times it was flashed. I know warranty companies seek loopholes. What is the consensus of what people do for this scenario? Am I overthinking it?

[B6_Dolphin]

I bought an rs5-2019. I have an extended warranty. I am not one to beat on the car. But once in awhile, have some fun.

A piggy-back tuner is a good alternative, where it does not disturb the flash counter, but provides the extra power from a boost controller:

https://burgertuning.com/collections...audi-s4-s5-sq5

Burger Tuning has dedicated forums for the different platforms, too.

It also can be re-sold when you change vehicles in the future.

[AccordingToAlex]

Any ecu tune, ANY ecu tune, will show up when Audi scans your vehicle, regardless if has been flashed back to factory or not. They will TD1 your vehicle and drivetrain warranty will be void.

Piggyback is the way to go.

[Rs5nardo]

Wow. I had no idea of the piggyback tune. That doesn’t show? What about when I go in for service. Do I disconnect it?

[AccordingToAlex]

Wow. I had no idea of the piggyback tune. That doesn’t show? What about when I go in for service. Do I disconnect it?

Yes. Takes about 20 minutes to install or disconnect. Just don't be reckless with the tune and the dealer will never know you had a piggyback ECU.

[AccordingToAlex]

And yes you need to remove it before going to dealer as it plugs into your OBD2 port among other engine components.

[JohnEnglish]

Just remember that if the dealer really wants to, they can do a thorough scan and detect use of a piggyback even if it has been removed. Various control modules on the car will store things like historic torque and boost values which will be outside of normal ranges if you're using a piggyback.

A piggyback is the safest route, however, ultimately nothing is fool proof and if something catastrophic happens there is the real possibility that you will need to pay out of pocket.

[Rs5nardo]

All this information is great. Ty.

[Dave10]

If they deep scan they can also see a piggyback tune was on the car and removed. Nothing is not seen.

[Rs5nardo]

I'm starting to think it's not worth it messing with the warranty.

[AccordingToAlex]

Meh. You'll be fine with a piggyback. Like I said before, just be responsible with your tune, or just stick to default Map 2 and you won't blow anything up.

[Lethalsouls]

We have a user who went in for regular service with racechip still installed with no TD1.

I probably won't remove mine when I go in for year 2 service in the next few weeks. If I had some sort of warranty issue, it would definitely be removed prior to going in.

In the end though, it depends on the dealer. As others mentioned, any mod to ecu or engine carries a risk.

If you still want to go ecu tune over piggy, APR does offer a warranty with APR +. It's a lighter tune though than what they can offer without warranty. That said, we do have users with APR + that are satisfied with the tune.

In my opinion, since you have an extended warranty, look into Burger and racechip for the least risk at voiding the warranty.