Great video Adam! It captures that dyno figures truly arent everything, and it matters most when rubber meets the road how it feels to drive. Drivability is something we spend the most time dialing in with our files, and I'm glad you like what we have to offer. Looking forward to the next set of videos!
I once said it’s personal choice on what tune you choose. I got hammered and a lot of people said it’s not personal choice it’s whichever tune is faster. Faster doesn’t always mean smoother or more enjoyable to drive. Great video and explanations
Yup, I had IE ecu and tcu S1. Was faster, but didn't shift right and went into limp mode several times. I got my money back and went with Unitronic. Less aggressive, but no problems. Only thing, no stage 2 on 91. So I'll possibly check out APR.
@TheMlvswoll I thought the same thing, but you'd be incorrect. On this platform, their tunes state Stage 1/2, meaning they'll still work with after-market downpipes. I assume you might simply need to use an O2 spacer to prevent a CEL
Your reasons for loving the APR and 034 maps are exactly why I've always loved low torque tunes on the mk7 (and mk8 soon). It feels more refined and controllable. One thing to note is that torque-limited files are generally more consistent than their high torque counterparts because there's more "head room" for the turbo to make the requested power in less-than-optimal conditions (namely warmer weather), assuming the tuner has enabled it.
Nicely done and everyone appreciates the transparency behind the process. Thats exactly what we need. I did one of these back to back on some LS stuff back in the day and people don't appreciate all the work involved, especially if its on your own coin. Respect man!
Thanks! I'm very happy to hear how much you've enjoyed the content. Very, VERY few people have any sort of understanding of how much work and money goes into making a video series like this.
Great job with these vids! 034 sounds like they tune just like GIAC always has with the off the shelf stuff. Smooth, linear power that is perfect for daily driving. I’m surprised they haven’t gotten into Mk8’s yet.
I cant wait to see your videos on E85 with the dsg. I hope it holds torque values without shutting down. Keep us posted and again, thank you for your hard work 🙏😎
Adam, amazing channel and amazing series - thank you for all the hard work!! Question for you: do you have any updates/ideas when the TCU will be unlocked or TCU software will be available to do some stage 1 91/93 high torque file comparisons? For example it looks like on 034’s website that they have high torque stage 1 files available now as well as TCU software, not sure about the other tuners. Anyway, can’t wait for more content on the GTI and thank you again!!
Sadly there's been no word on when the 401 bootloader will be unlocked so we can all tune it. The Unitronic and Tunezilla tunes I tested are pretty much full torque on an unlocked TCU anyways. I don't think I'll end up testing any files with a tuned TCU though. Sorry!
I have the Unitronic stage 1 on my 6 speed and the torque does hit hard. I rarely ever drive it hard. I also had it on my 2019 Jetta GLI 6 speed. Noticeable difference between the Mk7 GLI an d the Mk8 GTI. It was smoother on the Mk7. I did put over 25k miles on the Mk7. Still very happy with the Mk8..
Another great video, I enjoyed watching and hearing your comments on DD. A test I'll run sometimes is a 60-90 way quicker than 60-130 but it gets in one shift and no traction issues like a 0-60 or 60' time. I know lots of people will disagree but it can show some differences, not suggesting for you to do that, it's just a comment. Looking forward to the E85 data. You have to wonder how much different your GTI would run with a TCU, hoping the tuners can fix the issue sometime soon.
Great video, just to throw my two cents on experience with what’s out there. I ended up going with racing line stage 1 because apr couldn’t do my box code. Could not be happier. Night and day difference from stock. Pretty linear power delivery with a slight boost on high rpm Despite the conservative wrap I’ve seen online for RL, for the mk8 tuned power is comparable with other tunes when comparing those tunes stock runs vs tuned runs. Again zero regrets and looking forward to their next update to upgrade further with them.
Not sure how you're even able to say that the power you're making is comparable to what I tested without making a direction comparison like I did, but I'm happy you're happy with your purchase. I invited RacingLine to participate, but they declined.
Great test. Would be great to see custom tune vs OTS;). I live in Poland and everyone believe that only custom tuning works. I think for stage 1 cars ots is better solution but would be nice to hear other opinions
Well both types of tunes have their advantages. With OTS tuning, you can tune it and forget it, and it works. Custom tuning takes time, effort, and in some cases money to squeeze out every last drop of power, which to the average person they wouldn't even notice. For the people that take their car's performance seriously, you might get a slightly better performing car on a custom tune.
@@VancityAudigood custom map is propably better then good OTS but it also need a lot od development. When ppl make customs tune their just use dyno runs to get good Numbers, they dont test the car on the road mostly, do not track it. I think custom map done on the dyno within two hours is far from being as polished as OTS tested for several months. Sure if You just need to be 0.1 or 0.5 sec faster You should go custom;)
Too bad EQT didn’t participate. I’m Stage 3 EQT mk8 GTI now but came from Uni Stage 2 to EQT stage 2 before Stage 3 and it was so much smoother, I couldn’t believe the difference. It’s Custom vs OTS but it was so much smoother and more power which is always a bonus.
Good video. Actually I’m a little surprised about the opinion of Unitronic. They have always been labeled as a “mild” tune. I have used them on a number of cars and found them to be more linear than other tuners and I liked that compared to my APR high torque which more of the torque hit and less top end.
Unitronic, a mild tune? I've never heard of that before and can happily state that isn't true. I've used their software on multiple platforms now, and it's never been mild.
@@VancityAudi Yes sir i have done wot pulls on cold and hot air no problem , I done the same in all files from stage 1 93 to stage 1 on e85 , stage 1 e85 gbx files all of them no problem in the cold or hot weather.
@Ourgarageautodetail no need to apologize! I didn't make a formal announcement. I figured I'd make one final video for everyone once it's been repaired so I can walk everyone through what we found when we tore down the motor.
Man I caught a lot of flack when I said I'd never let UM touch my car. Well, now you see why. I have to assume you told them the TCU was stock yet they didn't care when they sent that file. I'm not much of a fan of 034 but I'm glad you found a tuner you liked and worked well for you. Good video.
Man the hate is real, lol! Your selective hearing must have missed the fact that I said that it did pretty much the same thing on Unitronic's tune as well, lol. I'd say it's a fair assumption to make that only APR and 034 would have had normal gear changes during 60-130mph testing because their torque levels are so much lower than the other 3 tunes.
@@VancityAudiYes, I caught that and was surprised too but Uni also isn't known as destroyers of blocks and turbos. You can tell which platforms and tunes they put effort into and others they just sorta mail it in but I've never seen a log of one of their tunes and thought "hmmm, this is dangerous."
That 60-130 was honestly really what I wanted to see. Because gladly you have most of the tunes. Those real world problems are just that, in racing you'll get that. Especially when nobody has unlocked tcu tunes yet. I really wanted to see how the "punch early" tunes compared to the linear ones. Regardless looking forward to the e85 testing
I would have loved to show everyone those results too. Sadly though the amount of time & energy I spent to just end up throwing it down the drain just kills me. Maybe one day I'll be feeling it again, but for now, I have zero interest in performing that testing.
Hey Adamn Audi Great work with this stuff. I questioned you a while ago about an APR tune for an Audi 22Q8 and it wasn't available so in my impatience I purchased a 23 SQ8. I've been told by my tuner that they now have a tune for the SQ. I have found your research very good for me. I like the Plus on the APR tune since the car is new. I thought the Plus was available for 93 octane and since that's all I use , will the 91 tune work? There are not a lot of stations that sell 91 around here.
APR Plus is not offered for 93 octane tunes, only 91 octane tunes. You'll get optimal performance running their 91 octane tune while filling up with 93 octane fuel. Here's the info on their tuning from their site: www.goapr.com/products/software/ecu_upgrade/gasoline/8/40t_ea825/parts/ECU-40T-EA825-4M-SQ
Running Unitronic on my DSG and I’m having the exact same situation you experienced. Unitronic feels great down low but falls on its face on the upper gears.
Mine didn't fall on its face, so my apologies if I made it sound like that. It was simply during gear changes that it had a hesitation and brief power loss before it got back into it.
Super interesting. Can't imagine how many people are jumping on tunes after only looking at peak HP / dyno sheets and nothing else. Smoothness and drivability is subjective like you said but with what you're reporting it makes ya wonder, are these companies other than 034 even doing much (if any) real world testing? If they were, how the hell would they think it's ok to release tunes where you can clearly feel the car struggling during gear changes at WOT? Don't even own a GTI and likely never will but thanks for taking the time to do this, I'm sure the MK8 community appreciates it!
From what some people have reported back to me, it could be my particular transmission not behaving well. Others claim to be running some of the higher torque tunes, and their drivability is totally fine. I'll be doing some clutch adaptations to see if that improves my shifting.
Do you think they will ever unlock the TCUs for 2022+ models? I have a 2024 mk8 gti, and while I don't plan on tuning it for at least a couple more years due to warranty reasons, I'm starting to lose hope on if they will be able to crack the new tcu's. I keep hearing that the ECU tune is not as good without the TCU tune and doesn't feel natural with out the TCU tune, what do you think? Do you think the stock TCU will hold up with a low torque tune long term? While I love the GTI, being my 4th one, I probably would have gone a different route have i have known the TCU may never be unlocked and I don't want to damage my transmission or have a unnatural feeling to the vehicle.
Boost by gear and linear power delivery across the gears do not go together especially on a stock gear box. You can not have the best of both worlds on a stock gearbox and for sure post an update once DSG software is available.
There was one video by @jvette01 and it made me scared that the tunes were pointless and I was really hoping to at least see a stock vs a tuned 100-200, so to this day no clue if the tunes make any difference. Any chance for a short showing the 034 run?
Are you referring to a stock ECU tune vs a tuned ECU? If you are, I'm not sure who that guy is you're referencing, but he/she is absolutely full of sh$t if they're saying you can't feel the difference between a tuned and untuned ECU. It's literally night and day.
@@VancityAudi @VancityAudi no they had a race between a stage 1 vs stock DSG GTI and the tuned one just wouldn't 1 But yes I want to see a 100-200 stock vs tuned
@crazyframes872 this is going to sound horrible to read via text, but know I have a smile on my face while saying it.... You'd have to be an idiot to think a Stock GTI would beat a Unitronic Stage 1 tuned GTI in a roll race. If you saw a video of that happening you should automatically understand that the tuned car wasn't running properly and that something must have been up with it. Or that the guy/girl driving the tuned GTI had no idea how to properly be in the powerband during a roll race.
Haha, thanks! Funny you say that. One of the locals I race with tried to raise money for me without my knowledge to help pay for my two engine failures that happened within a week of each other last year. He got ABSOLUTELY ROASTED on social media for trying to help me. The consensus was that it was my responsibility to fix everything on my own dime and not everyone else's. I asked him to take everything down and return any donations received once I saw how many people thought I deserved f$ck all for all my efforts to help the communities.
@@moochiezpittya, it's f$cking brutal. People think I make millions off of making these videos to help people. I make VERY little off of RU-vid revenue. The best way people can help me is by using my promo codes when making their software & hardware purchases.
To bad the clutch on every single one of these things is HOT ASS GARBARGE and if you even add 1lb of torque - bye bye clutch lmao- obv its not that low- but if you add any real power or ANY tune- without gimping the torque- its gg
It definitely sucks, but with the ignorance I've seen in this community I wanted to make sure that everyone knew as much as possible before I went into things.
