APR Stage 1 - Jetta 147 TSi MK VI

[neiliss]

Decided to take the plunge and get a ECU upgrade. I have read up so much on this and what was common was as follows.

Pro's
- Upgrade is best bang for the buck you can get
- Very little in the way of intruding into the car itself (ECU remap is my understanding)
- Good support

Con's
- Warranty
- Possible premature wear and tear on some parts
- Torque for the 6 speed DSG
- My son has a P so if he drives the car need to map back to stock for him
- Insurance claim's

Based on all of this I decided it was worthwhile for me to do the upgrade as I really enjoy the car and driving so a bit more oomph didnt seem like a bad thing. Let me address all of the Con's first.

- Warranty. This is most people's biggest issue and I believe the one that needs to be looked into and accepted first before doing the upgrade. Sure they may never find out but lets be honest, for most enthusiasts even if they dont check the ECU a simple web search with your name will probably bring up a thread like this with all your upgrades. I am happy with this risk and if I have a warranty claim and they say it is due to the APR I am happy to to get them to prove it and would suggest with all of the negative publicity they have right now this is no issue. I also add that the reason I bought the car is because for engine I think they are well proven reliable cars regardless of the fact that some issues will always occur.

- Premature wear and tear. Yep it's an issue, tires probably and I would say maybe brakes but happy to pay to play

- Torque for 6 speed. The number of 350nm and so on being bandied about have no substantiation so I am just going to ignore this one as it has never been an issue for anyone.

- My son's P's. I can reset to stock on the APR if I want and it is probably a good reason for him to drive his own car rather than mine :)

- Insurance claim. I phoned up my insurer and told them I was getting an ecu remap and upgrade and they said as long as no new parts all good and nothing to tell them about.

Thats what I have and how I made my decision to go for it. Will add more to this thread for those interested in terms of why I went APR, fuel economy stock vs tuned, performance and drivability etc.

Cheers
Neil
Jetta 147 TSi APR Stage 1

[team_v]

Glad you are enjoying it.
Hope we can get you out to some of our events Neil.

[Andypoo]

Neiliss - Was this not an anti-tune ECU, I went for a VIEZU check today at my local dealer but it's anti tune and needs to be taken out.

Thinking of now going to APR. (I have the 1.4)

[neiliss]

Sounds like a plan I will check them out.

Cheers

[neiliss]

Not 100% certain, basically from what I understand (and they did try and explain but I am a bit of a noob still at this) was that they could not flash it via OBD but it did have a relevant program. That meant they had to take the ECU out (they checked for security screws first which were not present) and form what I could see flashed it elsewhere in the workshop (I presume directly) and the put it back. All of this was pretty painless and took about an hour. I think that if they didnt have a flash for mine that apparently they would then have to take a copy of the ECU and send it to APR who would in turn send them a new flash for it maybe a week later, that was worst case but I didnt have to do that.

Hope that kind of explains it from a laymans pov.

Cheerd

[ope126]

Well done mate - I trust you will enjoy the ride!!!

Keep an eye on economy also, you might find it improves as well...

[neiliss]

Well done mate - I trust you will enjoy the ride!!!

Keep an eye on economy also, you might find it improves as well...

Yes I have just posted in the ECU Tweaks thread and already seeing it at least not look worse and possible seem better, but I think the best part is that when you are idling along there is still accessible power to go when you have to without having to kick down and I would expect blow fuel consumption away in the process which will lead to better overall consumption and a better driving experience.

Now all I want is AWD on the Jetta :)

[Martin]

The Stage one torque is inside the 6 speed DSG capability - no problem there

You will find that the top end power is down from stock - revs out slower over 5000rpm
I proved this with back to back 0-100kmph runs
I then upgraded to stage 2 and that was awesome

I've dropped my oil change intervals from 15,000km to 10,000km to provide the engine a little better protection from wear
I'm also going to change the DSG oil at 40,000km rather than 60,000km

I'm absolutely certain this cheap initiative works because 3 weeks ago I bought a Nissan 350Z to use as club race car
It has 248,000km on the clock and is still tight and performs better than 350Z's with 130,000km on the clock
The car had one own from new, he changed the oil at 5,000km himself and also got the factory 10,000km services
The high km have killed the economic value of the car but not it's performance

Another thing you can do for the Jetta is get the supaloy front control arms
These give more castor which provides additional straight line stability
You can also adjust these to get -1.45 negative camber which improves cornering
These also knock out axel tramp from hard starts
It's a really great option to improve handling

[neiliss]

The Stage one torque is inside the 6 speed DSG capability - no problem there

You will find that the top end power is down from stock - revs out slower over 5000rpm
I proved this with back to back 0-100kmph runs
I then upgraded to stage 2 and that was awesome


Hey Martin, thanks for the info. I have noticed the power shift difference already and actually find driving in D much more fun and no point moving to S for higher rev anymore. The in gear times seem very quick and even a bit manic with the DSC coming on in 2nd and even 3rd which is a bit crazy.

As for other upgrades, I will run this one in and then see where we go. I love the car it suits me and has everything specced that I could so would love to keep it for a while and just add mods but probably wait for 6-12 months for the next set.

Ciao
N

[Martin]

Hey Martin, thanks for the info. I have noticed the power shift difference already and actually find driving in D much more fun and no point moving to S for higher rev anymore. The in gear times seem very quick and even a bit manic with the DSC coming on in 2nd and even 3rd which is a bit crazy.

Indeed - the stage 1 torque boost and the DSG shifting work awesome

[neiliss]

A few updates.

Fuel Economy: I cannot say that it has improved but I can certainly see no worse in the past few weeks of mainly city driving

DSG - D: The DSG to me feels even smoother than it was before especially in D mode and when taking off with a bit more revs. Gear changes can be very enthusiastic but just leaving the car in D works so well now.

DSG - S: I am still not really using S anymore but may do a bit of this mode next week and see how I go.

DSG - M: I have started to get used to the torque now and playing around with manual DSG. It is just as awesome as it was before and maybe a little more awesome that I expected it to be in M. Flicking through the DSG is always fun and with all the torque it is just more fun now.

0-100: Okay so not 0-100 but just getting of the line at a stop light really. I am finding no more tyre squeal than before and again as long as I am not too enthusiastic actually feels much better than before with so much torque available right off the line as long as I dont floor it

Overtaking: What can I say I feel like I am driving a lambo or something now :)

Sound: Again not sure if I am just more aware of it but the turbo sounds nicer to me now, again might just be perception or maybe driving with a few higher revs

Downsides: Possible front tyre wear but that is all up to me. Additional fuel consumption but again all up to me as the driver. I also think it may be a bit of a downside for some that you cannot do a test of the system. For me this was no issue but I have read a lot of posts where you just went in, got the flash done in an hour with an expiry date on it and then if you wanted to keep it you pay and then put in a pin and it is all yours. Maybe this was available to me, either way it wouldn't matter for me but I suggest those hesitant enquire if this option is available as a try before you buy at least then you are able to see for yourself. I am not going to retention warranty/insurance etc. as they ar not downside of the system itself and personal choices you need to make.

Current verdict: After just a few weeks I am growing to love the small but what seems like a very important upgrade to the car. I already love the car and this has just made it even more enjoyable to drive. I will post any significant updates in this thread or feel free to ask me any questions I am happy to try and answer them as a new user of this awesome system.

Ciao
N

Jetta 147 TSi APR Stage 1

[neiliss]

Hi everyone, just to finish off this thread I thought I would post my fuel consumption findings after 1 month living with my new APR Stage 1.

In around town stop start driving I have seen no significant increase although I have found an increase in ease of driving due to the increased mid range torque so I conclude that the driving is better and the fuel is no worse which is good.

On the highway I have done a few hundred kays of usual travel that I have tested prior to the Stage 1 and I am happy to report no increase consumption and again easier more reactive driving abilities.

For those interested the trip computer reported on a drive of around 120km of 110km/h and 100km/h highway with some roadwork sections down to 60km/h an average consumption of 6.3l/100km. This was with no special driving style, just normal driving.

So in conclusion I am very happy with my new APR Stage 1 update and highly recommend this to any owner looking for a more responsive and better to drive jetta (or golf or passat...).

Ciao
N

[Martin]

That's the beauty of the turbo,
A large dynamic range of power output (min to max) and same goes for fuel consumption
Where as my Nissan 350Z (3.5 litre V6) drinks fuel all the time

[neiliss]

Drive from NSW Tweed Coast back to Brisbane, mixture of 100/110 and road works and managed 6.0 to the city and then edged up to 6.1 by the time I got home. I think this is excellent and not any abnormal driving just a normal drive. My previous NA Honda Type-R could never get that low.