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Go APR or stay UM?

iSpeed

iSpeed

Passed Driver's Ed
I think I'm opening up a small can or worms with this topic but its whats on my plate at the moment and I'm looking for some good insight from current UM KO4 and APR K04 users.

I currently am running UM on my mk6 GTI with just about every supporting mod there is (except meth). I have a new k04 sitting my garage itching to be installed but I'm on the fence for which tuner to use and here's why. I live in the middle of the pacific ocean where there is no APR dealer or UM dealer at all! (If you are wondering how I'm on UM now, well, I utilized their loaner tool program but it was not easy or fast at all.)

Dont get me wrong, I LOVE MY UM TUNE and it stomps every stage 2 I've come up against, however, I cant seem to find a single thread or dyno video about the UM K04 file on a Gen 1 GTI. Word on the streets out here is APR is coming to a shop near me and so I have this dilemma. It would be cheaper for me to go UM again because of the loyalty price but if APR shows up here soon then that would be even easier.

Are you on UM K04 or APR K04 3.1v? If you've had both then I really want to hear from you PLEASE!
 
R

redubbed

Ready to race!
Moving from UM's "K03" tune to their K04 tune is not free, they charge $500. This is the route I'm going once the weather warms up.
 
G

GroceryGTIer

Drag Racing Champion
redubbed said:
Moving from UM's "K03" tune to their K04 tune is not free, they charge $500. This is the route I'm going once the weather warms up.
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I didnt say it was free, once you get the tune, I said a revision is free, and it's making just as much as the stratified tunes are from what I've seen on the dyno charts.... and, at 250.00 that's still 250.00 more for the Cobb and stratified tune right? I love the AP, I'm simply saying that in general, it costs more and further revisions are not free from my understanding.
 
G

GroceryGTIer

Drag Racing Champion
I will also add that I like Alex and he seems like a really good guy to deal with. If you want the customer service and you want an APR or UM tune, the customer service sucks ass, so as long as the shop who does the tuning is good and you like them, then it's cool.
 
iSpeed

iSpeed

Passed Driver's Ed
GroceryGTIer said:
If he's already UM, they will revise the tune free and it won't cost him nearly as much.
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It's not necessarily about the money here. I'm more interested knowing if anyone has the UM K04 tune and their thoughts/experiences with it. Same goes for the APR.
 
G

GroceryGTIer

Drag Racing Champion
iSpeed said:
It's not necessarily about the money here. I'm more interested knowing if anyone has the UM K04 tune and their thoughts/experiences with it. Same goes for the APR.
Click to expand...

I have UM k04, I haven't had an issue that was tune based, I was told by a friend who has GIAC and has experiences with all tunes that UM has put down some of the best numbers, he's big into the racing scene and all that. I'm just now doing my carbon cleaning, so I could give a better impression after that's all done since it was pretty bad. I will say before my TOP issues and with the stock WGA, ported and polished hotside k04, plus the largest IC on the market (that I know of) the car would peak 22 and hold 20 all the way to red line. We're talking about an IC that's triple the size of the s3 IC, and 2.5 times larger than a neuspeed FMIC.

As was said in my other thread though, APR uses more boost vs other tunes that use more timing, etc. Ultimately, none will be that much different from the others imo.
 
iSpeed

iSpeed

Passed Driver's Ed
GroceryGTIer said:
I have UM k04, I haven't had an issue that was tune based, I was told by a friend who has GIAC and has experiences with all tunes that UM has put down some of the best numbers, he's big into the racing scene and all that. I'm just now doing my carbon cleaning, so I could give a better impression after that's all done since it was pretty bad. I will say before my TOP issues and with the stock WGA, ported and polished hotside k04, plus the largest IC on the market (that I know of) the car would peak 22 and hold 20 all the way to red line. We're talking about an IC that's triple the size of the s3 IC, and 2.5 times larger than a neuspeed FMIC.

As was said in my other thread though, APR uses more boost vs other tunes that use more timing, etc. Ultimately, none will be that much different from the others imo.
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Thanks for the imput!! Are you running a 3 bar or 2 bar MAP?
I just spoke with a guy on another forum that said he's on UM and he has a 3 bar MAP which allows more boost up to 28-30psi which makes out the K0 4 and makes it scream!
 
G

GroceryGTIer

Drag Racing Champion
iSpeed said:
Thanks for the imput!! Are you running a 3 bar or 2 bar MAP?
I just spoke with a guy on another forum that said he's on UM and he has a 3 bar MAP which allows more boost up to 28-30psi which makes out the K0 4 and makes it scream!
Click to expand...

I'm on the stock one, but UM told me it really didn't matter, whether that's true or not, idk, but if you have a large core IC, you don't need as much boost to make as much power, however, when you do up it, you can make more power with the larger IC vs one running a s smaller core IC. Definitely not all about psi.
 
lilonespaz

lilonespaz

Drag Race Newbie
GroceryGTIer said:
I'm on the stock one, but UM told me it really didn't matter, whether that's true or not, idk, but if you have a large core IC, you don't need as much boost to make as much power, however, when you do up it, you can make more power with the larger IC vs one running a s smaller core IC. Definitely not all about psi.
Click to expand...
that is the hardest thing to explain to someone stupid. Just because your baby turbo makes 25-30lbs of boost doesnt mean its better than the BIG turbo making 12-15lbs.

For really shitty purposes
If turbo #1 moves 300cfm at 30psi but turbo #2 moves 480cfm at 15psi which one is more powerful?

lol
 
Laimface

Laimface

Ready to race!
lilonespaz said:
that is the hardest thing to explain to someone stupid. Just because your baby turbo makes 25-30lbs of boost doesnt mean its better than the BIG turbo making 12-15lbs.

For really shitty purposes
If turbo #1 moves 300cfm at 30psi but turbo #2 moves 480cfm at 15psi which one is more powerful?

lol
Click to expand...

This. It's the reason why big V8s make silly power on boot such as 8psi. It's 8psi @ 10000000 cfm, where our puny golf engines would seem shit on 8psi @ 1cfm aha.
 
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