What to do next?

[TsG Seal]

I have a stock mk6 and I want to get a little bit more power out of it. Would it be a good direction to get a stage 1 to get rid of 135mph limit? If I do go stage 1 what else should I upgrade. Again not going insane but maybe getting to 300 hp.

 

[tdream1]

Welcome!

A Stage 1 tune from APR or Unitronic will put a smile on your face. There are other tuning companies you can look into, but APR and Unitronic have been providing solid flash tunes for many years. Depending on if you have a manual or DSG, you may eventually want to look into a clutch upgrade or a DSG flash, respectively. I had my 2010 tuned at 600 miles by APR and was super happy with it.

It's a slippery slope as you can see in my signature.

 

[GolNat]

Stage 1 minimum. Then go stage 2 once that fun wears off.

 

[jay745]

You're not going to hit 300 on a stage 1/2. It's still a good upgrade, consider skipping those all together and just buy a k04/downpipe and intercooler

 

[Thumper]

Stage 1 minimum. Then go stage 2 once that fun wears off.

Yup, which it definitely will. lol

I started in a '12 GTI, Stg 1 just to wake it up, that's all I'll need......not long after.....well, Stg 2 is just a DP that's easy enough and get some more power, that'll be good........when I ended up trading it in for an S3 to get AWD I was looking at K04 for it lol

Now I have a Stg3 R......and I am hoping I can get it built out to 500HP+ down the road a few years. lol

You're not going to hit 300 on a stage 1/2. It's still a good upgrade, consider skipping those all together and just buy a k04/downpipe and intercooler

This is very sound advice if OP is already looking for a goal of 300HP.

Plus I recommend planning for engine mounts, no reason to go that far and then give power away to engine flex.

 

[tdream1]

You're not going to hit 300 on a stage 1/2. It's still a good upgrade, consider skipping those all together and just buy a k04/downpipe and intercooler

Yes, for sure needs K04 minimum for the 300 HP mark, but the fun that can be had for less than $500 is a great start.

 

[TsG Seal]

Welcome!

A Stage 1 tune from APR or Unitronic will put a smile on your face. There are other tuning companies you can look into, but APR and Unitronic have been providing solid flash tunes for many years. Depending on if you have a manual or DSG, you may eventually want to look into a clutch upgrade or a DSG flash, respectively. I had my 2010 tuned at 600 miles by APR and was super happy with it.

It's a slippery slope as you can see in my signature.

I have a Manual, would I still be better to get an APR?

 

[TsG Seal]

Yup, which it definitely will. lol

I started in a '12 GTI, Stg 1 just to wake it up, that's all I'll need......not long after.....well, Stg 2 is just a DP that's easy enough and get some more power, that'll be good........when I ended up trading it in for an S3 to get AWD I was looking at K04 for it lol

Now I have a Stg3 R......and I am hoping I can get it built out to 500HP+ down the road a few years. lol




This is very sound advice if OP is already looking for a goal of 300HP.

Plus I recommend planning for engine mounts, no reason to go that far and then give power away to engine flex.

Would you recommend any engine mounts?

 

[tdream1]

I have a Manual, would I still be better to get an APR?

You’d be happy with either APR or Unitronic. If you have an APR dealer near you, then that’s the route I’d go.

 

[TsG Seal]

You’d be happy with either APR or Unitronic. If you have an APR dealer near you, then that’s the route I’d go.

I am going the APR route do I need to change anything I do differently to keep my car running smoothly? Also should I invest in engine mounts before the tune?

 

[tdream1]

I am going the APR route do I need to change anything I do differently to keep my car running smoothly? Also should I invest in engine mounts before the tune?

With the exception of having extra coil packs on hand, just in case. Just keep up with your regular maintenance as usual. I wouldn’t do mounts until you feel you need them. I didn’t do anything with mounts until I had a K04 installed.

 

[aspro_gti]

Engine mounts aren't really necessary - I'm still on stock ones and they work just fine.
If you're on a golf R, don't you already have K04?

Here's the order I'd recommend you follow:
1 - Cold air intake (or drop in filter) and tune - the intake makes a lovely noise and isn't expensive
2 - Downpipe and retune (consider ignition upgrades)
3 - Front mount intercooler with oem delete kit (ARM is expensive imo, I'd recommend a treadstone if you can fab piping)

All the while, you can upgrade your catback for nice sound (the downpipe is the part that affects performance so this is just for sound) and a shortshifter (CTS is the one I have and I love it to death)

 

[Thumper]

Engine mounts aren't really necessary - I'm still on stock ones and they work just fine.
If you're on a golf R, don't you already have K04?

Us R guys are kinda rare around here everyone just assumes you're in a GTI. Even I missed it at first. 300HP in a Golf R is easily done with a DP and tune.

Yeah, mounts are not required until you get up into the higher power outputs, but they are a good upgrade in my opinion. Not something you need to do or do first though.

You shouldn't ignore it no matter what but be 100% on top of your cam follower if tuning, I bought mine from FCPEuro so replacements are free, with Stg3 and I track regularly I am now changing mine every 10k or once a year regardless of mileage. Once you change yours a couple times and look at the wear you can figure out how often you will have to do it. But I wouldn't run it over 15-20k without looking at it. Some people get 50k out of them or more, some are around 20k.....mine scares the crap out of me with as bad as it looks after 12k lol

 

[TsG Seal]

Also with the apr tune should I get an intake upgrade?

 

[GolNat]

If ya want. Allows you to hear some nice induction noises.