Unitronic Stage 2+ (k04 hardware!) review

wireless said:

Is it really that noticeable though? (the DSG tune) - I haven't ridden in a car with one though to be honest.

I want an IC - but I want it to be a noticeable upgrade, not something minor.

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the dsg is wayyyy more efficient to me since i got it tuned. shifts better and faster.

Hmm... I would like "D" to be better.

If I put the car into S, it's a completely different animal to be honest. Better than the manual shifting too IMO lol

vdubvroom said:

the dsg is wayyyy more efficient to me since i got it tuned. shifts better and faster.

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ya. its not noticeable much when you first get it. . until you have it, and then remove it. (using uniconnect at home) then you see everything you are missing. its like tightening all the bolts on your tranny so it doesnt sound loose anymore.

but D mode sucks and always will. no tune will change that. my car is a dog in D mode, every shift feels like its bogging the whole car down, but its amazing with manual shifts in M mode. wish there wasnt such a ledge there. the D mode shifts too early in every gear, right when you are approaching the power band. thats why it bogs so bad. i want it to shift in D mode like it does in M mode. but i guess there wouldnt be any need for M mode then... but if D mode shifted just like M mode did... i wouldnt need M mode to begin with, and i would stay in D mode.

when you can choose your exact shift points at home, that's when the game will change. i want to test every 250rpm shift point from 2000-5000rpms in D mode to see which one is perfect for my desires. And even have different shift points for each gear. that will never happen, too much risk when customers tune themselves.

D mode
1st gear should shift at 3500
2nd gear should shift at 4500
3rd gear should shift at 5000
4th gear should shift at 5500
(just guesses, i would need to do testing at every rpm for the real numbers.)

i know its all throttle dependent also, and the above is fairly impossible to quantify or reproduce.

And D mode needs the same throttle input setting as M mode. The M mode throttle is a lot more responsive for the distance traveled.

hmm... so D mode sucks still, but the shifts etc are all still better? I'd very much like it to be better, but honestly it's more than fine for my average driving, even though I find myself using M mode about half of the time unless I'm doing a long cruise..

wireless said:

hmm... so D mode sucks still, but the shifts etc are all still better? I'd very much like it to be better, but honestly it's more than fine for my average driving, even though I find myself using M mode about half of the time unless I'm doing a long cruise..

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well, i think anyone with any DSG tune would say D mode sucks. D mode is very hard to get working equal to M mode, maybe it's not even possible, don't know. but like i tested last week, i went back to stock DSG tune for a test. I couldnt stand it after a 15 min drive and had to flash back to my Unitronic DSG tune. You don't notice the difference until you have to do without it.

wireless said:

Hmm... I would like "D" to be better.

If I put the car into S, it's a completely different animal to be honest. Better than the manual shifting too IMO lol

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I have the Unitronic DSG tune, it makes a big difference in D & manual mode. The manual mode is faster and so is the D mode but in regular traffic the Unitronic D mode does't upshift as much and it downshifts too.

s mode with the tune... is pretty nuts. I have used my D mode a lot more since i got the tune to tell any differences. deff downshifts way more keeping power ready. like they said city driving with it, eh.. but i am overly satisfied with stage 2 dsg tune

is the difference anything that a video can pick up? I've honestly never really seen a review of the DSG tune.. or my search just didn't work.. would've gotten it at the same time as my k04 if I felt it would be a good buy lol

i made a video of my 2013, but its not very revealing. my 2011 DSG video is a little better.

Like I posted on DFWeuros let me know where you dyno would like to dyno the same day as a comparison between the two.

Wireless do you have an Instagram?

2013R said:

i made a video of my 2013, but its not very revealing. my 2011 DSG video is a little better.

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Hmm, I think I can even hear the difference of it shifting... I've been trying to find a side-by-side (or picture in picture) comparo but can't... maybe I'll make one if I get a DSG tune.. I need something better to record with though than my cell phone or DSLR lol

WalkerT said:

Like I posted on DFWeuros let me know where you dyno would like to dyno the same day as a comparison between the two.

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Sounds good! I'm thinking Alamoautosports, or somewhere else (not sure of where I can get dyno'd in the dfw area, preferably closer to the Dallas side..) but I'd like that! WOOHOO someone else that's unitronic! lol

willnando said:

Wireless do you have an Instagram?

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I do... I never use it, but I have one... lol. I don't even know the last time I uploaded something to it

wireless said:

I do... I never use it, but I have one... lol. I don't even know the last time I uploaded something to it

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Lol I see! I just like it bc its another way of people seeing what I got going on with my car. Though I'm pretty much stock.

2013R said:

i made a video of my 2013, but its not very revealing. my 2011 DSG video is a little better.

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Thanks for this! It made me get Unitronic stage 1 & stage 1 DSG on my 2nd GTI.

Just a quick bump - I've had it for almost 3 months now.

Still love it. First few weeks of the honeymoon effect wore off - and I'm still loving it. I don't see myself growing tired of the power - in all honesty, I'm almost done modding this car. I don't consider stickier tires a mod (but I will need them, probably next Spring)

Maybe a few more mods - rear sway, Neuspeed pipes, etc... but in the power department, I'm completely satisfied.

I only have positive things to say about the Unitronic tune. It feels like a GTI that rolls off of the showroom floor would feel - except with a lot more in the balls.