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What exactly does an APR Stage 1 flash change?

hugoender1

Ready to race!
So I know the ECU is the processor or brain of the car but what I do not know is exactly what it controls. More specifically:

1. What does the APR Stage 1 flash CHANGE in the ECU?
2. How is it that it is able to give you more horsepower and torque?
3. And how can it do this while maintaining/improving gas mileage?

The more specific you are the better. I want details.

Thank you.

P.S. Bonus point if someone from APR can answer these questions in detail :D
 
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EvL BuNNY

Ready to race!
the ecu controls everything under your hood. all functions of the engine

it gives you more power and torque mainly by raising the boost pressure of the turbo (controlled by ECU)

if you drive your car hard you will go threw gas. from my experience i lost gas mileage.... this is because i have a lead foot and usually drive fast and accelerate hard.
if you dont drive like me you may keep the same gas mileage.

im not from apr but thats just what i know.. im sure they would be able to give you more detail
 

Mk6golfer

Ready to race!
If you have 93 octane in your area like me, they can do a 93 octane tune which increases boost safely to that level which creates more power. Boost range is lower from the factory to 1) keep power down for its intended place in the car market and 2) so people who use 87 octane wont blow up the engine. Plus they have to tune it so that it will run perfectly fine for all driving conditions, drivers, and fuel.

These are obviously not details, but maybe Arin will get on here and explain more :thumbsup:
 

Nicks06TR

Ready to race!
If I understand correctly, the APR chip does two things:

1. Since the diverter valve is the boost controller on this vehicle (rather than using vacuum lines and such), it is programmed to remain closed and hold boost until it reaches a higher boost pressure.

2. The fuel mapping is slightly reworked to accommodate extra boost.

Neither of these things are easily accomplished tasks, unless you get a tune.
 

lilzim

Passed Driver's Ed
I'll probably get a lot of crap for this, because it's for Subies which are very much different...but I'll post it anyways. It helped me get an idea of what the ECU actually controls and how it does it. Very good write up if you want to take the time to go through it page by page. Just understand that this is for a turbo boxer engine, not the TSI.

http://www.cobbforums.com/forums/images/AccessTUNERSoftwareCalibrationTuningGuidesSubarusv111.pdf

This should give you a general idea of what the guys at APR are doing.
 

Turbo GTI1

New member
I won't say I know or understand how it gets better gas mileage but with my MKV (GIAC) when I drove the speed limit I was getting anywhere from 32-40 MPG. When I was speed racer I got in the low to mid 20's. It all depends on how you drive.
 

Arin@APR

GOLFMK7 Official Sponsor
1. What does the APR Stage 1 flash CHANGE in the ECU?

From a calibration standpoint hundreds of maps and variables are changed. The primary 'power' adjustments are not simple 1 map changes. They are changes to multiple maps as they are all interwoven. One maps controls the output of another essentially. What it basically will boil down to is an increase in load. This will come from an alteration of boost pressure, fueling, and ignition timing. From there there are many changes to compensational data to accommodate for these alterations to ensure the changes are safe in all operating conditions. There are also control strategies altered to ensure drivability and power delivery is still smooth and some protection strategies are altered to safely accommodate for the increase in power.

2. How is it that it is able to give you more horsepower and torque?

We can create more power by asking more from the engine. Your turbo from the factory has a lot of head room left in it. If you spin it faster, it will make more boost. More boost will make more power.

3. And how can it do this while maintaining/improving gas mileage?

Under wide open throttle you're not going to see an increase, but with normal driving most report an increase. This is due to alteration of maps that increase the efficiency of the engine while just put putting around. The car was tuned from the factory for slightly less than 91 octane. If you are using a 93 octane mode with 93 octane fuel, we are able to advance an adjust things such as ignition timing to increase engine output without requiring more fuel. So a little blip of the throttle = more power with less fuel consumed so you can coast a bit further w/o keeping your foot on the gas.
 

My2ndGTI

Ready to race!
Great answer. Thanks Arin.

I picked my GTI up last week. I took it to a loacal APR installer, but when he plugged into the car said that my ECU could not be flashed, but rather needed to be taken out and done on the bench. He said that they don't yet have the part/piece/software/??? that they needed to upgrade my ECU.

I have heard so many people say that they have had their 2010 GTI chipped that I was surprised to hear they didn't have the necessary pieces to do the job for me.

What are they waiting from from APR?

Thanks
 

Mk6golfer

Ready to race!
The car was tuned from the factory for slightly less than 91 octane.

So would you say 89 octane is perfectly safe/acceptable to run on a stock tune? Or would you recommend going 93?

My area has:
87
89 (+10c over 87)
93 (+20c over 89)

^^ prices are on avg
 

Walter2

Ready to race!
Can you guys make a 92 octane tune PLEASE!!!!! Haha just kidding, but thats all we get on the islands :(
 

peechu

Passed Driver's Ed
Hi Arlin,

Thanks for this useful information. I have 200 miles on my GTI and I already feel the need for more pull. How many miles do you recommend waiting until I go stage 1?


I'd also like to know this.

I'm new to cars in a way because I've been driving a volvo s80 for the first 5 years of my driving history and WAS a point A point B guy. After doing research, learning stickshift and test driving several cars in the "cheap speed" bracket I got hooked :) Now I love learning how everything works and be able to chat with my gearhead friends about this stuff. That said, one of them actually owns a MK5 GTI (dsg) and let me test drive his car chipped and flashed to stage 1 and oh my :D. (remember, new to the feeling of ACTUALLY having power)

I've had the car for a month and I'm at 1200miles desperately restraining myself from finding excuses to drive (since I want to get the low mileage discount for my insurance). I'm really considering this mod for my car since I saved quite a bit (24400 off the lot) for my all stock car, and 80% of the time I'm driving economically so I could use that increase in fuel efficiency (it would also make the 20% of the time I spend playing around much more fun as well). I'm looking to spend around 1000 to 1200 on this flash and I'm wondering if I'm being unrealistic with that number as well.

So how many more miles do I need before I can safely go to stage 1, and from complete stock, what would I need to install beforehand?
 

edgary

Ready to race!
I'm looking to spend around 1000 to 1200 on this flash and I'm wondering if I'm being unrealistic with that number as well.

So how many more miles do I need before I can safely go to stage 1, and from complete stock, what would I need to install beforehand?

The price for the Stage 1 flash is $599 + potential labor charges (depending on the shop you get it done at), and through the end of the month there's a special giving a load of features for that price (run a search in this forum to find the details). So, for $1,000-$1,200 you could either get some additional performance upgrades, or save the rest for something else. Pretty sweet, huh?

As far as how long should one wait. You could get it done this week, cash in on the offer, and run the stock program that came from the factory (one of the options in such promotion), and run it as if it wasn't chipped; meaning, just like today. Or, you can wait until you fell comfortable (the "appropriate mileage range" to wait has been tossed around and you might get differing opinions from different people) and get the upgrade later on.
 
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