Congrats, you have officially caught the "mod bug" LOL!
Glad your enjoying Stage 1, it's fun for sure. If you think you have pedal on the highway at stage 1 though you should feel stage 2.
The Unitronic Intake is nice. People seem to be really happy with it. They all pretty much do the same thing, some just look better then others and are more affordable. MAF placement is key, and Unitronic utilizes factory housing and location so your good there. With an intake you'll loose a bit of bottom end torque but usually gain a little more top end pull. Not to mention cool intake sounds.
As for intercoolers, many options here. Decide if you want a direct factory replacement or a true front mount. With the direct factory replacement you have MANY options to choose from and there are MANY threads on here about them. True front mounts are limited, but most on here (including myself) run the Neuspeed fmic and love it. Not to mention looks good peeking out through the lower front grill too. With an aftermarket intercooler, heatsoak should become a thing of the past. For example back-to-back-to-back pulls on the highway on hot days should feel more consistent.
As for the 40k service. See if there is a local forum member that will do it for you. The stuff to do the service doesn't cost much. If you feel like driving into the Burgh, hit this local forum member up
here. Does a lot of work for us local guys.
Congrats on the new job!
I so caught it. I want to upgrade everything. I'm definitely going stage 2 as soon as I can afford it. After that, we'll see. Does tuning at the higher end of the scale significantly reduce the lifespan of the car? Seems like it should, at least a little. Then again, i tend to relate tuning my car to overclocking my pc which may not be the most apt analogy.
Checked with the dealership about the 40k dsg service. They quoted me about $460 or so. Not too bad compared to what i've seen dealerships charge other people on here, but still expensive for what they actually do. THEN i checked with the local indie shop, being HS Tuning, and they quoted like $250. Hell yeah. I'm starting to realize how lucky i am to have a kick ass shop 10 mins away.
inb4: Yeah, im sure i'm entirely capable of doing most of it myself but as i've never done any of it before... AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR DAT. Also, i'm a lazy fuck.
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Yeeeeuh the tune was a revalation for me and opened my mind to the possibilities of the tuning world. I was amazed just some programming tweaks could make such a monumental difference.
I got bit right away with the warranty struggle but was able to get the dealership to work with me, so be prepared to defend yourself if you need warranty work done.
I eased up after a few months and now my 30 minute commute gets me about 28mpg, so don't worry about your gas mileage lol
I heard over and over again that tune makes a shit ton of difference, but you don't really
get it until you drive it before and after yourself. I agree entirely. I just dont really get why they car didnt come like this. I guess they like advertising the gas mileage to people but it isn't exactly marketed as an economy car...
I'm lucky that I have a pretty good dealership by me, and they have some good guys running service. I know a couple guys with tunes in the area have worked with them without too much trouble so i'm not terribly concerned. I'm approaching being out of warranty anyways, and its only a certified used warranty to begin with. Once that's done, HS is right around the corner so i'm pretty lucky on that front.
Yeah, my mpg seems to have settled down a bit. I'm not particularly shy with the gas pedal though, and everything is more fun outside of just "D" so... fuckit, what good is having a fun car if you drive it like a geriatric?
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On a not so happy note, I'm having some issues starting since my tune.
It isn't consistent but at least once, if not a couple times a day sporadically she's having trouble turning over. Normally the car turns over on like the 2nd crank. The issue I've been having is it's taking 7-8 cranks before it passively starts up. She's never not started up, but it cranks for long enough for me to think "uhh, is it gunna start?" Been happening since tune, so 3 weeks? now.
I was thinking maybe the battery was just going. I don't know how old the current one is; It came with the car. I took it over to the dealership and they ran a battery test on it and it came out fine. I got r8 coilpacks with the tune, but I opted out of spark plugs when he mentioned them, so maybe that's it? The timing just seems too perfect for a something to spontaneously be wrong at the same time I got the tune.
I ended up talking to HS again, and I'm taking her up to the shop tonight. Tim mentioned Sonny having a similar problem that resolved itself with time. Something about getting the tune when the temp was fluctuating a lot from day to night during the time the tune is settling in? I'm not sure. I'm sure if there's something to track down they will find it.
Honestly with how much i positively mentioned HS in this post, i ought to get paid for advertising. :laugh: