GunMetalGTI
Go Kart Champion
Ok. I will start by saying that for at least 10,000 miles I have had the APR k04 file with the Unitronic DSG file installed on my car.
I recently, over the weekend, at the H20i show, switched my ECU tune over to Unitronic from APR. I also updated my DSG file for the second time while I was there so I am now currently running the most current files of both, whatever they may be called.
Just a little breakdown of the files I've had in the past to now:
Stage 1 APR - First MK6 at H20i to get flashed
Stage 2 APR- Flashed at NGP (test pipe file)
K04 APR v2.1 - Flashed at NGP
Unitronic DSG - Flashed at RAI
Unitronic K04 - Flashed at this years show.
Before I compare here is why I switched:
1) Customer service has always been there since dealing with John at Unitronic and basically being one of the first with the DSG file.
2) Uni takes your feedback and actually acts on it and they plan to keep on doing so in the future, more on that later.
3) I have heard nothing but positive things about their new K04 file and really nothing negative.
4) They aren't dragging ass to keep their files updated and teasing them and then leaving us with blank looks.
5) The new UNI-Connect interface they offer is better than just program switching and will let me keep my files updated while not having to go to a dealer and pay for labor just for an update. It will also let me switch and reflash any file at will.
-They also plan on adding data logging with the software it comes with and you can work with UNI and give them feedback on whatever tune you have and they can work with you and make tweaks and upload the adjusted tune back to you to reflash to your ecu.
Driving Impressions,
With this setup on both flashes, both rev limiters are set to 7,000 and it pulls hard all the way through grabbing the higher gears nicely like you would expect.
The motor no longer feels like its choking on too much boost while the hardware is trying to constantly streamline and control boost.
TO PUT IT SIMPLY, THE CAR FEELS 3 TIMES HEALTHIER NO. Its the best way to describe it. I remember how controlled and accurate the boost felt with a stage 2 tune on k03 and now I finally have it back.
The car feels more responsive and THE BOOST OSCILLATION(MID TO HIGH THROTTLE), FLUTTERING, OCCASIONAL HIGHER GEAR FLOCK OF SEAGULLS SURGING IS ALL GONE.
EVEN THE PEAKS NOW MAKE SENSE AND ARE MORE CONTROLLED.
It feels more as if the turbo is working in its efficiency zone more often rather than just producing a shit ton of boost while you wait for the car to adjust for it and continue on.
I will say this, when I got my APR tune right, it did pull hard and it felt fast. I never had any miss-fires either. As a matter of fact I've never had even one ever with this car. BUT, with my APR tune, the control and linear flow of the boost just wasn't there like it was with the stage 2 software. The boost is simply ramped up too much or..........and even if its not....I would argue that the problem is the method of its control that is the problem. If your boost is either fluttering or ossilating 40 percent of the time and a lot more in D mode, than its just making all the hardware work harder and slow response times up all across the board. Honestly even if you can't feel it all the time, it still translates to a diminished driving experience.
I drove for 4 hrs on the way home from the show after being flashed with Uni. I had full tank of gas, a friend riding shotgun, and a few bags. It felt strong and dare I say quicker in 4th,5th, and 6th. I argue again that even if for some reason it wasn't quicker ( and honestly it does feel quicker) the reason it does regardless is because of the responsiveness and the fact that the boost is now flowing and back in sync and just plain BETTER UTILIZED
THE TUNE RUNS SLIGHTLY LESS BOOST AND I MEAN SLIGHTLY BUT IT DOESN'T PEAK ALL OVER AND JUDDER AND FLUTTER AND MOST OF ALL.....DOESN'T SURGE.
MOST THREADS I HAVE SEEN HAVE QUOTED THAT THE BEST ZONE FOR PEAK BOOST FOR A K04 IS 19 TO 21 LBS ANYWAYS.
THERE HAVE BEEN PLENTY OF DYNO THREADS WHERE PPL HAVE TURNED UP BOOST 3 LBS AND MADE LESS POWER AND THEN TURNED IT DOWN AND MADE MORE. BOOST ADDED IS NOT MORE POWER, MOST OF YOU KNOW THIS IM SURE.
AGAIN, I'M NO TUNING GENIUS AND NEVER WILL BE. BUT I THINK IT COMES DOWN TO THE IMPLEMENTATION SOMETIMES RATHER THAN THE TUNING VALUES IN ADDITION TO TUNING PHILOSOPHY AND WHICH PLATFORM YOU ARE LOOKING AT
Sport mode on a sidenote was even more fun than usual. I ran 4th gear out in say around 65mph and it just pulled so nice.
I realize all this may seem so subjective and tongue and cheek but its really the only way to get the feeling accross. I drive this car everyday and as you all know. You just know your car after a while and you can tell when things are different.
Basically the car feels as healthy as a stock car on and off boost but the only difference is it has all the power and still has great efficiency and mpg potential.
I got up to 37mpg on the way home and I held it for a good while. Of course it was at 62 mph in perfect weather on a flat highway. But its just one way I was testing the tune against my APR file, which also yielded good mpg results.
Its what I was missing from my stage 2 file days where I could peak at 17 perfectly and hold at 15psi any day, any time, at any gear and I wouldn't get fluctuation and flutter or surge or what sounded like it.
Anyways, sorry for all the caps but I just wanted to make things easier to read and those are the parts to focus on. I'm sure all of the guys that switched to UNi are probably nodding their heads while reading this because they had similar results.
I'm looking forward to getting my Uni Connect and having files on tap and possible updates to come although I'm not sure how much improvement this one really needs. I'm sure they will eventually squeeze a bit more out of it lol.
I'm actually excited to see the difference in a race tune if they offer it as I have tried APR's 100 octane file once. Topped off with race gas for $120 so it doesn't happen often.
Happy to have my car's sharpness back again. Thanks again to John and Unitronic.:thumbsup:
I recently, over the weekend, at the H20i show, switched my ECU tune over to Unitronic from APR. I also updated my DSG file for the second time while I was there so I am now currently running the most current files of both, whatever they may be called.
Just a little breakdown of the files I've had in the past to now:
Stage 1 APR - First MK6 at H20i to get flashed
Stage 2 APR- Flashed at NGP (test pipe file)
K04 APR v2.1 - Flashed at NGP
Unitronic DSG - Flashed at RAI
Unitronic K04 - Flashed at this years show.
Before I compare here is why I switched:
1) Customer service has always been there since dealing with John at Unitronic and basically being one of the first with the DSG file.
2) Uni takes your feedback and actually acts on it and they plan to keep on doing so in the future, more on that later.
3) I have heard nothing but positive things about their new K04 file and really nothing negative.
4) They aren't dragging ass to keep their files updated and teasing them and then leaving us with blank looks.
5) The new UNI-Connect interface they offer is better than just program switching and will let me keep my files updated while not having to go to a dealer and pay for labor just for an update. It will also let me switch and reflash any file at will.
-They also plan on adding data logging with the software it comes with and you can work with UNI and give them feedback on whatever tune you have and they can work with you and make tweaks and upload the adjusted tune back to you to reflash to your ecu.
Driving Impressions,
With this setup on both flashes, both rev limiters are set to 7,000 and it pulls hard all the way through grabbing the higher gears nicely like you would expect.
The motor no longer feels like its choking on too much boost while the hardware is trying to constantly streamline and control boost.
TO PUT IT SIMPLY, THE CAR FEELS 3 TIMES HEALTHIER NO. Its the best way to describe it. I remember how controlled and accurate the boost felt with a stage 2 tune on k03 and now I finally have it back.
The car feels more responsive and THE BOOST OSCILLATION(MID TO HIGH THROTTLE), FLUTTERING, OCCASIONAL HIGHER GEAR FLOCK OF SEAGULLS SURGING IS ALL GONE.
EVEN THE PEAKS NOW MAKE SENSE AND ARE MORE CONTROLLED.
It feels more as if the turbo is working in its efficiency zone more often rather than just producing a shit ton of boost while you wait for the car to adjust for it and continue on.
I will say this, when I got my APR tune right, it did pull hard and it felt fast. I never had any miss-fires either. As a matter of fact I've never had even one ever with this car. BUT, with my APR tune, the control and linear flow of the boost just wasn't there like it was with the stage 2 software. The boost is simply ramped up too much or..........and even if its not....I would argue that the problem is the method of its control that is the problem. If your boost is either fluttering or ossilating 40 percent of the time and a lot more in D mode, than its just making all the hardware work harder and slow response times up all across the board. Honestly even if you can't feel it all the time, it still translates to a diminished driving experience.
I drove for 4 hrs on the way home from the show after being flashed with Uni. I had full tank of gas, a friend riding shotgun, and a few bags. It felt strong and dare I say quicker in 4th,5th, and 6th. I argue again that even if for some reason it wasn't quicker ( and honestly it does feel quicker) the reason it does regardless is because of the responsiveness and the fact that the boost is now flowing and back in sync and just plain BETTER UTILIZED
THE TUNE RUNS SLIGHTLY LESS BOOST AND I MEAN SLIGHTLY BUT IT DOESN'T PEAK ALL OVER AND JUDDER AND FLUTTER AND MOST OF ALL.....DOESN'T SURGE.
MOST THREADS I HAVE SEEN HAVE QUOTED THAT THE BEST ZONE FOR PEAK BOOST FOR A K04 IS 19 TO 21 LBS ANYWAYS.
THERE HAVE BEEN PLENTY OF DYNO THREADS WHERE PPL HAVE TURNED UP BOOST 3 LBS AND MADE LESS POWER AND THEN TURNED IT DOWN AND MADE MORE. BOOST ADDED IS NOT MORE POWER, MOST OF YOU KNOW THIS IM SURE.
AGAIN, I'M NO TUNING GENIUS AND NEVER WILL BE. BUT I THINK IT COMES DOWN TO THE IMPLEMENTATION SOMETIMES RATHER THAN THE TUNING VALUES IN ADDITION TO TUNING PHILOSOPHY AND WHICH PLATFORM YOU ARE LOOKING AT
Sport mode on a sidenote was even more fun than usual. I ran 4th gear out in say around 65mph and it just pulled so nice.
I realize all this may seem so subjective and tongue and cheek but its really the only way to get the feeling accross. I drive this car everyday and as you all know. You just know your car after a while and you can tell when things are different.
Basically the car feels as healthy as a stock car on and off boost but the only difference is it has all the power and still has great efficiency and mpg potential.
I got up to 37mpg on the way home and I held it for a good while. Of course it was at 62 mph in perfect weather on a flat highway. But its just one way I was testing the tune against my APR file, which also yielded good mpg results.
Its what I was missing from my stage 2 file days where I could peak at 17 perfectly and hold at 15psi any day, any time, at any gear and I wouldn't get fluctuation and flutter or surge or what sounded like it.
Anyways, sorry for all the caps but I just wanted to make things easier to read and those are the parts to focus on. I'm sure all of the guys that switched to UNi are probably nodding their heads while reading this because they had similar results.
I'm looking forward to getting my Uni Connect and having files on tap and possible updates to come although I'm not sure how much improvement this one really needs. I'm sure they will eventually squeeze a bit more out of it lol.
I'm actually excited to see the difference in a race tune if they offer it as I have tried APR's 100 octane file once. Topped off with race gas for $120 so it doesn't happen often.
Happy to have my car's sharpness back again. Thanks again to John and Unitronic.:thumbsup:
