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Hesitation towards getting a stage 1 tune

McQueen77

Banned
theres a dealer i always go to nearbye. the service advisor has a stage 2 MKV and a few of the techs drive modded GTIs and a modded CC. i told them flat out last time i came in for something routine. i was just told, unless its something that is easily linked directly to the tune, we'll just cover it and normal warranty work. all they are worried about is submitting the claim and VWoA rejecting it
 

GPM

Ready to race!
Go talk to the guys at Goodspeed in Scottsdale. If you're not comfortable after visiting their shop you'll likely never mod the car.
 

lalalaprise

Ready to race!
its a just a basic gamble with pretty low odds that something big will go wrong while under warranty and having the tune. things happen to people with tune all the time that have a TSB out on them and dealer replaces for free. Something major though, like HPFP or something and they may screw you.

Not to mention a new ECU is like 1200 bucks...there is a 0.5% (i made this up lol) chance your ECU will be fried by going Stage 1...and the cost would be a new ECU...not a huge gamble
 

GTITX1

Ready to race!
How did you guess? They rock, but it's a 70 mile roundtrip for me :scared0016:

I went to an APR dealer 100 miles away (round trip), even though I have one 10 miles away, because the one 100 miles away has a very solid track record, and the one closer seems to be a little sketchier.
 

Thumper

Autocross Champion
Wife, mortgage, mouths to feed (ie destructive little monster cats lol).....ect, ect.......Tuned Stage 1 at 1000 miles, went Stage 2 at around 6000 miles, almost 8000 on the odometer right now..... blah....blah..... lol....I know you aren't concerned about actual tune failures. You are worried about that dick dealer that wants to weasel out of anything and everything.

Seriously, there's nothing anyone can really say to help you with this decision. This is just a gamble that must be taken or you stay stock. You can go talk to your dealer you use for service, ask them how they feel about and treat mods. Use specifics, like what if my water pump fails, what if my intake manifolds blows a flapper, ect. That will offer some piece of mind....... but then there's this. Your on a trip, far from home, issue arises and car is towed to closest dealer, not yours....... this dealer is a dick, now you have to fight.

There is no foolproof guarantee....... this is part of modding. No guts no glory.

I blew a CV boot at around 4 or 5k miles..... tuned and lowered. I prepared myself for a fight, doubted it would be an issue but always be ready. My wife flipped, stated redoing the budget to adjust for having to pay for it :laugh: but no issues, replaced under warranty with several apologies from the service writer for it happening and the delay in getting the boot. But I was ready for it.

If you aren't ready for the fight, if your not ok with the possibility, then you shouldn't do it.
 

AnthonyNTC31

Passed Driver's Ed
Good reasons to not tune (not saying I wont but just good reasons)

1. The transmission.
If you are 6MT: your clutch will not hold the extra 80lb-ft of torque. It will slip, and then you will have to replace it with an upgraded clutch and flywheel, which will make alot of noise and cost anywear from $1200-$1800 to replace. It will then make noise while in neutral since the DMFW is removed (I have done this before and hated it)

If you are DSG: This transmission handles the power fine, BUT now that VW can see if you are tuned, they can readily deny you warranty coverage on your transmissions. Have you seen the bill for mechantronics or transmission replacement? It is a some-what common failure. If I recall mechatronics replacement is over 2K and a transmission is 5k.

2. Front Wheel Drive: The stock chassis/engine is very balanced for a FWD car. I do not need to worry about spinning the tires through second gear.

3. Performance: Yes, you get a "torque mountain" at about 3500rpm but our tiny little turbo cant do to much up top. Stg1 can get you into the high 13s low 14s in the 1/4 mile. I ran a 14.4 bone stock. Not worth the expense to gain a few tenths in the quarter mile.

4. Greed. This is probably the biggest one. Soon you will get used to your stg1, and then want stage 2. Then KO4, then GT28....get the picture. No matter what you drive you will get used to it, and always want more. Boost is addicting.
 

McQueen77

Banned
Good reasons to not tune (not saying I wont but just good reasons)

1. The transmission.
If you are 6MT: your clutch will not hold the extra 80lb-ft of torque. It will slip, and then you will have to replace it with an upgraded clutch and flywheel, which will make alot of noise and cost anywear from $1200-$1800 to replace. It will then make noise while in neutral since the DMFW is removed (I have done this before and hated it)

If you are DSG: This transmission handles the power fine, BUT now that VW can see if you are tuned, they can readily deny you warranty coverage on your
transmissions. Have you seen the bill for mechantronics or transmission replacement? It is a some-what common failure. If I recall mechatronics replacement is over 2K and a transmission is 5k.

2. Front Wheel Drive: The stock chassis/engine is very balanced for a FWD car. I do not need to worry about spinning the tires through second gear.

3. Performance: Yes, you get a "torque mountain" at about 3500rpm but our
tiny little turbo cant do to much up top. Stg1 can get you into the high 13s low 14s in the 1/4 mile. I ran a 14.4 bone stock. Not worth the expense to gain a few tenths in the quarter mile.

4. Greed. This is probably the biggest one. Soon you will get used to your stg1, and then want stage 2. Then KO4, then GT28....get the picture. No matter what you drive you will get used to it, and always want more. Boost is
addicting.

Im calling bullshit on about 99% of this. Plenty of stock clutches have gone upwards of 100k on stage1 tunes. Stock clutches slip on stock tunes. Drive correctly and your clutch may hold up. Number 3 is irrelevant in real world driving whereas stage 1 everyday driving power benefits are quickly apparent in most driving situations. 4. Is totally subjective and dependant on the person. Im fine with stage 1 and have no desire to further.

OP, if you want to tune your car, tune it and move on. Take good care of it, push your maintenance intervals to 5k and dont hammer on the clutch and your car will be alright.

And "addicting" is not a word. Its addictive.
 

AnthonyNTC31

Passed Driver's Ed
Im calling bullshit on about 99% of this. Plenty of stock clutches have gone upwards of 100k on stage1 tunes. Stock clutches slip on stock tunes. Drive correctly and your clutch may hold up. Number 3 is irrelevant in real world driving whereas stage 1 everyday driving power benefits are quickly apparent in most driving situations. 4. Is totally subjective and dependant on the person. Im fine with stage 1 and have no desire to further.

OP, if you want to tune your car, tune it and move on. Take good care of it, push your maintenance intervals to 5k and dont hammer on the clutch and your car will be alright.

And "addicting" is not a word. Its addictive.


A. As for Stage 1 clutches lasting a long time, that is FSI platforms. The TSI clutch is PROVEN to prematurely slip with a tune. Just wait, yours will. There are multiple thread in regards to this. I will not baby a car to make a clutch last long on a high 13 / low 14 second car. My moms V6 camry can do this HAMMERING on it all day long LOL.

B. Service intervals will not prolong your transmission (mechatronics) or clutch. The tune will likely not cause the mechatronics to fail, but it can easily void the 60,000 mile warranty I have on an expensive transmission

C. I speak english :)

D. That being said, see my first statement of my original post. (I am just providing the other side of the argument with valid points, not "99% BULLSHIT")
 

Carbon Steel

Go Kart Champion
Be objective:

Make a list of the real pro's and con's,

Then look at the actual time you will use the tune, how often will I need the power or want to take a chance on using the power, after all why get it if you aren't going to use it.

I can get a ticket with a stock GTI, I think even being cautious i am going to want to floor it more often, more risk of getting that speeding, reckless ticket, raising insurance, paying through the nose for a fine etc. Unless you plan on just using it on the track it will increase your exposure to the local Gendarmerie,

As time goes on I think VW and other companies, will take a hard line on tuned cars, warranty service costs are calculated when they price a car, and they have or are obtaining data that will justify their position to deny warranty work for modded vehicles.

I may be wrong but i think that the modding population vs the stock population will justify their position, that if you want to mod your car do it but we are not going to fix it, buy a Mini or a whatever, it doesn't pay for us to have to fix things that others screw up. I think this is going to be the trend.

I think that list of pros and cons will bear out that there are too many cons associated with the once in a while thrill. Especially if you have significant other financial responsibilities and you want your 25K investment to be bullet proof for the warranty period. just MHO.
 

svickstc

Go Kart Champion
Do you need to make an appoitnment with apr for the waterfest event in advanced. I checked apr's website and didn't see the event on their calendar?

Thanks for the info
 

veedoubleme

Go Kart Champion
Good reasons to not tune (not saying I wont but just good reasons)

1. The transmission.
If you are 6MT: your clutch will not hold the extra 80lb-ft of torque. It will slip, and then you will have to replace it with an upgraded clutch and flywheel, which will make alot of noise and cost anywear from $1200-$1800 to replace. It will then make noise while in neutral since the DMFW is removed (I have done this before and hated it)

If you are DSG: This transmission handles the power fine, BUT now that VW can see if you are tuned, they can readily deny you warranty coverage on your transmissions. Have you seen the bill for mechantronics or transmission replacement? It is a some-what common failure. If I recall mechatronics replacement is over 2K and a transmission is 5k.

There are been more failures of clutches with stock cars than tuned cars according to Bender's poll. Seems more likely to be an issue of driving style than power. That said, the OEM clutch is not real strong, so yeah, it can be iffy. DSG repairs/replacements are not even close to some-what common failures. That's BS. If you disagree, find me lots of threads.

2. Front Wheel Drive: The stock chassis/engine is very balanced for a FWD car. I do not need to worry about spinning the tires through second gear.

Stage 2 with summer tires, a little wheel spin at the top of first, and then none after that. I have no problem getting the power down:



3. Performance: Yes, you get a "torque mountain" at about 3500rpm but our tiny little turbo cant do to much up top. Stg1 can get you into the high 13s low 14s in the 1/4 mile. I ran a 14.4 bone stock. Not worth the expense to gain a few tenths in the quarter mile.

It's not a "torque mountain at about 3500 RPM". There is massive torque right off idle, and it doesn't start to fall off until after 4000 RPM. For daily driving, that torque range is insanely usable. You can talk 1/4 mile crap all day, but it's not a 1/4 mile car. It's a daily driver for almost everybody on here — and for that, stage 1, 2, and K04 are all fantastic upgrades. Regarding top end, there is more power up top than you think. HP starts falling off at 5000 with stage 1, but with stage 2 and an intake, it pulls very good up top, all the way to 6000.

4. Greed. This is probably the biggest one. Soon you will get used to your stg1, and then want stage 2. Then KO4, then GT28....get the picture. No matter what you drive you will get used to it, and always want more. Boost is addicting.

Kind of agree on that, but I'm pretty happy with stage 2. Happier than I thought I would be.

I would say you listed reasons you may not want to tune, but I don't they they are "good reasons not to tune" for everybody else.
 

McQueen77

Banned
I maintain bullshit. Please report your statistics that prove that my clutch will prematurely go.

Ps: addicting has made its way into the american vocabulary thanks to reality television and most americans operating on an 8th grade reading level. We an go ahead and add 'irregardless' to that list as well on that premise.
 
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GPM

Ready to race!
All credibility is lost when you bring your mommy's car into the discussion.
 
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