Wanted to share an update to my Stratified story.
In April I bought a COBB AP and cold-air intake.
The OTS COBB map was a hot mess, but definitely more powerful than stock.
Because of the issues with the COBB map, I ordered a low-torque Stratified tune. Stock clutch started to go. Thanks Lionspaz, whoever you are!
Still throwing codes, never felt 100% right.
P0101 Mass of volumetric Air flow Circ. Range/Performance.
P2177 System too lean off idle, Bank 1
Other codes I don't remember
In goes a Treadstone air straightener, GFB DV+, and PCV was replaced. Took weeks to learn about the air straightener, far too long.
Then I was away for much of the summer, nothing got done. I never got the second MAF calibration tune.
Last month I replaced the clutch with RSR w/ flywheel, and added COBB turbo-back exhaust. Other mods were a Diesel Geek short shifter and a set of Pilot Sport 4S tires. Both have changed the car on their own, although I had to take the tires off as it's 30F at night and Michelin lawyers make it seem stupid to keep them on any longer, even though I wanted ONE DAY with a clean tune with the new exhaust and clutch. Oh well, spring is only six months away, plenty of time to research turbo and suspension upgrades in front of the wood stove.
The Stratified ordering process leaves a lot to be desired, and my mid-September order hung in limbo for several weeks. One of the revised tunes threw my car into limp mode. Turns out I didn't correctly fill out the tuning form with my upgrades. You MUST get the Google Form filled out correctly with your complete list of mods, and it's pretty easy to mess that up. I included my mod list in at least five emails, and I kept getting incorrect tunes emailed to me.
The air straightener is considered a mod, which I didn't find out until today. That sucked.
Couple of revisions later, and we're almost there. In the middle were some tunes ranging from poor to ok. Now that they have the full list of my mods, I'm going to do a WOT log tomorrow and hopefully get this sorted out in the next week or so.
In general, the responses from Stratified were courteous , often confusing, referenced incorrect orders, or poorly worded, leaving me not knowing what was happening next.
I have to say that with all of the miscommunication (on both ends to be sure, I'm no genius) and the sub-par ordering process, both parties have been patient and reasonable. Live and learn, it's business, and customer support is never easy.
They are now super-responsive, in part I'm sure to get me off their back.
A while back I was thinking I was an idiot for not going to the dealer to have all the APR stuff bolted on, and drive away a day later with a much lighter wallet. That would have saved me many hours and a few dollars, but I'm glad I didn't do that, because I trust that Alex and the guys will get me sorted out soon, and the gains, even the ones I've felt with an incorrect tune, are far superior to the OTS COBB tunes, which are fine for most people. Same for the APR-in-a-box setup, it works for fine many people who don't want to spend the time and effort to get the perfect tune for their car.
Thanks to Stratified and everyone in the forums who have offered advice and shared their experiences with this process.
Looking forward to posting again once this is all wrapped up!