Upgraded from 188KW to 199KW by error??

Funny story. I bring in my car for first service at the dealer with 5,000km mileage, on the menu:
- oil /oil filter change AND
- try to turn off that annoying 120kph speed warning that's still on despite me reseting it

As ppl around the forum suggested the speed warning is due to the market specs programmed initially from VW and cannot be switched off using Vagcom.
The dealer couldn't turn it off at first but then the tech suggests plugging the car onto a bigger computer to change its "market" field from KSA (aka hot climate spec) to EUR, and so they did, my car market field is now logged as EUR, this affected the car in many ways:
-well first the speed warning is finaly gone:clap:,
-the seatbelt warning is on (which for me is the normal course of things),
-the ignition check is now silent rather than having a chime sound,
-the clock format is different , AND
- to my biggest surprise as soon as I drove off the the car feels more powerful. Nothing dramatic but enough to be clearly noticeable to the driver; it's more reactive on the gear changes, feels a bit more torquey on the mid range; exactly what you'd expect from around 10KW, 20Nm tq increase.
It cannot be the new oil especially that mine was still pretty new with just 5K Kms mileage (that's about 3K miles).
I know that the difference between the 188KW and the 199KW is just an ECU programming, so I was wondering if the dealer had maybe logged the entire Euro spec program into my Ecu?? or is my butt dyno doing me tricks?
Any ideas?

I have no idea but that would be cool. Especially if they could do this in the US when they make it over here. Rumor has it that the US spec car will only have 250hp which is even less then the 188kw tune. I doubt this will be possible due to the US dealers not having access to european files.

For any other readers:
188kw = 256hp
199kw = 270hp

reelknead1 said:

I have no idea but that would be cool. Especially if they could do this in the US when they make it over here. Rumor has it that the US spec car will only have 250hp which is even less then the 188kw tune. I doubt this will be possible due to the US dealers not having access to european files.

For any other readers:
188kw = 256hp
199kw = 270hp

Click to expand...

I doubt that the US will get a lower tune than the 188KW, it would cost VW too much and is completely pointless, the "hot climate" spec Rs simply come with the tune of the first version of the S3 8p; 188KW and 330Nm, but nyway I've heard that these numbers are conservative and my runs against other fellow motorists seem to confirm that:thumbup:

TAZZ said:

I doubt that the US will get a lower tune than the 188KW, it would cost VW too much and is completely pointless, the "hot climate" spec Rs simply come with the tune of the first version of the S3 8p; 188KW and 330Nm, but nyway I've heard that these numbers are conservative and my runs against other fellow motorists seem to confirm that:thumbup:

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Even though you may be correct, no one actually knows because they haven't released the confirmed figures. I'm hoping that they place it at 270hp which would allow it to compete with the Evo/STI competitors in the states. I doubt this will happen though.

Sorry if I got your thread off topic. Hopefully someone can answer your question about your tune. Either way enjoy the extra power :thumbup:

Yeah I read somewhere the US will be "hot climate" spec.

Annoying! Also read that we get a slightly dumbed down version of DSG (not applicable to the R, obviously).

US will get the 188kw version...

and Tazz, I think you are experiencing a placebo effect. I really doubt u gained an extra 10kw....might be all in your head

then again, im not there to give a proper unbiased report so I guess we'll just have to take ur word for it, but personally i still find it hard to believe.

stephen8512 said:

US will get the 188kw version...

and Tazz, I think you are experiencing a placebo effect. I really doubt u gained an extra 10kw....might be all in your head

then again, im not there to give a proper unbiased report so I guess we'll just have to take ur word for it, but personally i still find it hard to believe.

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Yes, yes I might very well be wrong, since myself I do not have any means to substantiate it yet.
I thought about a placebo but the thing is that Placebos typically occur when your mind is prone to expect the result, and when I drove off initially I was not even remotely expecting any power increase, it did not even occur to me in my head; I just got surprised by the driving difference enough to think about it and wonder what it could be, so this was one "logical" theory, especially that the dealer offers this upgrade for $$$.
Another theory could be that the oil contained many contaminants from the run-in which increased friction, and now with a new oil and filter things run more smoothly
For those who might know I am really feeling a difference when I upshift in the mid range, the next gear catches on with more grunt, and the rev in the mid range feels more urgent.
I guess the only way would be to dyno the car to be certain.

One word is needed here tazz: dyno. We should get together once tony and nico get there air intakes, and have couple of dyno runs to see how much the "hot climate" spec actually produces power. Btw i think it is a placebo affect cause every time i go to the dealers and i get the oil changed, filter, etc... i do feel some extra speed.

Dyno Numbers

Well, finally have the numbers of my car and the answers to my questions

SAE Corrected Numbers:
267.9 bhp
243.5 awhp:thumbsup:

So my conclusion is:
1- Either the car came in full euro spec 199Kw; Or
2- I am right about the ecu software upgrade, or maybe;
3- VW is extremely conservative with its numbersand the 188Kw is more a 199Kw

either ways, it's nice to know that I have the 199Kw version :happyanim:

What is really impressive is the power at the wheels, the haldex Gen4 is so advanced it has practically the same drivetrain losses as a FWD:thumbsup: on the Dyno we could see the rear wheels engaging and disengaging.

Below are the SAE corrected curves:

as i have said before.. a friend of mine who bought an R from Kettaneh was told by the dealer that at his first service they were gonna "switch" the car back to its original 270PS.. seems like regional switching does unlock the ecu after all..
your engine actually gives 270 PS but is limited for 252bhp because of the climate.. (i'd say that it is as simple and similar to switching between 95RON and 98 RON programs with REVO, APR.. e.g. you have the potential to run the 98 file but you're limited by just a switch to run the 95RON file..)
again i'm not sure about the WHY, but i am sure about them unlocking the 270 PS.. either way with a stage 1 remap, you will end up at the same output i think regardless of being 270 or 252

TAZZ said:

Well, finally have the numbers of my car and the answers to my questions

SAE Corrected Numbers:
267.9 bhp
243.5 awhp:thumbsup:

So my conclusion is:
1- Either the car came in full euro spec 199Kw; Or
2- I am right about the ecu software upgrade, or maybe;
3- VW is extremely conservative with its numbersand the 188Kw is more a 199Kw

either ways, it's nice to know that I have the 199Kw version :happyanim:

What is really impressive is the power at the wheels, the haldex Gen4 is so advanced it has practically the same drivetrain losses as a FWD:thumbsup: on the Dyno we could see the rear wheels engaging and disengaging.

Below are the SAE corrected curves:

Click to expand...

very nice numbers man.i love the new haldex,way better than the gen 2 in my r32.things used to dyno 200whp,so the drivetrain loss was huge. this also shows that the dyno is precise and that 247whp on 95ron program is awesome on my gti (i got alot of hate from people saying the dyno was reading too high). i am really expecting 300+bhp with stage 2. did they use the crappy house fan for cooling?

p.s i cant see the graph, what was your torque at the wheels?

Hey Tazz, I have sent my Golf R in to VW in Dubai today to try get the same done! Hopefully I will get the market field changed to EUR too!

That's nice to know. A Q though, would changing the car region from KSA to EUR affect it in anyway, RE the hot weather for eg? 2nd Q, how can one make that kind of a change?

Rocconist said:

2nd Q, how can one make that kind of a change?

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vag-com can do it. you can mess with region settings and change between them as you please.

zeonic said:

vag-com can do it. you can mess with region settings and change between them as you please.

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Does that change the settings for the speed limits and all the others the original poster mentioned up above? Because I seem to have read somewhere in the post that this wasn't possible by simply just using VAG-COM.