Tuning my TDI

I have had Revo, but am going Malone with a DPF delete and straight pipe. It makes it sound like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hyRwRaPHg

And gives right at 300 torque!!!

I'm all in.

Just an FYI, Banks will be getting into the TDI scene soon.

Stocktastic said:

Just an FYI, Banks will be getting into the TDI scene soon.

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Banks has had TDI parts for several years now.

SuperCommuterGolf said:

Where did you get your TDI tuned? Did you do the DSG Tune too?

Have you noticed any fuel cut?

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The Revo tune was done by Pure Motorsport in San Diego. Not sure what you mean by fuel cut. I don't seem to be experiencing any difference with my fuel economy but I drive fairly aggressively and have still been averaging around the 40mpg mark.. with 50/50 driving.

As far as I know Revo doesn't have a Stage 2 tune available. Perhaps Chris@RevoTechnik would care to address that one. As I said, the Stage 2 tune by Unitronic is something that adjusts the DSG shift points only used in combination with their Stage 1 ECU tuning. By the way Chris, I understand that the price has to do with all the time spent in development, not sure why you would want to come to your competitor's aid when I made the point that it seemed steep for something that could be done in 5 or 10 mins through the OBDII port. I don't see an additional $600 over a Stage 1 tune as being fair market value for no additional horsepower.

I cannot comment on the other tunes. It really came down to what was available in my area and the shop that would provide the service. I have great trust in the shop that did my tune and they had Revo. The shops that handled Unitronic aren't people that I wanted to do business with. When I called and asked questions and got blank stares or knew more about what products were available than they did it doesn't inspire a great amount of confidence. APR has yet to do a TDI tune that I am aware of and Malone would have involved sending my ECU to Canada which wasn't an option for me personally (although I did consider a road trip to have it done).

Bottom line... I've had good experience with my Revo tune and the shop that did the work.

ick said:

As far as I know Revo doesn't have a Stage 2 tune available. Perhaps Chris@RevoTechnik would care to address that one.

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STage 2 is a theoretical product we may or may not be working on that would be for a DPF delete, not for a vehicle with the stock emissions equipment still installed.

the reason I say it like that is I can't gurantee it is a product we would ever have. But we are aware that people want and it is being worked on internally.

By the way Chris, I understand that the price has to do with all the time spent in development, not sure why you would want to come to your competitor's aid when I made the point that it seemed steep for something that could be done in 5 or 10 mins through the OBDII port. I don't see an additional $600 over a Stage 1 tune as being fair market value for no additional horsepower.

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Many people don't like my bluntness in cases, they think I'm here to sell them stuff. Fact of the matter is I'm here to make sure the right information is out there whether it be about my products or a competitors. Do I prefer you buy my product? Of course but I prefer someone buys my product because it is the right choice for them not they were scared into it or another company was demonized (not that you did that) and they felt were were the only choice.

To the point you are talking about two entirely different products. Saying you don't see why it is 600 bucks over stage 1 is like saying you don't get why the downpipe is 600 bucks over stage 1. DSG and engine software are two entirely different things just like the downpipe is. You can by DSG software without getting engine software and still get some of the benefits. DSG software took us years to work on. In reality the actual return on the time spent developing it vs how much you sell it is a less profitable product by far then engine software, this is why some companies charge over a grand for it. I can only presume that the reason whoever was charging 600 bucks for it did so, the prices aren't set arbitrarily.

REVO should get their DPF delete out!...This is the way to make power AND MPG both....lots more out for the TDI everyday!

Malone is ahead of everyone on TDI tunes....

Malone Stage 2: 163whp(184bhp)/ 295lb-ft(333lb-ft crank)$549

Plus Malone is the only one I know of that has stage 2 which involves a DPF delete which will INCREASE MPG by 3-6mpg ontop of the big power gains.

If I had a TDI I would be going with this Midpipe/DP/DPF delete:
http://rawtekinc.com/Volkswagen TDI Products.html
OR
http://performance-diesel.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_6


and Malone stage 2:
http://malonetuning.com/?page_id=564
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=323946

GTD exhaust on NA TDi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ6_4Bts1mI

Rawtek exhaust/Malone tune:
http://youtu.be/BvPxUv2Z7b0




:thumbsup:

Does anyone know of anybody who has done Malone's custom tune, or wants to do it them self? I just wonder what more the custom would give you over the stage 2.

I'd be careful with the whole MPG claims. Lots of these tend to be advertised...

I have been trying to look into the whole Stage II for the TDI thing, but sadly so few ppl run it that it seems a bit nightmarish if anything was to go wrong.

Also, the HPFP is still the #1 concern and a voided warranty is a big liability given that the repair is over 8k.

maxtdi said:

I'd be careful with the whole MPG claims. Lots of these tend to be advertised...

I have been trying to look into the whole Stage II for the TDI thing, but sadly so few ppl run it that it seems a bit nightmarish if anything was to go wrong.

Also, the HPFP is still the #1 concern and a voided warranty is a big liability given that the repair is over 8k.

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The MPG claims are legitiment, maybe just not the figures they say. They are re-tuning the engine to be more efficient and smoothly powered, both lead to increased MPG. And without a DPF you WILL see an increase because the engine is less restricted. Thats one complaint over CR's from PD's, decreased MPG's. They are quieter and cleaner tho (life is full of trade offs).

Concerning our fuel pumps, just wait, save up some money and make a legit plan, so that when you are out of the warranty (that's just the care-free unless you are gonna mod it after 100K) you can do the mods without worrying about them not covering it. Anyone who thinks they can hide a mod like that from the dealer in the event something did go wrong is foolish, they know if its been tampered with.

One last thing, what is the concern with the pumps? Is it just failure or not being able to supply the fuel the engine will need when it is modded?

Well you need to read up on it... its basically the only weakpoint in these cars.

once a pump fails ($1500) it will send metal shards all through out the fuel system. Since its impossible to clean them out the gas tank and the other two fuel pumps and the injectors and fuel rails have to be replaced also.

The part total goes up $6k plus a ton of labor as you can imagine. Depending which dealer you're at its a week long repair and it the total comes to 8-10k with VW giving you a loaner in the mean time.

Getting a tune and a downpipe will certainly void the warranty unless you have a really lovely dealer who is willing to look the other way.

The sad part is, there is no way to predict when a failure will occur.
10-20k miles is common and then again 30-50k miles is common also. There were a few other failures in higher mileage cars.

No real correlation has been found, but in general, you have to use Top Tier diesel and hope that there is no gasoline accidentally floating in it also.

I suggest you look at www.tdiclub.com they have a few 1000+ post threads going about official list of failures as well as possible solutions, (none good so far)

I've asked several times about monitoring fuel pressure on these tunes and I kept getting told there is no need to because the tune stays within "stock parameters". But then I read around and see that FP are failing stock....

maxtdi said:

Well you need to read up on it... its basically the only weakpoint in these cars.

once a pump fails ($1500) it will send metal shards all through out the fuel system. Since its impossible to clean them out the gas tank and the other two fuel pumps and the injectors and fuel rails have to be replaced also.

The part total goes up $6k plus a ton of labor as you can imagine. Depending which dealer you're at its a week long repair and it the total comes to 8-10k with VW giving you a loaner in the mean time.

Getting a tune and a downpipe will certainly void the warranty unless you have a really lovely dealer who is willing to look the other way.

The sad part is, there is no way to predict when a failure will occur.
10-20k miles is common and then again 30-50k miles is common also. There were a few other failures in higher mileage cars.

No real correlation has been found, but in general, you have to use Top Tier diesel and hope that there is no gasoline accidentally floating in it also.

I suggest you look at www.tdiclub.com they have a few 1000+ post threads going about official list of failures as well as possible solutions, (none good so far)

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Well, I guess Ill be waiting a while for a tune, holy shat. :yikes:

maxtdi said:

Well you need to read up on it... its basically the only weakpoint in these cars.

once a pump fails ($1500) it will send metal shards all through out the fuel system. Since its impossible to clean them out the gas tank and the other two fuel pumps and the injectors and fuel rails have to be replaced also.

The part total goes up $6k plus a ton of labor as you can imagine. Depending which dealer you're at its a week long repair and it the total comes to 8-10k with VW giving you a loaner in the mean time.

Getting a tune and a downpipe will certainly void the warranty unless you have a really lovely dealer who is willing to look the other way.

The sad part is, there is no way to predict when a failure will occur.
10-20k miles is common and then again 30-50k miles is common also. There were a few other failures in higher mileage cars.

No real correlation has been found, but in general, you have to use Top Tier diesel and hope that there is no gasoline accidentally floating in it also.

I suggest you look at www.tdiclub.com they have a few 1000+ post threads going about official list of failures as well as possible solutions, (none good so far)

Click to expand...

I'm on myturbodiesel and tdiclub, great forums for technical topics. I have read the issues with it, and know about it, so I am weary. Thats the nice part about me not having cash to splurge tho, and sense enough to not want to void my warranty right now, I won't be able to do this for a while. There is also the suggestions of using additives to help it last, but reviews are still mixed on those too. Only time will tell, but something tells me electronics malfunction before the pumps. Fingers crossed for everything to be smooth sailing.

ToeBall said:

My JSW is Malone tuned. +45 hp, +110 ft lbs, +5 mpg. As an added bonus, I had one of the first 2010+ tuned TDI's (ECU locked down for 2010).

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Toeball, what did you do to get so far above malones stage 2 increases? Did you go for his custom tune? Are you running stock boost/fuel pressure?

SuperCommuterGolf said:

I've asked several times about monitoring fuel pressure on these tunes and I kept getting told there is no need to because the tune stays within "stock parameters". But then I read around and see that FP are failing stock....

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Pressure is not the cause of the failure, nor do any tunes I've seen raise the pressure.

Technically in some parts of our tune the requested pressure is LOWER then stock.

Basically don't worry about pressure.