VW GTI APR Chip. Where, how much?

[wardpr68]

Hey everyone,

Got a new 2012 GTI and been researching on the APR stage 1 chip. I was just wondering where people get it done, and for how much.

I am quite sure that the only place in Calgary is Concept1, but maybe I am wrong.

Also, I know that the best time to do it is when they have their sales (I believe they may have one late June early July).

So, let me know where you got it done and how much you paid. Also, can you really feel a big difference? (I would think so considering the power gains).

Thanks!

[Tarrantula]

Tunedub? Tunerworks?

Im getting a UNITRONIC tune done at tunedub tomorrow. 700$

[Kloubek]

I am not exactly sure of the dates, but when I was looking, Concept 1 was the only authorized dealer I could find here.

And yes, you would feel a noticable performance increase. For cars like yours that respond well to this upgrade, there is no more cost effective performance upgrade you can perform imo.

[1-Bar]

Got my APR chip done at concept1. Throttle response alone was worth the dollars. Not to mention the fuel savings lol

[nickyh]

Congrats and welcome to the 2012 club.

Concept 1 is the only authorized dealer in town.
If you can wait, hold off until July, APR usually has a sale every quarter.

I paid $599 for stage 1 + dowload in April during their Spring into Power sale.

Been grinning ever since.

I stalked the goapr.com webpage every week waiting for the announcement.

I run the 93 program and love more of that low end grunt that never wants to run out. The 91 program is pretty good to, but I find 2nd gear has more pull on the 93 program.

[Tarrantula]

Originally posted by 1-Bar
Got my APR chip done at concept1. Throttle response alone was worth the dollars. Not to mention the fuel savings lol

Did the throttle response change the whole peddal? or did it adapt back to your driving style after a while?

Basically im asking if it feels like the last 30% of the power is now available to you.

[Aleks]

Back in the day I had APR 1 on my 08 GTI

Made some runs at race city:
Stock 91 octane: 15.2 @92mph
APR1 91 octane: 14.3 @97mph iirc

Made a pretty big difference. Back then the ECU didn't have to come out. Not sure if it has to now.

[sillysod]

Definitely worth it. around $700 if i'm not mistaken.

It doesn't make much of a difference on N/A cars but on any VAG turbo cars its like having a totally different vehicle.

If you are 100% sure you won't go further than a chip tune go APR, however if you tend to mod vehicles get Unitronics.

APR is great, but not upgradeable, whereas UNI can be changed if you decide to go big turbo later on down the road. K04+ exhaust = 340hp

[Kg810]

Did you get 6 spd or DSG?

[wardpr68]

I definitely wont be going much further in terms of upgrades. Maybe a stage 2 with an intake... but doubtful.

I opted for the 6 speed. I don't think I can ever go back to driving automatic now... the feeling of control over the vehicle is just unmatched when you are driving manual.

Looks like Concept1 does the chip 1 (1 program) for 599 plus a 112 labor fee for ECU removal. (yes it does have to be removed).

So I guess I will just wait for the sale and do 4 programs, 93 91 stock and valet. Sucks that they charge the labor fee, but I guess if they have to take the ECU out that does take some time.

[nickyh]

Or you could jump to Stage 2 right away :devil:

But - if you go that route you may need to look at new clutch sooner rather than later since you are 6spd.

[Aleks]

Originally posted by wardpr68
I definitely wont be going much further in terms of upgrades. Maybe a stage 2 with an intake... but doubtful.

I opted for the 6 speed. I don't think I can ever go back to driving automatic now... the feeling of control over the vehicle is just unmatched when you are driving manual.

Looks like Concept1 does the chip 1 (1 program) for 599 plus a 112 labor fee for ECU removal. (yes it does have to be removed).

So I guess I will just wait for the sale and do 4 programs, 93 91 stock and valet. Sucks that they charge the labor fee, but I guess if they have to take the ECU out that does take some time.

Yea I thought I read somewhere that now it has to come out. There have been cases in the US of ECUs fried due to tech improperly doing this work on people's cars. Just a heads up.

[nickyh]

and there have been cases where the ECU's on stock GTI's have also failed (in Canada) with less than 11,000km on them.
It's a german car, we all play roulette with something going wrong (eventually) sadly.

One thing to note, the dealer can now scan the car and see that you are chipped. They started doing it with Audi and now they are flagging VW's that are chipped.

[project240]

Opinions on APR vs Unitronic?

I've been doing a bit of research and obviously lots of different opinions out there, but I think I've read more negative comments about the APR than any other. My opinion is unbiased as I really don't know the differences between the various companies.

Thoughts?

[Tarrantula]

Since I only have unitronic as an option Im gonna say UNITRONIC all the way - but there are a lot of opinions.

I would say either is good - but do the reasearch for your model.

[wardpr68]

Ya, one thing I am worried about is warranty issues. I mean, I would love to get it done now... but god, if some warranty issue comes up, I would be so pissed.

I think I might wait for the warranty to expire.

[project240]

I've been reading vwvortex and jettajunkie (my eyes hurt from that damn black background/blue font) a lot the past few days and have read a lot of good things about Unitronic chips. Again, I've read good things about APR as well, just seems to be many more negative comments in the mix as well.

Just bought an 05 MKIV Jetta GLI this morning.

[wardpr68]

I think the thing that really appeals to me with the APR chip is that you can switch the modes. (91, 93, stock, valet). In the winter do I really need all that power? Probablly not, so I would just run it in stock mode.

[94boosted]

Originally posted by nickyh
One thing to note, the dealer can now scan the car and see that you are chipped. They started doing it with Audi and now they are flagging VW's that are chipped.

Out of curiosity is there options for those GTi guys that don't want to risk the warranty headache from being tuned/chipped? i.e. on the cobalt ss turbo I ran a Trifecta tune which was a stealth tune that the GM Tech II tool didn't pick up and if you were super concerned you could flash back to stock in all of 5 minutes for dealer visits :dunno:

[Kg810]

I wouldn't put too much weight on VW flagging you for a tune.

Read this thread http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29163&highlight=tune+detection

It quickly goes from "Omg they can find out we are tuned! We are all doomed!" to "went to the dealership and nothing happened
:burnout:"

Not one person in that thread reported any denied warranty or voided warranty.

Even if they knew and they tried to deny you on warranty, they'd have to prove that the tune was responsibile for something breaking.

[nickyh]

I chipped fully aware of the fact that dealers know about the tune, heck when I picked up the car my dealer asked how long until I chip.

I don't regret the tune and in the states some dealers even do it in house and like what was stated above, they still have to prove the tune was the cause.
It all comes down to your relationship with the service group.
I know of one advisor who had his car two weeks and went stage 2 right away...

[danno]

I too my gti to south center fine cars and they flagged me. I had some other warranty work to do, they said since i was chipped The engine stuff might be a problem but I was getting a wheel bearing so it wasn't a issue. I've been chipped for a long time now and it only cost me a fuel pump. I also have a fsi engine and you will have a tsi so a little different.

[1-Bar]

Originally posted by Tarrantula


Did the throttle response change the whole peddal? or did it adapt back to your driving style after a while?

Basically im asking if it feels like the last 30% of the power is now available to you.

There was signifigantly less lag when you hit the accelerator. From a dead stop it's more obvious and the power band mid to high has improved, night and day difference. Hope that answers your question.

[sillysod]

I have had APR, Uni and now running custom software.

APR is the safest - feels like something that would have come from VW themselves, infact that is how the car should have left the factory IMO. However, APR is notoriously bad for upgrades or any customization and their support is the shitz. (fortunately you really don't need it if you stay "in the box" with their tunes)

Unitronic is the most flexible and although still safe is a more aggressive tune than the APR one - it was more "punchy" than the APR tune, but that's 1/2 the fun sometimes. The support is excellent because of George @ tunedub.

Both companies make very very robust software and I would have no problems running either again.

I don't know much about Revo or Giac for the new VW motors, but they are know to have software that works amazing on some generations and not so hot on other ones. You'd have to look into it. I belive that Calgary Auto Works does Giac or Revo, don't remember which one though.

[Tuner1]

GIAC here. Conservative and safe while adding great power.

The AWE site does a nice job of explaining the details.

http://www.awe-tuning.com/products/vw-1/mk6-g-j-2010/gti-20t/awe-gj2-0t-tsichip.html

[cancer man]

Big mistake VW are pricks about mods.NO WARRANTY...

[gulfstorm]

Concept 1 was great to me. Did stage 1 APR on 2012 Audi A3. Fully loaded ECU 91, 93 etc. Took about 4 hrs for them to do it. $700 all in, was a sale price if I am not mistaken. Had the car back to dealership for service since. No issues so far. Interestingly was told by Concept 1 that when they reflash ECU it maintains all the electronic decoding that would state that the vehicle came had from the factory, ie it should be identical. Also when the ECU housing is removed, OEM bolts are replaced so it should not look like there has been any tampering......

Enjoy it. Fantastic power gains and mid/high range power as everyone had said.

Cheers

[wardpr68]

Thanks gulfstorm, was interested in hearing from someone that had actually had it done on a their car through Concept1.

I may do it when APR has their next sale... only problem is I will then need summer tires to put the power down properly. No use having more power if its just making the tires spin.

[nickyh]

If you wait until the next sale, APR may have changed the program slightly so the dealerships are less able to see the tune was done, one of the vendors on the golfmk6 forum jumped into this arguement.

[Tarrantula]

Originally posted by Tuner1
GIAC here. Conservative and safe while adding great power.

The AWE site does a nice job of explaining the details.

http://www.awe-tuning.com/products/vw-1/mk6-g-j-2010/gti-20t/awe-gj2-0t-tsichip.html

Not to shit on you, but I have heard a LOT of bad things about GIAC - basically that its nowhere near as good as the APR or UNITRONICS tunes - in fact 99% of people say after they switched it was night and day and they would never go back to GIAC (From Audizine and Audiworld and VWVortex)

[btimbit]

GIAC is probably the worst.

I say Unitronic since George @ Tunedub is the dealer in Calgary and I've never had a bad experience with him, and have never heard of anyone else having a bad experience that wasn't resolved to satisfaction at the shops expense. Best customer service. Same goes for Unitronic themselves. They're Canadian, which I feel is worth mentioning since most tuners I've dealt with blow off international customers. They also reply to emails very very quickly.


There isn't anything bad about APR, but there isn't anything amazing about them either. Unitronic has blown me away on numerous occasions

[lint]

bump.

looks like today is the last day of the APR sale. For those with 2011+ GTi how much was it? I just called Concept1 and they're quoting me $599 for the 4 program tune, and $150 for the install. Something about different chip clips, but the only price I see on their site is $112 for the labour.

[DeleriousZ]

Concept is an official APR dealer, so they're good to deal with that way.