GIAC Stage 2 - Audi S4 DSG

[Kartelli]

Hi Guys,

Any experience with APR or GIAC Stage 2 kits for an Audi S4? About the pull the trigger on the stage 2 upgrade for my 2012.

Debating whether to do the DSG flash with it, does it make a significant upgrade in the driving experience?

New to the Audi Scene, looking for advice!

[asp integra]

I have a few buddies with dsg vw R32's and they said the dsg flash made a huge difference:dunno:

[AudiPWR]

4.2L V8?

If it is, I had the APR tune and I couldn't notice much at all. The throttle response was a bit better and it was maybe, just maybe a tad quicker. These cars are impossible to get power from without forced induction... Unless you are talking about the 3.0T or 2.7TT..

[Kartelli]

this is for the 3.0T :)

[Danaldson]

2012? b8 s4's are 3.0 Supercharged. I have heard awesome things about the dsg tunes and make awesome power stage 2. . i plan on getting the combo tune on my r32 and everyone who has done it says its way better with the dsg done as well.

ps: Get the apr Pulley as well!!!

[btimbit]

Didn't even know GIAC still existed, they do (or at least used to do) such shoddy work imo. Boost spikes, rich fuelling, horrible customer support.

Unitronic is almost done theirs for the 3.0T if you wanted to wait a bit. If not, you can't go wrong with APR. It's usually the more stable, but less aggressive, option.

[Kartelli]

didnt know GIAC has such a bad reputation in the tuning industry? I was considering APR, they are abit more expensive.

I'm loving the car right now, just needs more go power, hoping the dsg flash will change the feeling similar to an m3 dct!

[btimbit]

APR have a bunch of ex VAG and Bosch guys. Sometimes their tunes don't produce as much power as the other but it's generally more reliable. Definitely pricey though, especially their hardware. Unitronic is my favourite but I don't know if the 2012 s4 tune is ready yet

[nickyh]

APR should be having a sale soon, they hold one for Spring, Summer, Fall & winter.
I waited for the sale when I went stage 1. I was also looking at GIAC but honestly after doing much more research I felt better going the APR route.

[zaider]

Hey,

I've also got a B8 S4 (same tune required 2010-2012). Not tuned because I still value my warranty, but I've done a fair bit of research on the matter.

The two favoured tuning companies for the B8 S4 seem to be the ones you've mentioned. Revo/Stasis (combined now) get mentioned too, but they aren't as popular.

GIAC and APR both have their fanboys on the Audi Forums and the numbers seem to be pretty similar.

If you're interested in 1/4 Mile times with each tuner, here's the best place to find em:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/400241-Official-1-4th-Quarter-Mile-Drag-Strip-Times

So basically if you want to do the DSG flash (which I've heard is recommended at Stage 2), then you can either go GIAC or wait until APR releases theirs.

- Z

[Danaldson]

Originally posted by zaider
Hey,

I've also got a B8 S4 (same tune required 2010-2012). Not tuned because I still value my warranty, but I've done a fair bit of research on the matter.

So basically if you want to do the DSG flash (which I've heard is recommended at Stage 2), then you can either go GIAC or wait until APR releases theirs.

- Z

little bit of off topic, but you should be fine getting a tune with a warranty. unless they can prove that the tuning was the exact cause of a problem, they can't void it. you shouldn't have any issues.

didn't realize apr hasn't released a dsg tune yet.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Danaldson


little bit of off topic, but you should be fine getting a tune with a warranty. unless they can prove that the tuning was the exact cause of a problem, they can't void it. you shouldn't have any issues.

didn't realize apr hasn't released a dsg tune yet.

I have a feeling you would lose that battle, if the dealer or Audi saw an easy way out by blaming the issue on the tune. Obviously it isn't going to void warranty on non-related parts, but if pretty much anything fails in the motor, they will just blame it on the extra power, stress, etc. It would be tough to rule out the tune 100% and you'd most likely be screwed.

[zaider]

Originally posted by Danaldson


little bit of off topic, but you should be fine getting a tune with a warranty. unless they can prove that the tuning was the exact cause of a problem, they can't void it. you shouldn't have any issues.

didn't realize apr hasn't released a dsg tune yet.

Depends on your dealer, the problem, etc, but you can get flagged TD1 by just a scan (if the tech decides to run it).

For me, I find that the S4 is plenty fast enough for what I want (Im getting older and don't care as much), and I like having the piece of mind that comes with having the warranty on the engine/transmission, which are the two areas that would be most expensive to fix if warranty was denied.

[tirebob]

Call Erik Kocoj up at Royal Oak Audi... He is an Audi/VW encyclopedia when it comes to what you can do to tune these things! The man knows his stuff...

[Kartelli]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

The warranty issue is a whole other ballgame with Audi. Its a pay to play mentality, which I'm ok with.

Leaning towards APR now, except they do not have the dsg flash yet.

The S4 is built pretty solid from my experience so far, the engine does not seem high strung at all, I'm guessing that is where the tune can free up some power along the entire band.

[Kartelli]

Also for anyone in Edmonton, I have a vag-com cable and started doing some tinkering. If you'd like me to program some settings for you, send me a pm.

[zaider]

Originally posted by Kartelli
Also for anyone in Edmonton, I have a vag-com cable and started doing some tinkering. If you'd like me to program some settings for you, send me a pm.

So valuable. I did a lot of VAG-COM mods to mine.
If you haven't found it yet, here's the best site for it:
http://www.audienthusiasts.com/VagCom.html

If you enable TPMS, the cable pays for itself immediately. Its already saved me from driving on a flat tire.

The only thing that really annoys me still is that I didn't disable the Lights Are On warning buzzer when you open the door with the lights on. Forgot to do it when i borrowed the cable.

Stupid car. They're on "Auto". I promise they'll switch off. That's how it works. You dont need to warn me.

[asp integra]

Isnt Stasis now owned by Audi? They sell Stasis parts right from the dealer and I believe the Stasis tune is covered by audi warranty

[zaider]

Nope.

Various dealerships do stock Stasis parts and will install a Stasis tune for you, but Stasis (and Revo now that they are combined) are a separate company and as soon as you tune, your Audi warranty is gone and Stasis agrees to take over the rest of your original factory warranty (3 years/80,000km) in case something goes wrong and Audi wont cover it.

The fine print includes the fact that a CPO car is not covered by the Stasis warranty. For instance, my car, which is CPO, wouldn't be covered by Stasis if I got a tune and the engine blew. I've got another 3 and a bit years/82,000km left on my CPO warranty (6 years/160k) so Im gonna keep it going for a while.

There's been rumours of stasis trying to get out of warranty claims, just like there are instances of dealerships trying to do the same thing, but I think they're generally alright to deal with if something goes wrong.

The Stasis/Revo tune doesn't have the best reputation compared with GIAC/APR and I don't believe they have DSG tune. They also only have Stage 1. No supercharger pulley kit or stage 2 tune.


Edit: Stasis website now says 4 year/50,000 mile warranty as well as:



Vehicles modified with STaSIS Signature Series products are clearly flagged in the Audi warranty system to enable faster diagnostics and better customer service. STaSIS customers can have their vehicles serviced and repaired under warranty at any Audi dealership across North America. This is unique to STaSIS.


Basically, they'll flag them as TD1 in the Audi system, same as with any other tune.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Danaldson


little bit of off topic, but you should be fine getting a tune with a warranty. unless they can prove that the tuning was the exact cause of a problem, they can't void it. you shouldn't have any issues.

didn't realize apr hasn't released a dsg tune yet.

This isn't the USoA. We don't have the Moss Magnuson Act (or anything like it), and your pockets aren't as deep as Audi Canada for lawyer fees.

[Kartelli]

Southgate Audi in edmonton is very difficult to deal with. The service folks generally have no idea what the hell they are doing and or try to hide stuff from customers.

Case in point, "300 point inspection" CPO'ed sold at time of purchase. Couldnt figure out why my radio was not working properly. Audi claimed nothing was wrong, I ran a search on the vagcom cable, sure enough there is radio malfuction code stored. There is no way they wouldnt have known if they ran the scan during the inspection of the car.

If you are a warranty guy, then best keep the vehicle stock until out of warranty, or accept that you will have to pay incase things go wrong.

[Kartelli]

Not to sound like an unreasonable person with the radio issue, southgate audi also tried to "switch" vehicles on a purchase last year.

Scenario: Signed up for a 2013 S4 on the lot, had all the options I wanted, put a deposit and signed the bill of sale. At time of pick up, they swapped the vehicle with another one with the same specs, except it had damage from being sitting in the show room for a few months. This required a respray to the entire driver rear quarter panel and trunk to fix the damage. I didnt realize the vehicle was not the correct one as they just changed the vin number on the bill of sale. Their response was take it or leave it, we will fix and sell to someone else, or offer you a 1k discount. Totally crushed the deal.

My current s4 was purchased from an alternate source. I cannot wait till a second Audi dealership opens up in Edmonton to give them some competition, and hopefully improve their customer service.

[zaider]

Sounds brutal.

I've had good service from Glenmore Audi here in Calgary. Salesman was a pretty good guy. Service is hit or miss. They fixed some things, but then charged me to fix an auto-levelling issue with the headlights. Blamed it on a bad balast. Charged me $50 (warranty deductable) and replaced it. Didn't fix anything (as i suspected it wouldn't).

[Kartelli]

I hear good things about Glenmore, my family in calgary take their audi's there for servicing and have had positive things to say.

[fcuk_it]

Is there anyone here in Calgary that can do some vag-com coding on my 13 s4 dsg? I'm not too computer savvy and too scared to fuck with my car.

[btimbit]

Originally posted by fcuk_it
Is there anyone here in Calgary that can do some vag-com coding on my 13 s4 dsg? I'm not too computer savvy and too scared to fuck with my car.

Try checking Eurodrivers.ca I'm sure someone there can help you

[zaider]

Yeah, sorry. I only borrowed the cable to do my VAG'ing.

It was pretty easy once you read the instructions 30-40 times but still stressful to be messing with things.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by fcuk_it
Is there anyone here in Calgary that can do some vag-com coding on my 13 s4 dsg? I'm not too computer savvy and too scared to fuck with my car.

I have only done it 2 or 3 times on mine as MMI got reset to factory with 1 service. The key is just go slow and make sure you are in the right spot.

I'm not sure about APR stage 1 or any upgrade yet but itching to do so as warranty comes off in a few months. It really depends on if I pick up another daily driver or not and push my S4 into a summer/weekender/project car.

[zaider]

The S4 responds so well to tuning, making it so tempting, but I just haven't been able to make that leap yet. The only things I've done to it are summer wheels/rubber, LED's and the VAG-COMing.

I'd love to do an exhaust (AWE resonated) and springs (H&R OEM's)... but that's just a gateway drug :)

[Kartelli]

just picked up a set of 19" tsw nurburing rims, looking forward to swap in a couple of week :)