Firefighter

Has anyone had the APR ECU upgrade on their 2.0 T ?
I realize that does not appear to be English, but it is.
Anyway, if so how much did it cost, is it worth it and will it do any damage to the 2.0T engine.
Thanks

radmanboca

I have a 2018 S5 3.0T and did the APR ECU Stage 1 after 22,000 miles for two reasons:

1. Increased HP and torque
2. That engine engine start/stop crap Audi put on their cars
3. Speed limiting

The upgrade was great for about 7-8k miles - I absolutely LOVED the power and torque and the engine start/stop crap GONE along with the speed limiting.

Just before 31,000 miles my car suddenly overheats. BADLY, VERY BADLY, and for no visible reason. However based on the symptoms I was sure the water pump was blown and no fluid was circulating. I managed to limp to Audi by start/stop/waiting anc driving 1 mile at a time.

They replaced the water pump, thermo, flushed the system and it was still overheating like crazy. The final part they replaced was a pressure valve on the coolant system that releases all pressure from the closed system which was like a 5-10 dollar part. They also flashed the ECU back to stock and VOIDED MY EXTENDED WARRANTEE.

The point is I am rather convinced the APR Stage 1 on my ECU caused the overheating due to the increased heat it obviously creates in the engine system that must be dissipated. Why would that be? Because the extra power and torque come from making the engine burn rich (NOT from changing shift points, everyone...), which is why the engine creates much more heat.

Besides the fact I would have to pay APR again to upgrade my ECU, the likelihood is very high it will just cause a heat problem all over again (and other additional problems from the rich mixture). I hate that engine start/stop crap SOOOO bad it's tempting to do the upgrade again for that reason alone.

Ultimately it's the heat problem the APR ECU Upgrade created that I can't afford to have happen again or blow the engine Voiding the warrantee screwed me badly too. Remember you have flash the ECU back to stock again if you ever sell the car too.

Bottom line is I chose the best, APR, to do the tuning and it cost me dearly. You want more horsepower??? Then buy a faster car with a higher performance engine. Don't make the mistake I did!

Striker27

I kinda really doubt the whole over heating thing. But………. That was your experience and one of the first ones I heard.

silver_tt

Maybe it is maybe it isn't but tuning generally speaking means running rich and that will result in excess heat (and wear on items like your plugs, cats, etc). I could tell you about all sorts of stupid things I have seen from people tuning their cars. Tuning means taking your engine away from a known and vetted configuration ("best by test" as Bobby Fischer would say) and doing something stupid like running too much boost. Plus the 2.0T is a terrible engine to tune and the components of this engine are not meant to take down more horsepower. Even if you don't damage your engine just wait till you blow out a seal or something -- ya, that will be cheap. There is no free lunch. Like the poster above said, if you want more horsepower buy a car with it. I continue to be puzzled by people that want to tune a 2.0T. This is not a racecar and never will be.