IknowHuhA6

So after a relentless search for a DTC fix that yielded no leads, I gave up and took car to dealer. I feel like such a failure. Paid to have car diagnosed and after half a day sitting at dealer the service writer comes to ask me to sign exclusion form that identifies the car as chipped with car tune.

My reaction was "Whhhhaaaaaaaaatttt????" ::trying to disguise my joy:: (no it wasn't me that tuned it).

So it appears my single previous owner lease car had a tune in the PCM. I asked for details but they were not provided. So wondering if there's a way to identify what kind of tune is in the car??

Especially since I'm preparing to tune the car. I'd really hate to pay for a tune that may already be on the car. Oi Vey.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

snagitseven

Your car phoned home to the mother ship and Audi responded. Welcome to the world of TD1 and all of the potential warranty complications that come with it. Since there are only a couple of tuner sources for the A6 C7, perhaps you could contact them to see if your VIN shows up or how to determine if the ECU is modified?

tenspeed

You might be able to compare your performance data with others ie 0 - 60 times, dragstrip times/speed to see if your car is still tuned. As snagit mentioned, there were only a few vendors offering tunes. The outputs were very close.

Many of the 2012's have or will soon hit the end of the four year/ 50,000 mile warranty anyway.

snagitseven

There is also the Emissions Warranty which is 8 yrs/80K miles on various components to consider.
I had an allroad gas tank replaced under the emissions warranty at 7 years. Would have cost $5500.

dshahs420

The sad part is that a chipped ECU alone doesn't really make a big difference. At most you'll gain at best 10hp. Its not worth it to lose warranty for that. Now if you are going to do the pulley upgrade too then it's a different story.

IknowHuhA6

Snagit,
great idea thank you. I'm used to customizing my own tune after changing engine components such as cam, injectors, throttle body etc on my previous cars. Not familiar with cookie cutter tunes as these appear to be so that's a good lead. I only know about GIAC and APR. Anybody else I should call?
Does the the TD1 also nullify my emissions warranty???

Tenspeed,
I'm at 64K. My warranty had left the building before I even bought the car. The aftermarket warranty that came with car only covers powertrain, which is specified as "internally lubricated parts".

dshahs420,
I don't understand what a chipped ECU means because the term is so often used so loosely. I understand these to be hardware like the chipwerke. I avoid these like the plague because I understand what these things really do to the ECU and engine. I prefer software tunes. I hope what's on there is an ECU software tune because if it's some hardware chip I want to rip that cancerous thing out ASAP.

snagitseven

As of three or so years ago, Audi decided to get tough on mods, especially engine tunes, hence the TD1 designator. Yes, the emissions warranty could be affected if Audi decides that a tune caused an issue affecting emissions. Also check the fine print on that aftermarket powertrain warranty. There could very well be a gotcha there as well.

DB22

I agree that the Chipwerke is the crude, cheap approach but nowhere have I ever read that it is only 10HP. Most testing reveals 50 to 75 HP on the stock 310HP 3.0T. I believe that those numbers are extrapolated from readings taken from actual performance gains.

The APR and GIAC ECU mods are similar, if not more and the pulley is the icing on the cake and not the cake itself.

dshahs420

I have had car's With this upgrade dyno'd including my car and all of them show no more than 10 hp. The pulley upgrade bumps it up to 450-60 hp verified by my dyno machine.

DB22

May I suggest a search on a competing forum for more information regarding the gains of the Chipwerke? I think that the 10HP gain may be in dispute. The difference in my car between the chip in or out is significant. If it were only 10HP then I would hardly notice it..