DirtyVegasTT

MTM has one... but it is around $4,700, which is too much for a piggy back in my opinion. MTM boasts how it can be easily installed / removed prior to dealership visits and will not throw codes. However it only works in S Drive which would annoy me.

I'm going with VR Tuned as soon as my car gets back from the shop for vibration issues we all discussed here.

I mentioned VR Tuned here before without too much interest, but they have been good to my Cayenne Turbo, so I will give it a shot. See below:

A8 4.0T https://www.vrtuned.com/product/ecu-...-14-gain-88hp/

There's also an S8 version.

theanimala

DirtyvegasTT, I never heard of this one, assumed I would just go with APR, but this has a nice price. Is it self installable?

DirtyVegasTT

APR is software flashed on the ECU, which is detectable by the dealer and will void your warranty.

I am talking about piggy back systems, which is not a software, but a hardware (with software on it) with cables (installed in your engine bay) which can be installed and removed, which does not alter your ECU and will not be detected by the dealer, allowing you to keep your warranty.

MP4.2+6.0

He's right on any directly recoding ECU like APR. Assume even if the warranty isn't punched, if you blow or have serious issues with the motor, turbos, tranny, etc, it will be thoroughly scanned and checked. Or, if dealer happens to rewrite ECU for some update and doesn't catch it, bye bye tune and then more $ to get back. On the other hand the piggyback ones are probably basically just shifting parameters by fooling the ECU on what some of the input values are (boost, etc.). That is not going to be as sophisticated as actually remapping, IF the remapping is itself optimized that is. In and out of warranty choices may be different here.

Their website on S8 is spotty. Seemingly same piggyback product listed twice thru 2014 with two different prices. 2015 is a chip tune instead, yet no obvious difference between those years, etc. Seems like there are errors on the site; that kind of stuff often makes me leery on these. They do have a dyno run for the S8. Given piggyback, is worth looking at for a more recent one.

I Think VR in VR Tuned may = Vivid Racing, though not sure how they connect.

DirtyVegasTT

VR Tuned is Vivid Racing. I found both companies to be solid and had dealings with them before. The site is fairly new for VR Tuning, so there maybe inconsistencies. If you send them an email regarding your S8 inquiry I'm sure they will get back to you with a satisfactory answer.

Once I get the piggy back I will let you guys know. However I do not think I will dyno, just don't have the time nor the interest to dive that far into it right now. Their flash worked well on my Cayenne Turbo, but it was a flash...

PainDOC

Did you ever get around to installing it? Would they do a group buy if lets say 5 of us got together? Also would love a decent write up on the install. cheers!

MP4.2+6.0

This has been getting discussed over in a post on Audizine. But updates are frankly slow as molasses and validated data seems slim or less. Interested, but they need to get the info up to snuff.

See: VR Tuned 4.0T

DirtyVegasTT

I'm on the fence on this... In all honesty I'm just being lazy and don't want to take it on and off when I go to the dealer.

At this time for normal sprints my 4.0T in Sport is plenty fast, but who knows... I may get the HP bug later.

I started to drive a bit more civilized after I put 22" on the long body, plus I still have the P90D if I want stupid speed.

I'll wait until my summer school is done. Maybe when I finally have a few days in-between my never-ending semesters I'll give it a try. I don't think you need a group buy, its only a grand.

theanimala

Agreed about the 4.0T in sport mode being fast enough. I've only had my A8 for a bit over a month, so it's still fast as hell to me, but for $1K it seems like something I may do in the future to mix things up...

surferdude

A friend of mine (and my mechanic) is an Audi master tech. He says even piggybacks can be detected, and will automatically flag your vehicle td1. I would stay away from any performance upgrades that alter ecu parameters in any way, if you want to keep your warranty