snowdrift2442

Recently got a 2015 A3 2.0T (Love it!) and I've been looking around for anyone who has upgrades in performance for their new A3's already? I'm looking to get my A3 in the 300 hp range and need some guidance...not sure if I wanna go with APR GIAC HPA etc... intake, turbo upgrade, or chip..

Haven't seen anyone upgrade the A3 yet....HELP!

Just looking for a little more jump and pull out of the car.

LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS UPGRADED OR IS THINKING ABOUT IT!

scottacus

APR's ECU upgrade is available and shows incredible improvements for ECU alone (300+hp). I would just start with that.

snowdrift2442

Is there any downsides to the ECU stg. 1 upgrade that you know of? Such as a shortened life of the engine? I see you have an APR stage 2...How do you like that?

arU4ic

If I were doing this, I would look at the differences on the S3 to get 300hp out of it compared to the A3. Bigger intercooler, large radiator, differences in the DSG, etc.

I would think that Audi would not have just cranked up the hp electronically and trust that the car components can handle the increases i performance. I'm sure they did reliability tests.

BUT, I have been known to be wrong from time to time.

Josh/AWE

We currently have a performance exhaust system in development.
Get updates here. AWE Tuning Audi A3 Performance Exhaust System

scottacus

I've had my car APRed for 4 years. No issues. APR is a great tuner and has an excellent reputation in the Audi community.

THe 2.0T in the A5 is a slightly older generation than the S3, so even my Stage 2 is not going to have the same gain as the Stage 1 on the A3. But I've been incredibly happy with the APR program. I lost it for a bit after an engine rebuild (due to high oil consumption) and was surprised how different my car feels without it.

The only downside -- and it is a potentially significant one -- is that Audi will likely flag your car in their system with the TD1 flag if you bring your car in for service and it's chipped. This may lead to denial of powertrain-related warranty repairs.

For my part, I have brought my car to several different dealers with the APR chip and have never had any issues. This includes several engine repairs Audi could well have denied, including an oil consumption-related rebuild at 80K that Audi did as a goodwill repair. So it very well may not be an issue. But at least worth thinking about.

sailor99

I am not trying to make anyone mad, but making a warranty claim on a modified engine is unethical and costs everybody else in the long run. If you want to chip it, just pay for it.

Taimur

How are you APR tuned guys dealing with warranty? I hear if a tune is detect during any service visit the car is automatically flagged (TD1 code) in Audi's main system. Which immediately voids the powertrain warranty.

I'm not too sure many, myself included, will now go with any ECU type flash. A piggy option would be a better approach, which does not mess with the ECU.

Thoughts?

Spoonie G

When my EVO's SST transmission blew I was excepting of the fact that they may not honor the warranty. I wasn't going to argue. They did and I wasn't going to get all ethical and say no. Maybe the 50 extra HP that I was getting out of it was still within the limits of the transmission. IDK.

If mistu had come out with a next gen EVO I would have rewarded them with another car purchase. When a dealer does good, it makes some folks loyal.

arU4ic

I found a write-up that listed the differences in the S3 Engine versus the A3:

"The S version gets a raft of upgrades like a new turbocharger, new exhaust valves, reinforced connecting rods, and new cylinder heads, to name a few changes. "

Makes me glad I paid an extra 10k for the S3.