I have the dual intercooler set up with an APR exhaust. You aren't going to see max. benefit without the exhaust, but you might be able to live with 5-10hp less if you wish to go cheap. If you experience hot (90 degree+) in the summer then I would go with a larger intercooler. Heat soak is noticeable on these cars even with the stock set up. If money is an issue, I'd go with 1+ and a used ic and exhaust.

 

"If money is an issue, I'd go with 1+ and a used ic and exhaust"

That was one of the things I was trying to find out here from people with hands on experience. Namely, If money is an issue, should I just forget stage 1+ completely if i am not willing to spend another $2000 in parts for an exhaust, inter cooler, and god know how much installation cost on those two things, and just do stage 1 that doesn't really require them because the turbo boost pressure is not as maxed out.


I think I sort of got the answer in a round about way: You can do stage 1+ with just do the injectors, but then the gains over stage 1 aren't as impressive, and you may have more heat related issues if you go that route and don't do the inter cooler and exhaust upgrades. You'll likely end up unhappy with the overall results and want to do those expensive upgrades at some point, and then maybe upgrade the Turbo, and on and on. $5000 and a host of unexpected problems later.....you end up an expert poster at this site!

I have been down that route with some classic cars I have owned and don't want to repeat the money pit thing here if I can help it.

I think I will get the silicone hoses as the rubber ones may fail on me even running stage 1 boost levels. I may cancel my order for the injectors though, as i can see where all of that is going and its what I was afraid of.

Here are the guys that had a few sets of TT injectors for only $299:

http://www.etatuning.com/

 

You can run a 1+ program with no problems but I would strongly reccommend an upgraded intercooler. Your stock SMIC is barely able to keep IATs down. When you go anything over the stock programming, the SMIC is inferior. Your IATs will be incredibly high after one run and that is with anything about stock. The exhaust will open up some extra ponies if you get a cat back, the test pipe will also help for sure but it's bad for the environment, and a TIP will help also. Those mods will be great add ons but not as necessary as the upgraded intercooler for consistent performance.

 

I talked with the software tech guy today, and he confirmed pretty much what was being said here. his advise for me was to get stage 1 now, see how I like it and if it gets me what I want, and then later if I decide to go for more power cost be damned, just go right to stage 3. his reasoning was, if you are going to spring for the big intercooler like the $1000 AWE, and something like a Miltek exhaust, you are pretty much already set up for stage 3 at that point. Might as well go with a bigger turbo and operate the boost more efficiently. Of course, then you may need better brakes, a heavier duty sway bars....

In the end, too bad we all just can't afford an RS4, as that is what perfromance hungry A4 owners are basically trying to get to.

 

By the way, thanks for all the replies from everyone who responded. gave me enough feedback to help figure out what would make the most sense for my needs, which is going to be stage one Revo at this point. I cancelled the TT injector order.

Being I have a triptonic car, that's probably as far as I will go power wise, (can't even really do stage 3 with a triptroic-that might be a good thing!) except maybe a better intercooler at some point, perhaps when the timing belt is being done next year and the front of the car is off already. too bad there wasn't a clever way to get more air through the stock IC. I guess the newer 2.0T cars have a better set up in that area.

I am going to focus more on ride and handling now, as I have my Koni FSD's arriving this week, along with a Febi super control arm set. Also got a set of Akebono pads and Brembo rotors to do as well.

 

You can go BT with a tip, just build the transmission first.

 

I have run APR stage 1+ for a couple of years, no extra intercooler or anything else on my 1.8T 2002 A4. Here in New England in the summer the heat soak, with power loss is very noticable. Only other mod considered was a FMIC, but that is another 1G.

 

The only other mods I have are a set of NGK BKR7E copper plugs gapped to .028". The one advantage of Revo is that you can load different versions of the program to slightly de-tune the flash. I will see how it runs in the summer before I decide to add an intercooler and/or a downpipe. You certainly do not need them. You can run any of the Stag 1+ programs w/o any other mods.

 

I just found that out that Revo has custom tuning possibilities. The local Revo installer, Griffin Motorwerke, uses that feature to dial the software to your car and crappy 91 gas we have here if too much boost is causing problems with the way your car is set up.

I am sure for normal street use, the stage 2 Revo slightly detuned or stage 1+APR would work fine except during hard driving on a hot day. It also seems that even without a better intercooler and exhausts, the gains are significant. I am keeping this in mind for future upgrades. I will have to report back after my Koni FSD's, new brakes and control arm kit, and revo stage 1 with a few minor mods go in next week. Wish me luck, as I am partly "fixing things that aren't broke", and hope the Murphy's law gods let it slide this time.

 

When Doug loaded my Revo Stage 2 they customized the program for my 93 octane and my lack of an upgraded intercooler and downpipe. When I decide to add those, I can go back up to Reflex Tuning and they can simply adjust the computer using a serial port switch. There is no need to re-flash the ECU as the data tables are already pre-loaded. With a Revo serial port switch you can adjust certain parameters:

http://www.revotechnik.com/products/selectPlus.aspx

This feature is unique to Revo.