PersianPower

ok so ive been considering flashing my ecu. When I thought about it I reached a thought that got me stuck. If programming the ecu a certain way gives you 50 more hp why didnt audi do it in the first place. It would make sense if it had no harsh repercussions on the car that they would do so and they would advertise their 2.0t's as having 250 horses. What am i missing here?

Also, is the "stock" program from APR the same as the stock program from Audi, I thought there were copyright issues on these things...

USP

255 horses. Thats also one of the reasons Audi intentionally underrated the power of the 2.0T. To many consumers, paying ~5K+ for around 30-35HP more doesn't really make any sense so the 2.0T is advertised as having just 200.

bhvrdr

#1, the 4 cylinder turbo is always going to have to be supposedly much less powerful as long as they produce a more expensive 6 cylinder.

#2, Audi prides itself on having a completely flat torque band that makes max torque by an incredible 1500-2000rpm basically elminating tubo lag. Thus, the consumer feels smooth although restrained power. Chip tuning will give you the same OEM power down low, but you will get a new tq peak up at 3000rpm so the peak is a tad later and more abrupt. Enthusiasts dont mind this and welcome the extra power. Grandma probably doesnt appreciate it as much.

cheers! Mike

Bob58

While a 250bhp 2.0 would certainly cut into 3.2 sales, there may be other considerations too.

*Rampant Speculation Follows*

One is varying grades of fuel. 93 octane isn't available everywhere and the quality of fuel varies across the country. Audi also needs to take into consideration the fact that some people will pump 87 octane no matter what the manual says. (You CAN pump 87 in the 2.0 as tuned. You certainly can't in a "chipped" car)

Another factor is durability. I'm not, necessarily, saying that the tuners are reducing durability with the new flashes, but Audi needs to be extra careful since if something breaks it's on their nickel. The need to anticipate that some people simply don't maintain their cars very well.

Imagine the bad press if a rash of 2.0s started having serious engine problems during the frist 50K, even if it was due to owner neglect. Imagine the expense.

And there's also the need to have room to grow. People tend to expect that newer model years will produce more power. Just like the 1.8T that was available in different levels of tune (TT) as the years went by.

And lastly, I think Audi likes the fact that there is a modding cult among many hardcore Audi owners. I think they feel 'safe" with a 2.0 that produces 200bhp in stock tune because, lets face it, 200 is plenty, but the engine has the flexibility, for theose who want to do more (at their own risk), to add serious HP with a simple reflash.

What other manufacturer produces 35-45K cars that "owners" will immediately sink thousands of dollars, and countless man hours, into modding a car that they just leased?

Tanner

Curious only, which dealer did you get your A4? you there is also a Canadian forum also.

HighPSI

there arent really any copyright issues as far as i know, but...

as far as having a stock program in conjunction with chipped, there would be two ways of doing
1. keep the stock programming, and add the chipped program- i dont know if this is "programmably possible", as i think once you overwrite the code, its gone..

2. overwrite the code with a chipped program, and new program which is the respective tuners version of stock program, so its not the exact code that was there when it came from the factory, buts its stock, how close to stock in all respects?(ie. boost, timing, fueling- i dont know)

as far as most of us have been able to determine, stock programs that come with chips fall under #2

bhvrdr

I guess this is the way most are doing it now as far as using the exact OEM outputs for those "stock" programs that dont require fuel upgrades. cheers! Mike

HighPSI

thx mike

crew219

BTW, regarding the 2.0t being underrated . . . . here's a VAG-COM dyno an A3 owner did . . .

<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~jimwagner/hpchart.jpg">

Dave

irenesbob

Good input from the crew on this one. I would add: 1. having to warranty the vehicle makes Audi ultra-conservative and gives them an "out" for dis-allowing anything that goes wrong with a chipped car; and, 2. they are (like all manufacturers) under the gun to get the best corporate fuel economy numbers they can - the current ECU settings probably help them achieve that, especially on their high-volume model (2.0T).