TJHUB

I wasn't going to mod this car and now I'm already reminded of why. I don't friggin' like problems with my cars!

Anyway, I thought I'd take advantage of the APR sale from last week and I had my car flashed today. I didn't feel good about the dealer, but they were by far the closest APR dealer to me. I purchased stock, 93, and lock-out.

I arrived at the dealer at 11:00 this morning for the "30 to 40 minute" flash routine. After about 70 minutes and two test drives by their people, I'm informed that they "think" the 93 program is in slot 1 and stock is in slot 2. The software says otherwise and a call from the dealer to APR only resulted in APR saying "we've never had that happen". So now I'm already thinking "great...just great...".

Then the dealer decides to reflash the car and 20 minutes later he give me the car saying all is well. I leave.

The car was supposedly in 93 mode and I have to say that other than a slight exhaust note change, I can't really say that I notice much improvement in power. It's certainly a long way from the "night and day" difference so many proclaim on the forums. It does feel like more, but I have to imagine it somewhat because it's certainly not obvious. I have about 70 miles on the car since the flash.

I just went back out to the car and switched the program to slot 2 which is supposed to be the 93 program. The car wouldn't start with about 8 tries, so I switched to slot 1 which is supposed to be stock mode and the car started right up. I took the car for a brisk ride and it felt the same as when I drove home from the dealer. I stopped and switched the program to slot 2 (93) and drove back to work. It again felt the same. I couldn't feel any difference between the two programs and the car doesn't seem that much different at all, but it does seem like it has slightly more power.

The problem is one of these:

* I have the stock and 93 programs and there isn't much of a difference

* I have the 93 program in slot 1 AND slot 2 and there isn't much of a difference from this morning.

* I have the 93 program in slot 1 and the stock in slot 2 and there isn't much of a difference.

The situation has me regretting the purchase. The dealer should NOT be representing APR. Not one phone call nor my visit made me think they knew what they were doing. They weren't horrible, but I never felt they really knew what they were doing.

I'll spend more time with the car tonight after work to see if I can tell a difference between the two programs, or if the 93 program has done much of anything for my car. And before anyone asks, no I do not have a boost gauge. I really didn't want one, but it may seem I need one.

What do you think?

brian@avalonmotorsports

Did you enter the security feature code to unlock (if applicable)?

mule65

I'm glad I only got one program. Bummer.

hova

I recently got my car flashed with stock and 93 octane. When it's first put on the car, the tech told me to drive the hell out of it for a day or two because the program adjusts to your driving. I left in on 93 for the ride home (Gainesville to Tallahassee) and for a week after and I knew the whole time that it was making a difference. Then, I finally switched it back to stock to see how much of a change it was. I really couldn't handle the sluggishness of stock and quickly turned it back.

Whenever you switch between programs, you have to give it a couple minutes to load while the car is off. My does the hesitant start as well, I think that is just your computer adjusting the engine's internals for the desired program.

I think that you do have a problem though. Your dealer should have never made the 93 octane in spot 1. I guess it really doesn't matter, but you should definately notice the change. Try giving it a couple minutes between the switches. Your lock-out feature might have something to do with it as well.

Try Keith at APR

Gorobei

I.e., after you do the business with the cc stalk to select your program, are you turning off the ignition for 10+ seconds, then turning the ignition on (NOT the motor) and waiting until the lights stop blinking before you actually start the car?

Sounds like your installer was a moron. The APR software is very straightforward and they should be able to specify what program is in what slot, so it's not rocket science to configure your ECU. Sorry they have made it so miserable for you

Skyler@Achtuning.com

I'd recommend having it flashed one more time to make sure which program is which. Make sure that after they flash they vag for codes and clear them. Once that is done do a comparison of stock vs 93 if 93 is not easily noticeable as being faster then have the shop check vag block 115 for your boost pressure requested vs actual.
May be a DV issue but needs to be diagnosed.

Skyler@Achtuning.com

Yes, if you have a tiptronic and don't allow time for the program change it's bad

TJHUB

I just played around with the car and I was not waiting long enough for the programs to change. Slot 1 is stock and slot 2 is 93 "chipped".

To verify, I switched to slot 1 and tested the car by holding 30mph in second gear and flooring it. I then switched to slot 2 and repeated the test. The program in slot 2 is definitely the "chipped" program.

HOWEVER...I am just not all that impressed. It's more power, but had I driven flashed car before hand I really believe that I wouldn't have made the purchase. I'm going to let the car adapt for a couple of days as the 100 miles I've currently driven are almost all highway.

Thanks for your help. At least at this point I believe the install was corrected and it appears to work. I'll run my 93 octane program full time unless the car goes into the dealer. I'll report back if I've short changed APR with my initial assessment of their software.

Just so you guys don't think I'm a complete moron, I went from a K03 to a GIAC K03 program on my B5 and it was ok. When I went from GIAC K03 to a GIAC K04 setup, that was night and day. Then when I went from the GIAC K04 setup to a PES T28 setup, that again was night and day. I just can't say that the APR flash is all that most seem to make it. I'll tear it up for a few days and see if things get better... APR's software switching and lockout features are very cool though.

Thanks again.

Gorobei

what I've seen in the B7s, but some of this may owe to the fact that the 1.8t was so underpowered from the factory in that car, while the 2.0t seems to be underrated from the factory based on several dynos that have been done to stock cars. Just a thought. I personally think even the 91 program is pretty impressive.

joec500

was definitely night and day, then I went to GIAC from MTM, again a noticeable difference.

In my opinion, going from my stock B7 to GIAC software was just as pronounced as my stock B5 S4 to a chipped S4.

I DO NOT have experience with the APR software, but perhaps it needs to adjust?