TP111

Hi all,

Can someone give me the real scoop on the ECU and Cat-back exhaust upgrades by stasis. How are they in everyday life. Is the exhaust loud or fairly quiet. Have you had any maintenance issues with the ECU tune? Is the power increase substantial? Also is it compatible with new 8-speed tiptronic.

Thanks!

NickZag

I went with an APR stage 1 tune and a dual Remus system for over 1/2 the price of the Stasis tune/exhaust setup.

markinarch

But you lose the warranty - Stasis will 'retain' the warranty for you. I really want to take off the ball and chain on the 2.0T with an ECU flash but for 3 grand plus labor for the Stasis setup...eek. Trying to save for those little circle thingys girls like to put on their finger is tough enough - the Stasis package wouldn't help me out. Thats why I can't get one - for now. I would totally get an APR stage one tune right now because they are really affordable but losing that warranty realllllly scares me. I want more horsepower!! Dang you expensive Stasis!

TP111

I called the dealership today and they told me that both the ECU upgrade and exhaust do not void the Audi warranty due Audi's approval of Stasis products.

NickZag

Thats not true... Stasis claims that on they're website but ask your local Audi dealership and see what they tell you. There's a Audi dealership near me that told me they don't deal with Stasis and if they found the tune to be an issue voiding the warrenty then the repairs would be between myself and Stasis. The other dealership that does deal with Stasis told me that if there was a warrenty that they would do they're best to deal with getting Stasis to deal with it on they're end, but I could still have to pay out of pocket. On top of that, they didn't even do the tune in house and they would have to send the ECU out for several days. It would help if I could even get Stasis to call me back and clear this up seeing as they're Western US headquarters is literally 5 minutes from my house, but after I left several messages and never heard back I said forget it.

If your local dealership deals with Stasis and says there's no issue, then it might be worth it in the long run. If not, your no more protected then spending 1/3rd of the cost on a different tune. You just have to check with your dealership first.

I had the same concerns as everyone else until I started to research it and figured I could spend the extra $800 that Stasis charges over APR on something else. Basically, I was able to get the APR tune and dual Remus exhaust for same cost as just the Stasis tune.

NickZag

Then if the warranty is a concern for you and your dealership honors it, then spending the extra $$$ on it would be a safe investment. Wish my dealerships did the same.

UmIsThisThingOn

You could do the ECU now and the Exhaust later.

QUA77R0

TP111,

Sedan or Avant?

The Stasis ECU tune is awesome. Not cheap but worth the extra for the warranty matching. I only deal with one Audi dealership for service and they are a Stasis Authorized Dealer. I have heard of people having problems when taking a Stasis modified car into a non authorized dealer. The ECU tune is the way the car should have come from the factory. Works great with the factory exhaust. Not too loud and a decent bump in power and response.

I also used the Stasis exhaust and have not been thrilled. I am on my third exhaust now. I don't mind loud cars at all but the droning is no fun for long drives. If I had it to do over I would have kept the factory exhaust. While the Stasis exhaust is a beautiful piece (see my photo album for shots of the exhaust). That's one thing that I don't like about the Stasis/Audi arrangement....they KEEP your factory parts when they install the Stasis parts. Not exactly a fair deal since you own them and they don't even give you a price break over other tuners setups that don't take your factory parts. Imagine calling HRE and telling them you want a nice set of monoblocks for your new B8 Audi. Now imagine them telling you "sure, no problem...but we need you to give us your factory wheels and we are gonna charge you at least 25% more than the competition..." Not exactly rocket science to see that the customer gets a bit screwed on that deal...

I'd take UmIsThisThingOn's advice and try the ECU upgrade first and then if u want a tiny bit more performance and a bunch more noise, consider an exhaust at that time.

markinarch

Ya know I was wondering how the ECU flash would do on its own. Audi Dallas is a Stasis certified installer so they push their products. The numbers they were showing for hp and torque gains were for both ECU and exhaust together - something like 265hp and 305 lb-ft of torque (about 50 extra for each). I didn't know how much those numbers would be affected if I chose not to get the exhaust. Sounds like you had stock exhaust for a little bit with your Stasis tune? How were the gains? Will I for sure be able to feel a difference?

I'm still trying to figure out how to drive a turbo engine. I don't really get to play with it much as I am usually stuck in traffic. It seems like when I mash on the gas to pass someone on the highway it will blast off half the time and other times it won't. Is there an RPM range that I should be watching to get full power from the turbo? (Sorry not trying to thread-jack. It's still relevant though)

I want a quad tip exhaust as well because I love the way it looks - but sometimes you can't have everything and I would rather have the Stasis power over the exhaust.

Thanks.

QUA77R0

markinarch, the ECU flash on it's own will give you a healthy increase in power and torque as well as improving the throttle response. I had the exhaust done at the same time and have been through several exhausts since the initial one. I have driven several A4's and an A5 that had only the Stasis ECU upgrade and they were great. Certainly the way they should have been delivered from the factory... You will notice the ECU upgrade on its own as a huge improvement over stock without the noise increase of an exhaust.

Personally, I love loud exhausts on my toy cars but on a car that also sees daily use, I prefer not to attract attention from everyone in earshot. The only place that I am actually able to appreciate the increased 1/10 of performance is at the track. If you are wondering about the efficiency of the stock exhaust, the fact that APR can run the K04 turbo upgrade with the factory exhaust should indicate that with a factory turbo and just an ECU tune, that backpressure is not much of an issue.

As for your passing issues, while these TFSI motors have excellent torque from idle practically, freeway passing is usually more of a HP issue. As with any small displacement turbo motor, you want to "keep the revs up". This is obviously a gearing issue. On a stock motor, 2800-4000 rpm seems to be the "meat" of the powerband.

As for a quad tip exhaust....more outlets means more noise...

My suggestion is again, go for the Stasis ECU tune and wait on an exhaust. If possible, join your local chapter of the Audi Club and get out to some events. There you will have the ability to examine and listen to a number of possible setups. Just be aware that what sounds great at the track or for a few minutes may not be as pleasant when you have to live with it every time you drive.

Hope it helps.