APR Tuning for C6 S6 - Review
02-07-2010, 11:37 AM
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APR Tuning for C6 S6 - Review
I was following closely the APRs development of the software for the C6 S6 V10. My issue with APR at the time was that the software was taking too long to develop and I decided to go with Unitronic instead. These were my Unitronic impressions:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2748580
Needless to say that at this point I was fairly disenchanted regarding any software upgrades for my S6. After all, no one really had any reliable before and after data aside from myself. I learned the hard way that you can’t simply believe the numbers posted on a tuners website. Plus the gains APR promised on 91 seemed negligible. However my local APR representative was diligent with his responses and offered to have the software installed and then removed if I did not like it. I told him that the only way that I would try the APR tune was if it was loaded while my car was sitting on the dyno so that I can perform the before and after runs almost immediately and see the true gains with the APR tune. To my surprise Leo (Las Vegas APR dealer) jumped at the opportunity and said he would be there in an hour. This I thought was going to be interesting.
My car pulled very similar stock numbers (within 2-3 AWHPs) on the dyno as it always has. So I was confident that after the APR tune, the readings were going to be a good indicator of what the APR is doing versus Stock. Leo was jazzed to get things going and hoped in with his laptop to start programming.
I was shooting the **** with Doug (dyno tech and local tuner) about the 450 AWHP Evo he was swapping the turbo on when Leo flagged us down and told us that the flash wasn’t going through. He told me something about the new beta flash loader and how he was having an issue with my car. I was fine with it and allowed Leo to hammer away at it but could tell that he was getting frustrated. After a few attempts it still would not work and I thought that this was going to be it, but Leo said that he was going to restore his laptop and try again. Restore a laptop! Wow I thought, go right ahead if you feel like it. I could tell that Leo was going to make this thing work or else… and else was about to happen. After my car sitting on the dyno with all the electrical on I began to loose power. So just as soon as Leo got his laptop back on track and started the flash my battery started to die. Soon the power dropped so low that it killed the flash. I was having fun with al this, but Leo was the most frustrated individual I have seen all week, yet he still maintained his composure. Nothing was going right for him and now that everything was working on his end my battery was now the culprit.
The concern was that if the flash went totally bad that it killed my ECU. Not an issue if the car can be towed to the dealer, but an issue if it is Friday night and my whale of a car is sitting 5 feet above the ground on rollers. We scrambled for a battery tender and another battery and had the both hooked up to my car. Leo restarted the flash and it seemed to take. Soon all my fans shut down and stopped draining all the juice the flash continued. When it was done Leo was the happiest guy in the 10 square mile radius. He was smiling ear to ear after being stressed for over hour and a half. We were all ready to see what the car would do on the dyno. We fired her up and started to pull some runs. The numbers at first were too good to be true, so we pulled some more. All runs were consistent and we thought that we should plot them against my stock numbers. Here is what it looked like:
Mustang Dyno, 3rd Gear, 91 Octane, APR Vs. Stock Tune with filters and catback:
To the wheel in 3rd gear I have consistently gained 25 AWHP (8.6%) and 31 AWTQ (10.7%).
Mustang Dyno, 4th Gear, 91 Octane, APR Vs. Stock Tune with filters and catback:
To the wheels in 4th gear I have consistently gained 11 AWHP and 27 AWTQ.
To me these are substantial software gains on a naturally aspirated engine. The most important thing is that these gains are consistent and throughout the entire RPM range.
Here is what the Unitronic Vs APR dyno graph looks like on my car:
I am very happy with the results after the APR flash. The car is faster and pulls stronger in higher RPMs and gears. Most importantly the numbers prove it. These are findings on my vehicle and they may or may not reflect what others may experience. I also think that APR underestimates what this tune does on 91 octane.
*** UPDATE ***
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2796154
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2748580
Needless to say that at this point I was fairly disenchanted regarding any software upgrades for my S6. After all, no one really had any reliable before and after data aside from myself. I learned the hard way that you can’t simply believe the numbers posted on a tuners website. Plus the gains APR promised on 91 seemed negligible. However my local APR representative was diligent with his responses and offered to have the software installed and then removed if I did not like it. I told him that the only way that I would try the APR tune was if it was loaded while my car was sitting on the dyno so that I can perform the before and after runs almost immediately and see the true gains with the APR tune. To my surprise Leo (Las Vegas APR dealer) jumped at the opportunity and said he would be there in an hour. This I thought was going to be interesting.
My car pulled very similar stock numbers (within 2-3 AWHPs) on the dyno as it always has. So I was confident that after the APR tune, the readings were going to be a good indicator of what the APR is doing versus Stock. Leo was jazzed to get things going and hoped in with his laptop to start programming.
I was shooting the **** with Doug (dyno tech and local tuner) about the 450 AWHP Evo he was swapping the turbo on when Leo flagged us down and told us that the flash wasn’t going through. He told me something about the new beta flash loader and how he was having an issue with my car. I was fine with it and allowed Leo to hammer away at it but could tell that he was getting frustrated. After a few attempts it still would not work and I thought that this was going to be it, but Leo said that he was going to restore his laptop and try again. Restore a laptop! Wow I thought, go right ahead if you feel like it. I could tell that Leo was going to make this thing work or else… and else was about to happen. After my car sitting on the dyno with all the electrical on I began to loose power. So just as soon as Leo got his laptop back on track and started the flash my battery started to die. Soon the power dropped so low that it killed the flash. I was having fun with al this, but Leo was the most frustrated individual I have seen all week, yet he still maintained his composure. Nothing was going right for him and now that everything was working on his end my battery was now the culprit.
The concern was that if the flash went totally bad that it killed my ECU. Not an issue if the car can be towed to the dealer, but an issue if it is Friday night and my whale of a car is sitting 5 feet above the ground on rollers. We scrambled for a battery tender and another battery and had the both hooked up to my car. Leo restarted the flash and it seemed to take. Soon all my fans shut down and stopped draining all the juice the flash continued. When it was done Leo was the happiest guy in the 10 square mile radius. He was smiling ear to ear after being stressed for over hour and a half. We were all ready to see what the car would do on the dyno. We fired her up and started to pull some runs. The numbers at first were too good to be true, so we pulled some more. All runs were consistent and we thought that we should plot them against my stock numbers. Here is what it looked like:
Mustang Dyno, 3rd Gear, 91 Octane, APR Vs. Stock Tune with filters and catback:
To the wheel in 3rd gear I have consistently gained 25 AWHP (8.6%) and 31 AWTQ (10.7%).
Mustang Dyno, 4th Gear, 91 Octane, APR Vs. Stock Tune with filters and catback:
To the wheels in 4th gear I have consistently gained 11 AWHP and 27 AWTQ.
To me these are substantial software gains on a naturally aspirated engine. The most important thing is that these gains are consistent and throughout the entire RPM range.
Here is what the Unitronic Vs APR dyno graph looks like on my car:
I am very happy with the results after the APR flash. The car is faster and pulls stronger in higher RPMs and gears. Most importantly the numbers prove it. These are findings on my vehicle and they may or may not reflect what others may experience. I also think that APR underestimates what this tune does on 91 octane.
*** UPDATE ***
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2796154
Last edited by DirtyVegasTT; 12-16-2010 at 01:39 PM.
02-07-2010, 04:08 PM
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So today I went to another APR dealer and got the tune.
The dealer logged onto his computer and entered my information and hooked the car up. For some reason my ECU was only able to take 1 tune (as opposed to 4 tunes/settings), my ECU was also unable to take the add'l software like security lockout, reset engine light...etc. My dealer immediately called APR customer techline, they told him that those ECUs that cant take add'l tunes haven't been "cracked" yet and software updates should be available in the future. Fair enough, my dealer noted on the APR application that I should be entitled to more software tunes when they become available for my ECU.
The tune took around 25 mins to load onto the car. After that the dealer hooked my car up with a VAG COM to see if there were any fault codes and erased any that were present.
Here are some pic:
Fast forward to pulling off the lot...
The car immediately felt more responsive although I would say Sport mode would have done the trick. There seemed to be more power at low-mid RPM when I was driving local. When I hit the highway, again... between 2.5k-3.5k RPM, the car noticeably pulled harder. Overtaking cars never felt easier without needing to floor the car. When I had the chance to floor the car, the car did pull harder at high RPMs too.
Coming from a Mercedes SL600 (Turbo tuned) and E55 (pulley tuned), the APR tune on the S6 did not achieve "blow your socks off" gains in my opinion. But dont get me wrong, this was well expected. Overall I would say this is a solid tune for a NA car and I am happy with the felt gains. However I still think that $799 for this tune might be a little bit overpriced, but I am sure the price tag was determined because the car is a S6.
The dealer logged onto his computer and entered my information and hooked the car up. For some reason my ECU was only able to take 1 tune (as opposed to 4 tunes/settings), my ECU was also unable to take the add'l software like security lockout, reset engine light...etc. My dealer immediately called APR customer techline, they told him that those ECUs that cant take add'l tunes haven't been "cracked" yet and software updates should be available in the future. Fair enough, my dealer noted on the APR application that I should be entitled to more software tunes when they become available for my ECU.
The tune took around 25 mins to load onto the car. After that the dealer hooked my car up with a VAG COM to see if there were any fault codes and erased any that were present.
Here are some pic:
Fast forward to pulling off the lot...
The car immediately felt more responsive although I would say Sport mode would have done the trick. There seemed to be more power at low-mid RPM when I was driving local. When I hit the highway, again... between 2.5k-3.5k RPM, the car noticeably pulled harder. Overtaking cars never felt easier without needing to floor the car. When I had the chance to floor the car, the car did pull harder at high RPMs too.
Coming from a Mercedes SL600 (Turbo tuned) and E55 (pulley tuned), the APR tune on the S6 did not achieve "blow your socks off" gains in my opinion. But dont get me wrong, this was well expected. Overall I would say this is a solid tune for a NA car and I am happy with the felt gains. However I still think that $799 for this tune might be a little bit overpriced, but I am sure the price tag was determined because the car is a S6.