Robr

Been reading about various tuning options for the S3, but many people are talking about warranty voiding and such. Also in MA, emissions are extremely strict here and in the case of my Porsche, they actually were checking that the CRC on the firmware matched that of OEM firmware.
Can I not flash the ECU back and forth between stock and aftermarket like I can in the Porsche? Is there a flash counter or something that gets incremented?

farmerjones

There is a flash counter...yes.

Robr

Well that's a bummer! I just bought the car in October (2017 S3) and after putting 4k miles on it, it's not really doing it for me. I was hoping to give it a lot more oomph without potentially voiding the warranty. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with an RS3.

Fixeroh

Robr; I'm not familiar with a flash counter but Unitronic (and some other firms perhaps) offer a way to flash your ECU back and forth. I actually did NOT go this route and went with APR. Flashed up to Stage 2+ and have all the associated hardware. I talked to my Audi service guys first and they were all onboard and have never connected my car to the system which would flag my car TD1. Also never experienced a single problem with car let alone anything which would require warranty work. My S3 definitely has more oomph. Right around 400 HP worth of oomph. Love my S3 but have recently decided to sell my car and move into a RS3. Will probably flash that ECU at some point as well. Ohio is surely different than MA and sorry the state feels it is within its right to read your ECU. I find that wrong on many levels. Next thing you know, the police will scan our cars to see when we exceed the speed limit. I'd be in solitary for about 10,000 years if that ever happened..........

he46570

Robr, thanks for starting the thread. I'm also in MA, and was thinking about an APR tune.

So really, when doing the emissions they will reconcile the firmware? That's screwed up. So does that mean an APR tune (and other tunes that overwrite the ECU firmware) are a no-go in MA?

Robr

I'll find the link to the hell I went through with my Porsche.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/1022419-back-to-stock-ecu-flash-question.html

It ultimately required my state senator to resolve the issue. It was my own fault i got into the mess, I bought an out of state 996 turbo S that i was told was unmodded. Turns out it was running a very aggressive ecu with disabled o2 sensors. Because of that i was flagged and had to go to state run inspection agency. That's where the checksum hell began.

The short version is if I had known it was aftermarket ecu and had flashed it back to stock and added o2 extenders I would have likely passed locally. The state agency required me to install a stock exhaust and cats but even after paying to flash back to stock, they said the crc on the ECU code didn't match what they had in their database. It took months of dicking around with them before I contacted my senator. She resolved it in 24 hours.

Bottom line though is I would not take it in for an inspection with a flash. Whatever solution you go with make sure it's easy to flash back. Turns out my porsche shop also tunes audi and is recommending revo. Im going to talk to them tomorrow. They're familiar with my Porsche hell and will make sure I'm not in that position again. Not sure where in MA you are but my shop is in Amesbury if you need one.

Robr

I have to ask, with a 400hp s3 you've still decided to move into a 400hp rs3. Why? I was thinking of bumping up the s3 because I'm having the same rs3 thoughts and was hoping a 400hp s3 might banish them

Fixeroh

I got one of the first S3s in central Ohio, to my knowledge, in Sept 2014. There were a lot of 'options' that were not available to me which are available on current S3s. Black optics packages, 7 speed vs 6 speed transmission, virtual cockpit, slightly different steering wheel to name a few. Had I known or considered it, I should have waited a bit. I was anxious. LOL. Don't get me wrong as I do truly love my S3 and have had zero issues with it all. However, I would like to have some of the features I currently lack I my S3. Like the items I just mentioned. That is my basic reason for moving into the RS3. Scout's honor. And you think my RS3 will stay at 400 HP for long? :-) Should add that although I will eventually tinker with the RS3 HP, the 400 HP in the S3 is way beyond sufficient. It's all useable power too. Besides the ECU tunes, I've had the TCU tune as well. The S3 can be stupid fast if I desire it to be. The RS3 will suffer the same fate in some ways by not having enough nice open roads to have fun. But having the potential is always nice!

Robr

Thanks, appreciate your candor. If that's all there is to it, then hopefully 400hp in a 2017 S3 Prestige will be enough for me to put the RS3 out of my mind .

Timmay

Unless you absolutely have to have those 5 cylinders