bradycline

https://www.goapr.com/products/softw...0T-EA825-4M-SQ

Looking for thoughts on how much 213hp feels like versus stock

Pete_SQ8

I was just looking at this on APR, both stage 1 and plus with the warranty. You will definitely feel 200 more hp and 200 more ft-lbs of torque for sure. Those are pretty big gains. It just came out so not sure anyone will have it yet. Price is very attractive for either option. I am very interested.

methodtim

This is nuts. The Porsche Cayenne GT is the fastest SUV using this engine and they had to do a bunch of hardware-based tuning to get the engine to produce slightly less than the Urus. Even though people say that Porsche is under-claiming its numbers so as to keep the VW pecking order in place, the point is that the power gain promised by this tune is fraught with danger. I would be further concerned about the strain placed on your transmission and other dependent components with this much gain. Ick, no, stay away, or I mean, y'all try it and let me know how it works for you.

Pete_SQ8

It is nuts but with turbo cars there are big gains available. For as long as APR has been around and all the testing they do I think it is safe but it makes me nervous as you said. The stock numbers from Audi are underrated compared to what APR measured in their dyno runs. They do have the APR plus which gives you a warranty to match the original limited power train warranty.

Pete_SQ8

Ok, now looking further it doesn’t make sense. If you look at the stage 1 for the RSQ8 and the SQ8 the HP max and TQ are the same, exactly the same for all octane levels.

retom

Nothing comes for free. A 40% increase in power and torque by just electronic tuning is IMO very, very risky. You have to be prepared for the fact that if there is a failure of the engine or transmission, you will not fix it under warranty. And the tuner's warranty for engine or transmission is rather a fairy tale, which in practice is very difficult to enforce.
And we must remember, every engine tuning is detectable by the Audi dealer's software. Even after removing of the tuning box or return to stock ECU software.
Everything is OK until nothing breaks down, but when something breaks down, Audi digs deeply into the historical parameters stored in the car's controllers.

Que Parker

I have this tune on mine. It feels excellent. It feels better. The pedal feels more sensitive. I actually happened to do a couple pulls against an RS Q8. One of the times, he jumped out prematurely but I immediately caught him and pulled ahead. Prior to getting the tune, I was thinking about trading for the RS Q8, but now I don’t care for it.

1stRS

Que,
How many miles did you have on your SQ8 when you did the tune? How long did it take for your tuner to complete the programming?
Any problems so far?

Que Parker

I had about 7000 miles. I left and the car for about an hour. No problems at all with the car. Literally, the only thing changed was the acceleration of the car.

The SQ8 is way under tuned from the factory. (To not step on other vehicles shoes). Look at all the other vehicles with the same exact 4.0 engine with more output from the factory, and then tuned. This tune feels like this is what the SQ8 should’ve been from factory.

retom

Other vehicles with similar V8 4.0 engines, in addition to other ECU software, often have different turbochargers, intercoolers, connecting rods, pistons, camshafts, etc. If you compare the engines in detail, you will notice that these extra 100hp in the RSQ8 or 150hp in the Lamborghini Urus comes not only from other engine software. In addition, significantly higher engine power makes it necessary to install some reinforced parts of the car.
As a rule, in electronic tuning, a maximum of 20% increase in engine power is assumed as relatively safe, assuming the frequent servicing of the car and refueling with the appropriate quality fuel. The best solution is to write the right software for a specific car and later to fine tune it on the dyno. But a 40% increase in engine power from the standard tuning software and without replacing some engine and transmission components seems risky to me. I am not writing about the risk of voided car warranty because it is rather obvious.
Of course, if you use the car just for fun, the reliability and durability of the engine and other car components does not matter that much, but if you want to keep the car longer and travel long distances, I think you should be careful with extreme tuning.
It's just my 2 cents as a person with some experience in engine tuning.