845SQ5Guy

I've got a '16 SQ5 and I've been going back and forth trying to decide on getting it tuned. I had an A4 with a Stage 1 and the car felt really good with the tune... noticeable power gain. It was a turbo, and I get that the tune increased boost pressure and gained power that way. My question is, how does the tune make its power (significant amount per APR) with the 3.0 supercharged motor? Is the power increase as noticeable on a supercharged 3.0 motor than it is on a turbo 2.0?

gk1

I believe many would recommend going straight to Stage II on the 3.0T (supercharged). The gain is more noticeable.
At Stage I they can do this on the Audi supercharger setup by not allowing pressure to bleed off as much while feeding in more fuel and timing. Roughly +59HP & +33TQ (US doesn't get extended rev limit)
At Stage II they spin the supercharger faster with a smaller pulley. Roughly +79HP & +50TQ
or you can go all the way to dual pulley which seems to ramp up the torque more significantly.

I can only offer my own reason why I chose not to tune my SQ5.
#1 was warranty. Which I'm glad I didn't as I had a lot covered under warranty even extended good will...
#2 now out of warranty...While +60HP is significant the +30TQ is less-so and the HP advantage is more in the 5k-6k rpm range. For as heavy as the car is and the infrequency of ringing it out to redline it just didn't seem quite what I want for $999 (Stage I) or $1450+labor charges (Stage II)
As you know from your A4 the tune on a turbo adds significantly more torque which is infinitely more noticeable when driving around even if not pushing to redline.
If you can find a shop with a tuned SQ5 or even Q5 3.0T or link up with another member to get a better idea before making any decisions.
Hope that helps.

JasonJ

Really good info...I've got a 2014 SQ5 and was wondering if it was worth it, too.

I don't push this car/suv to redline, or even to 5K RPM that often, so what you said is important to me.

Thanks!

Jason
New York

billm0066

Im not tuning my sq5 for the same reason. I wont take it to the track and it rarely hits redline.

DonnyK

I recommend a stage 1 tune and a transmission tune if you don't plan on tracking the car. Also, if you can install/remove the tunes at home then there is no warranty worries as long as you return things to stock before you bring it to the dealership.

I ran a stage 1 tune and it was a blast for awhile, but right when I was thinking of taking the leap towards stage 2 a transmission tune came out, so I went that route instead...it was like getting a stage 1 tune all over again and the 7k shifts feel really good!

At this point I don't see a reason to go to stage 2 for my needs. Stage 1 w/ TCU tune works for me.

If you do decide to go stage 2....the best piece of advice i've read was from someone saying "if i could do it all over again" this is what i'd do:

Fluidampr crank pulley ONLY (no SC pulley) - 187mm or 189mm.
Merc Racing quad pass heat exchanger ($400)
Stage 2 ECU tune
TCU tune

That's the "sweet spot" for low cost/ high power and you would be addressing the two big problem areas in the stock design (crank pulley and cooling), The Fluidampr modular design gives you flexibility in the future to change pulley ratio at any time for low cost.

845SQ5Guy

Re-flashing it back to stock is fine if you're trading it in or returning a lease, but I know if you bring it back to the dealer for pretty much anything they will hook it up to their computer and it will throw a code and they will void the warranty. I know first hand with my A4. I thought I was safe having the tune removed. It's just a question of that's a risk I'm willing to take again

BillVT

2014 SQ5 purchased in 2016 with 42K miles. Currently 76K miles. No issues. APR Stage 1 tune at purchase. Very nice improvement. Wouldn't hesitate to do this again. JHMotorsports 179mm crank pulley done at 72K miles. Added LOTS more low end ooomph. Would do again. I don't track this car or launch it or abuse it. Just like and appreciate the added power. (BTW, this is my 5th car with an APR tune. No issues with any of them.)

choppstixxx

IMO if you have some factory warranty left it's not really worth doing til your out of warranty.
I bought my '16 Q5 3.0T with about 12k miles and a little less than a year left on the factory warranty. I do wanna eventually run the EPL Stage 1 tune to get the bigger jump in hp/tq (almost close to +100 hp/tq more) with my particular model vs. the SQ5. But for now I am not touching a tune til my warranty runs out, for instance I just found out that I need a new PCV valve and will take it in to get done under warranty. That right there with labor/parts would have cost me $400+