For those with chips / flashes... APR, Giac, REVO, etc.
 

Do you guys have your vehicles flashed back to stock for EVERY trip to the dealer - including just simple oil changes, services, etc., to be safe?

With the new TD1 process, there's arguably some consensus that once the dealer has the car "phone home to the mother ship" (done at almost every service visit), it will be able to report if the ECU was ever modified through various engine performance history parameters. If that's the case, once done, Audi will know, will "tag" your car forevermore and the warranty will be affected in that it won't cover any engine issue if they determine it was caused by the mod. There's always been some power train warranty coverage risk to consider when modifying engine performance but with the latest TD1 process, it appears that Audi had decided to get more serious about tracking and enforcing it.

So - what does this mean. I just spoke with APR and they claim that if I see them before ANY service visit, Audi will NEVER know because APR turns back all the "number of flash" indicators, dates, etc., to the original so that it appears untouched. Are you telling me that Audi has done something with their ECU's that essentially creates a "scotch tape" seal around them that breaks whenever anyone accesses them in a "write" fashion and APR cannot flash them back to exactly a stock state?

Don't ALL the aftermarket tuners claim the manufacturer "will never know"?? Of course APR is going to make claims like that. In the end, is it really worth the risk you're willing to take?

I think that's the point - it depends on the level of risk and it's that which I'm trying to assess at the moment. I cannot get a consensus on how/what people do, if they've been flagged even after flashing back to stock before the dealer, etc.

I'm saying that with the new TD1 process, there is some evidence (and disagreement as well) to suggest that performance data are stored in the car's memory somewhere outside of the ECU that can track if the car has exceeded stock operating parameters due to an ECU or other component mod. This data is transmitted to Audi each time a dealer tech works on the car. One can disagree that this is the case but if wrong, one must accept the TD1 labeling risk.

It's definitely a risk, but up till now, it has been proving again and again with both GIAC and APR that going back to the 100% Audi software on the ECU it does NOT flag TD1 - this is going off a dealership visit of less than 2 months ago.

Just out of curiosity, do you think the dealer would inform you if they did detect the mods? I wonder if they'd simply wait for something catastrophic before letting you know their system sniffed out the culprit so to speak.

Me thinks it will depend upon your relationship with said dealer... good = they will probably ask if you've had mods, bad/nonexistent = they probably won't... ;-) I usually establish a good relationship with my dealer using the ol' donut in the morning technique...

LOL I got ya. I've heard others in the past bring a 6 pack to their service department every now and then :)