Has anyone installed the Kerma Q7 TDI tune on their Vehicle and if so is it worth it or leave the engine alone?

 

Anything is better than the #dieselgate tune the EPA forced VAG to produce with a gun to their head.. I've Malone tuned 3 TDI's and been completely happy.

 

Plus 1 on Malone Tuning; it's very flexible and can be modified if you 'modify' your car either at the same time, or some future point.

The Kerma tune is not flexible as regards TDI 'modification', so if you think you want to delete now or in the future when things go south, then you'll be buying a different tune...likely from Malone.

Both Karma and Malone tunes have received write-ups herein, so you can search for those threads to get more detail about each type.

Malone puts their tunes on sale around the federal holidays, and definitely at Xmas, which is nice. ECS Tuning (website) is also a vendor for Malone Tunes and other tune shops.

 

Thank you for The info. I'm getting ready to buy An A7 TDI. I guess Malone tune would be best

 

Might be worth noting Malone's is in Surrey BC Canada and Kermi is in the USA. Only one of them cannot be touched by the EPA since they are not in the USA. That leaves more options should you want to do an emissions delete.

 

We've had a Kerma tune on our '09 Q7 TDI (145k miles) for a couple years now and it's great. Pulls hard and is surprisingly fast for how much she weighs. However, the engine started spewing exhaust from the engine compartment here recently. Turns out it's one of the pipes coming off the EGR system. The pipe alone is like $900. There's a couple other things on the EGR system, including the cooler, that need to be replaced, as well, bringing the total up to around $3500. The tune didn't cause these issues, but we're looking at doing an EGR delete to eliminate this and future bills with this system. From what I can tell, Kerma doesn't offer these tunes. And, from what I've read, Malone seems to be pretty good, as well. If the EGR system wasn't failing, I'd be very happy staying with the Kerma tune.

 

Don't forget to clean out all the carbon/soot deposited by the EGR system out of the intake while you are in there...those accumulations will lead to other parts failures, as well as reduced efficiency/power...mpg loss, etc. When Audi swapped my EGR Cooler via warranty, the tech actually noted in his 'actions taken comments' how extremely clogged up the air intake was (a byproduct of the EGR system's function), and that he cleaned it as it was not serviceable to reinstall on car otherwise, etc.

My '10 TDI runs really well (stock emissions w/dieselgate tune) so long as I feed it top-tier diesel fuel and supplement that with Hotshot's EDT (Everyday Diesel Treatment) or similar fuel booster. To be clear, on regular diesel fuel alone it's crap with the dieselgate tune. I also know what I'm missing out on since I drove the TDI with the factory tune on it some years back...very nice indeed! As I have to bench-flash the ECU on my '10, I'm just gonna stick with the Malone Stage 1 for max durability/efficiency, and get off the dieselgate tune, which is garbage on the Gen 1 TDI motor. On cars that can flash via the OBD2 port, the Tunezilla service makes it super easy to DIY this tuning, as well as swap between tuning stages at will.

FWIW, Malone recommends their Stage 1 TDI tune as the best choice for towing use, as the Stage 2 tune is fairly aggressive and makes a lot more heat/boost, etc. Thermal management is key when towing, etc.

 

For sure on the cleaning. I cleaned it all out a couple years ago and was amazed how occluded it was. Like 50%. Will definitely do it here as well. As far as the tune, according to their tunezilla website, ours look to be compatible with the obdii flash. Let me know if you find otherwise. Much appreciated. I'll keep this thread apprised of any progress.

 

The '10 TDI Q7 may just be the odd-man-out scenario, as the 2010 Touareg TDI does allow for the OBD2 ECU flashing, which makes it such an oddity on mine requiring the bench-flashing process instead. It is what it is.

On the tunezilla site... it'll definitely tell if there's a flashing compatibility issue, and then provide you the bench-flash options available (ship it direct to Malone or find a local tune shop to do it, etc). As you have a Kerma tune loaded, you should already know if yours allows the flash-tuning via OBD2 port or not...that's simply procedural based on the car's hardware/ECU and not specific to the tune provider.

 

Check them out: https://tunezilla.com/fzpro. It looks like they're compatible now. I had the Kerma tune done just before covid and it did have to be bench flashed. However, I spoke with a local tuning shop and they said that it can take time to "hack" the ECU for obd flashing.