Screaminz2002

Someone offered to sell me a very low mileage 2016 tts for a really good deal. Basically a 1 owner garage queen that he can no longer drive. It seems everywhere you read that these cars are extremely mod friendly but I don't really see anybody modding the 2.0 mk3 versions. I can find tons of the pre 2015 and quite a few of the new rs. What gives with this range of year model? I kind of assumed that these were basically a golf r in another body. The automatic transmission and the engine seem very bullet proof with a built long blocks available. I would think there would be quite a few people modding these since the pricing at dealers seems to be in the 30-40k range. Am I missing some glaring fault of taking this car into the 400-500 hp range? I am really attracted to the rarity of these cars and it really looked to be a neat thing to play with for a few years..

Vegas-roadster

The answer is in your question. The TT is a relatively rare car in the US, averaging about 2000 a year (less than 1 sale a month per US dealership) for the Mk 3 over all versions (base TT, TTS, TTRS) and the TTS is a small fraction of that number. Therefore, tuning companies are unlikely to invest their $ on a new product for a car for which there are only a few hundred in the US and only a small fraction of those owners want engine mods. There just is no money to be made.

The TT is not "basically a golf r" and while engines may appear to be similar among Audi and VW products, they are rarely identical. However, I do not know the specifics for the Mk 3 TTS engine relative to VW products.

Screaminz2002

I only started looking the other day but I see your point. It does look like APR offers a stage 2 tune and supporting mods for around 375hp. Does you know if custom tuning software is available? Other then that it's only a matter of making things work.

farmerjones

I have an APR tune on my 2016 TT, and it's excellent! 400 HP is probably feasible for these cars without many reliability issues, but moving beyond that starts to push the boundaries for this engine designed. I highly would recommend APR. As for as a TT being a Golf R, that's really not accurate. Sure, they share lots of engineering and parts, but the TT has a different wheel base, and overwhelmingly large % of aluminum construction, but drivetrains are largely carryover between the 2. The TT also uses different AWD software tuning and is notably better on the track or spirited driving for this reason. The TT is a very under-appreciated car and an excellent daily driver!

Huey52

You might also want to consider an "octopus" style of tuning (e.g. Burger Motosports). The JB1/4 is fairly easy to install and then remove before a trip to the dealership with no codes retained as OEM ECU signals are intercepted rather than ECU re-coding.

http://www.burgertuning.com/vw_volks...JB1_tuner.html

btw: This is a great forum but Audizine.com seems to have more mod'rs and you may be better served over there.

Screaminz2002

Good to know, thank you. There really doesn't seem to be much beyond this level anyway. The tunes are pretty much all can tunes and I can't find anyone that offers a dyno tune for these anywhere near me. That throws out pretty much anything past what the can covers. I'm betting close to 400hp in these cars is nothing to balk at.

Heh I just figured it didnt have a warranty but I see the factory is 4 years so it's covered for another year plus a couple of months. I have always paid to play though and never really argued with anyone over mods or tried to hide them. Most of the time if you are honest with the dealer, not trying to cover something you broke, they will work with you. Most cars log a history of when something breaks enough to sit off a light. You can see the perimeters that are outside the factory spec. I appreciate the link to the other site. I will have to go check it out!

George@BMS

The freeze frames with the JB4 read same as a stock car so nothing alarming with that.

farmerjones

Are you aware that APR offers tunes that provide 100% powertrain warranty? It's great way to be sure you don't experience any major repair costs and still have the power you want. It's a pretty awesome program, and speaks volumes to the quality of their product.

metlhd

There is a guy on the TT Mk3 facebook group pushing SERIOUS #'s, like 558hp, 472tq with a TTE525 turbo, APR tunes, Intercooler and related exhaust/intake upgrades. While this is certainly an extensive and pricey list, the internals remain stock. I asked him about what kind of usage it gets and he said 2 days at the strip, a handfull of track days and a little over 10k miles with this setup. I guess the point is, the TTS Mk3 obviously has some major potential. I'm in process of upgrades as we speak. Will I go that far?... probably not. But those #'s with a 3200lb AWD sure sounds like a ton of fun!!!

metlhd

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the CaymanS start at 70, without active suspension, DSG (style) trans and some of the other essentials? Options which quickly put an S in the near 90k but come standard on a TTS. Now I'm an avid believer in buying quality, low mileage used so I'm not sure if that's where your "50" reference comes in. While the Cayman is arguably one of the best handling sports cars available, at the end of the day all the HP in the world doesn't matter if you can't hook it up. Huge potential, AWD and a sports car you can use ALL year round (if you choose) was a no-brainer for me.