This past weekend APR finally had a chance to run the new North American MK7 Golf R and the APR Stage 3 MK7 GTI at the local quarter mile drag strip. During Montgomery Motorsport Park’s “Street Night – Test and Tune” event, the Golf R and GTI were all but lost in a sea of big American muscle cars tearing up the track. However, that didn’t stop APR from setting two new NHRA certified records.
The recently-delivered MK7 Golf R was outfitted with APR’s prototype 19×8.5” wheels, lowering springs, and Michelin tires, giving the R the look they desired. Under the hood, APR’s Carbon Fiber Intake was fitted.
The evening began with running baseline passes. The stock Golf R ECU calibration was installed and resulted in a respectable 12.81@105.75 MPH. With track conditions rapidly worsening and density altitude slightly climbing, APR’s engineers switched over to the Stage I ECU Upgrade and lined up for another pass. The result was a US spec S3/Golf R record of 12.07@111.74 MPH! Most impressive of all, it was achieved using only 93 octane pump fuel, a full interior and street tires.
As track conditions dramatically deteriorated, APR’s engineers didn’t have high hopes for the Stage III development MK7 GTI, but were still able to set a new record. “We knew the track conditions were not favorable for the results we wanted, but we still had a great opportunity to collect data” said one of APR’s Calibrators. “We only ran an 11.8@118.5 so we knew something wasn’t right. After looking at the logs, we found room for improvement as the ECU was dialing back power. We’re excited to make a few changes and head back for more testing!”
APR’s Stage III Turbocharger System for the new EA888 Gen 3 2.0 TSI is under development with an anticipated release date set for later this year. To read more about APR’s currently available software and hardware packages for the MK7 Golf R and GTI, please visit
www.goapr.com.
