giac stage 1+

[shamibal]

What are everyones thoughts on GIAC stage 1+ tunes.I know that they have been doing tuning for a long time.
I'm intrigued about there new product the flashloader mobile. They said this method of installling allows the tune to be loaded without triggering a TD1 flag on dealer trips. what do you think?

 

[Gawernator]

I don't see how that's possible

 

[shamibal]

they said it copies the exact oem stock map and swaps it for the stage 1 software. Later if need be the exact oem stock map can be reinstalled . With no one the wiser. No TD1 flags

 

[The Fed]

they said it copies the exact oem stock map and swaps it for the stage 1 software. Later if need be the exact oem stock map can be reinstalled . With no one the wiser. No TD1 flags

Every flash event is recorded. There's no way around it. Who exactly told you that, the guys in Horsham?

 

[EmptyHeaded]

Yeah, the whole "no one the wiser" thing is a half truth that a lot of these tuners throw around to make their product appear to be less risky.

In essence what they're saying is that you can flash back to a stock map so it appears that you've never flashed the car, but if for whatever reason they really want to dig in to diagnose it, they can check the flash counter. Basically the idea is if your car feels stock, looks stock, then it's probably not tuned and therefore far less likely to be scanned/flagged.

Understand that there is no way around the flash counter if you're uploading any maps to your car's ECU. Period. All you can hope for is that the appearance of a stock car is enough to not make anyone suspicious enough to do a full scan.

Pay to play.

EDIT: And not to be all Debbie Downer about this, but be aware that if you flash to an OTS/Custom map and then back to the stock map, you've now put 2 flash counts on the car. Also, keep in mind that you won't want to be flashing back to stock as you're pulling into the driveway at your local dealership. You'll want to give your stock map some time to normalize (for the lack of a better word) before bringing it in. All that said, probably worth the effort if you're concerned that your dealership is going to be suspect of you modifying your car.

 

[Gawernator]

APR says that too but they can still flag your car

 

[BzzzBom]

GIAC has great tunes, service not so much.

 

[KASPER1]

UM can reset the flash counter also. But like everyone else has stated, if they want to dig, they can dig and probably still find something that’ll allow a td1 flag. Keep in mind this is vw not the dealer that’d be digging through the software logs to potentially void warranty concerns.

You’re more likely to get away with it if flashed back to stock and reset the flash counter but by no means guaranteed to not get flagged. The old adage of “pay to play” is good advice, and if possibly losing drivetrain warranty and having to pay out of pocket, for a motor, turbo, trans etc is not possible, financially or otherwise DONT mod, period.

Otherwise you’ll probably be fine but anything can happen even on a stocker, so if you’re not the type that sees a possible catastrophic failure as an opportunity to upgrade, either that car or to another, don’t mod or at most run one of those stupid signal modifiers, people swear by them, I’m just not personally a fan, but there is plenty of information on them available here or elsewhere.

 

[liljonny16]

Do you need to request a reset of the flash counter or do they do it automatically when you go back to stock? You can check your flash count through VAG COM.

 

[KASPER1]

Questions for your local tuner, if they offer UM at least. You will/would have to go there anyway to have your tunes flashed. Their data cable, which you can buy, only allows you to make certain changes to their adjustable file, assuming that’s what you have loaded in the car. To flash back to oem tune and reset the flash counter, would have to be handled by your local shop, assuming they’re knowledgeable about UM, but yes that is what my guy does if needed/requested.

 

[brekdown29]

Don't know anything about their new flash loader, but I can tell you that the GIAC stage 2 tune on my R has been flawless for 20K miles plus. Combined with their DSG software, the package is smooth and powerful. I've observed that GIAC gives service priority to their dealers over consumers, so as long as you have a good local dealer you can work with, you'll have all of the support you need.

 

[rr1santos]

Don't know anything about their new flash loader, but I can tell you that the GIAC stage 2 tune on my R has been flawless for 20K miles plus. Combined with their DSG software, the package is smooth and powerful. I've observed that GIAC gives service priority to their dealers over consumers, so as long as you have a good local dealer you can work with, you'll have all of the support you need.

nice to see another R owner running their stg2 tune. Are you running their pump file or race file? curious to know what your peak psi is on either. I'm running an aggressive stage 2 pump file right now from them seeing 23 psi at about 4k taper to 20psi..im also stacking it with jb4 and wmi.

I have their flashloader mobile but have yet to have to switch around with anything. I can't log with the flashloader mobile though since I need jb4 to be plugged in at all times. really went for it because of the ability to switch back to stock map (if needed) at home instead of driving to auth tuner shop

 

[Crild]

Questions for your local tuner, if they offer UM at least. You will/would have to go there anyway to have your tunes flashed. Their data cable, which you can buy, only allows you to make certain changes to their adjustable file, assuming that’s what you have loaded in the car. To flash back to oem tune and reset the flash counter, would have to be handled by your local shop, assuming they’re knowledgeable about UM, but yes that is what my guy does if needed/requested.

Where did you find this info about resting the flash counter?

 

[KASPER1]

Where did you find this info about resting the flash counter?

UM. My local tuner does it on mine when I go in for warranty concerns, although I don’t even bother for the heavier modded 17, it’s only been to the dealer for my free oil change. The 16 is just a drop in filter, ecu/tcu tune only car, flash back to stock, resets the counter, go in, come back reloads tune and ready to rock again.

I’ve had zero drivetrain mechanical issues with either car, just some weird dap stuff on the 16, figure cause it’s so easy for me to do, live closer to my local tuner than dealership, and there are no visual mods on the 16, may as well set it back to stock for a dealer visit. But like I said both cars have been mechanically flawless thus far, so I personally don’t have a story about popping a turbo, going back to stock hardware, going back to stock tune, resetting flash counter and getting warrantied for it, and hope I don’t, but if I did, I’d hope it happens on the 17 because I’d use it as an opportunity to go big turbo sooner anyway, but it’s exactly what I’d try on the 16

 

[ecsta]

UM. My local tuner does it on mine when I go in for warranty concerns, although I don’t even bother for the heavier modded 17, it’s only been to the dealer for my free oil change. The 16 is just a drop in filter, ecu/tcu tune only car, flash back to stock, resets the counter, go in, come back reloads tune and ready to rock again.

I’ve had zero drivetrain mechanical issues with either car, just some weird dap stuff on the 16, figure cause it’s so easy for me to do, live closer to my local tuner than dealership, and there are no visual mods on the 16, may as well set it back to stock for a dealer visit. But like I said both cars have been mechanically flawless thus far, so I personally don’t have a story about popping a turbo, going back to stock hardware, going back to stock tune, resetting flash counter and getting warrantied for it, and hope I don’t, but if I did, I’d hope it happens on the 17 because I’d use it as an opportunity to go big turbo sooner anyway, but it’s exactly what I’d try on the 16

If it's a serious-enough issue that the logs get sent to VW HQ for review wouldn't the flash counter trick not work anyways? Or is this just for dealership scans/non-serious warranty work?