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Apr Stage 1 High tq vs. Low tq

D.Gage

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
17 Gti
I actually have both APR HT and LT cars in the garage!!

Low torque is more fun to me because the car pulls insanely hard and linearly up to 6500 rpm. Especially if you have the manual as well because shifting that high up is fun. You’re gonna need to be shifting a bit more too; despite the lower torque tune there’s good midrange but you’re gonna have to start saving up for a clutch. Less blasting off your tires at city speeds, because there’s also a torque limiter that’s programmed in the tune, similarly to my old Speed3.

Unless your building a roll racer or you’re tuning for the sake of it, can’t really go wrong with the APR tune.
You think low torque is more fun to drive?
 

PerceivedShift

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
My GTI puts down almost 400ft/lbs at a little over 3k, reeeeal nice in 3rd gear for those quick 60-80 pulls on on-ramps! Of course if you don't have an LSD that'll lower your usable power limit. With an LSD there is no reason not to run high torque unless someone is running a stock clutch. I've never thought "it would be nice to have less power" shoot, next year I'm dropping in a hybrid turbo. At 400+hp I think I'll have a good balance of power and drivability.

Everyone is different, to each his own!
 

ucfquattroguy

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Florida USA
FWIW: LSD isn't a magic bullet for everything. It certainly helps when the side to side available traction is different (such as corner exit when weight is transferred to one side). But...there is no solution for plain and simple overpowering *both* sides.

But...here's the neat thing: Big power doesn't always mean poor ability to use it. The type of torque an IS20 makes with a "high torque" tune is very short and punchy. Sort of like yanking the table cloth out from under the plates and cups. If you have an IS38 it'll be a bit less *BANG* and more of a "squeeze" into the torque because it's less responsive. Go larger yet and the torque onset will be a bit softer...but at the expense of having to wait a bit for it.

TL;DR: Small turbo needs flatter torque because of responsiveness and abrupt torque delivery. Larger turbo comes on softer but at the expense of response. Can't have it both ways.
 

Nineeightyone

Autocross Champion
Location
Pennsylvania
Car(s)
20 CX5 19 GTI 10 MZ3
I wish we could have a "low-torque" tune but available with Cobb hardware. I'd love to be able to flash at home, but that doesn't seem to be an option. I'd also like to see a sampling of how many low-torque users are on the factory clutch, and what their driving habits are like. I know it's an inevitability, but I'd love to be able to run the low-torque (since I rarely beat on the car as it is, but once in a while it's fun) and enjoy it for a while before doing the clutch. But if it's going to fall to dust within 15k miles, then it's more reasonable to wait and have the car 100% prepared. OTOH, if I can get away with driving the car mildly and only occasionally using the power so I can wait to upgrade the clutch, that'd be ideal.
 

Daks

Autocross Champion
Location
Toronto
Car(s)
GTI PP
You guys are making me want to switch to see if the low is better for me
I don't know man - less of anything, outside of sexually transmitted diseases, has never been good. I'm on EQT S2 with their traction control on Indy 500's and the thing fucking rips. I love it.
 

Clem604

Autocross Champion
Location
Vancouver BC, Canada
Car(s)
2018 VW GTI
You guys are making me want to switch to see if the low is better for me
I've had both the low and high TQ tunes (STG1+2) on the IS20 and now the IS38 and my take on it is that I liked the driveability of the low TQ tunes on the IS20 but I much prefer the high TQ tune on the IS38. The shop I go to doesn't charge me any labour for ECU flashing so I was able to try both types of tunes on all the "stages".
 
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Nineeightyone

Autocross Champion
Location
Pennsylvania
Car(s)
20 CX5 19 GTI 10 MZ3
I've had both the low and high TQ tunes (STG1+2) on the IS20 and now the IS38 and my take on it is that I liked the drive ability of the low TQ tunes on the IS20 but I much prefer the high TQ tune on the IS38. The shop I go to doesn't charge me any labour for ECU flashing so I was able to try both types of tunes on all the "stages".

Have you had a chance to compare to the EQT/Sneeky stage 1 tunes as well? I'm shopping around and while my preference leans EQT/Sneeky, I'm hoping to retain drivability.
 

Clem604

Autocross Champion
Location
Vancouver BC, Canada
Car(s)
2018 VW GTI
Have you had a chance to compare to the EQT/Sneeky stage 1 tunes as well? I'm shopping around and while my preference leans EQT/Sneeky, I'm hoping to retain drivability.
I have not had any experience with either of those tunes but I've heard nothing but good things from both companies.
 
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