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APR No Longer Providing Stage 2 Tunes After Labour Day. Other Tuners to Follow

AERO

Go Kart Newbie
Location
SE of Denver
I would be curious to know what percentage of APR customers do just a Plus or Stage 1 tune and call it quits. I suspect the number of stage 2/3 customers is pretty small.

But, that may have nothing to do with their decision here. It may very well be pressure from the EPA and nothing to do with that sales numbers. I don't know. Glad I already own my APR downpipe though
 

ZuMBLe

Autocross Champion
Location
NY
Car(s)
Alltrack 6MT
I would be curious to know what percentage of APR customers do just a Plus or Stage 1 tune and call it quits. I suspect the number of stage 2/3 customers is pretty small.

But, that may have nothing to do with their decision here. It may very well be pressure from the EPA and nothing to do with that sales numbers. I don't know. Glad I already own my APR downpipe though

I honestly don't think there is a huge jump in performance from Stage 1 to Stage 2. Stage 2 adds more reliability for repeated and sustained WOT pulls. For a normally driven car, Stage 1 is all you really need.
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
so what if i have stage 2 and plan to go is38 tune in the future when i get is38? doesn't the is38 require a downpipe, therefore the tune won't be available? hope the EPA doesnt' see this post lol

i guess this means we should mostly be jumping ship and going to private tuners?
 

morricus

Go Kart Champion
Location
Dripping Springs, TX
Car(s)
2019 GTI
so what if i have stage 2 and plan to go is38 tune in the future when i get is38? doesn't the is38 require a downpipe, therefore the tune won't be available? hope the EPA doesnt' see this post lol

i guess this means we should mostly be jumping ship and going to private tuners?
AMS is close to both of us. They tuned my EVO X, but like the EVO, VW is low on their list of priorities. And they make a helluva downpipe, just pricy.
 

Razgriz337

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
USA
Car(s)
MK7R
so what if i have stage 2 and plan to go is38 tune in the future when i get is38? doesn't the is38 require a downpipe, therefore the tune won't be available? hope the EPA doesnt' see this post lol

i guess this means we should mostly be jumping ship and going to private tuners?

IS38 is Stage 3 and is considered race only. They will remain available.
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
and as long as you PURCHASED / flashed the tune prior, say i gotta go in for emissions, i can have them untune & retune it?

i was literally just about to go get stg2 flashed this week with pops/bangs lol
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Glad I got my Baun DP when I did!
 

AxMan

Drag Race Newbie
Location
CT
Car(s)
Audi S5
This isn’t just APR. everyone seems to be removing Downpipes. EPA got rid of the “off-road use only” verbiage and now includes off-road vehicles as no longer being modifiable when relates to emissions.
 

morricus

Go Kart Champion
Location
Dripping Springs, TX
Car(s)
2019 GTI
This isn’t just APR. everyone seems to be removing Downpipes. EPA got rid of the “off-road use only” verbiage and now includes off-road vehicles as no longer being modifiable when relates to emissions.
who else has discontinued them?
 

Chogokin

Autocross Champion
Location
So Cal
Car(s)
GTI Sport | Audi A3
No downpipes are legal. I think Magnaflow and Borla might have some CARB approved cats in limited applications. Burger Tuning is forbidden from selling their JB units in California...but you can still buy them from out of state from third party vendors.

Neuspeed discontinued their downpipes a while back. There are still European companies that manufacture downpipes.
 

Justgotohm

Ready to race!
Location
Savannahish
Car(s)
2015 GTI SE SP 6sp M
lmao, car exhausts do absolutely nothing to the environment compared to tires and cows. That shit has already been proven. This is a pointless move.
Hey man, easy. I resemble that comment.
B5E06EFA-9E5B-440F-9A12-F0050459F4F2.png
 

launchd

Drag Racing Champion
Location
New York
Car(s)
2023 M3LR, 2021 A7
so what if i have stage 2 and plan to go is38 tune in the future when i get is38? doesn't the is38 require a downpipe, therefore the tune won't be available? hope the EPA doesnt' see this post lol

i guess this means we should mostly be jumping ship and going to private tuners?

APR Stage 2 requires their downpipe. If you don't have their downpipe, you can not flash to Stage 2. If you have their downpipe, you can flash to Stage 2. If you end up installing an IS38 later on, as long as you already have their downpipe, you can flash to Stage 3. The tunes are not going anywhere, the downpipe is.

and as long as you PURCHASED / flashed the tune prior, say i gotta go in for emissions, i can have them untune & retune it?

i was literally just about to go get stg2 flashed this week with pops/bangs lol

The tunes are not going anywhere, the downpipe is. You will be able to get your car de-tuned/re-tuned at an APR dealer.
 

Hoon

Autocross Champion
Location
Rhode Island
IS38 is Stage 3 and is considered race only. They will remain available.

Try asking the diesel guys who were fined millions of dollars if that's how it works.

Hint, that's not how any of this works.

The writing has been on the wall for a while, APR is the first to play it safe and sooner or later all major players will follow or they will be bankrupted when the EPA takes every penny they've ever made.
 

seanmcd1

Autocross Newbie
Location
SC
I am pretty sure there are OEM downpipe IS38 tunes, so that will be the new "stage 2" maybe :)
 

Father Seth

Go Kart Newbie
Location
SoCal
Car(s)
2015 Golf TSI
Try asking the diesel guys who were fined millions of dollars if that's how it works.

Hint, that's not how any of this works.

The writing has been on the wall for a while, APR is the first to play it safe and sooner or later all major players will follow or they will be bankrupted when the EPA takes every penny they've ever made.
I've seen some people emailing other tuners to see if they'll continue providing their Stage 2 products. It looks like APR, as of my lunch break, was the only one discontinuing them.
However if the EPA continues to crack down, I wouldnt blame others for discontinuing them as well. Afterall, they run a business and I'm sure they don't want to be fined up the you know what.

You're right about the diesel guys first, a lot of people saw it coming on the gasoline side after the diesel fiasco.
 
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