APR Plus

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I’d agree with the “filling up with 87” doesn’t make any noticeable difference vs filling with ,say, 91 with the APR+ tune. I did it absentmindedly the other day and honestly can’t feel any differerence. So when APR says just use 87 they are right.

Yeah but 93 has more detergents/additives than 87, provided you’re buying from a top tier provider like Shell, Sunoco, Costco. These behave as preventative maintenance for the injectors and fuel pump, if not the valves (DI)

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I have the APR Stage 1+ & DSG tune in my 2018 GTI Autobahn. Installed with a few hundred miles on it. Now has over 21k miles. I love the transformation in power and drivability. Never had any issues. Reading this thread reminds me to check to see if APR has refined the tune since 2018 and if I should have my dealer reflash it if APR has refined it.

they have, and you should do it

 

[YamR1rider]

they have, and you should do it

Agree. The V2 APR+ is really a lot smoother than the V1. Not often mentioned but a great thing about it as well is they fixed the in dash boost gauge to read accurately. V1 will only ever read as high as 36.2 (combined boost and atmospheric) as it's capped to that (as stock car will never reach that) . V2 will read whatever it really is (I've seen 41.5 or so at sea level so 27psi boost). To my knowledge no other tuner has fixed this - a little detail but to my mind, good attention to detail by APR on all their V2 tunes.

The optimized for 87 is also a great money saver. I've done dragy runs on 87 and 93 and I can't tell a difference (if there is, it's a couple of tenths max for a quarter which could easily be other factors). I do a track day once a year and I sometimes go hammering round the boonies and on those occasions I will put 93 in, but more as extra insurance for sustained thrashing rather than expecting any performance boost. Otherwise for the school and supermarket suburban stuff I'll be happy saving 70c a gallon.

 

[White18]

Agree. The V2 APR+ is really a lot smoother than the V1. Not often mentioned but a great thing about it as well is they fixed the in dash boost gauge to read accurately. V1 will only ever read as high as 36.2 (combined boost and atmospheric) as it's capped to that (as stock car will never reach that) . V2 will read whatever it really is (I've seen 41.5 or so at sea level so 27psi boost). To my knowledge no other tuner has fixed this - a little detail but to my mind, good attention to detail by APR on all their V2 tunes.

The optimized for 87 is also a great money saver. I've done dragy runs on 87 and 93 and I can't tell a difference (if there is, it's a couple of tenths max for a quarter which could easily be other factors). I do a track day once a year and I sometimes go hammering round the boonies and on those occasions I will put 93 in, but more as extra insurance for sustained thrashing rather than expecting any performance boost. Otherwise for the school and supermarket suburban stuff I'll be happy saving 70c a gallon.

Thanks for the details. I will look into having it done.

 

[loopless]

I have the APR Stage 1+ & DSG tune in my 2018 GTI Autobahn. Installed with a few hundred miles on it. Now has over 21k miles. I love the transformation in power and drivability. Never had any issues. Reading this thread reminds me to check to see if APR has refined the tune since 2018 and if I should have my dealer reflash it if APR has refined it.

Which reminds me.... APR is absolutely crazy they do not send regular emails to their customers (like you and me) saying. "Hey, v2.x of your APR+ tune has been released come on in for a re-flash". It drives business to their dealers and makes a good connection with their customers. Hey Arin, you out there

 

[ZuMBLe]

Which reminds me.... APR is absolutely crazy they do not send regular emails to their customers (like you and me) saying. "Hey, v2.x of your APR+ tune has been released come on in for a re-flash". It drives business to their dealers and makes a good connection with their customers. Hey Arin, you out there

The flip side is you invite problems each time you flash. Someone has a V1 APR flash and beats the shit out of their car, they get an email about a change, they get it, car blows up cuz of lack of maintenance or something, APR is blamed.

 

[White18]

I have an appointment tomorrow to get the S1+ tune flashed with the updated tune. My DSG tune is current. I think the S1+ is a 91 tune though it might be 93. We have 93 here everywhere. If it is 91, I might have them flash the 93. Not sure about it. I always use 93 anyway. I have not seen 91 anywhere in my area.

 

[SnailPower]

Yeah but 93 has more detergents/additives than 87, provided you’re buying from a top tier provider like Shell, Sunoco, Costco. These behave as preventative maintenance for the injectors and fuel pump, if not the valves (DI)

What about BP? I alternate between BP and Shell depending how low I am and which one I'm closet to at that moment. They both advertise cleaning formulas and I believe are probably equal in quality overall. For some reason though, I've always felt Shell was a bit more potent but it probably has been a placebo feel than any truth to it.

 

[SnailPower]

The flip side is you invite problems each time you flash. Someone has a V1 APR flash and beats the shit out of their car, they get an email about a change, they get it, car blows up cuz of lack of maintenance or something, APR is blamed.

Yeah that is kind of what I was thinking. I feel like tunes and their revisions are almost kept on the dl by the tuning company than advertised. They ideally probably want you to get 1 revision, hope you have no problems with it and don't come bothering them if something did happen. The last thing they want is for you to keep re-flashing if the first tune you did get with them was problem free.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

What about BP? I alternate between BP and Shell depending how low I am and which one I'm closet to at that moment. They both advertise cleaning formulas and I believe are probably equal in quality overall. For some reason though, I've always felt Shell was a bit more potent but it probably has been a placebo feel than any truth to it.

BP is a top tier provider, and also UK based so likely better than an American top tier

 

[mrmatto]

I have an appointment tomorrow to get the S1+ tune flashed with the updated tune. My DSG tune is current. I think the S1+ is a 91 tune though it might be 93. We have 93 here everywhere. If it is 91, I might have them flash the 93. Not sure about it. I always use 93 anyway. I have not seen 91 anywhere in my area.

Are you in a hot climate? If so, consider doing the 91 tune. When it’s hot and you run 93, you’ll have less power loss from timing pull vs. if you were running the 93 tune.

 

[White18]

Are you in a hot climate? If so, consider doing the 91 tune. When it’s hot and you run 93, you’ll have less power loss from timing pull vs. if you were running the 93 tune.

Because of elevated IAT? Northern Florida, BTW.

 

[mrmatto]

Because of elevated IAT? Northern Florida, BTW.

Yeah. I’m in FL too. I have a 93 octane tune and on the 90+ days I get a good bit of power loss and timing pull. Octane booster fixes it. A better intercooler would too. But from what I’ve seen, there’s usually not much power diff between 91/93 flash tunes and you get that extra comfort room. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Salami]

I have an appointment tomorrow to get the S1+ tune flashed with the updated tune. My DSG tune is current. I think the S1+ is a 91 tune though it might be 93. We have 93 here everywhere. If it is 91, I might have them flash the 93.

Are you in a hot climate? If so, consider doing the 91 tune. When it’s hot and you run 93, you’ll have less power loss from timing pull vs. if you were running the 93 tune.

It is called the APR Plus tune; using S1 to describe it is misleading.

Assuming APR Plus ECU tune for the GTI is done similar to the Golf R version there are zero options. No choice of octane. The Stage 1 tunes have some options such as the octane level can be specified.

For the R the only option was in the TCU tune allowing for launch RPM, nothing else.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Yeah. I’m in FL too. I have a 93 octane tune and on the 90+ days I get a good bit of power loss and timing pull. Octane booster fixes it. A better intercooler would too. But from what I’ve seen, there’s usually not much power diff between 91/93 flash tunes and you get that extra comfort room. Just my 2 cents.

Agreed