Well close to it for a North American EA888 MQB 1.8T. Shout out to NGP Racing and Everything Euro (North Carolina) for being awesome shops that support grassroots amateur racers.
Disclosure:
Long read [Cliffs in brackets], likely crossposted. This is largely targeted to enthusiasts, IE: at a minimum those who autocross regularly but more so HPDE & Time Trial with 20-25 minute sessions. Perhaps applicable to W2W racers if sessions are short. Cars and Coffee crowd or "my car's not ready yet" types will likely find little value in this review.
I am not affiliated with any of these companies. I've used all but one on track as noted below. All of them have excellent customer service and those noted as honoring a return did so without issue. I'd like to separate the people from the tune itself as my feedback is squarely on the reflash and little more.
Tunes are listed in order of purchase/use. In addition to autocross, tracks ran on (SCCA Time Trial Sport 4 class) include Road Atlanta, Virginia International Raceway and Carolina Motorsports Park. Daytona Speedway is next. Car is 99% stock drivetrain, exception being K&N air filter and no snow guard. GSW 4Motion 6MT.
All ECU reflashes seem to mention increased throttle response and/or removal of early onset throttle lag. None do significantly. My E46 330i still feels much more responsive than the Golf on any of these tunes.
Review:
1. Burger Motorsports JB4 [Best Value]. Yes this absolutely belongs on the list. It makes as much if not more WHP than the first reflash I did and is user adjustable unlike any of the below tunes. Customer service and value ads are exceptional thanks to George. I've taken advantage of the transferability once and if my wife finds a manual Alltrack, I'll do so again. Driveability is just like stock with significantly more power in the mid to upper RPM range. Car pulls like a slightly torquey NA car without dying up top. It pulls well to redline. Around the 15 minute mark, timing will get pulled and I'll start to be slower. How slow? Drag race a well sorted NB Spec Miata on the back straight at Road Atlanta slow. Alas, technically per SCCA Sport class regulations, piggybacks are not legal, only ECU reflashes are. So for Time Trial Nationals in May I knew I had to switch and it made sense to do it ahead of time.
2. Integrated Engineering Stage 1 [Torquey-ist down low, disappointment mid to high]. This tune I only autocrossed with, no track time. Stock clutch (4Motion 6MT) took 8 hard launches at 5.5K just fine. Surprisingly it didn't get going much faster than on JB4. In fact I only noticed a difference if I decided to leave it in 2nd on a tight turnaround rather than downshift to 1st. This tune simply feels quick on the street and taking off (no launch) from a stop. But it's disappointing above 4K. In essence I paid just to be class legal but no faster. Now power gain where it counts on track; 4K to redline. MPG is slightly decreased from stock & JB4 but not bad (10% decrease at worst). Unlike APR and Unitronic, IE's stage 2 seems to be more than just a CEL eliminator; perhaps I'd like the stage 2 if downpipes were legal in my TT class. My disappointment is squarely on their Stage 1 tune.
3. APR Stage 1 [The fastest, briefly]. This is the best tune for autocrossers and perhaps time trialers who are fine with a maximum of 2 push laps before a cool down lap is needed. It was outright dangerous at VIR. I was able to keep up with a good driver in a E36 M3 for 1.9 laps of VIR Grand Course. Then on the main straight timing got pulled and he walked away. That's not the bad part. Boost cuts and boost surges were unpredictable and violent. I entered the climbing esses at WOT since timing was pulled then I got a couple boost surges in the middle of them. It was unnerving. APR's stage 1 tune must not have been tested on track for any meaningful amount of time; this behavior was unacceptable. Upon reaching out to them, they suggested a wastegate failure. While that may be the weakest link, a 35K mile car with 1 prior track weekend shouldn't be having those issues on a tune made for a 100% stock set up. This is more of a cars and coffee tune that mate well with autocross. It has nearly the torque of IE with the HP of Unitronic. It's very boost heavy and feels as such. No mystery the turbo was complaining. MPG from stock is relatively unchanged.
4. Reflect Stage 1 [Jack of no trades]. Reflect tunes are not all "custom" as many misinformed people on the web say. Many are just another Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, etc. AND there happens to be support for non staged, OTS mapping. I explained my car was stock but was beginning to see regular track use. I was given the generic stage 1 tune anyway. I went back to VIR. It was slower than APR, noticeably. Timing pull didn't happen this time despite it being slightly warmer out. But boost cuts still did. Session 3 I ran a 2:20.2. Session 4 I ran a 2:21.3 due to boost cuts on the main straight. Had session 3 not happened, I would have placed 2nd rather than 1st in class at NCR SCCA TT. It also makes significantly (20%) less MPG than stock. This was the only tune that lacked daily driveability. Acceleration & boost would slightly surge randomly. Cruise control wasn't smooth anymore when throttle input was needed. Overall this tune felt very unrefined/unpolished with no performance benefit.
5. Unitronic Stage 1 [Best overall, pricey]. This was my last resort. Someone must have cut my life into pieces. $700 for a stage 1 that can't be transferred is atrocious. Plus, unlike APR they have a $50 fee for changing your mind/mods. Whereas you'd pay $500 for APR stage 1, then $250 to upgrade to stage 3 IS38 ($750 total), for Unitronic you'd be at $700 for stage 1 then $350 to upgrade to their IS38 file ($1,050 total). That pricing simply put me off of them. But lo and behold, after returning APR and letting 30 days go by from when I purchased their tune, Unitronic honored their 20% off switch and save. $560 is not so bad. Especially when it's the only tune to have a significant HP and TQ bump over stock with no driveability issues on track. It was quick and consistent at Carolina Motorsports Park. I was consistently in the 1:50 - 1:51 range lap after lap, despite oil creeping to mid 250s. MPG same as stock. This is the best stage 1 for a track day bro.
Disclosure:
Long read [Cliffs in brackets], likely crossposted. This is largely targeted to enthusiasts, IE: at a minimum those who autocross regularly but more so HPDE & Time Trial with 20-25 minute sessions. Perhaps applicable to W2W racers if sessions are short. Cars and Coffee crowd or "my car's not ready yet" types will likely find little value in this review.
I am not affiliated with any of these companies. I've used all but one on track as noted below. All of them have excellent customer service and those noted as honoring a return did so without issue. I'd like to separate the people from the tune itself as my feedback is squarely on the reflash and little more.
Tunes are listed in order of purchase/use. In addition to autocross, tracks ran on (SCCA Time Trial Sport 4 class) include Road Atlanta, Virginia International Raceway and Carolina Motorsports Park. Daytona Speedway is next. Car is 99% stock drivetrain, exception being K&N air filter and no snow guard. GSW 4Motion 6MT.
All ECU reflashes seem to mention increased throttle response and/or removal of early onset throttle lag. None do significantly. My E46 330i still feels much more responsive than the Golf on any of these tunes.
Review:
1. Burger Motorsports JB4 [Best Value]. Yes this absolutely belongs on the list. It makes as much if not more WHP than the first reflash I did and is user adjustable unlike any of the below tunes. Customer service and value ads are exceptional thanks to George. I've taken advantage of the transferability once and if my wife finds a manual Alltrack, I'll do so again. Driveability is just like stock with significantly more power in the mid to upper RPM range. Car pulls like a slightly torquey NA car without dying up top. It pulls well to redline. Around the 15 minute mark, timing will get pulled and I'll start to be slower. How slow? Drag race a well sorted NB Spec Miata on the back straight at Road Atlanta slow. Alas, technically per SCCA Sport class regulations, piggybacks are not legal, only ECU reflashes are. So for Time Trial Nationals in May I knew I had to switch and it made sense to do it ahead of time.
2. Integrated Engineering Stage 1 [Torquey-ist down low, disappointment mid to high]. This tune I only autocrossed with, no track time. Stock clutch (4Motion 6MT) took 8 hard launches at 5.5K just fine. Surprisingly it didn't get going much faster than on JB4. In fact I only noticed a difference if I decided to leave it in 2nd on a tight turnaround rather than downshift to 1st. This tune simply feels quick on the street and taking off (no launch) from a stop. But it's disappointing above 4K. In essence I paid just to be class legal but no faster. Now power gain where it counts on track; 4K to redline. MPG is slightly decreased from stock & JB4 but not bad (10% decrease at worst). Unlike APR and Unitronic, IE's stage 2 seems to be more than just a CEL eliminator; perhaps I'd like the stage 2 if downpipes were legal in my TT class. My disappointment is squarely on their Stage 1 tune.
3. APR Stage 1 [The fastest, briefly]. This is the best tune for autocrossers and perhaps time trialers who are fine with a maximum of 2 push laps before a cool down lap is needed. It was outright dangerous at VIR. I was able to keep up with a good driver in a E36 M3 for 1.9 laps of VIR Grand Course. Then on the main straight timing got pulled and he walked away. That's not the bad part. Boost cuts and boost surges were unpredictable and violent. I entered the climbing esses at WOT since timing was pulled then I got a couple boost surges in the middle of them. It was unnerving. APR's stage 1 tune must not have been tested on track for any meaningful amount of time; this behavior was unacceptable. Upon reaching out to them, they suggested a wastegate failure. While that may be the weakest link, a 35K mile car with 1 prior track weekend shouldn't be having those issues on a tune made for a 100% stock set up. This is more of a cars and coffee tune that mate well with autocross. It has nearly the torque of IE with the HP of Unitronic. It's very boost heavy and feels as such. No mystery the turbo was complaining. MPG from stock is relatively unchanged.
4. Reflect Stage 1 [Jack of no trades]. Reflect tunes are not all "custom" as many misinformed people on the web say. Many are just another Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, etc. AND there happens to be support for non staged, OTS mapping. I explained my car was stock but was beginning to see regular track use. I was given the generic stage 1 tune anyway. I went back to VIR. It was slower than APR, noticeably. Timing pull didn't happen this time despite it being slightly warmer out. But boost cuts still did. Session 3 I ran a 2:20.2. Session 4 I ran a 2:21.3 due to boost cuts on the main straight. Had session 3 not happened, I would have placed 2nd rather than 1st in class at NCR SCCA TT. It also makes significantly (20%) less MPG than stock. This was the only tune that lacked daily driveability. Acceleration & boost would slightly surge randomly. Cruise control wasn't smooth anymore when throttle input was needed. Overall this tune felt very unrefined/unpolished with no performance benefit.
5. Unitronic Stage 1 [Best overall, pricey]. This was my last resort. Someone must have cut my life into pieces. $700 for a stage 1 that can't be transferred is atrocious. Plus, unlike APR they have a $50 fee for changing your mind/mods. Whereas you'd pay $500 for APR stage 1, then $250 to upgrade to stage 3 IS38 ($750 total), for Unitronic you'd be at $700 for stage 1 then $350 to upgrade to their IS38 file ($1,050 total). That pricing simply put me off of them. But lo and behold, after returning APR and letting 30 days go by from when I purchased their tune, Unitronic honored their 20% off switch and save. $560 is not so bad. Especially when it's the only tune to have a significant HP and TQ bump over stock with no driveability issues on track. It was quick and consistent at Carolina Motorsports Park. I was consistently in the 1:50 - 1:51 range lap after lap, despite oil creeping to mid 250s. MPG same as stock. This is the best stage 1 for a track day bro.
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