Is tuning worth it? 1.4 tsi GT

[golfdave]

Not once did I say the JB4 was a better option. I said it had the one advantage in that it can maintain warranty. The custom option may or may not be advantageous but a good flash tune does have some advantages if you don't care about warranty. I've never claimed otherwise. The rest was diffusing your nonsense about JB4. If you simply didn't constantly deny the warranty considerations and make other misleading claims about it, I wouldn't have made another post. I never said nor think it's a better tune than another, especially one that I've never experienced. You have zero experience with it yet constantly make erroneous claims about it. Yes I also post a lot in JB4 threads, initially asking questions and now answering some. If you read them, you would see that I recommend getting a custom flash once folks upgrade their turbo. Had I found this forum sooner, there would likely be more suspension posts but that happened elsewhere. Much better info on this forum. Anyone reading this will understand who's biased here and probably wish I'd stop entertaining your unfounded accusations.

So much in your post contradicts what has been posted by myself & yourself....

I conceded (across two posts) the aspect re the JB4 not being detectable so long as you remove the unit before you take the car to the dealers.

That is the only mistake I made.

You on the other hand.......I'll leave it to others to make up their own minds so long as you leave your posts as they are now & don't keep re-editing them..I'm leaving mine as is.

 

[goodvibes]

I do edit to clarify but I've never edited after a I've seen a response (they are timestamped) and .

 

[jimlloyd40]

@golfdave and @goodvibes could you two please take your debate into private messages?

 

[goodvibes]

@golfdave and @goodvibes could you two please take your debate into private messages?

Completely spaced on that. Thanks.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Completely spaced on that. Thanks.

By the way if you guys come to a consensus please post that. Would help the OP.

 

[goodvibes]

I think we're there. JB4 if warranty or resale matters. Revo or whatever flash is available to him locally if he wants a flash and forget it and doesn't have warranty concerns. I can attest that better throttle response is a good thing and it's great when a flash tune offers that without needing another device. I'm sure the Revo and others are quite good. Don't know about prices in Europe but I suspect the JB4 is not as good a value as in the states. What I just posted has been my feeling from the start.. In 4.5 years, when my warranty is up, I will also revisit flash tunes for both my motor and DSG though I'm quite happy with my current tune. If that was now, I'd be looking at United Motorsports. Other than that I'd open the air box a bit, pull the snow guard, get a high flow drop in filter and call it a day on the motor. Then look at the suspension. I did suspension first because that was the bigger issue on the Alltrack. Don't know if the brakes are the same in Europe but replacing the pads really helped mine.

 

[Daner]

Alright man, thanks for your help.
Will see what I can find here in Sweden.

I contacted Tyresö Bil & Diagnos AB last September when they came on board as a Revo dealer to get a quote on the stage 1 upgrade for my 2017 VW Golf Sportscombi 1,4 TSI 150 GT R-Line 6-spd. (Note: The car has rolled nearly 100 000km and is out of warranty.) They quoted an installed price of SEK 5519,20 + 1379,80 VAT for a total of SEK 6899.

I couldn't justify paying that much during a season when we all run winter tires and have very little traction, but when the day comes when the gravel is swept from the roads and the trees come back to life and the days get warmer and the PilotSport 4s go back on and I have some extra money burning a hole in my pocket, I may just get it done.

 

[goodvibes]

Sounds like a plan and after reading you initial post again, I see warranty is likely of no concern. Pretty costly over there. You seem good with that bit you may be able to save a few bucks on a used JB4. I have no idea what sort of availability you have in Sweden or what counties' models are compatible, so may be moot anyway. These all get their power from added boost. The stock motors already run a lot of advance for gas mileage reasons but their throttles tend to be slow for the same reasons. That's a clear advantage for a tune that addresses it. The drivability will be identical to stock with a JB4 and but can actually be a bit improved with a good tune like APR/Revo etc as Golfdave mentioned, mostly due to throttle.

I think there's also a Neuspeed piggy back that's cheap and cheerful but would be the least available gain. Not sure about 1.4 compatibility but those are also floating around used if interested. The reason everyone voted to go for it is that these turbos respond very well to added boost. If the 1.4 is like the 1.8/2.0, it will be strong enough to accommodate it reliably.

You may have missed it in all the back and forth but if yours is like those on this side of the pond. Opening up the front of the airbox that faces the grill a bit (like the 2 largest sections) and removing the drop in filter for something with more flow is a good idea with a tune. I put my original filter and snow guard back in during winter. Not sure if really required but I do highway miles and we have a lot of salt spray here in Chicago. Takes a few minutes. Anything else you do is mostly cosmetics and sound without much if any gain until you swap the turbo. You can get a few ponies with a downpipe and custom tune for it's but not cost effective without more. If you do a tune, it's also not a bad idea to change your oil every 5-6 K mi. instead of the more extended intervals.

Let us know how it worked out once you're tuned and stay well.

 

[Alyzzer]

I totally forgot to thank everyone for writing down their thought on this subject.
I haven't had the time to do anything yet but as you say, since my golf has passed all warranties and what not it could be smarter to go with REVO.

I have just been wondering If it's smarter to save the money for a golf R instead but have not really made up my mind.
It's around 700 USD here in Sweden as daners said, talked to our supplier here aswell.

Thank you all and will get back to you if I do it!

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I totally forgot to thank everyone for writing down their thought on this subject.
I haven't had the time to do anything yet but as you say, since my golf has passed all warranties and what not it could be smarter to go with REVO.

I have just been wondering If it's smarter to save the money for a golf R instead but have not really made up my mind.
It's around 700 USD here in Sweden as daners said, talked to our supplier here aswell.

Thank you all and will get back to you if I do it!

smarter to save for a golf R? I guess it depends on your financial situation. Since you live in Sweden i definitely see more value in AWD than FWD. But you could get a GTD Alltrack with 184HP/280TQ so you get good diesel mileage and low end torque + AWD for less than an R.

 

[goodvibes]

And then still tune it, LOL.

 

[odessa.filez]

FWIW I'm a JB4 fanboy, mainly because of its ease of changing maps (fuel flexibility), custom mapping, data logging for proactive health monitoring and easy removal for resale. And...its level of improvement with stock maps is sufficient for me for everyday driving.

It's difficult to prove VAG can't monitor something we can't see. Just because VW is cheaper than Big Money Wasted doesn't mean they can't figure this out.

Years ago, there were threads on Vortex claiming 'dealer can't see your tune as long as you flash back to stock'. Vendors heralded this nonsense. Meanwhile VAG was flagging cars TD1.

I can't prove they can see JB4, but they're smart, so I assume they can, thus I take it easy with mapping. Not that this is the same thing, but when my battery went dead, a week later my salesman called me and said 'he heard I might need some battery help'. Never went to the dealer to make them aware this. Point is their stuff is proprietary, so why would we assume we know what they're able to do?

 

[goodvibes]

FWIW I'm a JB4 fanboy, mainly because of its ease of changing maps (fuel flexibility), custom mapping, data logging for proactive health monitoring and easy removal for resale. And...its level of improvement with stock maps is sufficient for me for everyday driving.

It's difficult to prove VAG can't monitor something we can't see. Just because VW is cheaper than Big Money Wasted doesn't mean they can't figure this out.

Years ago, there were threads on Vortex claiming 'dealer can't see your tune as long as you flash back to stock'. Vendors heralded this nonsense. Meanwhile VAG was flagging cars TD1.

I can't prove they can see JB4, but they're smart, so I assume they can, thus I take it easy with mapping. Not that this is the same thing, but when my battery went dead, a week later my salesman called me and said 'he heard I might need some battery help'. Never went to the dealer to make them aware this. Point is their stuff is proprietary, so why would we assume we know what they're able to do?

Enormous amounts of evidence?

 

[odessa.filez]

Enormous amounts of evidence?

Their product is proprietary. Only VAG can give a straight answer on this, but why would they?

I can't imagine the benefit of an assumption that they can't detect, so I don't. Haven't seen evidence that they can't. Not everyone with a JB4 is on the forum. Not everyone would fess up if they had a warranty issue.

Assuming they can is a choice and a mindset that forces me to be thorough and cautious. I'm fine with leaving a psi or two on the table. I don't insist you change your mind on this, but I'm willing to admit things I don't know.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Their product is proprietary. Only VAG can give a straight answer on this, but why would they?

I can't imagine the benefit of an assumption that they can't detect, so I don't. Haven't seen evidence that they can't. Not everyone with a JB4 is on the forum. Not everyone would fess up if they had a warranty issue.

Assuming they can is a choice and a mindset that forces me to be thorough and cautious. I'm fine with leaving a psi or two on the table. I don't insist you change your mind on this, but I'm willing to admit things I don't know.

The real test is that nobody has ever posted on GolfMk7 saying that they removed their JB1/4 before bringing it in for warranty work and was STILL denied on the grounds of VW TD1’ing the car. If it had happened we’d know about it. There isn’t a single documented instance of it going back to 2015/2016 when the JB1 came out.

pretty strong evidence, considering how many people post they are tuned/TD1’d and had to pay for a warranty item.