New to me 2015 GTI, Starting to mod ?

[Justgotohm]

Hello, newbie here., I picked up a dark blue 15 GTI SE MT with the sport and lighting packages. I had been looking for a month or so, when I saw this particular car come up for sale I immediately jumped on it, exactly what I was looking for.
I absolutely love this car, everything about it, just fun to be in. I’m an older guy and have had a bunch of cars including an 85 BMW 535 modded up that I currently own, several Subies, 04 WRX, 05 STI, 05 MT Legacy GT wagon boosted, a handful of RX-7’s, 928 S2, a bunch of E28/24 BMW’s, 81 four door Rabbit with a 16V swap, etc,etc. With that being said I enjoy this GTI way more than any one of those cars exponentially more.
The car came with a Cobb AP loaded with tunes, the previous owner used this car to load different tunes, dyno it on a hub dyno, posted his results on YouTube. Super nice fellow, very helpful. Some sort of billet aluminum part was installed in place of or having something to do with the blow off valve. That’s all that was done to the car before I bought it.
I scored a set of APR 19x8.5 wheels wrapped with Pilot Sport 4S’s the seller pulled from a RS4. In Sport mode the car feels very flat with zero understeer, crazy grippy, way better than expected. I picked up a 034 intake cheap, probably isn’t very different from stock but I like the little bit of extra noise, I’ll wrap the intake tube with aluminum tape. Then scored an APR cat back exhaust and catted downpipe from a fellow that moved up to a Audi RS something. Ordered a BMS intercooler online cause I’m supposed to upgrade the IC I suppose?
I installed the intake and exhaust and tuned to Stage 1 + OTS COBB tune. It has a boost of torque from 3300 to 4800 rpm then kinda peters out. It’s noticeably faster than stock but far from where I would like to be. I was thinking of unloading the AP and using a local shop to flash an APR Stage 1, according to dyno graphs it look more aggressive and linear, especially up top.
I’ll hold off with the downpipe and IC untill I have a more aggressive clutch installed, I imagine by then I’ll source a Is38 and school myself more on what’s going on with this car as a whole. The APR dealer is local, I like the shop and staff, the convenience. It would be cool to be able to use the AP for monitoring codes and info but looks like I cannot reinstall it over an outside tune.

 

[sandmangti]

Very nice.
launch year in USA.
Nice wheels.
Sport? 2015 was PP option.
Sport was 2016 May 2017 I think.

 

[oddspyke]

DO NOT DITCH THE AP FOR APR!

In all seriousness, you can get a flash tune from EQT or Stratified for less than switching to APR and have similar or better performance and keep the ability to monitor everything. Then, after you install everything, you can get a custom tune from one of those guys.

Edit: also don't waste your time on an is38; too many good hybrid options for not much more.

 

[Justgotohm]

Very nice.
launch year in USA.
Nice wheels.
Sport? 2015 was PP option.
Sport was 2016 May 2017 I think.

Yes my bad it has the Performance Package.

DO NOT DITCH THE AP FOR APR!

In all seriousness, you can get a flash tune from EQT or Stratified for less than switching to APR and have similar or better performance and keep the ability to monitor everything. Then, after you install everything, you can get a custom tune from one of those guys.

Edit: also don't waste your time on an is38; too many good hybrid options for not much more.

I haven’t yet researched any other tuners that could supply tunes to install via the AP. There are a couple tunes on there from MP maybe? If that’s familiar.
A good friend has an A3 he has built, full forged internals, huge turbo, meth, the whole thing. He uses Unitronic, I think, for the flexibility. I want to keep it simple, no pulling runs and sending info via email back and forth to get a tune. I’m super flexible on travel, I’d rather just got to wherever and have it tuned on a dyno or let a shop do their thing on location.
Thanks for the heads up on the turbo, funny my buddy with the A3 had several larger turbos he had been experimenting with laying around. He literally sent me a pic a year ago stating (can you use these) I said no, haha. Weird how things change. I plan on checking out the tuners you listed tomorrow. As I said before I very much like the options of the AP.

 

[Justgotohm]

I would like to add the APR turbo back exhaust I picked up is the most well designed, well made, tightest tolerance off the shelf exhaust I have yet to see for the money.

 

[Diggs24]

Unitronic doesn’t support custom builds. Maybe you meant United Motorsports? Regardless, do not ditch the AP for APR. That’s going backwards.

 

[BronxBomber]

I would suggest Eurodyne over APR then if the OP is averse to logging. At least with Eurodyne Maestro you'll get multiple stages for the same price as 1 APR tune. Just my .02. Having had both, I'd keep the Accessport. The overall usefulness in being able to monitor multiple parameters and read and clear OBD codes is great. It's not difficult to log. With the amount of experience tuners now have it'd probably take you 2 or 3 logs to get your tune set. Also, It'd be safe to say that the majority of base tunes you'd get from a Pro Tuner would be better than any APR off the shelf tune anyway. No brainer, keep the Accessport.

 

[Justgotohm]

I like this, I’m spending some down time today checking out the options y’all have suggested. Yes the A3 uses United Motorsports, sorry I’ll get this sorted eventually.

 

[jimlloyd40]

I like this, I’m spending some down time today checking out the options y’all have suggested. Yes the A3 uses United Motorsports, sorry I’ll get this sorted eventually.

I think the best choice is what you said. Keep the AP and get a custom dyno tune. Especially since you don't want to do the logging for a custom etune. That's what I did with mine.

 

[It's Sam]

...a handful of RX-7’s...

I like you.

 

[Justgotohm]

I’m going with an EQT base map to get things going. Should have that, the DP, and a South Bend Stage 2 endurance clutch installed on Friday. Super Stoked I’m keeping the AP, thank y’all for the suggestions.

 

[JerseyDrew77]

I would like to add the APR turbo back exhaust I picked up is the most well designed, well made, tightest tolerance off the shelf exhaust I have yet to see for the money.

Actually, AWE exhaust is better than APR.

 

[Justgotohm]

I bought the APR exhaust and DP from a fellow that moved on to an Audi, I didn’t have a reason to shop around given the stellar deal. I haven’t a clue how APR stacks up against other offerings but I can say this. The gauge of the material is good, the welds and bends are good, the cast pieces both on the DP and the exhaust are well made without ugly cast marks or shoty workmanship, etc. All the pieces fit together very tight, everything lined up as if it was OEM. The billet bracket for the DP is a nice touch. The clamps are good quality as well.
All this being said, for the money, in my opinion, it is a quality product, much better than many I have used in the past. I’m not comparing as I don’t have the personal experience with other systems for the MK7. Just my experience as a whole was the basis in saying for the money the APR is a quality system. It doesn’t effect me either way just as long as I have a system that works like it should, you don’t have to use a hammer to install it, and sounds good to me.

 

[Justgotohm]

I had the clutch and DP installed today, a bit colder plugs gapped, and an oil change and flashed in the EQT Stage 2. Man it’s going to be a long 600 mile break in for the clutch. The shop, Autobahn Imports, in Augusta, GA is a pleasure to work with.

 

[Justgotohm]

I finally broke the clutch in, car feels great. I very much like the take up on the clutch, very nice improvement over stock. I don’t have to give it as much pedal while getting going in first from a stop.
The obvious is it’s much faster, there is a huge hit down low around 3300rpm and pulls fairly steady from there, it raps up much faster for the long manual gearing. I just have an IC to instal, I will most likely go with an upgraded EQT turbo and call it quits, right?
A couple things that felt great was leaving a Dodge RT Hemi Charger something,( it had Brembos ?) and he instigated it. Another was an older dude in a G35, he had been kinda messing around on a three lane urban street. I was behind him getting on an interstate, at the top of the ramp I could hear him punch it, I literally just drove right around him as if he hadn’t even been trying, so that was fun.
I’m highly impressed at how this motor goes along with the tuning without any issues, it feels like the engine is supposed to have this power level. Love this car!!