I am new here and after reading this thread I am unsure as to what tune to use or any for that matter.
I thought APR was a good option for these cars?
Good to see another one from the frozen lands here. APR is a good choice, they have a good reputation for doing a solid tune. The downside of APR is if your VW reflashes your ECU back to stock during a maintenance vivit because there's a VW update, you have to go back to the tuning shop and reflash back to APR. I'm sure there's an associated cost with that.
If you know in advance that you're headed in for maintenance you can take it to the tune shop, flash to stock, go have your maintenance done then back to the tune shop. You kind of see where that is going.
Then there are piggybacks. These units aren't really a pro tune. The unit gathers data from the ECU then basically lies to the ECU to trick it into doing something else. Supposedly, these unitts can't be seen by VW techs provided you remove the unit prior to a VW maintenance visit. There are some that swear by that and are ardent supporters of such units because of that reason.
There are platforms that allow you to fine tune your own car. Some are simple to use and the support base is strong. Some are not so easy to use and require you to have quite a bit of knowledge about tuning. I wouldn't recommend this approach unless you understand what you're doing. I think those platforms are excellent if you want to have total control over the outcome of the tune, but as previously stated, you need to know your stuff.
Then there is COBB. There are lots of pro tuners that use this platform to either do pro tunes or etunes. This unit upon first install records all of your stock parameters so when you need to flash back to stock you can. Make no mistake about it though VW
will know if the ECU has been reflashed
if they're looking for it. If you break something critical like a turbo or something internal they will
most certainly look to see if the car has been modified. This isn't a dealer issue as it is in their best interest to fix the broken part, after all it's VW paying the bill. It is the VW folks that require they look into it before authorizing a repair.
With the COBB unit you can either run a standard COBB map, weather that be a stage 1, 2 or whatever or you can go to pro tuner and have them custom tune your car. The tune is then on your COBB unit as well as your desktop or laptop at home. You can flash between tunes anytime you want to.
There is a lot of discussion on these forums s to what tune is best or who is the better at tuning. It's all up to you to figure out what it is you'd like to achieve. Some will tune their cars very aggressive, pushing all that they can. This comes with greater risk to the car of course. Then there are some that will run conservative tunes to balance their want for power as well as vehicle life.
How much risk you want to take on is up to you and your wallet. If you have a few grand laying around at any given time, then go all out. If you don't, then get a conservative tune and be happy with it. Don't worry about some person out there who tells you your tune isn't as good as theirs or whatever the case is. Only you know your limits and what you're able to afford.
There is an inherent risk in all tunes, there's no way to escape that but if you manage your car well and don't go way out to the max with your tune
or every time you drive the car you could run for a really long time without any issues. Many have done exactly that.
I see you have a DSG so at least you won't have to replace your clutch. Some love the 6MT. I don't blame them but that clutch will have to go if you plan on making any serious gains in power.
Me, I'm running a COBB unit with a stage 1 tune from Freektune on 91 octane. I'm making plenty of power and my data logs look very good. It's a conservative tune which is exactly what I wanted. There's is still some touch up to do on that tune and it is currently in progress.
Have fun with your car...
