Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
Ready to race!
- Location
- Rhode Island
Hello! I've been reading these forums since I picked up my MK7 exactly a year ago, but refrained from posting since I clearly had a lot to learn. And big thanks to all the knowledgeable people here who have contributed to my education.
My last performance car was an E30 BMW, which I wrenched on a lot, but was a vastly different animal.
Anyway, once I hit 20,000 miles, I reasoned I was in the clear from major factory defects, so I picked up a Uniconnect from ModdedEuros along with a Stage 1+ ECU/TCU combo. 93 octane is prevalent here in southern New England and I didn't mind the cost. I considered APR, Eurodyne, and the JB1, but settled on Unitronic because of the good experience I had chatting with their techs at Waterfest last year. Another major consideration was the experience my friend has had with his pre-facelift CC. He's currently Stage 2 and pondering a big turbo setup. He is an old DSM guy and spent some time building race cars for formula two or three (or something). Anyway, he knows more about turbos than I do, which at first seemed like the spawn of satan to me (Think Porsche guys and water cooling).
Anyway, I saw the light.
The car terrified me at first because it had more power than my old E30 straight six and all the power and weight was over the front wheels. I did not grab the PP, which I do regret slightly.
Blah blah, anyway, I got used to the driving dynamics after a while and I absolutely love this damned thing. Nimble, efficient, good at just about everything, but something was missing... More power!
I flashed the engine tune first and the change was dramatic. Driving in D and S were not really an option without the TCU tune, as the shift points were not right (I tried, very weird). In manual mode however, the thing takes off like a rocket and spins the OEM all seasons in the first three gears. The car terrifies me again, and I consider that a huge win
The TCU tune evens everything out, and makes driving in D and S much more enjoyable. S no longer holds 3500-4000 RPMs eternally and D maintains it's smooth clutch engagement. The car is great at choosing the right gear under throttle when I'm not in the mood to paddle shift, and even S will select 6 when you are cruising on the highway now. My TCU box had some potential for issues but they made sure I was aware beforehand and John@Unitronic walked me through all the precautions over the phone. He even contacted me once the software indicated to them that the flash completed successfully. Both flashes went through the first time without a hitch.
The software interface is pretty damn slick, and the instruction as you go through the flashing process is top notch. Very, very happy with how this turned out... in fact...
My last performance car was an E30 BMW, which I wrenched on a lot, but was a vastly different animal.
Anyway, once I hit 20,000 miles, I reasoned I was in the clear from major factory defects, so I picked up a Uniconnect from ModdedEuros along with a Stage 1+ ECU/TCU combo. 93 octane is prevalent here in southern New England and I didn't mind the cost. I considered APR, Eurodyne, and the JB1, but settled on Unitronic because of the good experience I had chatting with their techs at Waterfest last year. Another major consideration was the experience my friend has had with his pre-facelift CC. He's currently Stage 2 and pondering a big turbo setup. He is an old DSM guy and spent some time building race cars for formula two or three (or something). Anyway, he knows more about turbos than I do, which at first seemed like the spawn of satan to me (Think Porsche guys and water cooling).
Anyway, I saw the light.
The car terrified me at first because it had more power than my old E30 straight six and all the power and weight was over the front wheels. I did not grab the PP, which I do regret slightly.
Blah blah, anyway, I got used to the driving dynamics after a while and I absolutely love this damned thing. Nimble, efficient, good at just about everything, but something was missing... More power!
I flashed the engine tune first and the change was dramatic. Driving in D and S were not really an option without the TCU tune, as the shift points were not right (I tried, very weird). In manual mode however, the thing takes off like a rocket and spins the OEM all seasons in the first three gears. The car terrifies me again, and I consider that a huge win
The TCU tune evens everything out, and makes driving in D and S much more enjoyable. S no longer holds 3500-4000 RPMs eternally and D maintains it's smooth clutch engagement. The car is great at choosing the right gear under throttle when I'm not in the mood to paddle shift, and even S will select 6 when you are cruising on the highway now. My TCU box had some potential for issues but they made sure I was aware beforehand and John@Unitronic walked me through all the precautions over the phone. He even contacted me once the software indicated to them that the flash completed successfully. Both flashes went through the first time without a hitch.
The software interface is pretty damn slick, and the instruction as you go through the flashing process is top notch. Very, very happy with how this turned out... in fact...
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