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APR Stage 2 v2.6 Now Available for the New Golf R, S3 and TTS

Aussie R

Ready to race!
Location
Australia
I had the update today. Feels even slightly more responsive and very smooth across rev range. Car feels very strong and lively. It’s an improvement again and free update so more than happy.
 

tortoise

Ready to race!
Location
MA
Something I don’t understand: Why doesn’t APR include Haldex flash tune in its arsenal? I’ve just learned, to my surprise, that the Haldex systems will send up to 50% of the available torque to the rear wheels capped at the stock power output levels, which means that any additional power gains go straight to the front wheels...which means that these fabulous power upgrades from APR (and the rest) are turning the Golf R, as the power increases, into something that asymptotically (well, not quite, but you get the idea) approaches a front wheel drive-only vehicle.

So as power increases, the Haldex system becomes proportionately superfluous. Or, to look at it another way, these tuning upgrades turn the R into a glorified GTI, which may not, in and of itself, be such a bad thing, but it does seem like a bit of a waste.

So, APR, what’s up with that? Why not address this Haldex limitation so that it functions in a tuned Golf R just as it does in a stock Golf R? Is it a reliability issue—e.g. are you concerned about busting the unit?
 
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italynstylion

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
Something I don’t understand: Why doesn’t APR include Haldex flash tune in its arsenal? I’ve just learned, to my surprise, that the Haldex systems will send up to 50% of the available torque to the rear wheels capped at the stock power output levels

The first part is correct...with the Haldex clutch fully engaged both the front and rear wheels will receive equal amounts of power since there is no slip/clutch unit of any kind in line with the front wheels. Whatever is fed into the tranny will be split 50/50.

Your second statement is odd though. Where did you read it was "capped" at a certain power level? I don't think I've seen that.
 

Obakong

Ready to race!
Location
CA
How’s the DSG software for the 7.5 Golf R coming along?


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If you have the 7 speeds, you thankfully do not need a DSG tune to use this update. The 7 speed DSG has higher torque levels from the factory, negating the need for a TCU upgrade so critically like that of the previous 6 speed.



Please read. 7.5 does not need a tune!


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tna9001

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
NC
Please read. 7.5 does not need a tune!


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Interesting, when I called and talked to APR a couple months ago they said a tune for the 7 speed would be out by the end of the year.


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tortoise

Ready to race!
Location
MA
The first part is correct...with the Haldex clutch fully engaged both the front and rear wheels will receive equal amounts of power since there is no slip/clutch unit of any kind in line with the front wheels. Whatever is fed into the tranny will be split 50/50.

Your second statement is odd though. Where did you read it was "capped" at a certain power level? I don't think I've seen that.

It is odd, and I don’t understand how that works. In any event, it’s a difference you can feel. Indeed, I was prompted to go spelunking for information on the Haldex system after getting my APR stage I (high torque, 93-octane) tune.

As much as I loved the APR tune right out of the gate, I couldn’t get past a sense, particularly on corners, that I was at the wheels of the world’s greatest fwd car—a sensation I had not experienced pre-tune.

For all the R’s “tunability,” this strikes me as a major caveat: By increasing power, you are compromising the very handling dynamics that make the R such an appealing piece of kit in the first place. I can only assume that reviewers rhapsodizing over, say, APR’s stage 3+ demonstration platfom are so (justifiably) intoxicated by the power it makes that they’ve failed to notice what I believe may be a substantial degredation of the vehicle’s character during “sprirted” driving.

I’m planning on installing the UM Haldex tune this Friday provided it plays nicely with the APR tune. If it doesn’t, alas, I’ll have a decision to make.

No doubt this will strike some (many?) as an awfully persnickety obsession. But, heck, you’ve got to be kind of a lunatic to get into this stuff anyway, don’t you? I just don’t see the point of driving around with the added weight and complexity of a Haldex system if you’re not really using it.
 

Arin@APR

GOLFMK7 Official Sponsor
Location
Auburn, Al
Car(s)
B8 S4, MK7 GSW TDI
DQ250 6 speed DSG - Needs a tune to hold the torque

DQ381 7 speed DSG - Does not need a tune to hold the torque

Beyond that, the "Need" is up to you (just like tuning in the first place). It makes it better, but you don't need it to hold torque at stage 2.
 
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