APR Stage 1 Tuning Costs

[fahrer]

Hi All,

I am new here and was looking into the APR Stage 1 ECU upgrade.
After going through the APR website I found the the only place here in Atlanta and called them.

- They don't do the 6 hour test free of charge, they will charge 2 hours of labor, no matter what
- They want the $599 for the mod, plus extra programs, plus 2 hours of labor, plus tax, making it almost $1000.

Is that normal, that it takes 2 hours and those are charged extra? I assumed the product has its profit margin already built in.
Also my A4 2010 2.0TFSI is FWD, is that OK to do, or will the CVT life be degraded through the torque increase?

Thanks for your input

Alex

[fahrer]

Reached out to APR, didn't realize they are in Alabama, so only 2 hours away, they wouldn't charge labor for the the ECU upgrade.

My queston about ECU mod and CVT still remains though, I have 8k miles down and I would hate to ruin something through the mod, or worse, void the warranty if Audi ever found out.

Has anyone every expierenced a problem, broken turbo, transmission, higher oil consumption issues or similar, caused by the the upgrade?

Thanks.

[NickZag]

about 2k miles on my APR tune... so far, so good. Best upgrade I've done. It's by far the best value for money performance increase.

[cory_can]

if you can wait a bit APR has sales on their loaded ECU every 2-3 months or so.

[linet90]

I am hoping there will be some Christmas sales!

[Blake P]

Did you ask APR your CVT tuning questions?...

[MiracleWhips]

Is that normal, that it takes 2 hours and those are charged extra? I assumed the product has its profit margin already built in.
Also my A4 2010 2.0TFSI is FWD, is that OK to do, or will the CVT life be degraded through the torque increase?

Yes, install/labor charges are always seperate unless otherwise noted. Consider the ECU just like a physical part. The price quoted from APR is for the part alone.

Any install work is charged at the rate defined by the technician. So this is all subjective to where you have the work done.

2 hours seems high though.

Make an adventure out of it and visit APR. I am sure it will be worth the drive and save yourself some money in the process.

[fahrer]

@Blake

No didn't ask APR if they have any concerns doing it on a FWD with CVT, but will do.
Does anyone know if Audi uses the same CVT for the TFSI's as with the TDI? I know in Germany FWD is way more common than Quattro, TDI's as well, which produce much more torque than the TFSI's even with a mod and the CVT's seem to hold up to that force.

@Linet
Checked the website from APR, the last years x-mas special was announced Nov 23rd, so perhaps they do it again in 4-5 days from today.
I will check now daily, seems to be a great deal compared to the normal price for all different modes

[Cabal_san]

Stasis will not tune a CVT. It's on their website under their tech section. Tooo much torque.

I would reach out to APR before heading over there.

[A5MD]

I am in the same boat as you fahrer. I am waiting for the usual Christmas sale then you can get the 4 programs for $599 then just pay for install which my local dealer said would be 30-45 mins so about $50.00

[fahrer]

After reading through tons of forum posts, it looks like I will skip it.
The CVT doesn't seem be made to hold up, too bad, even if the b8 CVT might be stronger as previous CVT transmissions, I won't risk it.
Should have picked the quattro instead, thanks everyone for answering my "newbie" question and good look to the ones who get it as x-mas present

[Smurfs]

After reading through tons of forum posts, it looks like I will skip it.
The CVT doesn't seem be made to hold up, too bad, even if the b8 CVT might be stronger as previous CVT transmissions, I won't risk it.
Should have picked the quattro instead, thanks everyone for answering my "newbie" question and good look to the ones who get it as x-mas present

I made the same decision 8 months ago regarding my CVT. I spoke to the guy from APR and they said stage 1 won't be an issue but I didn't want to risk it either. Plus the CVT will have wheel spin and steering wheel pull which will be really annoying. I already feel the pull so any more power would be a real pain the a$$. Anyway, the car is still a blast to drive.