EPL Stage 1 ECU TCU - Quick Review - 2014 S7

[S4LI]

I recently picked up a stock, pre-owned 2014 S7 and sold my APR Stage 2 B8.5 S4.

The stock S7 felt about on-par with the tuned/pulley S4 in terms of straight line speed/acceleration, but somewhat less aggressive and felt more like a fast luxury executive car than a purpose built performance machine. Something had to change.

With the S4, I made the mistake of waiting almost 2 years to tune and I feel like I wasted those first 2 years. I knew I'd tune the S7 as soon as I could, and when I saw the EPL Black Friday sale, I jumped on it.

I liked the fact that I could tune from home and all the AZ reviews were very positive.

It took about 2 weeks to receive the Pre-loaded tablet and cable and the task of flashing at home was very simple and straightforward. Chris had my stock file available so we could restore my file before flashing to the 93 Octane Stage 1 File. It took about 5 mins to flash the ECU and TCU.

First impression is that the car is significantly faster. Feels stock M5 fast. Torque hits hard really low in the rev band and the TCU tune is silky smooth. The turbos sound louder and the car reacts faster in all situations, it just feels awake/alert and pulls very hard in the mid rev range. I like my S7 so much better now.

Overall a positive experience and made me miss the S4 much less. I loved the APR tune on the S4, and so far the EPL tune on the S7 is well worth the money. If you have a C7 S6 or S7, I'd highly recommend tuning it and I would put EPL on the short list.

[Sport Line]

I just had installed EPL ECU + TCU as well. About 20min installation time in total . Yeah , being able to do it yourself it is such a great advantage! I only went for a quick test drive after but my first impression it is very good as well! I estimate something around 600Chp and 650Ctq! Only mods I currently have are free flow 2,5" exhaust and k&n filter with a modified oem box to allow more air in . I don't know exactly how much hp and tq those mods can bring , probably something around 30hp and some extra tq . Car pulls so violently when floor it but still drives nicely when you don't! More feedback soon :)

Cheers!

[nefkntym]

This all good news, I just got the car 3 days ago and I have already ordered the EPL tune and an RS7 air box. Can't wait.

[fatherdeath]

I have a month or so with the time and it's just an amazing tune crazy fast on the autobahn and it kept up if not surpassed a stock RS6 a n the autobahn can't wait for my eurocode parts to get here to finish my "stage 1" build and I'm kinda still debating downpipes not sure if the car needs them

[Logtec]

This all good news, I just got the car 3 days ago and I have already ordered the EPL tune and an RS7 air box. Can't wait.

You can install RS7 air box ON S7?

[Slickn]

Did your car start on the first crank after flashing the tune? Or did it take multiple attempts to get started? I've been trying to get my 3.0t to play nicely with the EPL tune, but it wont start after the flash... 12 attempts killed the battery. Flashed back to stock and started on first crank. I just want more power!!!

[TT 4.0T]

Need silicone reducers to mate up to the stock turbo inlets. Or you can run RS7 inlets. Neither will add any power to a stock turbo S6 according to what I saw at the dragstrip.

You can install RS7 air box ON S7?

[Chris@EPL]

Sorry for the delay getting the tablet and cable, but we were slammed with orders from the sale and everything was shipping out in the order that people paid. Glad to hear that you are happy with the car.

[///S6///]

Did your car start on the first crank after flashing the tune? Or did it take multiple attempts to get started? I've been trying to get my 3.0t to play nicely with the EPL tune, but it wont start after the flash... 12 attempts killed the battery. Flashed back to stock and started on first crank. I just want more power!!!

I have to admit, while going through the steps of the turn, it was quite nerve racking watching all the different lights go off on the dash. Upon the first attempt, it did not start, as a mater of fact, it was cranking for about 30 seconds until I hit the start/stop button. Next attempt it started right up. Everything went as they had said, and followed step by step. Get ahold of Chris, I'm sure he will be able to walk you right through it.

[Sport Line]

Did your car start on the first crank after flashing the tune? Or did it take multiple attempts to get started? I've been trying to get my 3.0t to play nicely with the EPL tune, but it wont start after the flash... 12 attempts killed the battery. Flashed back to stock and started on first crank. I just want more power!!!

MY s6 started like normal, absolutely no hesitation at all! I am waiting for the pulley to do the q5 as well, I hope will go as smooth as the s6 ! What tune did you attempt install stage 1 or 2? Maybe somehow you rushed true the steps by not waiting long enough ? Car hardware it's kinda slow ( comparing with pc software installation :) I give it like a good half minute in between steps

[Slickn]

MY s6 started like normal, absolutely no hesitation at all! I am waiting for the pulley to do the q5 as well, I hope will go as smooth as the s6 ! What tune did you attempt install stage 1 or 2?

It is the stage 1 tune. I have the pulley and the remover tool too... I asked Chris if they had a working stage 2 tune, because I would throw the pulley on in a heartbeat, but he didn't reply to my question, they must be swamped right now.

The car starts, and behaves as if its catching, hits around 1000 rpm, and then putters out. :(

[Sport Line]

It is the stage 1 tune. I have the pulley and the remover tool too... I asked Chris if they had a working stage 2 tune, because I would throw the pulley on in a heartbeat, but he didn't reply to my question, they must be swamped right now.

The car starts, and behaves as if its catching, hits around 1000 rpm, and then putters out. :(

They do have stage 2 as this is what I got!

[Slickn]

MY s6 started like normal, absolutely no hesitation at all! I am waiting for the pulley to do the q5 as well, I hope will go as smooth as the s6 ! What tune did you attempt install stage 1 or 2? Maybe somehow you rushed true the steps by not waiting long enough ? Car hardware it's kinda slow ( comparing with pc software installation :) I give it like a good half minute in between steps

I thought maybe I had done something wrong with the procedure(its pretty foolproof), but that doesn't seem to be the case since the flash back to the stock file works flawlessly. The 3.0t needs a tune to be a capable engine. Why Audi would limit the boost in the upper revs makes no sense to me.

[Sport Line]

Yeah the 3.0 totally needs some boost :) . Especially my wife's q5 as it comes with the slowest tune from all! 280HP on this supercharged engine what a joke ! They limit the boost as a market strategy since they offer this engine on so many models. I am happy they did not made any other change than ecu tune

Try and do it again ?

[scott99c2]

It is the stage 1 tune. I have the pulley and the remover tool too... I asked Chris if they had a working stage 2 tune, because I would throw the pulley on in a heartbeat, but he didn't reply to my question, they must be swamped right now.

The car starts, and behaves as if its catching, hits around 1000 rpm, and then putters out. :(

Try turning the car all the way off before you try to crank it. Mine did that the first time I flashed it. After turning it all the way off, counting to 10, and trying again I never experienced it again.

[S4LI]

Sorry for the delay getting the tablet and cable, but we were slammed with orders from the sale and everything was shipping out in the order that people paid. Glad to hear that you are happy with the car.

All good, you guys provide good value and quality product. Keep it up.

[Djpeaksd]

I am one of the first to have the EPL S7 tune, and I still love it! Its been almost 6 months now. Just for reference, after I flash I turn the car over and it won't start, I hit the start/stop button and do it again and it fires right up. This is for 4.0T, so not sure about the V6.

[Sport Line]

I am one of the first to have the EPL S7 tune, and I still love it! Its been almost 6 months now. Just for reference, after I flash I turn the car over and it won't start, I hit the start/stop button and do it again and it fires right up. This is for 4.0T, so not sure about the V6.

Do you have the TCU tune as well? I do and I noticed some minor changes on the way it shifts that I did not expected , it is not necessarily bad but when driving slowly on D mode sometimes first,second gear shift it is not as smooth as it used to be . I assume it is because of the increasing pressure for the disc plates and I been advised to do the so called dgs adaptation - maybe I will do it today

[smilton]

Do you have the TCU tune as well? I do and I noticed some minor changes on the way it shifts that I did not expected , it is not necessarily bad but when driving slowly on D mode sometimes first,second gear shift it is not as smooth as it used to be . I assume it is because of the increasing pressure for the disc plates and I been advised to do the so called dgs adaptation - maybe I will do it today

Sport Line - I'm curious if the DSG adaptation resolved your issue. My EPL cable arrives today so if I notice similar shifting behavior it would be nice to know if that corrects it. Thx

[Chris@EPL]

I would assume that the adaptation took care of it as we have many people running that TCU box code with no issues. This TCU was built around the OEM update that Audi released to correct shifting smoothness.

[Sport Line]

Sport Line - I'm curious if the DSG adaptation resolved your issue. My EPL cable arrives today so if I notice similar shifting behavior it would be nice to know if that corrects it. Thx

No it did not ,however maybe I should not categories this as being a issue or at least a big issue . So what is happening , in D mode when driving normally , when changing second gear from first it is a noticeable aggressive clutch release . From what I recall reading the TCU upgrade will increase plate pressure at higher torque , which won't be the case at that low rmp (gear shifting happens at aprox 1200- 1500rpm if I am not wrong) . If I accelerate harder this it's not happening anymore or if it is in sport or manual mode . It is only noticeable when driving slow. I assume it is happening because clutch pressure it being release harder and quicker and there is not much engine rpm and power at low speed and this create a kind of break feel for a instant . I am curious as well if you will experience any of this . As a footnote , let's say this have no remedy , I rather live with this tune than without , however I hope future updates will solve this as well

Cheers!

[Sport Line]

I would assume that the adaptation took care of it as we have many people running that TCU box code with no issues. This TCU was built around the OEM update that Audi released to correct shifting smoothness.

Just curios,from all the people had installed the TCU tune, am I the only one experiencing this ? Did anybody else felt this and had it fixed by doing the dgs adaptation ?

[wwhan]

Just curios,from all the people had installed the TCU tune, am I the only one experiencing this ? Did anybody else felt this and had it fixed by doing the dgs adaptation ?

I don't seem to have the problem, though 90% of my driving is in sport mode, since normal drive mode is a bit dead off the line or coming out of a right hand turn.

[luv2sleep]

Do you have the TCU tune as well? I do and I noticed some minor changes on the way it shifts that I did not expected , it is not necessarily bad but when driving slowly on D mode sometimes first,second gear shift it is not as smooth as it used to be . I assume it is because of the increasing pressure for the disc plates and I been advised to do the so called dgs adaptation - maybe I will do it today

I've had similar issues with the rough gear changes but most of the roughness eventually went away. Mine was mostly noticeable in slow/stop 'n go traffic. It's not as smooth as before the flash but I can live with it given the performance increase. I'd let give it some time for the TCU to adapt to the tune.

[smilton]

Just curios,from all the people had installed the TCU tune, am I the only one experiencing this ? Did anybody else felt this and had it fixed by doing the dgs adaptation ?

Flashed ecu/tcu and it seems pretty smooth in D. Sport mode shifts are noticeably firmer but on my 4 mile trip post flash It seems okay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sport Line]

Flashed ecu/tcu and it seems pretty smooth in D. Sport mode shifts are noticeably firmer but on my 4 mile trip post flash It seems okay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How do you like the ECU tune? Today I did a hard pull from a stop light and I got tires spinning without even lunch control-ESP off
! Sport mode and floor it Tires all seasons BF Goodrich comp2 . I have a friend with a apr stage 2 tts I hope one day will race, he's best 0-100km/h time was something around 3,49sec I hope to do better

[smilton]

How do you like the ECU tune? Today I did a hard pull from a stop light and I got tires spinning without even lunch control-ESP off
! Sport mode and floor it Tires all seasons BF Goodrich comp2 . I have a friend with a apr stage 2 tts I hope one day will race, he's best 0-100km/h time was something around 3,49sec I hope to do better

Short Answer: LOVE IT! Hell I'm still grinning.

Drove my 2015 S6 a little over 60 miles yesterday both in city and highway. I didn't do any launches and was pretty conservative since my 2 year old was with me and some areas still have ice on the roads.

EPL Stage 1 ECU tune - really wakes up the mid range and top end. Boost builds earlier and faster. The added boost really makes the exhaust note sound even meaner, almost evil and I have the stock full exhaust. My 2 year old and I joke that daddy's car goes VROOM VROOM. The ECU tune has significantly increased the VROOM factor and put a big smile on both our faces. Gobs more power early in the mid range so it's something you can really feel just in daily driving.

EPL DSG tune - I think this actually smoothed out the shifts for the most part in D. In Sport mode the shifts are more firm but still really balanced to the amount of throttle and engine load. The shifts are noticeably faster. While driving in town I hit a lot of traffic lights so I had an opportunity to do a lot of 1st to 2nd gear shifts. I think I identified the same shifting characteristic you experienced. It seems to only occur while driving neither easy nor hard as you mentioned. It's not a particularly hard shift just not quite a smooth as the rest of the driving experience. To be honest if I wasn't specifically looking for it I probably would not have really noticed it at all. So it by no means should be a detractor from the DSG tune.

[Julius_855]

Thanks for the feedback. Can't wait receiving my cable. :)

[SkyDude]

Short Answer: LOVE IT! Hell I'm still grinning.

Drove my 2015 S6 a little over 60 miles yesterday both in city and highway. I didn't do any launches and was pretty conservative since my 2 year old was with me and some areas still have ice on the roads.

EPL Stage 1 ECU tune - really wakes up the mid range and top end. Boost builds earlier and faster. The added boost really makes the exhaust note sound even meaner, almost evil and I have the stock full exhaust. My 2 year old and I joke that daddy's car goes VROOM VROOM. The ECU tune has significantly increased the VROOM factor and put a big smile on both our faces. Gobs more power early in the mid range so it's something you can really feel just in daily driving.

EPL DSG tune - I think this actually smoothed out the shifts for the most part in D. In Sport mode the shifts are more firm but still really balanced to the amount of throttle and engine load. The shifts are noticeably faster. While driving in town I hit a lot of traffic lights so I had an opportunity to do a lot of 1st to 2nd gear shifts. I think I identified the same shifting characteristic you experienced. It seems to only occur while driving neither easy nor hard as you mentioned. It's not a particularly hard shift just not quite a smooth as the rest of the driving experience. To be honest if I wasn't specifically looking for it I probably would not have really noticed it at all. So it by no means should be a detractor from the DSG tune.

I'm also in Atlanta and I have both tunes. I mix 4 gallons of Gulf E85 and I must say it is awesome. I have traction issues from a standing start, going straight, without using launch control. I love it. This cold weather also makes it haul.

[benie7890]

I installed the EPL stage 1 on a c7.5 S6 about a month ago. Overall, I am very happy with the extra boost. It definitely feels like a different car. A sleeper car that finally woke up.
However, one little thing that I am missing after the flash is the exhaust sounds. It just seems more refined and quiet. I have the sports exhaust option and noticed that I lost all the farts and burples when I take my foot off the accelerator. I occasionally hear a whisper of a fart but only if I have all my windows down and have my head out the window. I know the S6 does activate a sound amplifier for engine and exhaust sounds that vibrate inside the cabin. A dumb thought but maybe that seems to have either been turned off or disappeared after flash?
I flashed back to stock just to see and all the sounds and farts returned back inside the cabin.

[fatherdeath]

I noticed this too. The stock Audi S6 tune with sports exhaust I think gives a bit of extra fuel which causes the exhaust farts. honestly when all said and done i dont care since realyl power is what I want...then sound then looks...I want my cars to be fast first sound fast second and then look fast is the last thing

[Sport Line]

I installed the EPL stage 1 on a c7.5 S6 about a month ago. Overall, I am very happy with the extra boost. It definitely feels like a different car. A sleeper car that finally woke up.
However, one little thing that I am missing after the flash is the exhaust sounds. It just seems more refined and quiet. I have the sports exhaust option and noticed that I lost all the farts and burples when I take my foot off the accelerator. I occasionally hear a whisper of a fart but only if I have all my windows down and have my head out the window. I know the S6 does activate a sound amplifier for engine and exhaust sounds that vibrate inside the cabin. A dumb thought but maybe that seems to have either been turned off or disappeared after flash?
I flashed back to stock just to see and all the sounds and farts returned back inside the cabin.

The flash doesn't turn off the burples ,I think what is happening is that the tune somehow alters the sound waves and the oem exhaust had been build around other sound specifications. I have a custom free flow exhaust and with the tune it is even louder , burbs are still present at gear changing or down shifts but louder . I am leaning to believe if I will ever do stage 2 I may need to add a extra resonator

[Logtec]

Just bought the tune also. I will give some feedback when it's installed.😊

[Julius_855]

I want my cars to be fast first sound fast second and then look fast is the last thing

Totally agree!! Keeping the exhaust burps would be the cherry on the cake though. Akrapovic thing is way too expensive mod for me..

[smilton]

I installed the EPL stage 1 on a c7.5 S6 about a month ago. Overall, I am very happy with the extra boost. It definitely feels like a different car. A sleeper car that finally woke up.
However, one little thing that I am missing after the flash is the exhaust sounds. It just seems more refined and quiet. I have the sports exhaust option and noticed that I lost all the farts and burples when I take my foot off the accelerator. I occasionally hear a whisper of a fart but only if I have all my windows down and have my head out the window. I know the S6 does activate a sound amplifier for engine and exhaust sounds that vibrate inside the cabin. A dumb thought but maybe that seems to have either been turned off or disappeared after flash?
I flashed back to stock just to see and all the sounds and farts returned back inside the cabin.

Talk with Chris and Tony, I'm sure they'll be open to making a detuned tune to bring back the snap crackle and pop ;) I've seen them be pretty responsive with beta tunes in other threads. To be honest it's that sort of personalized service that really sold me on going with EPL vs APR or GIAC.

[highPSI-S4]

Great review, I'm still getting use to the car. The power is insane, from a dead stop in "S" mode just punch it and traction indictor light is blinking and the car is a Rocket ship!

Only thing I have noticed is holding RPM's in the 3.5k rpm - 4.2k rpm range a get a little hiccup or slight hesitation feel. Not a big deal at all, but that's where I seem to hang when in "S" mode with paddles.

Can't wait to hit the 1/4mi early spring now that I have had some time with the car.

[Ze_Nardo6]

I installed the EPL stage 1 on a c7.5 S6 about a month ago. Overall, I am very happy with the extra boost. It definitely feels like a different car. A sleeper car that finally woke up.
However, one little thing that I am missing after the flash is the exhaust sounds. It just seems more refined and quiet. I have the sports exhaust option and noticed that I lost all the farts and burples when I take my foot off the accelerator. I occasionally hear a whisper of a fart but only if I have all my windows down and have my head out the window. I know the S6 does activate a sound amplifier for engine and exhaust sounds that vibrate inside the cabin. A dumb thought but maybe that seems to have either been turned off or disappeared after flash?
I flashed back to stock just to see and all the sounds and farts returned back inside the cabin.

Seems like many have had success in accentuating the "farts" and "burps" via taking out the front resonators as well as the suitcase muffler.