Audi A4 B8.5 APR Stage I Advice

[Ness-Tee]

Hello Everyone,

After going through a year and a half of a mix between unemployment and temping I finally am back to a big boy job and I'm ready to do some mods to my 2014 Audi A4. Now, awhile back I was already looking at an APR Stage I tune and this car is my daily driver so I'm not sure if I'm going to even consider a stage II at this time. My main question is how people feel about stage I upgrades they have made to their respective Audi and how the car has responded. I think I've come across only two or three post where someone's engine had completely shit themselves but I think each ended up just being an unfortunate engine malfunction and nothing to do with the tune itself.

Second, are there any recommendations or suggestions in upgrading any of the OEM parts when doing a Stage I ECU tune? I feel like it's not necessary but wanted to see if anyone had suggestions and if so, how would this benefit/help my car? As you can probably tell by reading this I'm fairly new to the game and have done relatively extensive research but figured getting a threat opened up would give me better insight.

Thank you!

[wack0]

Stage 1 is pretty safe, lots of people here run it with no problems. You will feel a difference and you will like it. Make sure your timing chain is in good shape and go get it tuned!

[S-Liner]

Take a look at your turbo/wastegate as well


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[colorado.a4]

Take a look at your turbo/wastegate as well


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I one this as well. within 5 minutes of driving my vehicle from the shop after getting its stage 1 tune, I got underboost codes, resulting in replacing the turbo. Whether this was because of the tune, or an already starting to fail turbo, the tune definitely instigated it (65K miles). While I did replace the turbo through audi years ago, I would’ve gone K04 for cheaper than an OEM. Little did I know. Either way, stage 1 is a fun entrance to the always wanting more power life, and wouldn’t regret it!

On an ironic note, every time I moved up a stage there was a failure of some part! Mind you, I treat my car like if it was my own child! Goes to show that parts going out will be excelled to failure faster with tuning.

Stage 1 - Turbo (65k)
Stage 2 - Injectors (82k)

[Scoosch]

I think the stage 1 tune is a no-brainer. It only takes about an hour at the shop and you really notice the difference when driving the car. If you like working on the car yourself I would say change out the air filter with an aFe dry performance filter, and you can think about swapping out your turbo inlet hose. It's nice to help the car breathe a little better. If you are a little more ambitious a GFB DV+ diverter valve upgrade can help with the turbo lag or make noise if you are after some fun sounds. Depending on your maintenance schedule it might be time to check the plugs and see if you need new ones, they don't need to be fancy though.

[19birel]

It is typically recommended to go one heat range colder on the spark plugs when tuned, but you will be fine on the stock plugs if they are fairly fresh. But the tune is a night and day difference on these cars, you will really enjoy it!

You can pretty much run all stock hardware with stage 1, big thing is maintenance. Make sure everything is functioning 100% before adding power

[COar]

I think the stage 1 tune is a no-brainer. It only takes about an hour at the shop and you really notice the difference when driving the car. If you like working on the car yourself I would say change out the air filter with an aFe dry performance filter, and you can think about swapping out your turbo inlet hose. It's nice to help the car breathe a little better. If you are a little more ambitious a GFB DV+ diverter valve upgrade can help with the turbo lag or make noise if you are after some fun sounds. Depending on your maintenance schedule it might be time to check the plugs and see if you need new ones, they don't need to be fancy though.

Is that DV going to reduce throttle lag off the line when there's zero boost built up?

[snaky69]

Is that DV going to reduce throttle lag off the line when there's zero boost built up?

There's no reason it should. Short of brake boosting if you're an auto or get launch control or a 2-step, you're not going to be building boost at a standstill.

[Ness-Tee]

I one this as well. within 5 minutes of driving my vehicle from the shop after getting its stage 1 tune, I got underboost codes, resulting in replacing the turbo. Whether this was because of the tune, or an already starting to fail turbo, the tune definitely instigated it (65K miles). While I did replace the turbo through audi years ago, I would’ve gone K04 for cheaper than an OEM. Little did I know. Either way, stage 1 is a fun entrance to the always wanting more power life, and wouldn’t regret it!

On an ironic note, every time I moved up a stage there was a failure of some part! Mind you, I treat my car like if it was my own child! Goes to show that parts going out will be excelled to failure faster with tuning.

Stage 1 - Turbo (65k)
Stage 2 - Injectors (82k)

Understood, I'm right around the corner from 65k miles so I'll make sure to get a good look at this stuff before I do anything. Thanks!

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Stage 1 is pretty safe, lots of people here run it with no problems. You will feel a difference and you will like it. Make sure your timing chain is in good shape and go get it tuned!

Great, thank you!

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Take a look at your turbo/wastegate as well


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definitely feel this is a good idea considering my car is roughly around 62k miles right now probably a good idea to check these beforehand.

[Ness-Tee]

It is typically recommended to go one heat range colder on the spark plugs when tuned, but you will be fine on the stock plugs if they are fairly fresh. But the tune is a night and day difference on these cars, you will really enjoy it!

You can pretty much run all stock hardware with stage 1, big thing is maintenance. Make sure everything is functioning 100% before adding power

Would you be able to elaborate on what's considered fairly fresh? I'm at around 62k miles. I also want to know if checking the turbo, belt chain, etc is something I can diagnose myself or not. I'm sure from some basic research I can do so myself. I love Audi but unfortunately when it comes to maintenance I'm fairly nooby at checking this stuff myself.

[COar]

Would you be able to elaborate on what's considered fairly fresh? I'm at around 62k miles. I also want to know if checking the turbo, belt chain, etc is something I can diagnose myself or not. I'm sure from some basic research I can do so myself. I love Audi but unfortunately when it comes to maintenance I'm fairly nooby at checking this stuff myself.

I think the spark plugs are due at 65k, so you're approaching the replacement interval. They're extremely easy to do yourself. It was a <1hr job for me, but most of the time was spent cleaning the engine bay.

[Ness-Tee]

I think the spark plugs are due at 65k, so you're approaching the replacement interval. They're extremely easy to do yourself. It was a <1hr job for me, but most of the time was spent cleaning the engine bay.

So everything is fairly simple to check myself to the point where looking at youtube videos or reading forums will be just enough help? I don't want to look at my turbo and be like well it's not cracked, it sounds normal, my exhaust isn't smoking, etc and then find out I was wrong. If that is all it takes to determine if it's in good condition then fine but if it's more complicated than that I'd like to know so I don't try and make an uneducated guess. Like i mentioned I'm fairly new into the car scene when it comes to doing my own maintenance on my car. Just want to be properly prepared. Could be overthinking it way too much.

[COar]

In terms of complexity, difficulty, time, etc, spark plugs (at least on this car) are a walk in the park. I'm 100% confident you could DIY after watching a video for any modern 4 cyl (doesn't even matter what the make or model is). You really just need a torque wrench, spark plug socket, and whatever fitting holds down the coils.

I wouldn't necessarily worry about the turbo. If it's going to fail, it's going to fail. It wouldn't hurt to plan on that (and more happening, even if unlikely) so you're not surprised by a couple thousand dollar bill.

[Scoosch]

Lots of great advice in this thread!

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[Chatchie]

My best advice would be to skip stage 1 and save for K04. You are going to want it, even tho you think stage 1/2 is good enough for you.

[19birel]

Would you be able to elaborate on what's considered fairly fresh? I'm at around 62k miles. I also want to know if checking the turbo, belt chain, etc is something I can diagnose myself or not. I'm sure from some basic research I can do so myself. I love Audi but unfortunately when it comes to maintenance I'm fairly nooby at checking this stuff myself.

Fairly fresh as in replaced within 10k miles or so. If you are at 62k they are probably the originals and I would go ahead and replace them. I actually just replaced my today and it took 30minutes and that was with me checking the gaps of my old plugs and messing about.

Watch a youtube video, make sure you have a spark plug socket and a T27 Torx bit. A flathead screwdriver helps with remove the connectors on the coil packs, just be gentle. It's a great job to get your feet wet with maintaining your car yourself, just take your time and don't rush. Even if it takes you an hour+ don't worry about it just go at your own pace. The more work you do the more comfortable you'll get.

For turbo, if it's not throwing any faults and driving as normal I would not be concerned. As for the timing chain you'll need something called OBD Eleven and an android device (or VCDS which is a more advanced software for the computer). Are you near Pittsburgh?

[Grouch]

My best advice would be to skip stage 1 and save for K04. You are going to want it, even tho you think stage 1/2 is good enough for you.

Although I'm going in that direction, I disagree. I came from all-show-no-go scene so this was my first time picking up a car that I'm actually working on, engine wise.

Starting off from stage 1, learning and progressing to stage 2, then now waiting for my K04 has been a ride. I've learned a lot from going that direction thanks to everyone on the forum and actually learning about the process. Just my 2 cents.

[Ness-Tee]

Thank you all for the responses I really appreciate all the insight

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Fairly fresh as in replaced within 10k miles or so. If you are at 62k they are probably the originals and I would go ahead and replace them. I actually just replaced my today and it took 30minutes and that was with me checking the gaps of my old plugs and messing about.

Watch a youtube video, make sure you have a spark plug socket and a T27 Torx bit. A flathead screwdriver helps with remove the connectors on the coil packs, just be gentle. It's a great job to get your feet wet with maintaining your car yourself, just take your time and don't rush. Even if it takes you an hour+ don't worry about it just go at your own pace. The more work you do the more comfortable you'll get.

For turbo, if it's not throwing any faults and driving as normal I would not be concerned. As for the timing chain you'll need something called OBD Eleven and an android device (or VCDS which is a more advanced software for the computer). Are you near Pittsburgh?

I'm about 4 -5 hours away I live just outside Philly.

[19birel]

Thank you all for the responses I really appreciate all the insight

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I'm about 4 -5 hours away I live just outside Philly.

Ah, if you were closer I would offer to scan it for you so you know the timing stretch.

Being that you have a 2014 and the mileage isn't that high, I doubt that you are in any imminent danger. However, I would still recommend checking this at some point so you can plan ahead for when you may have to refresh the timing system.

[Ness-Tee]

Ah, if you were closer I would offer to scan it for you so you know the timing stretch.

Being that you have a 2014 and the mileage isn't that high, I doubt that you are in any imminent danger. However, I would still recommend checking this at some point so you can plan ahead for when you may have to refresh the timing system.

I really appreciate the help on this. Thanks!

[StreetSatori]

I can only speak to my own experience but the immediate difference in power is worth every penny IMO. My car was instantly more fun to drive: more power, faster throttle response and the torque increase is an added bonus...plus you get to eat up a lot of unsuspecting prey lol Now that being said I happen to live less than 2 hours away from APR headquarters so that made the decision a bit easier with regard to any possible issues or my belief in the tuner knowing exactly what they were doing. I have the Stage 1 for 93 Octane and a rear muffler delete on my 3.0 Prestige and it made it beastly! If you wanna rip it thru the twisties in dynamic, no problem but its still well suited for daily driver purposes in auto. At the price per HP I don't believe you'll have any regrets, JUST DO IT!

[Theiceman]

The next question becomes which one ?

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