2013 Audi Q5 2.0T - Best Performance Mods?

[S4_ATX]

I recently picked up a 2013 Q5 2.0T with low miles. This will be my daily driver. My other car is a Stage 2 RS3 on E85.

I’m not looking to dump a bunch of money into the Q5 but I do want to make it a bit more peppy.

I was thinking to do a stage 1 tune at minimum. APR or Unitronic.

What do others in this platform suggest for some quick power gains? Not sure I want to spend money on new Downpipe for Stage 2 on this car.


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[signde]

fellow RS3 owner, i am running apr plus on mine as i wanted to maintain some semblance of warranty. has already paid for itself as audi TD1 me over tune for the water pump. i have full stage 1+ bolt ons. amazing car.

i also recently picked up a b8.5 2.0T Q5 for long trips / dog hauling / bad weather. initially ruled out the 2.0 because: slow. i could not find a 3.0 nearby at a reasonable price so settled on the 2.0 with the idea of just throwing a tune on it. no intention of going down the rabbit hole of hardware mods so stage 1 was pretty much it. my other requirement was ability change fuel programs as i occasionally travel in states that only have 91.

i made a cost breakdown analysis of all the major EA888 tuners i could find - apr, unitronic, integrated engineering, and 034 motorsport including the tune cost with program switching and any dealer fee / tune at home kit. my local apr dealer charges $50 for a flash.

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with their 25% off black friday sale, 034 ended up being the cheapest route. got the kit and found out the hard way 034 motorsports tunes do not support the b8.5 flex fuel 2.0, so had to return it. that led me to revisit my list and look at what each tuner specifies in regards to e85 / flex fuel. 034 is completely out (they said it is under development), IE and unitronic make no mention of it. that pretty much leaves only APR.

i got tune last week. $100 add on for program switching. with cruise stalk i can select 93, 91, 100, or stock. all programs include complete flex fuel, i can run e85 or a blend. throttle response is night and day different for the better as is torque per the butt dyno. highway gas mileage is as good as stock. definitely no longer feels slow. i haven't even tried ethanol yet as it's pretty cold here right now.

this is my 3rd APR tuned vehicle and i'm very satisfied. i'm not loyal to the brand at all and know unitronic is the more loved tuner but seems to be APR is the only one on the ball here.

[S4_ATX]

Thanks for the detailed and informative info. That is very helpful information.

I was already leaning towards an APR tune as I have had good experience with APR on some of my past Audi and VWs. We have plenty of 93 octane gas in Texas and I rarely leave the state unless I’m on an airplane. Program switching is not that important to me since the car is already out of warranty.

If I decide to run E85 what are the required supporting mods on a Q5? Do I need to upgrade my injectors, spark plugs, etc.?

Not sure I will mess with E85 on this since it’s my daily but I might be tempted after seeing the difference when switching to ethanol on my RS3.


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[19birel]

No mods are required to run E85 outside of an appropriate tune, the car is flex fuel capable from factory. APR is currently the only company that offers a true Flex-Fuel tune although I think 034 has something in the works (currently 034 doesn't have their B8.5 software out yet) . Check out the B8 A4 forum, we have a ton of info over there on tuning the 2.0Ts

If you don't care about E85 and want to flash at home Integrated engineering is a decent option, I run their Stage 2 tune and am pleased. I'd also recommend a pedal tuner, doesn't add power but the extra throttle response really livens up these cars as well

[signde]

yep no mods necessary at at all, you can run anything from e10 - e85 on the stock tune. the manual does say if you run ethanol that every 5th tank should be pump gas. i'm looking forward to running e85 once it warms up a bit, apr states nearly 400 lbs of torque at the crank on e85 which sounds pretty cool.

[Valpo A7]

Drive it for some time to see if you have an oil burner first unless it’s been fixed already. The 2.0 can be an oil burner, like 1 quart per 500 miles burner. Ultimately the fix could wind up being the need to replace the piston rings.

[S4_ATX]

Drive it for some time to see if you have an oil burner first unless it’s been fixed already. The 2.0 can be an oil burner, like 1 quart per 500 miles burner. Ultimately the fix could wind up being the need to replace the piston rings.

Thanks for the suggestion. Crossing my fingers that I don’t have an oil burner. The car only has 48k miles (very low for a 2013). Based on the carfax it’s been serviced consistently at Audi dealer.

I know the 2.0 has a high potential for becoming an oil burner. Is it common for that to happen with mileage as low as mine (less than 50k)?

Anything specific I can do to increase my chances to avoid it turning into an oil burner? I assume regular service and maintenance is important. Anything beyond that?


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[S4'ed]

The 2.0T oil-control rings can clog no matter how good the maintenance...my 2012 2.0TSI (VW CC) became an oil guzzler around 90,000 miles, despite oil and filter changes every 3000 miles (Mobil-1 0W-40 and OEM filters), from the time the car was new.