Review: JHM ECU and TCU Tuning and RS7-R Turbos

[bigbada4turbo]

I figured I would hop on and post a review of my experience with these parts. About 7 months ago I suffered the dreaded turbo failure due to a plugged oil screen. I figured since I was going to have the car apart and it was outside of warranty I would upgrade out of necessity. I looked at all the options out there and decided to go with the JHM RS7-R turbos, JHM oil line kit, JHM downpipes and the JHM tuning bundle. I’m a big fan of keeping most of the power adding modifications under one brand as they typically make the parts to work seamlessly together. I have had JHM parts on a few of my cars and really liked the turbo that I had on my old B7 A4 so I figured I would just stick with them since I had not had any issues and customer service has always been pretty good. I had the hardware installed at my local Indy shop and did the tuning myself at home with the JHM tuning browser.

My mechanic said that the parts installed much like factory without any issues. I did forget to order a gasket kit that I needed so I had to snag that from the dealer for more than I could have gotten it elsewhere but that was the only hiccup that my mechanic ran into. After the installation I drove the car on the stock software for a few days to make sure everything was good to go. Since I had just installed bigger turbos I didn’t want to really “drive” the car until I had the software installed. I contacted JHM for my tuning information and just to confirm what the process was. The instructions were pretty clear and I downloaded their Power Connect Application without issue. The tuning process took about 30-45 mins once I got everything setup to do the install. I flashed the 91 octane file because I do a lot of driving and sometimes I’m in areas where 93 isn’t available.

After the tunes were installed I took the car out for a drive and could IMEDIATLEY tell the difference in the car even under what you would call “normal” driving. The throttle was so much more responsive, smooth and you could tell the car wanted to go. One of the biggest things I noticed was how different the transmission shifted. The shifts were crisp, quick and seemed to engage each gear smoother than the factory software. There was no sudden jolt like I have experienced in other cars that I have had the transmission tuned in (non-euro cars). I did struggle a bit to get the car to launch the way I have seen in the videos but after reaching out to JHM and asking for some assistance I was able to get the car to reach the RPM set for the launch. It takes a bit of practice on that but once I figure it out I can now get the car to launch anytime I really want to.

The ECU Tuning has been great. The power delivery and torque have been what I was hoping. When I’m on the highway and I want to get a bit rowdy its fast to respond to my pedal input. The car is smooth without hesitation and pulls all the way to redline. The JHM tuning bundle does increase the redline on the car which to me I felt was beneficial since I personally felt the cars shifted to the next gear to early. Driving around town in normal D mode the car drives like factory. Surprisingly, I've also noticed an improvement in fuel efficiency, especially when I'm driving conservatively. It's a welcome bonus that I didn’t expect to see. The software really brings all of the other upgrades I did to the car together.

Since I went with the Stage 3 package right out of the gate I didn’t get to experience the Stage 1-2 options for the car but I would assume that you would see the same benefits in drivability and responsiveness across their offerings.

Cliff Notes since I ramble:

Pros:
Great Power Increase
Smooth Power Delivery
Improved Responsiveness
Crisp Shifts
Easy installation
Enhanced fuel efficiency
Smiles Per Mile Increased!

Cons:
None that I have experienced yet.


As time progresses I will come back and update!

[BuyTheWarranty]

Thanks for posting!

I'm coming from a 2015 RS5, with all the JHM goodies, and am looking into their high flow catted dp's and stage 2 ECU and TCU tune on a 2016 C7 RS7.

Questions:

1. Does stage 3 mean, because you have their rs7-r turbo's installed?
2. Any audio or video of the JHM downpipes with the AWE system?
3. Which dp's did you get? Catless, or high flow?

[09S5]

I figured I would hop on and post a review of my experience with these parts. About 7 months ago I suffered the dreaded turbo failure due to a plugged oil screen. I figured since I was going to have the car apart and it was outside of warranty I would upgrade out of necessity. I looked at all the options out there and decided to go with the JHM RS7-R turbos, JHM oil line kit, JHM downpipes and the JHM tuning bundle. I’m a big fan of keeping most of the power adding modifications under one brand as they typically make the parts to work seamlessly together. I have had JHM parts on a few of my cars and really liked the turbo that I had on my old B7 A4 so I figured I would just stick with them since I had not had any issues and customer service has always been pretty good. I had the hardware installed at my local Indy shop and did the tuning myself at home with the JHM tuning browser.

My mechanic said that the parts installed much like factory without any issues. I did forget to order a gasket kit that I needed so I had to snag that from the dealer for more than I could have gotten it elsewhere but that was the only hiccup that my mechanic ran into. After the installation I drove the car on the stock software for a few days to make sure everything was good to go. Since I had just installed bigger turbos I didn’t want to really “drive” the car until I had the software installed. I contacted JHM for my tuning information and just to confirm what the process was. The instructions were pretty clear and I downloaded their Power Connect Application without issue. The tuning process took about 30-45 mins once I got everything setup to do the install. I flashed the 91 octane file because I do a lot of driving and sometimes I’m in areas where 93 isn’t available.

After the tunes were installed I took the car out for a drive and could IMEDIATLEY tell the difference in the car even under what you would call “normal” driving. The throttle was so much more responsive, smooth and you could tell the car wanted to go. One of the biggest things I noticed was how different the transmission shifted. The shifts were crisp, quick and seemed to engage each gear smoother than the factory software. There was no sudden jolt like I have experienced in other cars that I have had the transmission tuned in (non-euro cars). I did struggle a bit to get the car to launch the way I have seen in the videos but after reaching out to JHM and asking for some assistance I was able to get the car to reach the RPM set for the launch. It takes a bit of practice on that but once I figure it out I can now get the car to launch anytime I really want to.

The ECU Tuning has been great. The power delivery and torque have been what I was hoping. When I’m on the highway and I want to get a bit rowdy its fast to respond to my pedal input. The car is smooth without hesitation and pulls all the way to redline. The JHM tuning bundle does increase the redline on the car which to me I felt was beneficial since I personally felt the cars shifted to the next gear to early. Driving around town in normal D mode the car drives like factory. Surprisingly, I've also noticed an improvement in fuel efficiency, especially when I'm driving conservatively. It's a welcome bonus that I didn’t expect to see. The software really brings all of the other upgrades I did to the car together.

Since I went with the Stage 3 package right out of the gate I didn’t get to experience the Stage 1-2 options for the car but I would assume that you would see the same benefits in drivability and responsiveness across their offerings.

Cliff Notes since I ramble:

Pros:
Great Power Increase
Smooth Power Delivery
Improved Responsiveness
Crisp Shifts
Easy installation
Enhanced fuel efficiency
Smiles Per Mile Increased!

Cons:
None that I have experienced yet.


As time progresses I will come back and update!

Your posting is pertinent information thanks bud.

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

[Jake@JHM]

I figured I would hop on and post a review of my experience with these parts. About 7 months ago I suffered the dreaded turbo failure due to a plugged oil screen. I figured since I was going to have the car apart and it was outside of warranty I would upgrade out of necessity. I looked at all the options out there and decided to go with the JHM RS7-R turbos, JHM oil line kit, JHM downpipes and the JHM tuning bundle. I’m a big fan of keeping most of the power adding modifications under one brand as they typically make the parts to work seamlessly together. I have had JHM parts on a few of my cars and really liked the turbo that I had on my old B7 A4 so I figured I would just stick with them since I had not had any issues and customer service has always been pretty good. I had the hardware installed at my local Indy shop and did the tuning myself at home with the JHM tuning browser.

My mechanic said that the parts installed much like factory without any issues. I did forget to order a gasket kit that I needed so I had to snag that from the dealer for more than I could have gotten it elsewhere but that was the only hiccup that my mechanic ran into. After the installation I drove the car on the stock software for a few days to make sure everything was good to go. Since I had just installed bigger turbos I didn’t want to really “drive” the car until I had the software installed. I contacted JHM for my tuning information and just to confirm what the process was. The instructions were pretty clear and I downloaded their Power Connect Application without issue. The tuning process took about 30-45 mins once I got everything setup to do the install. I flashed the 91 octane file because I do a lot of driving and sometimes I’m in areas where 93 isn’t available.

After the tunes were installed I took the car out for a drive and could IMEDIATLEY tell the difference in the car even under what you would call “normal” driving. The throttle was so much more responsive, smooth and you could tell the car wanted to go. One of the biggest things I noticed was how different the transmission shifted. The shifts were crisp, quick and seemed to engage each gear smoother than the factory software. There was no sudden jolt like I have experienced in other cars that I have had the transmission tuned in (non-euro cars). I did struggle a bit to get the car to launch the way I have seen in the videos but after reaching out to JHM and asking for some assistance I was able to get the car to reach the RPM set for the launch. It takes a bit of practice on that but once I figure it out I can now get the car to launch anytime I really want to.

The ECU Tuning has been great. The power delivery and torque have been what I was hoping. When I’m on the highway and I want to get a bit rowdy its fast to respond to my pedal input. The car is smooth without hesitation and pulls all the way to redline. The JHM tuning bundle does increase the redline on the car which to me I felt was beneficial since I personally felt the cars shifted to the next gear to early. Driving around town in normal D mode the car drives like factory. Surprisingly, I've also noticed an improvement in fuel efficiency, especially when I'm driving conservatively. It's a welcome bonus that I didn’t expect to see. The software really brings all of the other upgrades I did to the car together.

Since I went with the Stage 3 package right out of the gate I didn’t get to experience the Stage 1-2 options for the car but I would assume that you would see the same benefits in drivability and responsiveness across their offerings.

Cliff Notes since I ramble:

Pros:
Great Power Increase
Smooth Power Delivery
Improved Responsiveness
Crisp Shifts
Easy installation
Enhanced fuel efficiency
Smiles Per Mile Increased!

Cons:
None that I have experienced yet.


As time progresses I will come back and update!

Glad you are enjoying it! You must have incredible restraint to see the fuel mileage increase LOL. Most people adding this much power end up developing a lead foot.

[bigbada4turbo]

Thanks for posting!

I'm coming from a 2015 RS5, with all the JHM goodies, and am looking into their high flow catted dp's and stage 2 ECU and TCU tune on a 2016 C7 RS7.

Questions:

1. Does stage 3 mean, because you have their rs7-r turbo's installed?
2. Any audio or video of the JHM downpipes with the AWE system?
3. Which dp's did you get? Catless, or high flow?

Hey there!

1. I would suppose so. The software package I chose on the website was titled as "Stage 3 RS"
2. I'll try to get a video for you but I'll need to make a YouTube to post here I think. The AWE sounds good but I have been toying with the idea of moving over to the JHM S7 Exhaust when its available to take advantage of a full 3" option.
3. I went with the catless options because I wanted more sound.

[bigbada4turbo]

Glad you are enjoying it! You must have incredible restraint to see the fuel mileage increase LOL. Most people adding this much power end up developing a lead foot.

Commuting on cruise control helps remove that itch! If I'm not on cruise control I like to take advantage of all the power anytime I can!

[Botbasher]

Commuting on cruise control helps remove that itch! If I'm not on cruise control I like to take advantage of all the power anytime I can!

Truth!!!!

Cheers,

KS

[bigbada4turbo]

Your posting is pertinent information thanks bud.

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Its the only way to go!

[BuyTheWarranty]

Hey there!

1. I would suppose so. The software package I chose on the website was titled as "Stage 3 RS"
2. I'll try to get a video for you but I'll need to make a YouTube to post here I think. The AWE sounds good but I have been toying with the idea of moving over to the JHM S7 Exhaust when its available to take advantage of a full 3" option.
3. I went with the catless options because I wanted more sound.

Thank you! Few follow-up questions, greatly appreciated!

1. How's the smell decatted? I didn't find it too bad on my RS5.
2. What did the shop charge for the DP install (how many hours)? I presume they moved the O2 sensors as per JHM's instructions?
3. Any drone at 1500-2000 rpm? I know you lost the valved setup with the AWE system, but I've got the sport exhaust with valves currently.
4. Did you install the JHM relocation kit?

[bigbada4turbo]

Thank you! Few follow-up questions, greatly appreciated!

1. How's the smell decatted? I didn't find it too bad on my RS5.
2. What did the shop charge for the DP install (how many hours)? I presume they moved the O2 sensors as per JHM's instructions?
3. Any drone at 1500-2000 rpm? I know you lost the valved setup with the AWE system, but I've got the sport exhaust with valves currently.
4. Did you install the JHM relocation kit?

Anytime! Ask away!

1. I do not notice a strong smell on this car. I know what you're talking about as I could smell it on my B7 A4. The 4.0T seems to be pretty mild.
2. Because I was having other work done at the same time they gave me a bit of a break at 5 hours. They did swap the sensors on these because they no longer cross over like the stock ones. I personally think the design on JHM's pipes make it easier if you ever needed to change a sensor out.
3. Thats a tough one. I know that "drone" is a subjective thing. It bothers some more than others. It is a bit...odd...at times in certain load applications but it hasn't really bothered me that much. As I mentioned above I think I'm going to look at going with the JHM system when it comes out. I'm hoping they build it like the S6 system and retain the flaps. Maybe one of their guys can chime in on this. I like the deep "V8" tone of their system I think more than how mine sounds.
4. Not sure what you mean on this? When i did the turbos i installed the JHM Oil Line Kit which moves the filter/screens up top. I think that's what you're asking about.

[Tech/Sales@JHM]

3. Thats a tough one. I know that "drone" is a subjective thing. It bothers some more than others. It is a bit...odd...at times in certain load applications but it hasn't really bothered me that much. As I mentioned above I think I'm going to look at going with the JHM system when it comes out. I'm hoping they build it like the S6 system and retain the flaps. Maybe one of their guys can chime in on this. I like the deep "V8" tone of their system I think more than how mine sounds.

You're in luck! We will be including our active flap design into the S7 Cat-back just like the S6! The system will look similar and sound similar to our S6 System: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...C7-and-C7-5-S6

[Tech/Sales@JHM]

Thanks for posting!

I'm coming from a 2015 RS5, with all the JHM goodies, and am looking into their high flow catted dp's and stage 2 ECU and TCU tune on a 2016 C7 RS7.

While were sad you're moving on from the RS5 we are VERY excited to help make the new RS7 as amazing as it can be!

[BuyTheWarranty]

You're in luck! We will be including our active flap design into the S7 Cat-back just like the S6! The system will look similar and sound similar to our S6 System: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...C7-and-C7-5-S6

Heck yes!!!

[BuyTheWarranty]

While were sad you're moving on from the RS5 we are VERY excited to help make the new RS7 as amazing as it can be!

Since 2017 I’ve only bought Audi’s that I knew you were developing products, you guys definitely get it!!

[BuyTheWarranty]

Anytime! Ask away!

1. I do not notice a strong smell on this car. I know what you're talking about as I could smell it on my B7 A4. The 4.0T seems to be pretty mild.
2. Because I was having other work done at the same time they gave me a bit of a break at 5 hours. They did swap the sensors on these because they no longer cross over like the stock ones. I personally think the design on JHM's pipes make it easier if you ever needed to change a sensor out.
3. Thats a tough one. I know that "drone" is a subjective thing. It bothers some more than others. It is a bit...odd...at times in certain load applications but it hasn't really bothered me that much. As I mentioned above I think I'm going to look at going with the JHM system when it comes out. I'm hoping they build it like the S6 system and retain the flaps. Maybe one of their guys can chime in on this. I like the deep "V8" tone of their system I think more than how mine sounds.
4. Not sure what you mean on this? When i did the turbos i installed the JHM Oil Line Kit which moves the filter/screens up top. I think that's what you're asking about.

Thank you!!

Was referring to the 02 sensor relocation with the new downpipes.

[Tech/Sales@JHM]

Since 2017 I’ve only bought Audi’s that I knew you were developing products, you guys definitely get it!!

We really appreciate the continued support!

Thank you!!

Was referring to the 02 sensor relocation with the new downpipes.

We can actually help answer this. If you take a look at the picture the sensor bungs are placed in a OEM location. We do not relocate them to a different position or location. I think I know where you are going on that question specifically but like mentioned above, if you buy the "package" Tune, Downpipes, and other supporting modifications they all work in perfect harmony

[THCarpenter]

correct...the bung location is in the correct position for the secondary O2....however, the OE configuration crosses over, so Bank 1 and Bank 2 are reversed, and if you do not swap over the secondary O2 to correlate with the Primary O2 sensor, your tune/map will not see the correct information. We see this all the time on the DS1 tuned cars and it just fuel dumps and runs stupid rich because companies like ARM have straight designs and do not account for the fact that the 4.0T ECU uses both primary and secondary O2 sensors for trim

If your DP's cross over, and the O2 bungs are in the OE style locations, they you just need to figure out how to live life with a CEL constantly on, or go outside the box and find someone to tune out the secondary readiness

[Jake@JHM]

This tends to be a confusing topic for most. For further clarification for anyone who needs it, our bungs on the JHM DPs are placed optimally so that you can easily cross/move the secondary o2 sensors to their new respective sides so bank 1 and bank 2 are reading correctly. So while the bung is in the OEM area (IE not further downstream etc) you are able to move the o2s across and have proper fuel trim readings.

[aber_18]

Any drag slips pre and post mod? Or draggy times?