APR or GIAC

B8 S4
#8

Apr has the tip of the hand. Also the thing I like is that arin from apr is on here and is very c9mmited to support tue b8 s4 guys…awe is on here and has posted but they dont seem to take advantage of the less cluttered AR.

Sakimano has a great point. Future development…while giac is doing very well apr is still very much needing to stay close to the b8 s4 due to the work on the stage 3 cars…what really is keeping giac or awe in the market… they have already made there tunes…I think knowing apr is still working on new products and hearing apr is still loading new files onto primetimes ecu tells me they are very into the b8 s4…I can’t say I know or here giac doing the same

#9

Great responses, thanks guys. Honestly I have been leaning towards APR at this point

Now just to make things a little more complicated, I am also considering a local company that tunes on the dyno. They have a really good reputation and tune for power and safety. Again cost of tune+pulley would be on par with the others. They tuned a local S4 (Calgary, 3700ft) with APR catback to 378awhp

Here is a link to their website, and yes they have a physical address and their own dyno. I’m open to all opinions and value all input

http://www.ecuprogram.com/

#10

I’d stick with APR or GIAC. Custom tunes for Audis have proven themselves unnecessary. My personal choice would be APR - pure preference. I’d nerd out big time with the app lol

#11

Fair enough, my only thought with regards to custom is the ability to tune for a higher than normal altitude. Regardless I will be buying the APR pulley, it is i stock locally

#12

Maybe Arin can confirm but I think APR did some testing on the highveld in South Africa. Or at least have customers there so they have some experience with high altitude tunes.

#13

Umm regardless?

If your buying the APR pulley “regardless”, your getting the APR tune. Unless you have some crazy Frankenstein plan.

#14

No not necessarily, one local shop supports apr the other giac awe. The shop that carries apr has the pulley in stock, the awe pulley has to be ordered. I can buy the pulley separate from the tune as I currently have no tune, I don’t qualify for automatic upgraded software, this leaves me to choose either apr giac or custom as my tune options. I have verified this with both local dealers, ultimately they don’t care how my car got a pulley on it, they will install whatever tune I request

#15

Hmm. I guess the question is . . . if you buy the APR pulley, what reason would you have for not buying the APR tune? E.g., you’re not planning on matching the APR pulley with the GIAC tune, right?

#16

You said “regardless” you are buying the APR pulley, what does a shop supporting more than one company have to do with anything?

My point is what clochner described in more detail.

#17

Ryan, If you are going to go the custom tune route but the pulley somewhere else much cheaper and get a smaller one ;D I wasn’t aware of APR selling w/o the tune so to say… As for custom tuning unless said individual has some good experience with the car and ecu I would be cautious… APR and GIAC are proven and have spent tons of time on the tune and are always looking to improve… Just my .02 If I was going custom I would drive to AL and pay an hourly rate to APR and have them tune that way…

#18

I think he is saying that

  1. the two pulleys aren’t different enough to warrant concern about mixing GIAC/APR tunes and pulleys (have we seen anyone prove otherwise? or are they identical?)

  2. if he goes custom tune, he is buying an APR pulley since it’s already sitting there…i.e. regardless of whether he gets the APR tune or custom tune he is putting a smaller APR pulley on his car

As for tuning for altitude, what would that entail? It’s not like you can manage boost with the tune (not more to the upside anyway). It’s a supercharger so boost will really be determined by pulley size and then the bleedoff. You also can’t run a tiny pulley to make up for your altitude since you’re now going to be spinning the fuck out of the blower beyond what the two biggest companies were comfortable doing. I don’t think the 1320 is going to be able to handle thousands more revolutions the big guys weren’t comfortable pushing it to just because you’re at altitude. Superchargers kinda suck at altitude because you’re in the same boat as an NA car really. Can’t fight it. It’s not like a turbo that is tuned for a specific Pr and will work a bit harder to keep up at altitude. Of course that can be dangerous for a turbo too…and this is why lots of people like manual boost control on the turbo cars. on the SC car, your pulley and engine speed determine how hard the blower is working so its not as relevant. It also means though that the adaptation is gone.

#19

Great info saki and primetime , exactly the type of feedback I was looking for, and saki hit the nail on the head, I will buy the APR pulley and then decide on whether I use Apr or custom. After talking again with my local giac dealer I am not interested I paying their (shop not giac) fee for flashing and update flashing. So they aren’t going to get my business

#20

EYEspi, did that shop measure the two pulleys? We never got this discussion fully settled. I’m still believing the GIAC pulley is smaller.

How much for just the pulley?

I’ve had no problems with APR sII. I’d worry about a custom tune given all the difficulties even the big guys have had, but I’m curious as hell what his parameters would look like. At 3700 feet you’d need all you can get. What’s his tune worth?

J

#21

I am in the same boat looking at going directly to stage II in short order. I asked both APR and AWE directly about the pulley size and both came back with the same answer that its proprietary info and its as small as we can make it without the belt slipping. That answer seemed ridiculous since those that have the pulley can simply take a caliper to it. So if anyone has the answer inquiring minds would like to know.

On one hand its probably irrelevant since even if there is a size difference it would be so small as to be irrelevant. On the other hand the smaller the pulley = more boost potential given equal tunes right.

#22

so easy…yet nobody has done it lol.

#23

Love this. + for you hahaha wish I could be that strong

#24

Just want to put this in the right thread.

#25

800, unlimited revisions as long as hardware is the same. Tuned on the dynocom, then Street tested. 150 per revision on the dynocom if a hardware change is made. I just spoke with them in person this morning, the last s4 they tuned made 312 stock, 378 tuned with no pulley and APR exhaust, they offered to have the car available for me to check out and take a ride in

#26

I vote you should try them and share the logs…:slight_smile:

Mind you, I did that once and lost my motor

#27

put a pbox in it

performance mods are best measured with actual performance tests. It’s an odd concept on audi forums, I know, but give it a shot :wink: