I don’t like that plastic stuff…I drove an RS4 with the FBSW and it was really slippy.
I loved the feel where your hands normally go on the sides though…so fat and contoured. Awesome. And that wheel looks way better than all the other ones people buy.
Absolutely agree. It transforms the interior and feels awesome - as long as you don’t need to shuffle or anything. I did get used to it after a while, in the beginning I struggled to make turns the way I was used to because my hands would slip over the slippery surface as soon as that part of the wheel came around. I’ve not done any mad sideways stuff (no real snow since I got it) but I have wondered if it will complicate the whole counter steering process when you need to do it in a hurry.
The all leather flat bottom wheels from later cars (like the RS5) are much better in that regard. The first B7 I tried had one of those installed as it had the comfort wheel from the factory (S button on dash). But there’s something wrong with fitting a steering wheel from an entirely different car, at least in my opinion. It never looks 100 percent right.
Wish the fbsw controlled the radio
How long does it usually take for JHM to send you the necessary details for a tune?
I bought one Tuesday morning CA time and I’ve not had anything yet outside of the initial confirmation email. Not that I’m in a particular hurry, I just assumed it would be a fast process and unsure if I should start sending them emails yet.
The order page just says “ATTN sales team”
Not sure. Should be pretty quick on an rs4.
Did you give them your vin and ecu box code info from vagcom?
I think they need that to make sure they have a tune for your box on the server but as I said on an rs4 it should all have been done. They’ve tuned a few hundred rs4s
Those details weren’t asked for on the ordering page, so I didn’t provide them. Assumed I would be asked for them by someone soon after, but maybe they’re busy.
At least I got the new summer tires on. In Soviet Russia, tire fits you…
It took over a week to get my log in information. There are a few different areas that have to work together, and they sometimes wait until a bunch of orders come in to batch-process them. Jake ultimately took up the torch to help get it done for me (and apologized about time I waited).
I’d recommend PM’ing Jake directly here on AZ. He’ll take care of you!
I showed Jake that post. He said to check your spam folder in your email. That happens sometimes.
Otherwise, he will check into it.
Thanks!
Had already checked my spam folder - nothing but the usual offers concerning personal enlargement and sound investment opportunities there.
It’ll be all right, the weekend is coming so it’ll be for next week. Weather sucks here anyway.
Jake’s sorted out the paperwork now and advanced my order to the next stage 
Sorry for the delay!!
Just a bit of a delay with the tuning as unfortunately they don’t have a matching version number for the software in my car. Only the -0030 -0050 and -0060 files are on the server. Pretty sure any of those would work fine but unfortunately there is no option to force a flash anyway. Hadn’t anticipated the need to match the exact version number.
Anyway, they’ll figure it out.
What software version is your car running now? Any chance you could post up the header from a vag-com log? Was the car originally delivered in Russia?
My car came with -0030 originally which would’ve been fine. But this winter I changed to -0090 which is a newer stock Audi map they made for RS4s with cold start issues. Last week while I was off on holiday it was changed to a modified 0090 without a torque limiter called 0097. It was free and I thought it would be a good baseline to compare with. Now I’m regretting that although it seems they didn’t have the regular 0090 on their server either so I’d probably be waiting for a solution anyway.
The JHM site said their tune would overwrite most tunes so I didn’t expect them to get hung up on the simplest thing like a version number but anyway I’m sure it’ll get sorted soon when they can get the tuning guy to look at it.
Just a pity the weather is about to turn warm here so I won’t be able to do much of a comparison with older stock runs.
It’s always interesting to hear about the various permutations of the OE software that’s running out there…
As for JHM, the version # is certainly no simple thing. Most tunes aren’t going to completely wipe and replace everything that’s on the ECU… More often then not, they just replace certain sections of code that pertain to the area(s) needing enhancement. If 0097 changed parts of the software that aren’t over-written during the flash process, then you could wind up with problems. I’m sure that’s what JHM is looking into vs. ‘try-it-and-find-out’.
We are building you a custom file, should have it ready hopefully by Monday!
Thanks for the update Jake! Sounds good.
JHM tune is in. They had it ready unexpectedly ahead of schedule already on Friday. That’s a first in the tuning world. Great job. Can only say thanks. Writing to 3 tuners they were the only ones to reply at all (and quite promptly) so they got the business. Simples.
So I got it flashed today. With a 4G LTE stick and a second battery hooked in parallel. In Russia you’ve got to improvise sometimes…
As expected it’s not easy to feel differences with the butt dyno here. Not like tuning a turbo car. The car doesn’t particularly feel faster but it does feel slightly different, if anything probably smoother at low revs. Another impression is that the throttle openings are larger at smaller pedal positions. But again not a difference I would notice if I hadn’t been driving 30 mins before, I certainly won’t notice a difference anymore tomorrow.
To get an idea of potential gains here I did a VCDS logged 3-8K run right before flashing. Literally. I think it was about an hour until I was logging a similar run with the JHM tune on the same stretch of road. It had gotten 1 degree colder in that time, negligible difference. Virtually no wind and average barometric pressure of 1015 hPa.
The obvious problem after the first baseline run on the old Dmitry map was that the car has slowed down. A lot. Yes it’s 12 or 13 degrees C warmer now, but I wasn’t expecting it to be 0.7 seconds slower than the last time I tried it a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t log most runs, but from video footage I had one 7.75s when it was 3 degrees C out. At 16-17 degrees C today I got an 8.41. In fact, I did a videotaped 8.0 weeks ago when it was actually 20 degrees C, considerably warmer than today.
The only actual change to the car has been summer tires (Michelin Pilot Super Sport) instead of Dunlop Winter sport 3D. Same size. I can imagine rolling resistance being higher, but not this much higher. Tires would be melting if that much energy went into them…otherwise there are no codes, ignition timing is strong and MAF readings aren’t abnormal either. Down to 155 g/s from 160 g/s when it was 2 degrees out isn’t much of a drop.
So I have no clue where the performance has gone. It doesn’t “feel” any slower but the stopwatch doesn’t lie.
All this was BEFORE actually tuning - but good thing I got a quick log in or I’d be bitching about the tune right about now. When I did flash the car and went straight back for another run it improved by 0.12 seconds. From 8.77s VCDS to 8.65s. Video and tach made it 8.41 and 8.27 respectively.
So the fact that the JHM tune made the car at least slightly faster was reassuring in the way that it is reacting in a predictable manner, even if the difference is small. It would have been bigger had the JHM run not weirdly been slower from 7 to 8K. Breakdown of times from VCDS:
[b]Dmitry 0097[/b] [b]JHM[/b] performance Δ
3-4000 1.63s 1.62s -0.01s ±—
4-5000 1.70s 1.66s -0.04s +2.5%
5-6000 1.67s 1.60s -0.07s +4.4%
6-7000 1.79s 1.74s -0.05s +2.9%
7-8000 1.98s 2.03s +0.05s -2.5%
8.77s total 8.65s total
6-7000 in 4th 3.31s 3.18s -0.13s +4%
All this is taken from ONE run only. So accuracy isn’t as brilliant as it could be but the general trend is there.
I only logged group 003 in VCDS so RPM, MAF and requested ignition timing. JHM requested spark advance is slightly greater but not a lot. For example the baseline run was seeing a min/max of 30.0-34.5 between 7000 and 8000 mostly 33-34.5. With JHM the min/max was 33.8-36 averaging closer to 35. Between 5 and 6 it was about identical. Bit odd that the only place where I saw more ignition timing was the spot where it was losing time perhaps, but I’m not convinced it would repeat itself in subsequent runs. Though the fastest logged run I have on record (at 3C ambient) was only doing 28-30 degrees at the top. Bit weird that.
Either way it’s hard to troubleshoot for missing performance when from all logs the car looks like it’s running great. Quite annoying. 
With the piggies and a JHM tune I think the car should be below 8s on the tach for the Arthur test when it’s only 16-17 degrees C out. It’s still cool weather by all means. If anyone has any ideas I’m all ears.
.1 over another tune in one gear is a good start. The Jhm tune generally takes a bit to learn the car. Over the next week you’ll feel the car get faster and faster…it’s part of a very well tested formula. Not too bad for just having the tune. Give it some time. Good to see the car is up and running
Been away so not done any more driving, but I had to run some errands today and I noticed something which had also struck me as a little odd before I left but figured the ECU needed some time to adapt: very weird idle since the JHM flash. When coming to a stop and pressing the clutch the revs will drop below idle before it recovers. Probably down to about 500RPM.
This also happens (more easily reproducible) when the AC compressor kicks in. See the vid below of me turning the AC on. It just drops and then hunts a little until it finds equilibrium.
This started since the flash, it was rock solid before. Even though I followed the exact procedure of turning ignition on and off and wait times etc I’m wondering if the throttle has calibrated itself properly. When I get a moment I’ll run out and do a throttle alignment with VCDS to see if that does anything to improve it. It’s a little too distracting/annoying to leave as is so I hope that helps.