Question to guys with a tune

B8 S4
#21

Forget that West thinks his car makes 440hp every lap (it probably doesn’t), but in his defense the JRZ coilovers, spherical bushings, somewhat properly setup alignment, better tires, seats, brakes with proper race pads, clutch, etc. would make the difference assuming same driver, track, and conditions.

I’d obviously take an APR or GIAC tune, but at least in my experience, the Revo is not too far off. I’ve made passes at the drag strip with a Revo car, and dynoed a Revo, GIAC, and APR car all at the same time. At the drag strip, it was really close, and on the dyno, the Revo car actually made a tad more power than both the APR/GIAC cars. Another local APR stage 2 car ran a Revo car more recently, and had similar results. I can’t personally speak to the EPL or Unitronic tunes, but Revo seems to be in the ballpark of APR/GIAC; albeit, they get there different ways, but that’s another debate for a different day.

#22

Revo pedal feel is no different than stock to me. No time slips to verify I didn’t flush 2k down the toilet though :wink:

#23

I put my car on a dyno after a track session at lunchtime on a warm Thunderhill day. It made 365 whp just like it always does. I’ve never been so proud of myself.

#24

You must not have a lot to be proud of then… I kid, I kid…

I don’t necessarily doubt that, but I also don’t know why that really matters. Cooling wise, there is nothing different with your car compared to most others we’re talking about here.

It also scares me that I’ve seen IAT’s go up from 55C to over 80C on a Revo stage 2 tune, and it never pulled any timing for knock correction with really high timing to start with (22 degrees up top compared to 15-20 on the APR/GIAC cars on the same day). Every other car, stock, tuned, APR, GIAC or whatever shows some knock correction when temps climb like that, and again, that is with a lot less timing to start with.

#25

The DSG is harder to keep cool than the 6MT. 034 had a few DNF at 24 hour Thunderhill due to DSG failures. My intake is slightly more restrictive. Less air = less heat. It’s really important in my car that I maximize airflow over the heat exchangers with open grilles, where the drag race cars could actually cover the grilles to minimize drag and eek out higher top speed. Each choice from options to mods is optimized for a different outcome.

#26

Hi West,

I did see that video you posted some time ago, however I don’t see that it’s relevant to my original question.
That said, if I were concerned about heat, I would not run a larger SC pulley. You are still at the mercy of the stock heat exchangers, and even with a CPS…logs have shown high IAT’s at your boost levels. If Audi’s technical document is to be believed, the stock pulley size is “optimized” from an efficiency standpoint for both heat and power. You want to maintain your power over long periods? Stock pulley + CPS + stage 1 tune and you’re good to go. With a pulley, you are now operating outside of stock perameters, and I know a CPS helps, but check out those logs and look at the timing pull after driving the car hard for a period of time. You aren’t making the same HP as it was when it was cold.

Your dyno session is impressive after running a track session, but I wonder if you can truly make the same power each day, with varying day temps, traffic volumes etc. And on a slower track with less airflow, the results may not be the same.

I also do not see you running an air to oil cooler and divorcing the water to oil stock cooler :slight_smile: That’ll help with the heat problem too.

#27

I’ve been a bit more liberal about using 5th gear on long straights to avoid redlining 4th. I only really care about 3 tracks - Laguna, Thunderhill, Sonoma - which have a lot of airflow. Occasionally I do a day at Buttonwillow just to break the monotony of thousands of laps at Thunderhill.

I also have the option of running a more conservative map if I think heat is going to be an issue, like a 97 octane blend on a 93 program. Overall I’m super impressed at how cool this engine runs. You won’t see me replacing the blower or anything crazy like that. I’m doing 4000 miles a year - 1000 on track and 3000 driving to it or to the shop - with one oil redline change for that period.

We’ll run some logs in January. I got Euroswagr’s VAGinaCOM in the mail yesterday. Thanks man.

#28

OK so Unitronic was very nice and updated my flash for me with a more stock-like throttle map.
I went in last week to get this done. Improvements were made. But it’s still very non linear.
Pedal travel up to 50% is linear. Once you go beyond 50%, it goes instant WOT. As a result, I’m going GIAC.

I’ll report back on what I think about the GIAC tune. Got an appointment this Friday :smiley:

#29

Interested to hear how that works out. As I said my Revo is fairly comparable to stock pedal feel but I’ve only recently noticed how different the power feels as the weather has cooled. I had my car tuned in late February this year but hardly got to drive much in the cooler months due to the terrible weather we had last winter. I might sound like I’m stating the obvious about cooler air being denser but I’ve read Saki say that the Revo seems more sensitive to temp than other tunes are- I can’t speak for them but mine feels like a different car as the temps get in the 40s and lower- remarkable as I’ve had supercharged mustangs in years past and never noticed this much difference - can’t complain really but wish I had more of this power all year long. If I keep my car through next year I’ll probably consider other tune options- Good luck with the change.

#30

What boost levels do you guys see on vagcom that are running in the mid 11 second bracket ?
I’ve got a pulley on and if I recall, my tuner said 0,85 bar boost.
Thanks

#31

Edit: I’m going crazy

#32

I feel like I’m on Punk’d…

#33

Sigh I am so indecisive.
BRB preparing to get flamed.

My worry here is will the brakes be able to take it (currently on 355’s). I’m finding 355’s barely coping with stock power. Throw on some more aggressive pads and I wouldn’t be surprised if I start cooking the dust seals.
Bah it’s a slippery slope.

#34

Revo doesn’t set any records and it won’t blow up your motor at the track. Those are the only facts we can agree on.

#35

West what size are your brakes? 380?

#36

what blows up motors at tracks? All of the tunes are pretty conservative to be honest. The old revo stuff was seriously bunk but the newer stuff is actually a bit too conservative.

#37

380 is the only way to go given the front engine is forward of the axle. Porsche is doing 410/390 on the ceramics for the 991.2. Even the Cayman GT4 is running 380/380 in steel. If I go aftermarket on the Boxster I’m going to do 365/345 in Brembo GT, which is 4 pots front and back on that platform.

#38

This is why I joined. You guys know your motor stuff.
Please elaborate on the later Revo tunes :slight_smile: They are putting out crap 1/4s? I keep checking the 1/4 list, but I dont know which tune is a revision vs original.

#39

After experiencing 355, I am inclined to agree that 380 is the way to go on this car.

#40

The only reason I tuned the motor at all is it felt specifically detuned. I could literally feel all of the boost bypass at 5200 RPM pulling down the front straight. It’s not that much fun having a tuned 2.0T pull on you either. I picked REVO because they’re a VW/Audi specialist. Their brand and retail/dealer presence is stronger in Europe but I’m ok with that. It’s an effective safe product that produces extremely linear power. My torque band is 300 WTQ - 315 WTQ in a perfect ellipse 3000 RPM - 7200 RPM. Clearly other tuners have gotten more out of the motor but I’m not building a horsepower car. In truth I only did the pulley to keep my motor ahead of a stock M4, which it is (350 WHP to my 365 WHP).