I've Got The Modding Disease / I Just Really Like Wrenching

"Tripper" (tripe46)
07/23/2019 at 12:15 • Filed to: None

My best friend and I (both petrolheads) have similar likes and dislikes when it comes to cars/things with engines . I jumped on the German bandwagen long before he did, but he just bought himself a 13' Golf TDI cheater and swears he’ll never go back. We’ll see what he says after he has a bad day, but he seems pretty confident and that is a pretty solid car.

Anyway, One thing that always has had us both kind of stumped is the Volkswagen community. The ratio of modded to not modded seems higher than nearly any other make. Most of the time those mod s aren’t cheap either (or tasteful but that’s neither here nor there). Almost every GTI we see has been at least slightly modified.

It didn’t hit me until last Saturday. As we were working on the cars I said, “ya know, I’m starting to understand why VW heads are always doing stuff to their cars.” He agreed pointing out all of the things we have both changed in our short periods of ownership and mentioning another friend that was hardcore into VW’s.

It seems like most of the mods for VW’s are an immediate tangible gain. That and the clean layout (of the later models at least) make them pretty easy to work on. I’d go as far to say as it’s my favorite car to work on at the moment.

I called the VW dealer that is also an APR dealer just to get a little info, and ended up scheduling the work, haha. The guy said that they do the base tunes right off of the truck before buyers take delivery often. APR takes over my 6yr/72k power train warranty and they also warranty any other APR bolt on (that isn’t a turbo or downpipe) for the same time.

There are closer places, but I’m choosing to do this at an actual Volkswagen dealer to hopefully lessen the chances of any finger pointing between VW and APR in the event of a problem.

So I’m super excited about the performance gains, but I want something to do on it. I ordered the intercooler from APR as well, and that is a job so I’ll get my fix there.

Still, I find myself wanting stupid crap like the carbon fiber intake for nearly $500... You cannot convince me that those do anything better than the stock one on 99.9% of applications. B ut like, it looks cool and I want it. S o when I fill up my washer fluid I can be like, “hehheh, that looks tight”.

I don’t have plugs, or Oakley’s, and I don’t vape (well not the kind you can use in a car anyway ;) Still, I can’t stop modding my Volkswagen.

Dad Backpack and Car Kit

DISCUSSION (34)

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 12:18

What are the expected performance gains from the APR tune? Enough to make you not miss the GTI’s 2.0T?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 12:21

That cargo area is big boi

His Stigness > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 12:21

You need to get yourself a Ross Tech Hex-Net Enthusiast (limited to 10 VINs) and start doing some coding modifications. It’s the little things that make VW’s so special.

You can program in rear pace car turn signals.

Change the comfort blinks.

Add in side mirror reverse dip.

And the list goes on and on.

Oh you can also transform your car into a Golf R (via the infotainment screen).

gettingoldercarguy > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 12:26

Nice on the mods, curious as to how you enjoy the car afterwards

412GTI > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 12:27

Can confirm this is big in the VW community. Sometimes I feel like I’m the minority in not really modifying my GTI, but I’m not a confident wrench, like things factory..blah blah.

I will say ever since I put an exhaust on I’ve been getting the itch to do more and pricing out new stuff. It seems endless. I love those carbon intakes, but am a function guy and will most likely go with a VWR one.

Seriously have wanted a tune since day one after experiencing them, but am waiting til my warranty is up in September.

Ash78, voting early and often > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 12:30

I was heavily in the B5 Passat community for over 15 years. EVERYONE on teh forums modded in some way, and that was a mainstream, midsize family car (among the models I saw in the wild, it might have been 5%. We waved at each other) . The nice thing about that car was it didn’t attract the DudeBros, since they were all about the Jetta and GTI (at the time). But it’s everywhere — the powertrains are usually overbuilt and can handle some power, and basic modding is pretty simple and almost encouraged.

Ash78, voting early and often > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
07/23/2019 at 12:31

230-ish hp and 250 torks, give or take. APR is always a pretty good return on investment.

Of course, the gains on the 2.0t are similarly cool, so you’ll never stop wishing it had the 2.0t...

Ssfancyfresh > His Stigness
07/23/2019 at 12:32

The best mod is window up/down via fob. I use it all the time.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 12:40

That’s solid. Just looked at their website and even the lowest tier tune makes it higher than a stock GTI. So essentially you’re getting an almost- GTI alltrack.
And yeah, modding an existing 2.0T and comparing is a losing battle.

Does the $999 price include installation?

Ash78, voting early and often > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
07/23/2019 at 12:44

$599 with installation. $999 if you’re scared VW won’t cover the warranty if anything happens.

APR claims the chip is invisible to dealers, but savvy dealers can pull logs that could theoretically show high boost, etc. So it’s a mixed bag.

I’ve never, ever known anyone to get the warranty and I’ve never heard of failures directly attributable to just a chip. YMMV, but this tune is pretty modest. They just started offering the warranty in the last couple years, sounds like a big moneymaker to me ;)

His Stigness > Ssfancyfresh
07/23/2019 at 12:46

Oh yeah, that too. There are so many I forgot.

But I don’t use that anymore as I can turn on the AC remotely in my e-Golfs. I love it, and I will never be able to live without it.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 12:47

Holy Shit! I was looking at the numbers for the 2.0T and even the base tune would make a GTI or GLI super-quick . If their claimed performance increases are 100% legit it’s a no brainier.

https://www.goapr.com/products/ecu_upgrade_20tsi_gen3_mqb.html

I will keep this in mind...for future use.

Tripper > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
07/23/2019 at 13:10

Seems as you got the info haha. GTI on paper. This is being done at a VW dealer but I’m still opting for the warranty as it covers other parts which are obviously happening, haha. It’s $65 to install.

Tripper > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/23/2019 at 13:10

All but Mastiff sized.

Tripper > His Stigness
07/23/2019 at 13:12

I ordered one with 3 vins from ross tech. Can I make it so I can drive with all assists off without the dash lit up with warnings?

Tripper > gettingoldercarguy
07/23/2019 at 13:13

I’m super excited as I’ m really enjoying the car as is.

Tripper > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 13:19

Definitely agree with you, but I already have two other German cars out of warranty and unfit for my daughter, haha. So I’m being extra careful and paying the extra $400 and having it done at an APR participating VW dealer.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 13:44

Time to start saving for a clutch...

Ash78, voting early and often > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 13:55

Ahhh...gotcha. I missed the part about dealers being on board. I had no idea APR had come so far. I went to college with the founders, they’re still headquartered right outside of town. I first visited them in a tiny strip mall storefront next to a cigar shop in the middle of generic small-town suburbia. I’ll never forget when they first installed the dyno!

Ash78, voting early and often > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
07/23/2019 at 13:57

Yep — back in the late 90s when chiptuning was pretty rare (APR had one shop in my college town, I knew the founders), friends of mine with 150-170hp Passats, A4s, and GTIs were making 220hp+ from a 1.8t with just a chip and exhaust. At the time, that was enough to keep up with most sports cars.

In college, their parents were like “We’ll get them a car that’s nice, safe, and reasonable”

Tripper > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 13:59

That is cool! It’s a good deal, the warranty is still transferred to APR but I figured using a participating dealer would be my best bet.

His Stigness > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 14:10

That I don’t know as I don’t have any of those driver crutches. Just search for the option a million different ways. My first try came up with this page. https://www.autoinstruct.com.au/manufacturer/volkswagen/mk7-golf/mk7-golf-obdeleven-vcds-tweaks/

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 14:24

Apr is a solid way to go. I was contemplating it when I had my S4, but never bothered. I never really wanted for power on that car. I did love the simple intake install though. It let the supercharger whine out and it was intoxicating. Loved, loved stomping the loud pedal. I find as I get older, the less I want to screw with mods to my cars, but I also think that has to do with the cars I’m able to afford now. Now I can get into the performance variants of the cars I like and the OEMs have done the heavy lifting. But any car can always use a few mm lowering and a fee inches wider wheels and tires. But other than window tint and exhaust. I don’t have any desire to dick around with my S8. Those crazy Germans built a very nice ride.

Yeah APR is good stuff, not cheap, but it’s safe and it fun.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 14:27

I get lots of use out of my Ross tech adapter. But I got mine before the limited VINs and such. Well worth it. You’ll have to dig in the forums to find out the mods and get the codings, but there’s likely a list out there. And you can go into each module and look around in the vcds software to see what you can play with.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Ssfancyfresh
07/23/2019 at 14:30

This. And if you can disable any of the chimes and nav and phone nanny warnings, that’s nice too.

His Stigness > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 15:03

When I got *track day only* tune I asked Malone how often they had customer’s losing their warranty. They said they hadn’t had a problem. So I asked how VW can actually figure it out. And apparently, you’re only likely to get flagged if you go in for a software update, at which point your current programming is sent to the servers, matched, then sent back. It’s at this point if you have a tune that the files won’t match and you’ll be flagged in the system and your VIN, name, number, DOB, address, blood type, and height are sent to a department in Wolfsburg where an assassin is assigned to your case.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 15:03

Wait? $65 or was it a typo of $650?

If the dealer can do it it’s the best.

Tripper > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
07/23/2019 at 15:06

$600 for the tune, $400 for the warranty, $65 to “install” the tune.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Tripper
07/23/2019 at 15:10

Damn. Time to include VW GTI s/GLIs/Alltracks in my next car search.

Ash78, voting early and often > His Stigness
07/23/2019 at 15:12

I think life was ironically a little easier when you had to get a physical chip soldered onto your ECU. Then you could just have a second ECU for when you took the car in for service. You could still “electronically hide” the tune, but looking at the ECU you could actually see it.

When it came time to sell the car, you could just sell the chipped ECU for 2/3 of what you paid for it to another user.

Now it’s all flashed, so you have nothing to sell at the end — AND they can find you. And they can kill you.

If I had to guess, the warranty thing only comes up every few hundred cars when someone tries to go a little too crazy for the stock internals, then something blows up and they don’t want to take responsibility. I can’t blame VW there.

His Stigness > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 15:21

I bought the programmer to revert, but I’m worried if even that’s traceable. My biggest thing is passing smog. I’m going to be PISSED if I have to get another ECU just to pass smog for a car I never drive.

But I don’t blame VW or any other manufacturer for denying a warranty when it clearly does not allow tuning. But it’s dealers who are dicks that I have a problem with. “Ah, see, you added carbon fiber mirror caps so we can’t warranty that high pressure fuel pump.” Nine times out of ten warranty denial come from the dealer, not the actual manufacturer , which is horseshit.

Ash78, voting early and often > His Stigness
07/23/2019 at 15:26

That shit has been going on for as long as I can remember. My best advice is to find a dealer (or specifically a service advisor) who is a mod-friendly enthusiast and will, within reason, write up your paperwork without regard to mods. Or at least not blame mods for every little thing.

I had some control arm issues years ago and they tried to blame my lowered suspension. But the control arm problem was not related to the suspension height at all, they were just looking for a scapegoat.

A year later I replaced all 8 of them anyway, since the OE versions were crap.

His Stigness > Ash78, voting early and often
07/23/2019 at 15:33

At least out here in California most VW suck major ass. But it’s a good thing I’m smarter than them, because if the HPFP grenades itself before I get to it, I will comb through the car to make sure there’s no trace of mods, including the Neuspeed turbo inlet pipe. I don’t want to give them an excuse.

Ssfancyfresh > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
07/23/2019 at 15:34

Oh yeah. I enabled “Video in Motion”. So I can watch Disney’s Frozen while I drive. It’s dope