Glad to hear APR is taking care of you.
I haven't really thought about upgrading the GTI yet, but 250hp and 300 lb*ft of torque would be fun. The issue is putting the power down though! I never had to worry about traction issues in the A4, but even stock when it's cold with the snow tires I can spin the wheels all the way though 2nd. Once when it was wet I actually spun them in 3rd at 60mph- that was a good laugh. There have also been some ECU failures after the APR upgrade. VW is getting smart about these chips and it's no longer just a flash like it became a couple years ago. They now need to solder a wire onto the board.
I think I'm going to hold out for the stage IV though.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtO2dh8BCPA&feature=related[/youtube]
Ken, this is from my brother-in-law Bill who's built up his GTI:
Any way I have 332 HP at the front wheels now, but with the APR tune I can still better 30MPG if I drive like fuel costs $4.00 a gallon. Car amazes me every day. But power is addicting and I can well imaging having the power revert back to stock being a let down when a chance to put the hammer down comes around.
In case you did not know I put in a good limited slip diff and a 450 ft/lb clutch late last year all in anticipation of more power. The little red rocket is a hoot to drive. And I know yours with AWD would be even more thrills!
I like our BMW,but the 'dub really smokes it now.
Formy car the APR dealer just plugs his laptop into my GTI's diagnostic port and the program gets transferred in like 15 minutes. While I have "stock", 91 octane performance tune, 100 octane performance tune , and Valet modes, I just leave it in 91 octane mode. The shop in San Antonio, Texas wher I had the turbo kit installed said NOT to use the Water Methane Injection (I have a Snow Performance Stage 3 kit) on 100 Octane tune as it would likely bend the stock rods because the little motor would be making nearly 400 ft lbs torque in this mode. Katie bar the door!
I did some high speed driving in west Texas where there was no traffic (no anything) , and at 120 in 4th gear it pulls hard, in 5th at 135 it felt like she has plenty of headroom still, but I coasted down with the though of looking through prison bars... But the car handles extremely stable at 100 plus, better than anything I have driven. Koni coilovers probably get the credi there. Hardly a little economy car anymore.
Yep I have a nice stepper motor drive boost gauge, I beleive any car sold with a turbo (or supercharger) should have a boost gauge stock. With the stock turbo, APR Stage 2 programming, and bigger intercooler, my boost would hit 15 or perhaps 16 at about 5,000 RPM then drop down to about 12 psi at redline. With the bigger air pump I see it get to 20 peak and holds 17 all the way to redline. I sometimes feel quilty wringing so much horsepower from 2 liters, but the guilt is quickly swept away in a roar of exhaust note and the feeling of thrust. Well, I'm getting a bit carried away in the worring here but as you and tell, I like to pilot the little beast.
