maherladki

Just about to get The 5K service done and seriously thinking about tuning.Need advise from you guys who have done it already.

1 APR or other?
2 Realistically I'll be only using 91 octane in CA. How much of a change should I expect in performance and is it worth the price and the warranty risk?

Thank you

bobs43

The change is huge!I went with APR. Lets think about this--HP to the wheels is over 100 increase. I did an AWE exhaust two weeks before the flash so I have the benefit of the sound and another 15-20 HP as well. Bottom line. Sounds great ( I think more Lambo than muscle car) and scary acceleration. Which is a good thing. I am working through the warranty issues. Lets keep in touch if you do the flash. It's a little tricky.

stillwaterS6

My hesitation with tuning is this.

Audi doesn't use the dual clutch in the S8, RS7 and RS6, they opt for the 8speed auto. I read somewhere that this was because of the power of those cars.

If you make your S6 as powerful as those aforementioned cars, are you just inviting transmission problems later on? I just don't know.

I personally have stopped with power mods at an AWE exhaust.

Hmmmmm

kwas911

APR will void your warranty! I agree that APR is awesome upgrade and draws out the full potential of the S6, but to me its not worth voiding the warranty. The day my warranty expires will be the day APR is installed!

MalibuCANE

I am still on the fence as well. I want the MTM exhaust, APR tune and HRE wheels but after dropping that $20k I will probably want to trade the car on the next one and take a price hit because it was tuned. I know about the flashing back and how to try to avoid the TD1 flag from Audi etc but at the end of the day I have to decide if it's really worth it for me. Then again when I tried to accelerate and change lanes the other day the car lagged and then took off. DANGEROUS! Does this mean I should void the warranty to have it fixed via an aftermarket tune or get rid of the car and get something without this issue.

snagitseven

Well, not necessarily so.This has been discussed numerous times in the Forums. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that a manf. cannot void a warranty due to a modification unless the manf. can show that a specific failure was due to the mod and, of course, the modified part itself would not be covered by Audi but by the manf of the modified part (assuming it's still covered under their warranty).

That said, only Stasis has limited warranties that would cover any engine failures shown to be the cause of a defect of their parts. APR will only cover the part itself. In any case, Audi cannot decline warranty coverage on any part on the car unless they can show a modified part was the cause of a failure. Granted, there's a chance there could be some difficulty in ascertaining who is at fault down the road but that's the risk one takes when modding. (Note that an ECU mod these days will generate a TD1 notification in Audi's computer system to alert them that the car has been modified).

snagitseven

Unfortunately, that's no longer the case. Audi can determine by various recorded engine parameters if an ECU modification was ever made and will label it as TD1, even if swapped back to stock. Once an Audi is tagged as a TD1, which it will, it stays with the life of the car even if reversed.

Vijay

I am getting the APR flash on my S6 this week. It will be my 3rd ECU tuned Audi. I had a stage 3+ B5 S4, then a B7 RS4, and now the S6. All tunes were APR, and I never had any kind of problem.

What I have learned from this and from the experience of many, many others, is that Audi engines are pretty sturdy, and APR is a reputable tuner. Seriously, if this was a major problem, do you think that companies like APR would be able to stay in business after all these years?

Keep in mind also, that a stage 1 ECU tune represents a 17% increase in hp. You are not overburdening the engine by any means. There have been enough owners that have had their S6 tuned for long enough without problems that I am not worried.

The other factor, however, is how you drive. Just because you have all that power available, it doesn't mean you should use it all the time. Yes, if you are constantly pounding it, you may have a problem. However, if you use that power from only time to time, then you will have no issues whatsoever. The fact of the matter is that most people won't even have the opportunity to tap into all that power most of the time.

And so we come to the warranty issue.....valid concern for sure. If your car was going to have a problem anyway, and now it has that same problem with an ECU flash, you may be denied coverage depending on what is wrong. My slightly twisted logic on this is as follows:

If Audi had made an RS6 sedan, I would have bought it, no question. They do not. As such I bought an S6 and am tuning it. An RS6 sedan would have cost like $30-40k more than my S6, so if I spend $1500 on an ECU, then, if by remote chance, have to fork out a few grand for blown turbos, etc. I am still ahead of the game.

FWIW, I know someone who ran a stage 3+ B5 S4 for over 160,000 miles with no engine related issues. My own S4 ran to 66,000 miles before I sold it, and so far as I know it made it to 130,000 miles before someone wrecked it. My RS4 was an 8300rpm motor running on the ragged edge of timing and fuel delivery in stock form.. I had zero issues with the APR tune on that car as well.

Unless getting the S6 was a huge financial stretch for you, and there is just no way you can cope with even the tiniest chance of a problem, go ahead and tune it. Use that power in moderation, and enjoy the **** eating grin you will have on your face.

Fear keeps too many people from experiencing life to the fullest

MalibuCANE

^^^ This logic makes sense to me, haha.

Buzztt

I was reading on another forum that it was proven that a car flashed by apr then flashed back to stock didn't get flagged at Audi, they couldn't detect it.

I'm a little skeptical and wonder if an engine blew and there was real money at stake if Audi would dig deeper and would manage to find that it had indeed been flashed at some point.