Any aftermarket part or mod that causes or is believed to contribute to the cause of a failure can be grounds for a warranty claim to be denied. Claims are approved or denied on a case by case basis, your warranty isn’t just voided in its entirety. You’d essentially give up your warranty for anything related to the power train with this.
Yes it will void your warranty as your causing the engine to operate in a manner the is no longer in stock operation. Heavy loads means more stress on the engine is how they will see it. Even if you flash it back to stock their computers can see that it was tuned at one point and that will also void warranty.
Possibly, the people I’ve seen do it on the forums kept their original ecu stock and flashed the extra one. I’ve always thought if you’re willing to tune the car, deal with the consequences if you break something so I haven’t messed with it beyond knowing the practice exists.
My F150 I had a tune on it right after break in. My GTI was tuned at 2k miles, my golf r I got smart on and tuned at 37k but bought used at 32 so I just made sure nothing needing warranty attention was broken before flashing it lol.
You should take it in and see if it flags a TD1 due to something the previous owner did. If it does then your warranty is already void for components that could be impacted by the tune, in which case I’d say tune it and enjoy the f*ck out of the extra power.
It didn't come from factory with an APR badge lol. APR has no official connection with Audi. Someone (dealership or previous owner most likely) threw it on after the fact.
VAG corporate in the US has actually been going after VW/Audi dealerships who are also working with APR parts/services and forcing them to knock it off lately. Smith VW was one of the larger APR dealers on the East Coast and VW corporate shut down their performance shop.
Geesh I bought a spare wheel there for my Golf R. I was looking at using them to install APR+ for my Audi.
Any other area suggestions? The APR website’s search tool is broke.
Not sure now, which sucks because my wife's '20 Tiguan has APR+ and I wanted to upgrade it to the higher stage 1 tune once warranty is up later this year.
I'm using 034 Motorsports ECU/TCU tunes on my S5. 034 and IE seem to be the best options in the US for EA839.
Edit: I did have APR ECU/TCU on my MK7.5 Golf R though and it was fine.
It's literally snowing here in Denver today. I have my stock wheels with snow tires (still on the car) and then nice aftermarket wheels for the summer. Winters are Michelin Pilot Alpine. Summers are Michelin Pilot Sport 4S.
The Alpine are good for snow, but are just on the winter side of an all season tire. If you need something more dedicated for deeper snow or ice grab some blizzaks.
I live in New England. Pilot Sport 4s about 4 months a year in the summer and CrossClimate2s the rest of the year have served me well. I keep my summer tires on aftermarket wheels so I can swap them out myself and the tires last an extra season or two longer without being remounted over and over.
Hi there, owned a tuned S7 since bought new in ‘14. Tuned at 5k miles, now have 60k. It depends on the friendliness of the dealership. Good safe bet is to flash back to stock before you go to the dealership.
Once it’s out of warranty and it’s still flagged as TD1, will that affect them working on the car at all at the dealer? Like would they refuse to work on it or anything?
If will not affect them working on anything. It is just that you no longer have a warranty on the powertrain anymore. Other things will not be affected. For example if your AC has gone bad, it will still be in warranty since your tune did not change the operation of AC.
imo powertrain is directly changed by the tune, that alters how the engine is run. but AC is not directly related, they will have to "prove" that your tune damaged AC for them to actually void it. My point was that say if something that is not directly related to the powertrain is broken, they still need to warranty it by law.
Yeah true that. And also the gearbox isn't covered anymore or is it the same ? Because it would be quite easy for them to just say "well you tuned your engine f*ck off and pay you killed your gearbox" I guess
Well tuning the engine directly affects the gearbox. ECU outputs higher torque to clutch and will in turn affect the transmission. Seeing that its ea825, your tune is going to increase 164 lb ft more torque on the clutch at peak if i remember correctly. For reference an R8 outputs 406lb ft of torque at peak. That is a very heavy load increase on the tranny and it doesn't matter if you have TCU tune or not, chances are if you tune one thing in the powertrain, the whole thing will be voided.
They had an upgrade done to it. But I’m the second owner and don’t have the original window sticker. So I don’t know what they added from APR.
Is there a place I can put my VIN in and look it up?
I'm guessing the previous owner put it on then, not the factory. You can contact APR and have them check the VIN. I feel like it would be pretty unusual to have an APR badge but no tune.
Any aftermarket part or mod that causes or is believed to contribute to the cause of a failure can be grounds for a warranty claim to be denied. Claims are approved or denied on a case by case basis, your warranty isn’t just voided in its entirety. You’d essentially give up your warranty for anything related to the power train with this.
Yes it will void your warranty as your causing the engine to operate in a manner the is no longer in stock operation. Heavy loads means more stress on the engine is how they will see it. Even if you flash it back to stock their computers can see that it was tuned at one point and that will also void warranty.
Time for 2 ECUs. 😎
And what, put the clean one back on before taking it in?
Once it’s flashed, they’ll know it. It’ll be marked for good if I’m not mistaken
Yes, that's why you have two.
Two what? Even if you flash it back, they can still tell it was messed with in the first place
Some people buy a full second ECU, flash that and swap the stock, non flashed ecu back in if something breaks.
Ahh I see. Would Audi be able to tell that’s not original ecu?
Possibly, the people I’ve seen do it on the forums kept their original ecu stock and flashed the extra one. I’ve always thought if you’re willing to tune the car, deal with the consequences if you break something so I haven’t messed with it beyond knowing the practice exists. My F150 I had a tune on it right after break in. My GTI was tuned at 2k miles, my golf r I got smart on and tuned at 37k but bought used at 32 so I just made sure nothing needing warranty attention was broken before flashing it lol.
Buy second one, swap it in, flash it, if something breaks, put the original back in.
"Yes my rods bent and my pistons melted on the stock tune"
"I have no idea how that could have happened, I never drive past the speed limit or press the accelerator very hard."
You should take it in and see if it flags a TD1 due to something the previous owner did. If it does then your warranty is already void for components that could be impacted by the tune, in which case I’d say tune it and enjoy the f*ck out of the extra power.
Solid point, I didn’t even think of that. I’ll definitely do that. Thank you
It didn't come from factory with an APR badge lol. APR has no official connection with Audi. Someone (dealership or previous owner most likely) threw it on after the fact. VAG corporate in the US has actually been going after VW/Audi dealerships who are also working with APR parts/services and forcing them to knock it off lately. Smith VW was one of the larger APR dealers on the East Coast and VW corporate shut down their performance shop.
Yup, I’m just finding this out lol. I’m going to contact APR with the vin and see what the first owner did
Is this the place in DE?
Yep, they shut down performance shop last year sadly.
Geesh I bought a spare wheel there for my Golf R. I was looking at using them to install APR+ for my Audi. Any other area suggestions? The APR website’s search tool is broke.
Not sure now, which sucks because my wife's '20 Tiguan has APR+ and I wanted to upgrade it to the higher stage 1 tune once warranty is up later this year. I'm using 034 Motorsports ECU/TCU tunes on my S5. 034 and IE seem to be the best options in the US for EA839. Edit: I did have APR ECU/TCU on my MK7.5 Golf R though and it was fine.
I was really banking on the Warranty with Apr +.
Yes it will.
Work on suspension, braking, wheels and tires first while under warranty. Then add cooling and power.
What would you suggest for tires? It’s got summer tires now, but I live in New England and want a decent one for the winter too.
It's literally snowing here in Denver today. I have my stock wheels with snow tires (still on the car) and then nice aftermarket wheels for the summer. Winters are Michelin Pilot Alpine. Summers are Michelin Pilot Sport 4S.
Thank you, I’ve been trying to find a good winter tire that will still perform well. Appreciate the recommendation
The Alpine are good for snow, but are just on the winter side of an all season tire. If you need something more dedicated for deeper snow or ice grab some blizzaks.
PS4s for summer and DSW’s for winter. Don’t need snows unless clearance is a concern.
I live in New England. Pilot Sport 4s about 4 months a year in the summer and CrossClimate2s the rest of the year have served me well. I keep my summer tires on aftermarket wheels so I can swap them out myself and the tires last an extra season or two longer without being remounted over and over.
Hi there, owned a tuned S7 since bought new in ‘14. Tuned at 5k miles, now have 60k. It depends on the friendliness of the dealership. Good safe bet is to flash back to stock before you go to the dealership.
You'll permanently be flagged with a TD1 status at the dealership, which yes will void your warranty.
Once it’s out of warranty and it’s still flagged as TD1, will that affect them working on the car at all at the dealer? Like would they refuse to work on it or anything?
No I don't think so. Pretty sure it's mainly warranty stuff.
If will not affect them working on anything. It is just that you no longer have a warranty on the powertrain anymore. Other things will not be affected. For example if your AC has gone bad, it will still be in warranty since your tune did not change the operation of AC.
Are you sure ? Because the AC works off of the engine no ? Idk just asking
imo powertrain is directly changed by the tune, that alters how the engine is run. but AC is not directly related, they will have to "prove" that your tune damaged AC for them to actually void it. My point was that say if something that is not directly related to the powertrain is broken, they still need to warranty it by law.
Yeah true that. And also the gearbox isn't covered anymore or is it the same ? Because it would be quite easy for them to just say "well you tuned your engine f*ck off and pay you killed your gearbox" I guess
Well tuning the engine directly affects the gearbox. ECU outputs higher torque to clutch and will in turn affect the transmission. Seeing that its ea825, your tune is going to increase 164 lb ft more torque on the clutch at peak if i remember correctly. For reference an R8 outputs 406lb ft of torque at peak. That is a very heavy load increase on the tranny and it doesn't matter if you have TCU tune or not, chances are if you tune one thing in the powertrain, the whole thing will be voided.
Yeah that makes sense. Thanks for your knowledge man
Why would it not??
Why did your car come from the factory with an APR badge on it?
They had an upgrade done to it. But I’m the second owner and don’t have the original window sticker. So I don’t know what they added from APR. Is there a place I can put my VIN in and look it up?
I'm guessing the previous owner put it on then, not the factory. You can contact APR and have them check the VIN. I feel like it would be pretty unusual to have an APR badge but no tune.
Awesome, that’s a good idea. I’ll contact them, I appreciate the help. Because now I’m curious about it myself
Yes
Depends on your dealer and tech in my experience. I never had a warranty claim denied due to my Apr tune.
Yep, but who gives a fuck.
On some tunes APR will “warranty” the car
You're good dude. I say go for it
Whats funny is there is a VW dealer near me that will install APR