APR No Longer Providing Stage 2 Tunes After Labour Day. Other Tuners to Follow

[Desslok]

I saw this as well. To be perfectly honest I never really understood the appeal of APR Stage 2, because the power gains seemed insignificant next to the incredible wear and tear on the clutch for manual cars. The whole downpipe business is sad to me, but I feel like Stage 1 or an IS38 tune should meet the needs of most.

The power gains from stage 1 to stage 2 are lame and not worth the cost, nor the hassle involved with the downpipe. That's from an APR stage 2 customer.
However, how do the slight gains from going to stage 2 equate with "the incredible wear and tear on the clutch" ?

 

[tlrdavis27]

I think there is one thing worth mentioning in support of down pipes in general and thats the sound difference you get after install.

 

[StealthGTI]

?

Spoke to my local APR dealer and APR customer support. Both confirmed that you’ll still be able to get the is38 test file tune if you’re looking to do that

"Test file?" Does that mean the "real file" won't be available?

 

[riceburner]

Got my stg 2 flashed the other day while i still could. Ftr i have an awe downpipe, didnt matter that i didnt have aprs

 

[GTI Jake]

Got my stg 2 flashed the other day while i still could. Ftr i have an awe downpipe, didnt matter that i didnt have aprs

It’s never mattered if you bought APR’s downpipe. It was a $175 upgrade from stage 1 to 2 when I did it.

The one that hurts is $700 from stage 2 to is38

 

[skdmrklcy]

This past week I picked up my 2020 GTI, and was sad to see this. My former GLI was APR tuned and I wanted to start to take this one a bit further. Seems APR is now a dead end choice with no real upgrade path from them.

Thought about going with them for Stage 1 + TCU as I was kinda thinking of doing that for awhile then going bigger turbo and deal with finding something new next spring when I go that route. But after getting a quote for almost $1800 for just the tunes/labor at the local shop...

Can pickup pretty much every other option (Unitronic/Integrated Engineering/Cobb) and a catted down pipe for later for a few hundred more. Now if only I could pick... Unitronic and IE seem like the same choices but Cobb opens up all the small shops which would allow me to try a lot of things over time.

 

[jimlloyd40]

This past week I picked up my 2020 GTI, and was sad to see this. My former GLI was APR tuned and I wanted to start to take this one a bit further. Seems APR is now a dead end choice with no real upgrade path from them.

Thought about going with them for Stage 1 + TCU as I was kinda thinking of doing that for awhile then going bigger turbo and deal with finding something new next spring when I go that route. But after getting a quote for almost $1800 for just the tunes/labor at the local shop...

Can pickup pretty much every other option (Unitronic/Integrated Engineering/Cobb) and a catted down pipe for later for a few hundred more. Now if only I could pick... Unitronic and IE seem like the same choices but Cobb opens up all the small shops which would allow me to try a lot of things over time.

IMO the smartest choice is Cobb and have EQT for the tuner. Flash at home or anywhere for that matter. No going to a dealer and if you end up getting another car someday you can sell the Cobb AP.

 

[sprinks]

Gonna have to blow the dust off the is38 stage 1 tunes. Apr marketed one years back then pulled it.

 

[PowerDemon]

Gonna have to blow the dust off the is38 stage 1 tunes. Apr marketed one years back then pulled it.

A stage 1 IS38 tune? So basically a Golf R stage 1 with emissions still intact correct?

 

[sprinks]

Yep. They were advertising one back in 16 or 17 as I recall. There's no reason they can't.

 

[wasbaggedonce]

Pennsylvania: a state that allows open carry of firearms, requires bicycle helmets for adults.

ps: fireworks are illegal. WTF?

Not anymore. Legal as of October 2017.

 

[probablyjacking]

Pretty good discussion on why APR may be backing out. starts at 6:40.

tl;dw overexposure, specifically as it relates to having too many people running their product not pass emissions regulations and facing investigations/fines

 

[gregsju29]

Just ordered an is38, installing 9.3. Also, besides CTS, Ultimate Racing, based in Canada, offers various options for downpipes including catted and resonanted, etc.

 

[IanCH]

Pretty good discussion on why APR may be backing out. starts at 6:40.

tl;dw overexposure, specifically as it relates to having too many people running their product not pass emissions regulations and facing investigations/fines

They say something that's totally wrong though - you 100% can set readiness on an APR stg 2 tune. I was able to do it with the APR catted downpipe and got inspected in MA on my golf R. If you have a catless DP, thats another story because the APR stage 2 tune only stopped the rich CEL, which would obv get set by a catless dp.

 

[gti330ex]

Gonna have to blow the dust off the is38 stage 1 tunes. Apr marketed one years back then pulled it.

They still offer is38 tune on GTIs without an aftermarket DP if that's what you're referring to.