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Gretel's build..…takes the "drink me" potion

scrllock

Autocross Champion
Location
MI
Why? So all the folks I know that run them without issue are lying to me? Haldex tune has been good as well.
1) fred is apparently allowed near the keyboard/customer cars, which means you either get jeff, who seems to know how to make cars go fast, or fred, a person at a company charging $2k+/tune trying to read datalogs with excel.
2) when my motor popped they told me they'd "never" had someone throw a rod on their tunes, which is 1000% false.
3) when my first MPI tune was done, I picked up the car and it overboosted on the first pull. I was told "some people just drive differently." had to wait til spring to correct that.
4) there are people out there changing direct injectors every 10k because UM thinks it's smart to run a 2-3ms direct injection window on MPI cars.
5) when those direct injectors are failing , you don't get much warning because they crank down the misfire/knock detection even on stock motor files (or they were just so incompetent that they used a built motor file on my car, which wouldn't surprise me after every other direct interaction I had).

I can't fathom using them these days, they don't hold any records and their only draw otherwise is flex fuel/haldex tunes, which are available elsewhere for cheaper and with less hassle than their dealer network.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
1) fred is apparently allowed near the keyboard/customer cars, which means you either get jeff, who seems to know how to make cars go fast, or fred, a person at a company charging $2k+/tune trying to read datalogs with excel.
2) when my motor popped they told me they'd "never" had someone throw a rod on their tunes, which is 1000% false.
3) when my first MPI tune was done, I picked up the car and it overboosted on the first pull. I was told "some people just drive differently." had to wait til spring to correct that.
4) there are people out there changing direct injectors every 10k because UM thinks it's smart to run a 2-3ms direct injection window on MPI cars.
5) when those direct injectors are failing , you don't get much warning because they crank down the misfire/knock detection even on stock motor files (or they were just so incompetent that they used a built motor file on my car, which wouldn't surprise me after every other direct interaction I had).

I can't fathom using them these days, they don't hold any records and their only draw otherwise is flex fuel/haldex tunes, which are available elsewhere for cheaper and with less hassle than their dealer network.
I'll give you the hassle/dealer network issue, I can do TZ and flash at home. I've just never heard of any cars having issues and I know a number of folks running their tunes from simple stage 1 type to MPI, but I'm just a 1.8 slow boi and so are all my friends.
 

scrllock

Autocross Champion
Location
MI
I'll give you the hassle/dealer network issue, I can do TZ and flash at home. I've just never heard of any cars having issues and I know a number of folks running their tunes from simple stage 1 type to MPI, but I'm just a 1.8 slow boi and so are all my friends.
as someone who's been in that spot, I can say part of it is people don't put it on social media in hopes they'll help out. flex/mpi is a $2k+ cost that you cannot recoup like an AP, so it's not easy to leave. they're notorious about trying to force people to pay full price for a re-tune if they try switching.

the DI timing thing is a new-ish discovery, I chalked mine failing up to the 2019+ conti injectors being trash, but after having nostrum test them and comparing logs with another UM car who was literally changing injectors every other oil change, they're just doing some insane things on MPI cars. sure it's apparently working but you get a really jank setup for the money they're charging.
 

JerseyDrew77

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia & NC
Car(s)
2016 TR GTI S 6MT
as someone who's been in that spot, I can say part of it is people don't put it on social media in hopes they'll help out. flex/mpi is a $2k+ cost that you cannot recoup like an AP, so it's not easy to leave. they're notorious about trying to force people to pay full price for a re-tune if they try switching.

the DI timing thing is a new-ish discovery, I chalked mine failing up to the 2019+ conti injectors being trash, but after having nostrum test them and comparing logs with another UM car who was literally changing injectors every other oil change, they're just doing some insane things on MPI cars. sure it's apparently working but you get a really jank setup for the money they're charging.
I never did care for UM, always thought they were way overpriced. I remember back in 2018 when I was shopping around for tunes, I talked to Fred, I believe, on the phone and he kept bragging about the record that they held, supposedly. When I questioned him on it, because I did a Google search for it and found nothing, he got a little irritated and hung up on me. Then years later heard of a couple of engines blowing due to the tunes that they had and come to find out, they were UM cars so definitely glad I didn't go with them in the beginning.
 
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swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Yet another project showed up
IMG_5712.jpeg
 

CaptainRatty

Autocross Champion
Location
Winston-Salem, NC
Car(s)
MK7 GTI

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Love mine. The fit is super precise, so if when installing them the triangle notch isn’t lined up exactly in the groove, they won’t sit right.
Going to attempt tonight…ramps work for you?
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
It’s Christmas….dhl just showed up
IMG_5713.jpeg
 

CaptainRatty

Autocross Champion
Location
Winston-Salem, NC
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Going to attempt tonight…ramps work for you?
i had two jack stands on one side at a time and taped it all in place before screwing anything in. It’s probably super easy with a helper.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
i had two jack stands on one side at a time and taped it all in place before screwing anything in. It’s probably super easy with a helper.
Literally tried last night LOL......got one side up and started taping it up.....having a buddy is no joke. I drilled one hole but then realized I didn't have a T20 torx bit and was running out of tape. Took it all off and stopped.....realized it was going to take longer to be accurate so I'll do on my day off
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Going to be a busy Thurs/Fri/Sat......

Wrapping DP on Thurs
Installing autotech internals, Fuel -it, uploading new revised tune AND aerofabb side skirts on Friday
Installing wrapped DP on Sat

😀
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Epic fail on wrapping the DP....with the bracket and O2 bung...looked like crap with all the clamps needed. Plus, the 4" trackslag bend didn't want to work with me. Oh well.

On good note....successfully installed the autotech internals to my hpfp, installed the tune to account for it and ran her around the block a few times......running good and no hiccups/leaks....score!
 
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