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Tune for 1.8 with IS38 Sportwagen

jc1

New member
Location
Reading, PA
Car(s)
2017 Golf Sportwagen
I need a tune. 2017 Sportwagen 4wd with a 1.8. Maestro is out, I just spoke with them saying that they only have a file for IS20. I have an IS38 out of Golf R and a 3" Miltec complete Golf R Estate exhaust ready to put on but i am not having much luck finding a tune that will work with these new parts.

Any suggestions on a good tune?
 

MonkeyMD

Autocross Champion
UM, APR, Cobb

Edit : corrected
 
Last edited:

MonkeyMD

Autocross Champion
Could have sworn that the 4 motion sportwagen / Alltrak had Cobb and Eurodyne (Maestro) support. I guess not.
 

ZuMBLe

Autocross Champion
Location
NY
Car(s)
Alltrack 6MT
I need a tune. 2017 Sportwagen 4wd with a 1.8. Maestro is out, I just spoke with them saying that they only have a file for IS20. I have an IS38 out of Golf R and a 3" Miltec complete Golf R Estate exhaust ready to put on but i am not having much luck finding a tune that will work with these new parts.

Any suggestions on a good tune?

Alltrack does not have Cobb support that I know of.

The whole point of Maestro is tune yourself. There are quite a few guys that took the Stage 2 or the IS20 file and run it with a IS38. If you're not confident in doing it yourself, Sneakytune or another Maestro tuner can help you out.
 

jc1

New member
Location
Reading, PA
Car(s)
2017 Golf Sportwagen
Thanks for the ideas and comments. This is a project for me and my 17 yo kid since I let him have my '17 GSW. Told him it will run like a Golf R but $20k less in cost... he liked hearing that. He and I put it on lowering springs and B8 Bilsteins earlier this month. The kid is learning.

It looks like APR is the only off the shelf tune available. I don't want a generic tune, they're just a compromise but close enough. It's encouraging to hear that some folks are using Maestro with the IS38 in the 1.8. Maestro was my first choice, I am confident and competent in doing my own tuning as long i have something close to start with.

I have been reading the forums for quite awhile. I understand the main problem will be insufficient fueling at high boost levels. I do not expect to hit that threshold with a stock is38 since the R already has one.

I'm leaning hard towards Maestro, even though they officially don't support it. I'm going to need to need some help from the community if things hit a snag.
 

8055WAGEN

Go Kart Champion
Location
MICHIGAN
Thanks for the ideas and comments. This is a project for me and my 17 yo kid since I let him have my '17 GSW. Told him it will run like a Golf R but $20k less in cost... he liked hearing that. He and I put it on lowering springs and B8 Bilsteins earlier this month. The kid is learning.

It looks like APR is the only off the shelf tune available. I don't want a generic tune, they're just a compromise but close enough. It's encouraging to hear that some folks are using Maestro with the IS38 in the 1.8. Maestro was my first choice, I am confident and competent in doing my own tuning as long i have something close to start with.

I have been reading the forums for quite awhile. I understand the main problem will be insufficient fueling at high boost levels. I do not expect to hit that threshold with a stock is38 since the R already has one.

I'm leaning hard towards Maestro, even though they officially don't support it. I'm going to need to need some help from the community if things hit a snag.
I need a tune. 2017 Sportwagen 4wd with a 1.8. Maestro is out, I just spoke with them saying that they only have a file for IS20. I have an IS38 out of Golf R and a 3" Miltec complete Golf R Estate exhaust ready to put on but i am not having much luck finding a tune that will work with these new parts.

Any suggestions on a good tune?

If you are DSG you will also want a DSG tune. APR is probably the way to go with this. I have a unitronic tune for my is38 wagon along with the stage 2 dsg tune. I like the ECU tune, the DSG tune is o.k. I have ridden in an APR tuned IS38 1.8 4MOTION, their DSG tune is better.
 

ZuMBLe

Autocross Champion
Location
NY
Car(s)
Alltrack 6MT
Thanks for the ideas and comments. This is a project for me and my 17 yo kid since I let him have my '17 GSW. Told him it will run like a Golf R but $20k less in cost... he liked hearing that. He and I put it on lowering springs and B8 Bilsteins earlier this month. The kid is learning.

It looks like APR is the only off the shelf tune available. I don't want a generic tune, they're just a compromise but close enough. It's encouraging to hear that some folks are using Maestro with the IS38 in the 1.8. Maestro was my first choice, I am confident and competent in doing my own tuning as long i have something close to start with.

I have been reading the forums for quite awhile. I understand the main problem will be insufficient fueling at high boost levels. I do not expect to hit that threshold with a stock is38 since the R already has one.

I'm leaning hard towards Maestro, even though they officially don't support it. I'm going to need to need some help from the community if things hit a snag.

There is a Maestro thread in the R forum.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Unitronic also has an IS38 OTS tune. Also can look at Reflect tuning - they do custom tunes for the 1.8.
 

J Peterman

Go Kart Champion
Location
USA
EcuTek is a COBB affiliate (under the same umbrella company) with plans to roll out support for MPI & Flex tuning capability fairly soon for the Simos 18/18.1 ECUs. I’ve put in several inquiries via email and they’re very responsive. Back in May they were working on MPI and said they’d be working on Flex around now.

Unless COBB magically decides to announce 1.8T support (like they did for the S3/A3 out of the blue), EcuTek would seem to be UM’s competition in terms of custom tuning and fueling for bigger turbos on a 1.8T.

Another option: There’s a GSW running BOSS 600 & MPI on a built 1.8 motor with Maestro and MPI controlled via a Microsquirt (SneekyTuned).
 

jc1

New member
Location
Reading, PA
Car(s)
2017 Golf Sportwagen
So I bought the Maestro today. $1200 for a ECU and TCU tune. Can't beat it. It's the only tune I'll ever need for this car.

Can't knock APR though, they have a tune for my GSW setup. I ran their flashes for years on my B8.5 S4. Always thought it was running too rich.

Thanks for the advice on the tunes for the big turbo and extra fueling but that's not where this build is going. My 17 yo is driving it. This build will be more than a handful for him.
 

ZuMBLe

Autocross Champion
Location
NY
Car(s)
Alltrack 6MT
So I bought the Maestro today. $1200 for a ECU and TCU tune. Can't beat it. It's the only tune I'll ever need for this car.

Can't knock APR though, they have a tune for my GSW setup. I ran their flashes for years on my B8.5 S4. Always thought it was running too rich.

Thanks for the advice on the tunes for the big turbo and extra fueling but that's not where this build is going. My 17 yo is driving it. This build will be more than a handful for him.


You can also teach him about ecu tuning too! This is great!
 

OBP

Go Kart Newbie
Location
ChiRaq
UM, APR, Cobb

Edit : corrected
Speaking of Cobb, I had contacted them about any future plans to support the 1.8L, and their reply was that they haven’t received many inquiries for that.
So if people here can take a minute and shoot them an email..... maybe we can get the ball rolling.
 

J Peterman

Go Kart Champion
Location
USA
I sent them an email this week after MPI support was announced for the 2019 2.0T cars. Same response as last year:

“Unfortunately, we have no plans to provide an Accessport that will work on your vehicle, sorry for the bad news! We would love to provide support for every vehicle around the world, but we just don't have the time or resources...”
 
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