2.0 TDI 150 hp

I took a 150 for a test drive. It felt quite nippy.

I had a dilemma when I got mine as I wanted an Avant fairly quick. My ideal was a 190 S-Line 2.0TDI, but stock options were the 150 S-Line, or the 190 Ultra Sport.

I only drove the 190, and was coming from a 170hp Golf GTD so didn't want a power drop especially in the bigger car, so plumped for the 190 Ultra Sport.

I got the Ibis white too, and it is brighter than bright when clean (guess what I'm doing on Sunday!). It looks fantastic.

Coming from a 150 A3 manual with DTUK tuning box, which apparently takes it to 180, and recently test driving an A4 Avant 150 S Tronic it felt absolutely fine. Of course you can always use more power but a few trips around town and cruising on the motorway with some faster overtaking I couldn't say I really missed any extra power.

The DTUK box is available for the A4 so maybe that's an option?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

To reference DTUK website:

Q) Can the vehicle manufacturer detect a tuning module?
A) There have been many instances of manufacturers detecting "remapped" software within a vehicle's ECU (Electronic Control Unit). However, we do not remap the ECU so this style of detection does not affect our products. We work downstream of the ECU. We are not aware of a single instance of a manufacturer detecting a tuning module if the tuning module has been fully removed from the vehicle prior to it going in to the dealership for maintenance. However, the fact remains that vehicle manufacturers will continue to enhance and upgrade their software so we cannot state unequivocally what the future will bring. When purchasing any form of tuning the purchaser assumes all inherent risk that those modifications may bring. No guarantee is offered with regards to your original manufacturer's warranty.

I've always removed mine when it goes in for a service (2 min job) and no one has ever said anything. If there was a separate ECU issue and they had to start digging to find out why then maybe they could tell the engine wasn't running as it's meant to, hence come to the conclusion it must have had a chip. Who knows, pure speculation. Anyway, I took the risk!

In the cars life, 3 1/2 years, it's had the occasional harsh judder at motorway speeds and under hard acceleration but of course no way of telling if that's anything to do with the chip. Recently, out of warranty, the engine management light (actually I think it's just the glow plug light but says engine management issue) has started flashing when starting the car and goes a bit sluggish. I just turn the engine off for a minute and back on and all is fine. Again, no idea if that's to do with chip, was going to remove it for a while and see if it carries on.

Upgrading to A4 Avant for a much bigger car than my current 3 door A3! Was a bit weary on moving over to auto but really liked the effortlessness of the S Tronic when I had the test drive. I spend a lot of time crawling in traffic around the M25 so will make it much easier. I find the A4 wants to be driven in comfort, whereas my A3 S Line with S Line suspension wants to be driven harder and swung around corners!.. (I've not actually ordered the A4 yet though.)

slightly off topic, anyone knows an equivalent brand to DTUK but for petrol?

Haven't heard of tuning boxes for petrols, only remaps like Revo.

There are petrol options from DTUK (even though it stands for diesel tuning?) @ABYSS Andrew can you confirm?

I can confirm that dtuk do have tuning boxes for petrol engines but not for the A4 2.0lt fsi engined yet. As too tuning boxes not being read by the dealers. I have heard of a report that as tuning boxes to run certain components outside of their proper tolerances then this can be picked up by the diagnostic hardware vag have got.
However I have seen no other evidence to suggest this has happened. I will try to find the thread this was in.