Revo Stage 1

[Russboy]

Yes, I suspect you're right. Asked if it can just be booked in etc, but the work has to have been carried out.

Now looking at independent tuners who can map now.

Currently considering this one https://www.rapidremapping.com/

Around £500 for the map, DSG map & launch control enabled, just being very very cautious!!

 

[arad85]

Now looking at independent tuners who can map now.

Currently considering this one https://www.rapidremapping.com/

I know it's not my money, and I don't know the person who runs that, but I'd only put my car through one of the "known" tuners. I.e. Celtic, MRC, Unicorn, AWE or Revo. One of the things about these people is they will have a number of people who have their tunes so will have some experience of reliability etc. As you've seen from the thread, Revo do extensive R & D and I know from personal experience APR do too. These things can be very expensive to fix and some £'s more up front brings a lot (to me) of piece of mind.

 

[Russboy]

Yeah that's why i'm being very cautious, would prefer to work on a recommendation more than anything else, holding back on making a final decision.

 

[fast-ferret]

So I assume all these 25% off vouchers are Black Friday ones? I read they have to be used by the 31st so no good for me (plus I can’t get them now anyway). Maybe next year..


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[Russboy]

Yes have to be used by the end of the year, but in reality by the 22nd as a lot of places then shut down, or they cannot get the credit back from Revo.

 

[Dippy]

If these forums are a fair representation of the experiences of owners of tuned Audis, then it would appear that a fair number of tuned cars have problems post-tuning. Depending on your requirements this may or may not be relevant. For me it is important because I want to rely on my car and enjoy it without unduly worrying about failures. That's why I paid extra to have a dampened crank pulley (Fluidampr). If the option for an uprated supercharger clutch had been known to me at the time, I may have paid for it too. However the choice of tuner was also key, and so I was keen to read about the experiences of others to ensure that reports were generally positive and there were no "known" issues.

Whether or not Rapid are any good is difficult to tell without those customer reports and there are none here that I know of. They are clearly a small company, providing an address in a residential part of Basingstoke. This in itself may not be a problem, but when you look at Unicorn, who are also small, at least they have a business address which is a workshop with a dyno. Plus there are a fair few good reports from Unicorn customers on forums and I haven't read a bad one.

 

[RyanJonS4]

I hope their remapping is better than their web design! Masses of it is unreadable because of the background pictures.

 

[Russboy]

If these forums are a fair representation of the experiences of owners of tuned Audis, then it would appear that a fair number of tuned cars have problems post-tuning. Depending on your requirements this may or may not be relevant. For me it is important because I want to rely on my car and enjoy it without unduly worrying about failures. That's why I paid extra to have a dampened crank pulley (Fluidampr). If the option for an uprated supercharger clutch had been known to me at the time, I may have paid for it too. However the choice of tuner was also key, and so I was keen to read about the experiences of others to ensure that reports were generally positive and there were no "known" issues.

Whether or not Rapid are any good is difficult to tell without those customer reports and there are none here that I know of. They are clearly a small company, providing an address in a residential part of Basingstoke. This in itself may not be a problem, but when you look at Unicorn, who are also small, at least they have a business address which is a workshop with a dyno. Plus there are a fair few good reports from Unicorn customers on forums and I haven't read a bad one.

Thanks for your input, i'm moving away from the idea of using these guys now.

Chatting with Swift Tuning now, who have been around for a long time.

www.swifttuning.co.uk

***Although just read their Google reviews & not looking good!

 

[V6_Man]

Thanks for your input, i'm moving away from the idea of using these guys now.

Chatting with Swift Tuning now, who have been around for a long time.

www.swifttuning.co.uk

***Although just read their Google reviews & not looking good!

I personally have MRC tune on my S4 and when I went there I saw one car from Middle East (you heard it right!) and couple from EU. On my second visit there was a couple who travelled all the way from Switzerland to get his S5 tuned. There is a reason why these people have travelled that far!

@Dippy himself has used MDM Technik in Marlow for regular maintenance on his cars. I have used Mark (MDM) on @Dippy ‘s recommendation. He fitted exhaust and other bits on my car and I personally can’t fault his work. He identified a problem and when I took the car back to MRC he was proven right. Mark is a Revo Dealer and I have heard nothing but good things about him. One of my work colleagues had his S4 and Porsche tuned by MDM as well and he rated him highly. He was my first choice for tuning but then someone mentioned MRC ...

In the end it is your decision and your money but like @Dippy said; get it done once and get it done properly. No point in going to places that you can’t find information on either on this forum or else where. I am not saying they won’t be good but there is a risk!


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[Dippy]

@Russboy - what is your criteria for choosing a tuner? If its price then do consider that in some respects you get what you pay for. The likes of APR and REVO invest a lot of money in R&D to make their maps good. I guess that whilst MRC invest less than those two, they may up for it because they provide custom mapping. If you are happy with a 400PS stage 1 then by all means go for one of the cheapest. But these engines are capable of significantly more at stage 1 if you use the right tuner.

I'm not sure how many REVO tuners there are in the South, but if you decide to go REVO then Indeed I'd recommend Mark at MDM Technik in Marlow. I have known Mark for around 10 years and thoroughly recommend him.

 

[Russboy]

@Russboy - what is your criteria for choosing a tuner? If its price then do consider that in some respects you get what you pay for. The likes of APR and REVO invest a lot of money in R&D to make their maps good. I guess that whilst MRC invest less than those two, they may up for it because they provide custom mapping. If you are happy with a 400PS stage 1 then by all means go for one of the cheapest. But these engines are capable of significantly more at stage 1 if you use the right tuner.

I'm not sure how many REVO tuners there are in the South, but if you decide to go REVO then Indeed I'd recommend Mark at MDM Technik in Marlow. I have known Mark for around 10 years and thoroughly recommend him.

Typically my choice would be down to cost as i'm always on the hunt for a bargain. However, there is that alarm bell that keeps ringing saying this is a false economy as once it goes tits up you'll end up paying more anyway!

Did use MRC on by B5, it's just a pain as it's a distance to travel, but not a million miles.

 

[Dippy]

yeah - but the journey home is worth it

 

[Russboy]

Lol, very true!!

 

[Deckard]

I've just joined and an ideal first post.
I bought my 2009 S4 in June and having remapped and tuned my previous 4 cars I started looking for the right tuner within a couple of months. APR, Revo, MRC we're the ones that stood out as professional, quality proven tuners and all looked good. For me I went with Revo, the TC garage in Haywards Heath. They were close to me and either of the other two would have been a good choice, but for me it really doesn't really matter if one is 20bhp more than the other, they all offer huge performance.
I decided to go with the Revo Stage 1+, so engine & dsg map, pully & intake. It is by far the fastest car I have owned, much faster now than my e46 M3 with Evolve CSL airbox and remap. I'd say it is faster than the bmw m5 f10 performance pack I drove at brands hatch.

Don't go for cheap, its just not worth it, but do go.... just go... stage 1 will be a brilliant upgrade, dig deep and go for stage 1+ (stage 2 with MRC & APR), they are very very fast cars. But, addictive this extra power....

 

[jdp1962]

Welcome to ASN, @Deckard, hope you like the forum as much as you like the car.

 

[Deckard]

Welcome to ASN, @Deckard, hope you like the forum as much as you like the car.

Thanks, both are great, very helpful forum you have

 

[Hellz]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this (apologies if not!).

I'm looking at getting the S5 tuned in the next few weeks having had it 8 months or so now and will be going with Revo as I have a dealer close by.

Whilst I think I'd be happy with stage 1 I can see from this thread that in the early days of the remap(s) being released its suggested that only the pulley upgrade plus stage 1+ software was required however, Revo's site now also suggests the upgraded induction kit is required. Obviously, the induction kit + labour adds a good chunk of cash - is it required? If not, does it make much of a difference with/without uprated induction kit? Not one for cutting corners therefore if it's safer to have the induction kit (as well as adding value where it comes to driveability/gains) then I'd consider experiencing the stage 1 first before paying an extra £1Kish for the additional hardware, remap, and labour for stage1+.

This is also a little concerning re: Dippy's post - "If these forums are a fair representation of the experiences of owners of tuned Audis, then it would appear that a fair number of tuned cars have problems post-tuning". Is it common to experience post-tuning issues - if so what? Revo's testing appears extensive but I guess it isn't in their interest to highlight failures due to additional remap related stress!

 

[Chop.]

Iv been running a stage 1 zip tunning map for a year now with no problems at all

I think a stage 1 tune is really only realsesing what the car is capable of in the first place having been held back by the manufacturers so I can see issues due to a tune if it’s done right

Stage 1+ and stage 2s etc is a different story as you pushing things a bit more so with that come it’s own set of issues

as for the filter I wouldn’t guess it’s nessesery for a stage one but that depends what figures they a quoting for the tune obv if it can breath better then it’s going to result in better numbers and performance

IMO There are cheaper kits and home made jobs out there that will do exactly the same thing as the big money kits I think sometimes people forget it’s just a pipe and a filter leading to a hole, but at the end of the day it’s personal preference on what you can afford and what you want on your motor

Good luck

 

[Cerbera9]

As mentioned the standard filter is a cone filter so this can be swapped for the likes of a K&N if desired for less that £50. The standard air box doesn’t appear to be a restriction hence why many keep it in place. The restriction lies in the standard intake pipe and resonator and most people change this for a hard pipe or increased bore silicone pipe. These can be purchased for less than £100.
Open induction kits are usually favoured by those wanting to hear more of the supercharger whine but are more prone to heat soak and get dirty quickly from dirt coming through the pourous inner wheel arch material

 

[Hellz]

Thanks both for the response and direction. Have found a few how to's as well as the parts - who knew it was so easy!

Supercharger sounds nice and loud without the airbox - unable to find a heatshield stand alone so guess I'll give it a go with airbox, pipe and filter to begin with.

Thanks again

 

[Dippy]

This is also a little concerning re: Dippy's post - "If these forums are a fair representation of the experiences of owners of tuned Audis, then it would appear that a fair number of tuned cars have problems post-tuning". Is it common to experience post-tuning issues - if so what? Revo's testing appears extensive but I guess it isn't in their interest to highlight failures due to additional remap related stress!

In comparison what Audi do when developing a new engine, the testing that aftermarket tuners do is probably limited. Of course I do not know, so I welcome any tuner to contradict me by revealing how many hours they run tests on a tuned engine on a dyno in an environmental chamber, as an example. So my point is that whilst these tuners do a great job, they are providing a product which is in part sold at the buyer's risk. If you question any of them then I would expect most if not all to advise that since the tune is increasing stresses on engine and transmission (and other components), owners of tuned cars should pay extra attention to care and maintenance. But also as I mentioned, there is the matter of whether or not additional modifications are appropriate.

What @Chop. states above about releasing potential is indeed true, because indeed most forced induction engines are intentionally restricted by the manufacturer. However there is a balance between performance, economy, emissions, reliability etc. so if an owner take the decision to remove the restriction to increase performance he/she need to understand that it will affect the balance, and the key one I am referring to is reliability. My caution that you quoted refers to the fact that there may be reliability consequences of tuning. I have had tuned cars for over 15 years and over that time spent a lot of time on car forums like this, so I stand by my comment that in general tuned cars tend to have more problems than untuned ones.

Neither my tuned B5 S4 nor my current tuned B8 S5 have given me any major problems. However I did once have an unexplained limp mode on the B5. And I know that there is a risk that the supercharger clutch on my CREC engine could slip. Plus there is the question that affects all B8 s-tronic gearboxed cars and not just mine - will it keep working or will it develop a fault (and if it does, will my tune have contributed?). However the fact that I have not experienced major problems does not make me overconfident because as noted I have read plenty of reports of tuned cars having problems so I shall continue to try to mitigate the risk. I will continue to ensure that my car is properly maintained, with services in advance of the schedule recommended for an untuned car, and I will continue to pay attention to any signals my car gives that something could be wrong so that I can react to it sooner than later.

 

[ianv5]

I have been running Revo Stage 1+ for two years with no issues. I also have Revo cai and the supercharger whine is addictive

 

[jdp1962]

In comparison what Audi do when developing a new engine, the testing that aftermarket tuners do is probably limited. Of course I do not know, so I welcome any tuner to contradict me by revealing how many hours they run tests on a tuned engine on a dyno in an environmental chamber, as an example. So my point is that whilst these tuners do a great job, they are providing a product which is in part sold at the buyer's risk. If you question any of them then I would expect most if not all to advise that since the tune is increasing stresses on engine and transmission (and other components), owners of tuned cars should pay extra attention to care and maintenance. But also as I mentioned, there is the matter of whether or not additional modifications are appropriate.

What @Chop. states above about releasing potential is indeed true, because indeed most forced induction engines are intentionally restricted by the manufacturer. However there is a balance between performance, economy, emissions, reliability etc. so if an owner take the decision to remove the restriction to increase performance he/she need to understand that it will affect the balance, and the key one I am referring to is reliability. My caution that you quoted refers to the fact that there may be reliability consequences of tuning. I have had tuned cars for over 15 years and over that time spent a lot of time on car forums like this, so I stand by my comment that in general tuned cars tend to have more problems than untuned ones.

Neither my tuned B5 S4 nor my current tuned B8 S5 have given me any major problems. However I did once have an unexplained limp mode on the B5. And I know that there is a risk that the supercharger clutch on my CREC engine could slip. Plus there is the question that affects all B8 s-tronic gearboxed cars and not just mine - will it keep working or will it develop a fault (and if it does, will my tune have contributed?). However the fact that I have not experienced major problems does not make me overconfident because as noted I have read plenty of reports of tuned cars having problems so I shall continue to try to mitigate the risk. I will continue to ensure that my car is properly maintained, with services in advance of the schedule recommended for an untuned car, and I will continue to pay attention to any signals my car gives that something could be wrong so that I can react to it sooner than later.

@Dippy 's closing comment here broadly mirrors my approach. I've got a CREC-engine S4 with S-Tronic box. I've opted for a modest stage one remap with no hardware changes other than a Revo air filter in the otherwise standard intake. I'm comfortable with the risk that brings of adding to the stresses on the engine and/or other components. Nonetheless, to mitigate that risk, I'm having engine oil and filter changes done at half the recommended interval, and have just booked it in to have the S-Tronic oil and filter changed in June, when the car will be three years old and will have done about 26,000 miles.

 

[MattS5]

@Dippy 's closing comment here broadly mirrors my approach. I've got a CREC-engine S4 with S-Tronic box. I've opted for a modest stage one remap with no hardware changes other than a Revo air filter in the otherwise standard intake. I'm comfortable with the risk that brings of adding to the stresses on the engine and/or other components. Nonetheless, to mitigate that risk, I'm having engine oil and filter changes done at half the recommended interval, and have just booked it in to have the S-Tronic oil and filter changed in June, when the car will be three years old and will have done about 26,000 miles.

But of a thread resurrection, but having had Stage 1+ on a previous S5, the warranty in my 2016 model will be up in April next year.
I’ve just looked on the Revo website and it would seem the CREC engine produces more power than the previous engine did with just stage 1.
Torque improves a little, but I’m thinking it’s a good middle ground, whilst helping to offset some DSG gearbox worries with relatively smaller torque increases.
How are you finding yours?

 

[jdp1962]

But of a thread resurrection, but having had Stage 1+ on a previous S5, the warranty in my 2016 model will be up in April next year.
I’ve just looked on the Revo website and it would seem the CREC engine produces more power than the previous engine did with just stage 1.
Torque improves a little, but I’m thinking it’s a good middle ground, whilst helping to offset some DSG gearbox worries with relatively smaller torque increases.
How are you finding yours?

I'm finding it to be all that I want it to be. At the time, I think I described it what you get when a series of marginal gains come together to provide a signigificant all-round improvement; I still think that.

 

[Dippy]

I’ve just looked on the Revo website and it would seem the CREC engine produces more power than the previous engine did with just stage 1.

I'm not sure about that. CREC was developed to meet EU6 so there's no reason why it should.

I am biassed as an MRC customer, but here's the chart of the dyno tests they did once the SIMOS 16 had been cracked. If you only look at the top end it shows the 12PS you get with a TCU remap at stage 1, and then the 33PS more for stage 2. Considering that the base stage 1 gives nearly 100PS more (peak) than stock, I can understand why some people may not think that stage 2 will make such a difference. But for me the whole subject of peak power is misleading. It is only on the rare occasions that I switch to M that my engine gets near peak power. Most of the time I'm in ADS dynamic S and not WOT so my gearbox is shifting relatively low in the rev range. So looking at the torque curves up to around 3.5K, you can see that stage 2 has about the same torque increase from stage 1 as stage 1 has from stock, or effectively double the effect. And even from 3.5K to 5K the stage 2 torque increase is still about half of the difference from stock to stage 1. For me that is the true difference between stage 1 and stage 2.

Based on the above I would normally agree that the TCU remap could be considered a "nice-to-have" for those times when I do hit the redline, except for the key point about the increase in clutch plate pressure. For that alone I'd have it.

 

[MattS5]

But the torque element is the bit which niggles the back of my mind....the last car i had has experienced a couple of gearbox issues according to the new owner, now whether that was stage 1+ related, who knows, but it does feel the weak point in the whole situation, even regardless of map.
I’m not worried the extra power being at the top of the range, that’s fine, I’ll only use it when i need it, as for torque, I don’t think that lacking in the low rev range in standard to be honest (sure, you get bags more of it with stage 1+, but I could live without it if there was less stress going through the gearbox.)

 

[Dippy]

Yes there have been problems with the s-tronic gearbox, but this platform has been tuned for many years now and I'd say there's enough evidence to suggest that it isn't the tune which is causing the problems or even exacerbating them. If your car has the latest version (from mid-2013) then I think you can have confidence that it can handle stage 2.