Hi all
For those that have been watching another thread, here is my experience with Shark Stage 1 via STS.
I have nothing but good comments about the STS unit so am not going to harp on about that here as that has been covered in detail on other posts.
The car is an S3 SB BE S-Tronic bought new in September 2011.
Once the car 'settled' down after the map was uploaded by me, I was underwhelmed with the 'feeling' thereafter compared to what i thought it should be, having read a lot on here from various happy folk who cars were like 'night and day' after their remaps. Mine was definitely not like night and day once it was done.
So, having spoken to Rob at Shark HQ I booked the car in for today for some RR time to have a look at what is going off and then talk about the DSG remap and what I will get from that.
I have no scanner at all, so I can only type the figures here (boring I know!)
So, Shark Stage 1 - OEM DSG Map - Peak power to shaft = 288.2 hp at 6471 rpm, 280 ib/ft max. at 3186 rpm.
What was blatantly obvious from the initial RR run that gave us the info coming from the ECU or DSG was that it was limiting the torque from the DSG to a peak of around 280 ib/ft which tails off to the 6,600 rpm limit before it auto-changes up to the next gear, as per the standard DSG map. So not shabby by any standards, but for some reason this didn't feel that 'good' to me as compared to my Subaru. (The only performance car I have owned, modded, spent thousands on)
I spoke a lot with Miikko, Rob and Ben about the mapping and then more with Mikko about what the DSG remap could give me overall. i.e. different 'D' rpm gear changes and down-shifts, so it will not sit in 6th at 30mph. This makes slow driving better in auto 'D' mode as you actually can get somewhere when you press the 'loud' pedal instead if it immediately changing down a gear before responding to the loud pedal. Annoying to say the least!
The rev limit was increased up to 7,325 rpm, as it states on the RR print out. So, it no longer auto-changes up at around 6,600 rpm, but instead will hit the rev-limiter.
Shark Stage 1 - DSG Remap - Peak power to shaft = 309.1 hp at 5922 rpm, 325 ib/ft max. at 3168 rpm.
So there is quite a change once the DSG box is told what the torque is going to be and 'allowed' to run at that level. On both RR graphs the peaks were higher than those figures above BUT this is a RR thing and it will not reach that peak on the road. So I have taken what I feel is the 'real' peak figures from the graph and not just the absolute maximums.
Atm, I have not got a true feedback for you due to us not leaving Shark HQ until 7pm tonight, and the fact is was pi**ing down with rain and with some traffic and being up since 5.30am for work, I was in no fit state for it tbh. That may sound sad, but I ain't got time for speed, etc when its pi**ing down with rain and I am tired.
The difference in the 'D' mode shifts is noticeable as it sits in a better gear now at 30mph, i.e. 5th not 6th. And the downshifts happen higher up the revs so its not down below 1,300rpm before it down shifts.
I only had a 9 mile drive home along traffic lined roads so there was no time for 'play' yet. Rest assured I will be posting true post-remap 'feelings' once I have time to drive it and report openly and honestly about my findings.
In number terms there is a 7% increase in peak power from stage 1, to stage 1 and DSG remap. There is a 14% torque increase as well, so you will have to make up your own mind if the DSG map is worth the money when you look at it in those 'number' terms.
From OEM though it is a different story if I were to work those figures out.
What you can see though, is that there is a definitive change in the peak figures once the DSG map is done, and if you could see the graphs, that change of course is across the whole rev range and not just talking in maximum terms.
I want this to be an honest review, when all said and done, so I can say that speaking with Ben, Rob and Mikko, it was obvious that they wanted to help me get this sorted and in a way that I left happy and not aggrieved with the whole process. They looked after me with the RR time and although I will not discuss that side of the costs here, it was a very good gesture from them to me, and one that I appreciated as well. Suffice to say my car was on the rollers the whole time it was there and had over 6 runs on it as well whilst Mikko tweaked and uploaded the map, did my RR graphs, etc. The only annoying thing about things like this is the upload time to the car! LOL.
We supped tea, I ate my cob that the misses packed me up, and we waited for the outcome!
For those that have been watching another thread, here is my experience with Shark Stage 1 via STS.
I have nothing but good comments about the STS unit so am not going to harp on about that here as that has been covered in detail on other posts.
The car is an S3 SB BE S-Tronic bought new in September 2011.
Once the car 'settled' down after the map was uploaded by me, I was underwhelmed with the 'feeling' thereafter compared to what i thought it should be, having read a lot on here from various happy folk who cars were like 'night and day' after their remaps. Mine was definitely not like night and day once it was done.
So, having spoken to Rob at Shark HQ I booked the car in for today for some RR time to have a look at what is going off and then talk about the DSG remap and what I will get from that.
I have no scanner at all, so I can only type the figures here (boring I know!)
So, Shark Stage 1 - OEM DSG Map - Peak power to shaft = 288.2 hp at 6471 rpm, 280 ib/ft max. at 3186 rpm.
What was blatantly obvious from the initial RR run that gave us the info coming from the ECU or DSG was that it was limiting the torque from the DSG to a peak of around 280 ib/ft which tails off to the 6,600 rpm limit before it auto-changes up to the next gear, as per the standard DSG map. So not shabby by any standards, but for some reason this didn't feel that 'good' to me as compared to my Subaru. (The only performance car I have owned, modded, spent thousands on)
I spoke a lot with Miikko, Rob and Ben about the mapping and then more with Mikko about what the DSG remap could give me overall. i.e. different 'D' rpm gear changes and down-shifts, so it will not sit in 6th at 30mph. This makes slow driving better in auto 'D' mode as you actually can get somewhere when you press the 'loud' pedal instead if it immediately changing down a gear before responding to the loud pedal. Annoying to say the least!
The rev limit was increased up to 7,325 rpm, as it states on the RR print out. So, it no longer auto-changes up at around 6,600 rpm, but instead will hit the rev-limiter.
Shark Stage 1 - DSG Remap - Peak power to shaft = 309.1 hp at 5922 rpm, 325 ib/ft max. at 3168 rpm.
So there is quite a change once the DSG box is told what the torque is going to be and 'allowed' to run at that level. On both RR graphs the peaks were higher than those figures above BUT this is a RR thing and it will not reach that peak on the road. So I have taken what I feel is the 'real' peak figures from the graph and not just the absolute maximums.
Atm, I have not got a true feedback for you due to us not leaving Shark HQ until 7pm tonight, and the fact is was pi**ing down with rain and with some traffic and being up since 5.30am for work, I was in no fit state for it tbh. That may sound sad, but I ain't got time for speed, etc when its pi**ing down with rain and I am tired.
The difference in the 'D' mode shifts is noticeable as it sits in a better gear now at 30mph, i.e. 5th not 6th. And the downshifts happen higher up the revs so its not down below 1,300rpm before it down shifts.
I only had a 9 mile drive home along traffic lined roads so there was no time for 'play' yet. Rest assured I will be posting true post-remap 'feelings' once I have time to drive it and report openly and honestly about my findings.
In number terms there is a 7% increase in peak power from stage 1, to stage 1 and DSG remap. There is a 14% torque increase as well, so you will have to make up your own mind if the DSG map is worth the money when you look at it in those 'number' terms.
From OEM though it is a different story if I were to work those figures out.
What you can see though, is that there is a definitive change in the peak figures once the DSG map is done, and if you could see the graphs, that change of course is across the whole rev range and not just talking in maximum terms.
I want this to be an honest review, when all said and done, so I can say that speaking with Ben, Rob and Mikko, it was obvious that they wanted to help me get this sorted and in a way that I left happy and not aggrieved with the whole process. They looked after me with the RR time and although I will not discuss that side of the costs here, it was a very good gesture from them to me, and one that I appreciated as well. Suffice to say my car was on the rollers the whole time it was there and had over 6 runs on it as well whilst Mikko tweaked and uploaded the map, did my RR graphs, etc. The only annoying thing about things like this is the upload time to the car! LOL.
We supped tea, I ate my cob that the misses packed me up, and we waited for the outcome!