On paper, a tune sounds like a secret hack: With a tap of a few keys on a keyboard, your car can make more power–no hard parts to install.
But, in the real world, does the promise of a tune actually deliver? We put our Mk7 Volkswagen GTI with an 034Motorsport tune on the dyno at VMP Performance to find out.
Can you give us a text overview?
Sorry, I get tired of having to watch videos to get the info. I just want the info, not a bunch of commentary leading up to the info.
Baseline was X after was Z, here is a dyno chart showing the differences.
Presumably, 034 Tune is legal, given you just exposed them to a modification that they are selling. What are they changing?
z31maniac said:Can you give us a text overview?
Sorry, I get tired of having to watch videos to get the info. I just want the info, not a bunch of commentary leading up to the info.
This is my boomer trait also.
here's a link to 1:55 where the dyno chart is shown (the rest is dyno discussion)
https://youtu.be/1HGQAZtO-P0?si=u7girPQ_IVln4bTH&t=115
VW advertised the MK7's torque at 258 lb-ft (273 came with the MK8) so I'm somewhat happy to see you hit that number in the stockish set up.
The 216 hp isn't far off at from the advertised 210 (base model) or 220 hp that came with the performance package.
The results kind of confirm a lot of internet speculation that German manufacturers may often be advertising wheel horsepower.
Thanks for spending the time and resources producing the video.
Yes a tune can produce significant power gains. Stock tune turbo Ecotec = 260 bhp/260 Tq. Factory GMPP tune = 290 bhp/340 Tq. Have to wonder why they didn't standardize the higher tune!
In reply to wspohn :
Possible reasons could be CAFE numbers and/or durability and warranty goals. And given that "other thread" regarding Cobb tuning, perhaps emissions.
Coniglio Rampante said:In reply to wspohn :
Possible reasons could be CAFE numbers and/or durability and warranty goals. And given that "other thread" regarding Cobb tuning, perhaps emissions.
Technically, those are all related to each other. Emissions durability is a pretty strong requirement.
I'm at the track right now so can't write much, but did want to jump in and say yes, this is a legal tune with an EO number.
As one who grew up in an era when originally cars didn't even use computers, I still find this tech amazing. Imagine owning a 1987 Camaro and spending hours installing headers to add 5 or 6 hp, when now you can add a tune and potentially add 50 hp with the freedom to move it back to stock with very little effort.
On a related note, every time I drive a GTI from the last two generations I wonder why i haven't bought one. When I've been behind the wheel my grin hasn't subsided from start to stop. If only my wife would be open to a 7th car in the driveway...
Loweguy5 said:...every time I drive a GTI from the last two generations I wonder why i haven't bought one...
Probably the terrible infotainment system.
Is a tune for the NA version even available? I'd expect the gains to be barely worthwhile.
z31maniac said:Sorry, I get tired of having to watch videos to get the info. I just want the info, not a bunch of commentary leading up to the info.
Hah, yeah I automatically bail out of any video that starts with, "... be sure to watch to the end..." That tells me that they're more concerned with income than content.
I like printed articles as I can quickly scan forward and back through the article to glean the good info. Videos are 90% blather on most any topic. Except welding, then maybe only 70% blather. I subscribe to GRM to get the benefit of a larger body of knowledge and experience. Give me the data, spare me the blather.
In reply to kb58 :
On this you are right. Our 2017 e-Golf has the most ridiculous quirk in the infotainment: one cannot change the station or track or source unless the radio is on the audio screen. If you have up one of the efficiency menus on the radio screen, for instance, you are limited to just volume up or down. How the heck did somebody at VW find that acceptable?
In reply to Loweguy5 :
Does it have a pause button?
TravisTheHuman said:z31maniac said:Can you give us a text overview?
Sorry, I get tired of having to watch videos to get the info. I just want the info, not a bunch of commentary leading up to the info.
This is my boomer trait also.
here's a link to 1:55 where the dyno chart is shown (the rest is dyno discussion)
https://youtu.be/1HGQAZtO-P0?si=u7girPQ_IVln4bTH&t=115
Thank you.
But it also doesn't mention if the tune upped the boost (which it most certainly did), maybe it did later, but I'm not watching a 7+ minute video for something that could be conveyed in 30 seconds of text.
I agree about text being preferable to video when it's just conveying basic information like dyno results. A friend used to work for a startup that was using LMMs to summarize videos and it was fantastic. But there's a built-in alternative even if it is a little harder to parse than the old LMM output: Open up the description and at the bottom you'll find a link to the autogenerated transcript. That'll let you see a timestamped, umm, transcript that'll let you jump straight to what you're interested in.
As for the results, I would have liked to see three back to back runs to confirm the gains. I know that costs money, but I've also seen tuned modern cars learn that they were running outside their normal parameters and correct for it. ND Miatas are a great example, they'll work around a tune - the first run is the marketing run as it shows the biggest gains. Then they start to fall off. In this case, it's turbocharged so the power/torque gain is the result of turning up the boost at the expense of durability.
I'm pretty sure I mentioned it in the video, but we did three pulls (and plenty of driving on the rollers in-between) for each change. They were identical.
And I hear you on the text vs. video comments--this video will be summarized into a text project update eventually, so feel free to wait for the text if that's your preferred format.
Tom Suddard said:And I hear you on the text vs. video comments--this video will be summarized into a text project update eventually, so feel free to wait for the text if that's your preferred format.
I hope I didn't come off as a jerk, I know I do a lot, just like the we did X, Y, happened, Z is the result.
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